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Light Thickens

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"Light Thickens" is Ngaio Marsh's last novel and one of her best. The mystery centers around a production of "Macbeth" at the Dolphin Theatre in London. Most of those involved in the play are superstitious to varying degrees about the bad-luck curse traditionally associated with "Macbeth." Even to say the play's name is considered dangerous, so it's referred to as "the Scots play." During rehearsals someone starts playing gruesome practical jokes. And somebody is sending out anonymous messages about a likable and talented child actor whose father is the Hampstead Chopper, a notorious serial killer confined in the Broadmoor asylum. One night, during a performance attended by Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, a grisly murder involving a ceremonial sword occurs just before the final curtain. If you like traditional British cozies with mostly pleasant characters, you'll probably enjoy this mystery, and if you're also a Shakespeare aficionado, you'll enjoy it even more.

I have enjoyed Ngaio Marsh mysteries in the past, and I am interested in Macbeth, so I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, as a mystery it was disappointing. The lead in to the murder took the first two-thirds of this confusingly over-populated book, with the murder itself almost an afterthought. The plot centered around the production of Macbeth, and not the victim or criminal. I cannot reveal the weakness of the plot without also revealing the ending, but the solution was so excessively convenient that I wound up very frustrated. The identity of both the murderer and the victim seemed largely a matter of coincidence and not of fate.

I enjoyed this Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) entry a great deal, albeit it's not representative of her very best works such as False Scent (Roderick Alleyn Mysteries), which is yet another theatrical murder mystery, also featuring Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn.

Marsh, a New Zealander, was herself a director of theater so in this instance she naturally established an extensive wallpaper of details before she got around to knocking off her victim. I didn't mind this at all since her background for the mystery was so competently conveyed.

The story is essentially that Theater Director Peregrine Jay is putting on a top-notch production of "Macbeth," a play which reputedly brings bad luck to its principals. An apparent Herculean swing by some unknown cast or crew member's huge sword (a "Claymore" which has a difficult Scottish pronunciation and which is additionally said to have powers of its own!) brings the impending fear of doom to a head. And even though Inspector Alleyn was in the audience watching the play when the murder occurred, he still has a tough time sorting this one out.

I think that it would probably have been nice to have had just a little more of Inspector Alleyn and slightly less of the theater director, but it is what it is. I highly recommend this one for any enthusiast of Ngaio Marsh or, for British cozy murder mystery fans in general.

Marsh mysteries frequently involve murders associated with the arts, esp. the theater. This one's about an enactment of Macbeth. She also tends to insert something of her native New Zealand and, indeed, there is an interesting Maori in the play. The majority of this book, her last one, describes the production of the play. I think your reaction to the book will reflect your interest in the details presented prior to the murder. The characters, as well as the description of the intracacies of theater, were IMHO quite interesting and colorful. Of course, Chief Superintendent Alleyn just happens to be in the audience when the murder is committed--not for the 1st time either! The mystery is not particularly satisfying and can, I believe, be solved by the reader with relative ease, but the involvement of the children adds some interest to its unraveling. To the mystery purist, this book may not satisfy, however. But, considering Marsh's matured writing style, it's an easy read and, IMHO, a fun book due to its dramatic descriptions.

Her last book, this enjoyable mystery revolves around a presentation of Macbeth (mostly called "the play" by the superstitious cast who feel there is a curse of sorts attached to any presentation of this work of the Bard). Fascinating characters, notably a weapons master, Gaston Sears, who not only insists on manufacturing a bona fide claymore (he uses the technically accurate term, claidheamh-mor, for the deadly two-handed blade) for use, he also choreographs the fight scene. As the director Peregrine seeks to quell any superstitious nonsense, a series of pranks occur (dummy head showing up in odd places as well as a decapitated rat), the play starts off without a hitch. Sadly, this does not remain the case, and Inspectors Alleyn and Fox must show up later when the dummy head of Macbeth on the claymore turns out to be the REAL head of Dougal Macdougal, who was playing the part. Added to the intrigue is that fact that the criminally insane father of the young actor William actually had beheaded the wife of one of the other actors and was committed to an asylum for life.

The case is finally solved as a result of the young playmates of William's selection of toy soldiers to act out the parts, helping Alleyn to identify who did and how it was done. You'll have to read this well-crafted story to find out, but I can tell you this - BEWARE THE POWER OF THE CLAIDHEAMH-MOR!

Dame Ngaio Marsh is remembered as the author of 32 classic detective novels featuring Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. She was known as one of the four "Queens of Crime" for her monumental contribution to crime fiction in the 1920s and '30s. Crime novels were her bread and butter but her true love was the theater; after spending her early years as an actress she had a huge influence in the development of professional theater in her native New Zealand. Shakespearean productions were her passion.

Light Thickens was her final novel, published in the year of her death, 1982. It has all the hallmarks of the genre while depending for much of its interest on its mise-en-scene: a production of Macbeth at the Dolphin Theater in London. The book opens in the Dolphin where owner Peregrine Jay is assembling his cast for the first meeting. The scene works well in the introduction of the characters and Jay's vision for the production.

Marsh's books generally involve a lot of story before the crime manifests itself, and this one is no exception. The old superstitions about the play's unluckiness weave through the first half of the book as the rehearsals take shape. Stagecraft details are authoritative and fascinating; the costumes are suggestive of clan tartan, the witches are played for maximum evil, the closely choreographed sword fights are rehearsed with huge Scottish claymores to the pounding beat of Verdi's Anvil Chorus.

Since this IS after all a detective novel, it won't spoil your fun if I tell you that there are accidents involving fake dripping heads, culminating in a REAL dripping head on a pike on opening night. Enter Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Investigation. Resolution. Curtain.

There are better detective books by Dame Ngaio Marsh; my own favorite is Clutch of Constables (Roderick Alleyn Mysteries). None does a better job, though, of blending the two fields in which her skill was unquestioned: theater and the crime novel. That's the element that endears Light Thickens to so many readers. A passing knowledge of the Scottish Play may add to your enjoyment but if you don't know it, you can get what you need from Peregrine Jay's production notes. As to the superstition, you'll have to decide for yourself whether you dare to speak the name MACBETH.

Linda Bulger, 2008

This is the first Ngaio Marsh I've bought for my personal library, having read most of the Inspector Lynley series written by Elizabeth George, and I have to say that James Saxon's narration makes this an enjoyable piece of work, so I certainly have plans to purchase more titles in the future!

Book arrived on time, in good condition. I enjoyed it as I have all the Marsh books.

This is the last book written by The Queen of Classic Mystery Ngaio Marsh. I is beautifully written and dramatic.