Died in the Wool (Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ngaio Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Series: Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mysteries | Publication Date: June 15, 1998

An M.P. meets a woolly demise.

Member of Parliament Florence Rubrick has the wool pulled over her eyes-quite literally. She's been found dead, her body pressed into a bale of wool. When Inspector Alleyn pays a visit to her New Zealand country home, he meets two fine, handsome men and two lovely young women, all of whom have reason to be grateful to dear Flossie for saving their lives. But as Inspector Alleyn learns, there are secrets aplenty hiding in the floorboards of that sheep station, and one in particular conceals a murderous motive that has the look and smell of treason.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York magazine

About the Author

From her first book in 1934 to her final volume just before her death in 1982, Ngaio Marsh's work has remained legendary, and is often compared to that of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers. During her celebrated fifty-year career, Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, was named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, won numerous prestigious awards, and penned 32 mystery novels. So sit back, draw the curtains, lock the doors, and put yourself in the hands of the Grande Dame of detective novels...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (June 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312966040
• ISBN-13: 978-0312966041
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gruesome tale of jealousy, espionage, murder and...wool?, August 7, 2000

By 

MK Writer "hedwig_owl" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Died in the Wool (Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I should probably read a bio on Ngaio Marsh, because I'm interested in knowing if she lived on a sheep farm when growing up in New Zealand - she seems to know an awful lot about wool! At any rate, this is another classic Marsh novel, though I do still miss Fox and co., as is the case with all the Inspector Alleyn novels set in New Zealand. Alleyn is performing War duty for the Special Services branch, when he responds to a call from a house where a Member of Parliament has been found murdered by being encased in a bale of wool on her own sheep farm. While there are household jealousies and inheritances, there is also a question of secret machinery plans being stolen and given to the enemy. As usual, the characters are finely drawn, and the plot superb (not to mention a bit bizarre!).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralled, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Died in the Wool (Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Yet another enthralling mystery by Marsh... The characters are realistic even their flaws. Died In The Wool- is set in New Zealand during the onset of WWll. A zealous, outspoken,and very popular MP is found dead in a bail of her own wool. The question is the motive. Had she made enemies because of her shrewdness, or was she caught in the middle of international espionage? Inspector Alleyn is brought in. Thanks to emotional and often biased analysis of this formidable woman by her relatives and employees, Alleyn recreates the circumstances that forced her murder.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very fine read, July 7, 2009

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Died in the Wool (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully written murder mystery that's also, to some degree, an espionage novel. As per several of her books, New Zealander Marsh places her detective Alleyn in NZ--this time during WW II. Thus, the usual cast of supporting characters such as Inspector Fox are absent as are the local police (except by reference). As in very few of her novels, Alleyn is on his own--but of course he solves the mystery. Similarly, while the mystery is good IMHO, the best part of the book is the writing--esp. the characterizations and the phraseology. The mystery revolves around
1) a dynamic Member of Parliament-- p. 172: "It all hangs on her. The kind of woman she was."
2) her relationships with the people on her sheep station-- p. 238: "Isn't there something unsound in a happiness that fails in the light?"
3) on a remote South Island plateau-- p. 270: "When you pause at midnight in this house, the landscape comes in through the windows & sends something exciting down your spinal column."

It's told via individual expositions by the main characters in separate chapters where, of course, one is tempted to jump to logical, but incorrect, conclusions about both the happenings & the people involved. For me, It was a very fast read--and highly enjoyable, perhaps one of her most enjoyable. Unfortunately, I have but one more of Marsh's novels to enjoy. The page #s refer to a March 1945, 270 page Little Brown, Boston edition. This novel is, interestingly, included in a set of 3 by different mystery masters: The Case of the Golddigger's Purse; Died in the Wool; Pearls Before Swine (Detective Book Club) as well as Marsh anthologies: 3 FOR I SHIPPING DIED IN THE WOOL/KILLER DOLPHIN/A WREATH FOR RIVERA & Ngaio Marsh: A Wreath for Rivera/Final Curtain/Died in the Wool/Colour Scheme.