Customer Reviews

Surfeit of Lampreys

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I know for a fact that I've read this book at least four times. Once when I was barely pubescent and had no idea that Ngaio Marsh was an important mystery author. Again in my 20's when I seriously started to read Marsh's books (an had forgotten that I'd read Death of a Peer). Once more in my 40's for the heck of it, and now, once again. The best recommendation I can ever make is that this is an immensely re-readable book.

One doesn't read a classic English mystery story for the puzzle, as perplexing as that might be, but for the wonderful settings and characters. Lord Peter, Albert Campion, and Marsh's Roderick Alleyn are all not just great detectives but fascinating people that you would love to have as friends. What makes Marsh especially strong is how much detail she gives to her supporting cast.

The Lampreys are all perfect jewels of the story tellers art. They are the classic eccentric, down on their luck, British nobility. Too busy being noble and sincerely lovable to remember to be practical. They are all charming, and your heart will also go out to Roberta Grey, one of the Lamprey's particular friends.

Other reviewers have gone over the plot, so I'm not going to bore you with details. Suffice it to say you will be alternatively delighted and and horripilated (I think that's the word) as the book moves from light hearted comedy to a rather ghoulish end game. Everything the mystery addict could ever want!

There are many good reasons to read this book. It is one of the novels that helped define the British mystery story doyen. Ngaio Marsh is on of the most important writers in that genre (even if she isn't quite British), and Death of a Peer is certainly one of her best books.

But the real reason to read it is that it is simply very, very good. If you have never read a Marsh book this is a great way to start. If you have, you know what you're missing.

The Lampreys are a family seemingly lifted from one of playwright Noel Coward's most brilliant comedies: they are charming, clever, eccentric, and virtually everyone who encounters them soon falls under their spell. Unfortunately, they are also among the most financially irresponsible aristocrats imaginable, always going broke. Even so, they have always managed to escape the public humiliation of bankruptcy--until, that is, a dubious business partnership explodes around them.

Only one hope stands between the Lampreys and complete disaster: that Lord Charles Lamprey's older brother, Lord Wutherwood, may be enticed to come to the rescue. But Lord Wutherwood is largely immune to the legendary Lamprey family charm--and more than a little miserly--and the mix of eccentricity, family titles, and money proves lethal.

Written on the eve of World War II, many critics regard DEATH OF A PEER (also published as A SURFEIT OF LAMPREYS) as Ngaio Marsh's single finest novel. I think that's arguable, but no matter how you look at, it is certainly one of Marsh's best. Marsh's skill at creating fascinating characters and memorable settings often outstrips her way with a plot--but in this instance the elements balance beautifully, and the result is a pager-turner from start to finish. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer
In Memory of Ellen R. Smith, 1920-2005
Virtuoso Pianist and Good Friend

not by any means your average family. A throw-back to happier times, they are typical, impoverished English peers, through whose fingers money slips like water. They generally don't worry though, since something always comes through and saves them from their latest financial crisis. This time, though, they might be in trouble, if Uncle G., Lord Charles Lamprey's wealthy older brother, decides not to come to their financial rescue. As it happens, he's had enough of pulling the Lamprey fat out of the fire. The Lampreys think they're finished when Uncle G. is murdered in the ghastliest manner, and they gain their inheritance, narrowly averting a financial scandal. The only problem is, did one of them do it? So of course, Inspector Alleyn steps in to get to the bottom of the crime. While I am a general fan of Ngaio Marsh, I think that this is one of her better novels, as she draws a very vivid picture of the large Lamprey family, seen through the eyes of their friend, Roberta Grey. She successfully mixes the aristocracy with witchcraft, facts about New Zealand, and introduces us to a young version of P.C. Lamprey (a minor character that you meet in other novels, chiefly, _Night at the Vulcan_). All in all, an excellent whodunit.

Of the 28 (of 33) Ngaio Marsh books I've read so far, this is my favorite. Surprisingly, editorial critics seem to agree. It concerns the Lampreys, a poor aristocratic family in pre-war England & their friend Robin from New Zealand. As their name (& the cover of this book) implies, they are essentially parasitic but is this just their nature? Chief Inspector Alleyn describes them as: p. 386: "Charming. Irresponsible. Unscrupulous about money. Good-natured. Lazy. Amusing. Enormously popular" & p. 241: "certifiable grotesque." They remind me of both PBS Britcoms (perhaps a parody) & Jane Eyre (mentioned on p. 14).

Besides Alleyn's usual police crew, there's recurring newspaperman Nigel Bathgate. Though his part is less important here than in some of Marsh's other novels, I always find him amusing. While the mystery is clever & difficult to figure out, the writing is awesome--Marsh is a literary mystery writer. This book has two of her very best scenes: starting on p. 227: Alleyn's fantastic interview of 10 year old Mike (who joins the force in a later novel) & on pp. 429-30: Alleyn's discussion of MacBeth w/a Police Constable. Not only are these awesome, but they are both key to solving the mystery. Indeed, the book is MacBeth-like.

Marsh also has other pithy descriptions such as: p. 259: "She's pretty grim even when at her jolliest" & provides very discerning & wise observations: p. 177: Robin from New Zealand of the Lampreys--"I don't know what they are like...I have no knowledge of their reality. I have fitted their words & actions into my own idea of them but my idea may be quite wrong...she began to wonder confusedly if anybody had a complete secret reality or if each layer of thought merely represented the level of someone else's idea of the thinker, p. 387: Alleyn to Bathgate--"It's only fun being friends with a policeman when you're not also friends with his suspects," & Henry Lamprey to Robin (Roberta)--p. 414: "Fashion addles any true conception of beauty. There's something inherently vulgar in fashion." Almost archetypal. A brilliant book.

In the Golden Age of British mystery writing, the Big Three were Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Ngaio Marsh. I've always enjoyed Sayers, though I've always found Christie nearly unreadable. But it baffles me that readers today who (like my wife) own all the works of the first two in paperback reprints and reread them regularly often haven't even heard of Marsh, nor of her protagonist, DCI Roderick "Handsome" Alleyn. And yet, where Lord Peter Wimsey and Miss Marple exist in a sort of cozy fantasy-land, the crimes in Marsh's novels take place in a setting that closely approximates the real world. Alleyn is a real copper who calls in fingerprint and photography experts. The murders he deals with often are horrific in their methods and the victims bleed real blood. And the crimes are solved by intensive investigation and by repeatedly interviewing people, not by depending on spontaneous epiphanies of "the little gray cells."

This one comes about one-third of the way through Marsh's thirty-two novels (all of which feature Alleyn), and I think it's one of her best. The focus is the Lamprey family, consisting of Lord Charles (younger brother and heir of a marquis), his wife, Imogen, and their six children -- and all of them are notable for being absolutely charming when it comes to people and absolutely feckless when it comes to money. They live well because they don't know any other way, though they're frequently teetering on the edge of financial disaster. And yet, somehow, they have lots of friends and admirers. The story opens about 1936 in New Zealand (Marsh was a native-born New Zealander) and introduces not only the Lampreys but Roberta Grey, a very middle-class school chum of Frid (or Frieda) Lamprey, who is caught up inextricably in the family's glamour. Four years later, the family has returned to London and the suddenly orphaned Roberta comes to stay with them for awhile before going off to live with an aunt in Kent. Her arrival coincides with a visit to Lord Charles by his brother, Gabriel, whom Charles (on the brink of bankruptcy, naturally) intends to beg for money. Gabriel is thoroughly unsympathetic, and on the way back down from their top-floor double flat, he's murdered in the lift in a particularly gruesome way. When Alleyn and his crew arrive, the case becomes one of floor plans, time-keeping, and the working out of the movements of the Lampreys, Gabriel and his dotty wife, and the servants of both parties. And all the clues are there if you pay close attention.

But the real pleasures of this book are the extended psychological portraits the author paints of each member of the family -- the somewhat vague Lord Charles; his devotedly maternal wife; his eldest son, Henry, whom the twenty-year-old Roberta is developing serious feelings for; the histrionic Frid, who is studying acting; the teenage twins, Stephen and Colin, who have their own ways of dealing with the world; the chubbily adolescent Patricia, who only wants to know what's happening; and young Michael, whom Alleyn discovers is the best witness of all. Roberta is cast in the role of observer, a pair of outside eyes through whom we may study the dynamics of the family. And then there's Alleyn himself and his close relationship with his protégé, DI Fox, and with journalist Nigel Bathgate, who has become his "Watson." If you want to discover a superior alternative to re-reading Agatha Christie yet again, I strongly recommend Ngaio Marsh.

One thing, though: When this novel appeared in the U.S., the title was changed to _Death of a Peer._ Did the publishers think we Yanks were too ignorant to appreciate the historical reference in the original title? Even though it was seventy years ago, I think I'm insulted. . . .

This book was originally published in 1940 as A Surfeit of Lampreys which was, from my view, a superior title.

The Story: Set in 1938, a youthful native of New Zealand (Roberta Grey) becomes greatly attached to a fun-loving and charming English family, the Lampreys, and chiefly through her visits with them (both in New Zealand and later in London) we get an undiluted and somewhat amusing characterization of this sizeable and eccentric clan. (Marsh's subtle cleverness lands right on the mark here since a "lamprey" is a jawless fish which survives by emulating sort of an oversized leech/parasite.) This noble family tends to be lackadaisical in pecuniary matters and thus, they periodically live close to the financial edge.

Forced over time to sell most of their belongings due to their flamboyant lifestyle, the Lampreys move to a London suite and continue to live by the benefit intermittent windfalls. Ultimately, while facing their worst crisis to date the patriarch, Lord Charles Lamprey, prevails upon his rich and miserly brother, (Gabriel, aka "Uncle G," the Marquis of Wutherwood and Rune, and whose mentally unstable wife has recently taken up witchcraft!), to save them from imminent bankruptcy. It's a futile endeavor as the two brothers break into a major quarrel which is overheard by the many servants and family members at the London apartment. As a result of the squabble "Uncle G" abruptly elects to depart in a huff. Minutes later, while sitting in the lift and waiting for his wife, he receives a dreadfully mortal wound... a meat skewer through the eye and into his brain!

It's up to Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn and Detective-Inspector Fox to glean out the facts of the slaying but the Lampreys are a tightly-knit lot and they fear that one of their own may have been responsible for Uncle G's untimely death. Newspaper reporter Nigel Bathgate, coincidentally a pal to both Alleyn and the Lampreys, is called in by the latter to help in rescuing them from a possible murder charge.

While this work appears to have all the elements of a great cozy murder mystery, it somehow doesn't click to draw the reader in to the story such as avid mystery fans have experienced with The Mysterious Affair at Styles or with The Yellow Room. In fact, Marsh herself has written a number of far superior mysteries to this one, Death at the Bar and False Scent serving as clear examples of such splendid works.

Specifically with the Lampreys, we gain almost too many suspects right off simply due to the large size of the family -- and that's in addition to numerous servants, Uncle G's wife, Roberta, and even a noxious bill collector! This bulwark of a murder tale seems a bit clogged with these suspects and I felt that Marsh just threw in Nigel Bathgate's character, (of A Man Lay Dead fame.) He really doesn't seem to fulfill any worthwhile function in this tale. We also lose touch off-and-on with Roberta throughout the story. She gets pulled in to a love yarn sub-plot which seemed like an afterthought to me.

Don't get me wrong -- this is a nice little murder mystery but so much of the information and so many of the suspects seem retrospectively superfluous. So, in summary, I say read the book but be aware that the late Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) has offered us more than a few better titles than this one.

This book generally is considered Marsh's best mystery, but I dissent. It is more a comedy of manners with an incidental murder. Those who value the puzzle plot most should look elsewhere. BTW, the English title is Surfeit of Lampreys, a much better title than the dreary Death of a Peer. And I agree...a little lamprey goes a looooong way.

It says something about Amazon - I'm not sure what - that I was asked to review this book. That's because I've been waiting for several months and Amazon still has not sent me the book!