Enter a Murderer [Hardcover]

Ngaio Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1980

Alleyn's friend, Nigel, stood near the centre of the stage. He had moved forward towards the wings, when a voice warned him to look out. An instant later, Inspector Alleyn hurled himself at Nigel, driving him backwards and out of the way of a falling object.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

"It's time to start comparing Christine to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (September 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088411483X
• ISBN-13: 978-0884114833
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars - Not my favorite by Marsh, April 9, 2009

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enter A Murderer (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

First Sentence: On May 25th Arthur Surbonadier, whose real name was Arthur Simes, went to visit his uncle, Jacob Saint, whose real name was Jacob Simes.

When Inspector Roderick Alleyn accepts an invitation to the theater from his friend, newspaper journalist Nigen Bathgate, he doesn't expect to be witness to a murder. During a scene in the play, actors Arthur Surbonadier and Felix Gardner struggle over a gun.

The gun had been loaded by Arthur but, in the struggle, fired by Felix and Arthur dies. Unfortunately, the planned blanks were live and the stage death is real. The question is, was it murder or suicide? Who exchanged out the blanks?

It is a delight to read Ngaio Marsh right from the first page. It is a wonderful period; during the Industrial Revolution and between the wars. Police inspectors were highly educated; in this case an Oxford man. I always love the literary and historical references Alleyn uses in his conversations.

Even for the period, however, the dialogue does seem a bit stilted to me. I am always amused by Alleyn's irreverence and apparent facetious manner. The lack of expletives is refreshing: "Props uttered a few well-chosen and highly illuminating words. "He was" were the only two of them that were printable." I was also amused when a character would be mentioned but you were immediately advised that character was not germane to the story.

In today's world, you would never find a detective using a journalist to do their investigative work but a confrontation between Alleyn and Bathgate was effective in legitimizing their working together.

It is plot that drove the story; who did it, how and why? It is a bit frustrating knowing that the author holds back information from the reader until the final confrontation.

Nonetheless, I always enjoy rereading the Golden Age authors and Marsh in particular.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This series is developing nicely..., January 31, 2011

By 

Angela Wolf "bookangel" (Hamburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enter A Murderer (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is book #2 in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn mysteries. Alleyn and his journalist friend Nigel Bathgate (who is his Watson) go to the theater, where a performer is shot with real bullets instead of blanks. Alleyn's job is complicated since most of the suspects are actors...how does he know who is telling him the truth?

I figured out the murderer early, which is usually not a good thing. But the plot kept my interest til the end. I'm also starting to bond with the main characters - more so than the first book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but the plot is a bit similar to Death at the Bar, June 12, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Enter a Murderer (Hardcover)

While I enjoyed _Enter a Murderer_, I found the plot a bit similar to _Death at the Bar_. If I hadn't first read _Death at the Bar_ this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, as both plots are rather clever - it's just unfortunate that they're clever in the same way. I also didn't like Inspector Alleyn as much in this book - granted he was investigating a murder that takes place amongst theatrical people, but still, he came off as a bit overdone at times. At any rate, _Enter a Murderer_ was quite entertaining - Marsh definitely starts to plumb the depths in terms of a murderer's psychology, and the whole set up, with the murder taking place on stage in full-view of an audience (talk about witnesses!) was a really neat idea.