Customer Reviews

Death and the Dancing Footman

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of Mash's books that I consider a "comfort book." When I don't know what else to read, I reach for this one. The story begins with a house party and a clutch of very unique individuals... of course, murder can't be far behind. It is true that Inspector Alleyn doesn't enter the story until halfway through the book, but that is really incidental. The characters are fascinating studies of human folly and they more than carry the story until Alleyn shows up. Aubrey Mandrake, a guest at the house party, plays a "Dr. Watson"-ish character and is himself quite engaging. This book is a must read for its quirkiness and it's wit. A great Marsh mystery.

Wealthy, self-indulgent Jonathan Royal has decided to amuse himself by hosting a houseparty--but not so much for the pleasure of his visitors as for the satisfaction of his own sense of mischief: his guests have been selected for their antagonism toward each other! Needless to say, a number of kettles soon begin to boil... And murder is the result!

Well read mystery fans will probably spot the killer on the basis of previous experience, but DEATH AND THE DANCING FOOTMAN offers one of Marsh's better plots--and as usual she creates a vividly drawn cast of characters and presents her tale with considerable style and plenty of wit. Long standing fans will enjoy it and newcomers will be converted! Recommended.

In _Death and the Dancing Footman_, Jonathan Royal, an eccentric gentleman (in the old sense of the word) decides to amuse himself by inviting a group of guests who antagonize each other. With a group of people unable to stand each other staying in a house during a snowstorm, the inevitable occurs, namely, murder. While I almost always enjoy the plot, writing style, etc., of Ngaio Marsh, I really love Chief Inspector Alleyn. Therefore, I was disappointed when he didn't appear until the last third of this book. Yes, he solves the murder, but you don't really get to see him interacting very much with the other characters, which is part of the charm of these novels.

I am an absolute sucker for the old fashioned English whodunnit murder mystery style. I have read all of Christie's works and thought never would I read her equal. I still haven't but Marsh makes the closet bid I've seen yet in this novel.

The stage for murder is set when a bored and mischevious rich Englishmen invites several guests with dangerous secrets and obvious dislike for each other to his house for the weekend.

Tempers fly when the characters are thrown together and the result is attempted murder. Snowbound, the characters are unable to leave the situation even after the the murderer finally succeeds.

I really kind of chuckled at the host as he got far more than he bargined for out of his little psychological soiree'. The book was very amusing and kept me guessing up until the very end. I narrowed my list of suspects to two but still wasn't sure which one it was when the story ended. The detective doesn't play a large role here so don't expect Poirot. Alleyn comes in late in the novel and just wraps things up. The book was a little too long...I think that's one of the things I found that seperated her from Christie was that she tended to ramble and stall a bit. I grew quite inpatient to find out who the killer was as the book really had a lull in between the last murder and the solution. Otherwise though it was really a fun little romp. If you're a Christie fan give it a shot...you won't regret it.

Needless to say, Dame Ngaio Marsh can write some riveting mysteries: "Death in a White Tie," "A Man Lay Dead (A Roderick Alleyn Mystery)," and "Enter a Murderer" come immediately to mind. However, at times, Marsh becomes so enthralled with ridiculing some of her characters that she spends entirely too much time on the backstory and her writing veers into tiresome parody. Such was the case in "Overture to Death," first published in 1939. So, too, with "Death and the Dancing Footman," published two years later.

The flamboyant Jonathan Royal cruelly invites six guests who are mortal enemies to a house party, counting on an upcoming wintry storm to keep them housebound and at each other's throats. Such is the twisted Royal's idea of fine entertainment. So far, so good. However, some of the other characters never transcend into three-dimensional characters: the Complines, Francis Hart, and Madame Lisse descend into exaggerated archetypes rather than real people. By the time of the murder, halfway through the book, I was ready to chuck it in, and I very nearly didn't finish the book! I never thought I'd say that about a Ngaio Marsh book! Additionally, as others have mentioned, Inspector Roderick Alleyn doesn't put in an appearance until two-thirds of the way through the book. The book could have easily be trimmed by 50 pages and have been vastly improved.

If you're looking to skip a Ngaio Marsh book, make it this one.

I love the countryside that Marsh describes in this book and Overture to Death (set in the same town). However, I found the bizarre nature of the host almost unbelievable and somewhat antagonizing. The character interaction is excellent and the whodunnit portion satisfying. FYI, the host is not murdered, as is implied in the first review. Who is murdered is part of the suspense, so you are better left not knowing this detail.

Really not her best novel: kind of slow and somewhat artificial.
Of Human Bondage (Signet Classics) is about a fellow with a club foot,
so the playwright here isn't alone. In 1940 club feet were all the rage as
Boris Karloff as a fictitious club-footed executioner Mord in "Tower of London".
The botched plastic surgery that forms the main plot device is still
taking place today. The estate entail is still active in England and Wales,
so that first sons get the land which in many cases is the basis of
the family fortunes.
I thought that this mystery was kind of long and somewhat boring
compared to an earlier novel by this author
that took place in her home New Zealand.
The upper class snob effect is very much in evidence here,
and I think the early novel was better because
it was more realistic and less contrived.

This is a wonderful, classic British mystery. It has an interesting cast of characters and great atmosphere. The snowbound party at a country estate provides the perfect backdrop for old fashioned murder. If you like Christie, this is worth a read.

This is the fourth mystery written by Ngaio Marsh I've had the pleasure to read. The characters are believable. "Death and the Dancing Footman" is set in a remote estate in the north of England. The Lord of the manor has invited guests for the weekend. The eight people he chose for his soiree have a history of unpleasant association among themselves, and are forced to endure each other's company during a tremendous snow storm. With their emotions unchecked a murder and suicide occur.

This was the first Ngaio Marsh novel I read, and it has lead me to purchase two more of her works. Many people compare Marsh to Christie, for such apparently obvious reasons as they are both British women who wrote a plethora of mystery stories during the same time period. Marsh's writing is a little more "involved", however. Christie's writing has always been more simplistc, "easy-to-read", though still very good. 'Death and the Dancing Footman' is your cozy little murder mystery, idyllicaly transpiring with a set of suspects invited to a vast mansion in the middle of the countrside during a terrible snowstorm. The host, a most despicable man, is of course murdered, in a quite interesting way. Due to the pacing of the story, and the heavy snowfall, the star/detective, Roderick Alleyn, doesn't appear until the book is halfway through. But his travails of reaching the mansion are quite tedious and humorous in their own right. There is good writing here, prime suspects, very nice atmosphere, and even an attempted murder, on top of the obligatory premature death. I will admit that though I absolutely love mysteries, I only average a %40 - %50 score of successfully solving it by book's end. But this novel, while still quite enjoyable, was a blatantly easy solve. I had the entire murder worked out even before it was commited. If that loses the fun for you, then I don't recommend this to you. But if you enjoy a cozy English mystery novel, set in a claustrophobic atmosphere, with a nice pace and a functional detective, then this is for you.