Roderick Alleyn

In this thrilling yarn, the art of detection gets clouded by desire. It was a bizarre pose for beautiful model Sonia Gluck-and her last. For in the draperies of her couch lay a fatal dagger, and behind her murder lies all the intrigue and acid-etched temperament of an artist's colony. Called in to investigate, Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn thinks this is just another routine case...for now. The model was killed in full view of the entire class, making everyone in it a suspect. Then there's the matter of a second murder. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, before he can corner the killer Alleyn finds his own passions unexpectedly stirred by the feisty painter Agatha Troy-brilliant artist and suspected murderess. And Agatha has nothing but scorn for the art of detection.

It was planned as an act of charity: a new piano for the parish hall, an amusing play to finance the gift. But its execution was doomed when Miss Campanula sat down to play. A chord was struck, a shot rang out, and Miss Campanula was dead. Who in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people, among them her fellow cast members from the troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others' lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman-and may soon stage a repeat performance. This case of sinister infatuation will test the sharp intellect and skill of the brilliant Alleyn.

Even down in New Zealand, war-fueled spy fever is running wild. Near the decaying sulphur springs of Colonel and Mrs. Claire, the strange lights and signals being sent to foreign ships at sea indicate that there's a spy in their midst. Soon an even darker sign appears: a health-seeker with untoward intentions meets his demise in the boiling mud baths. Scotland Yard'sChief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, far from home on a wartime quest for German agents, knows that any number of people could have killed the unpleasant man: the English exiles he'd hated, the New Zealanders he'd despised, or the Maoris he'd insulted. Even the spies he'd thwarted-if he wasn't a spy himself. And when a new arrival appears, one who possesses the cunning of a criminal and the insight of a psychologist, the inspector's interest is piqued. Often regarded as her most interesting book and set on New Zealand's North Island, Ngaio Marsh herself considered this to be her best-written novel.

Murder gets into the act in Ngaio Marsh's wittiest and most readable novel-and aShakespearean actor takes his final bow. Beautiful Troy Alleyn, artist wife of Inspector Alleyn, had been warned about the famed old Shakespearean actor Sir Henry and his eccentric household. But she was not prepared for the acts of malice and mischief that would ensue at his birthday party. Now Sir Henry is dead, after a large and lethal birthday dinner of champagne and crayfish-and after changing his will in favor of his glamorous young fiancé. And Troy is suddenly star witness in one of her husband's most sensational cases. Together, the Alleyns must determine which of the flamboyant characters at Sir Henry's house brought down the final curtain and turned a drawing room farce into tragedy.

Lord Pastern fired his revolver. The figure in the spotlight fell and the coup-de-theatre had become murder. Could Inspector Alleyn believe Pastern had let hatred of his future son-in-law go too far? When Lord Pastern Bagott takes up with the hot music of Breezy Bellair and His Boys, his disapproving wife Cecile has more than usual to be unhappy about. The band's devastatingly handsome but roguish accordionist, Carlos Rivera, has taken a rather intense and mutual interest in her precious daughter, Felicite. So when a bit of stage business goes awry and actually kills him, it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.

En route to a family vacation on the French Riviera, Inspector Roderick Alleyn glimpses from the train a shocking tableau. In a moonlit window, a white-robed figure raises a knife to a woman's shadow. Thus begins his incognito exploration of the Chateau of the Silver Goat, where a jet-set cult's "Way of Life" could spell death for a maiden lady of a certain age-and even for Alleyn's own young son-unless he can unveil its illicit mysteries. This classic mystery thriller combines suspense, drug rings, and human sacrifice with spellbinding results. "[McCaddon's] husky voice is perfect, as usual, and her narration, timing, accents, and tone are faultless…A good tale by Marsh in her prime that will be enjoyed by her fans as well as by fans of Agatha Christie." "[Wanda McCaddon] brings all her storytelling expertise to the complicated plot, managing to keep the numerous characters distinct and identifiable. She ably imparts a suitable accent to the French characters and also conveys a credible portrayal of an Egyptian."

A ritual dance becomes a murderous mambo... The village of South Mardian always observes the winter solstice with an ancient, mystical sword dance, complete with costumed performers. But for one of them, the excitement proves too heady, and his decapitation turns the fertility rite into a pageant of death. Now Inspector Roderick Alleyn must penetrate not only the mysteries of folklore but the secrets and sins of an eccentric group that includes a surly blacksmith, a domineering dowager, and a not-so-simple village idiot. 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. So sit back, draw the curtains, lock the doors, and put yourself in the hands of the Grande Dame of detective novels.

An English manor house on the moors is an ideal setting for a murder-and for one of Ngaio Marsh's classic murder mysteries. The occasion is a Christmas party hosted by Mr. Hilary Bill-Tasman, landed proprietor of Halberds Manor and authority on antiques. Santa Claus is in attendance, played by a highly unpopular servant. When he goes missing after his performance, foul play is immediately suspected. There are a number of unusual characters attending the festivities, several of whom are perfectly logical candidates for murderer-and one of whom will elude the most prescient listener until tracked down by the indefatigable Inspector Roderick Alleyn, whose wife, Troy, innocently involved him in all these sinister goings-on in the first place.

When the president of Ng'ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief Superintendent Alleyn, is called in to try to persuade him otherwise. Alleyn performs his mission so successfully that on the night of the Ng'ombwanan embassy's reception, the house and grounds are stiff with police. However, an assassin does strike, and Alleyn discovers a wealth of suspects in a coterie of ex-colonials residing in the very shadow of the embassy. Fortunately, he has no shortage of help either, from Special Branch to a tribal court-and a small black cat named Lucy Lockett who out-detects them all.

Young Ricky Alleyn has come to the picturesque fishing village of Deep Cove to write. Though the sleepy little town offers few diversions, Ricky manages to find the most distracting one of all: murder. For in a muddy ditch, he sees a dead equestrienne whose last leap was anything but an accident. And when Ricky himself disappears, the case becomes a horse of a different color for his father, Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Legendary novelist Ngaio Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and was named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, during the course of her career. Pull up a chair and get swept away by her brilliant storytelling.

A man dies with his hand on a radio dial. A disguised aristocrat finds murder at the opening night of a play. A cryptogram produces death in an English churchyard. These are just a few of the situations that confront Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn who, with his lovely wife Agatha Troy, charmed his way through more than thirty novels. Many other colorful characters created by Ngaio Marsh appear throughout this collection as well. Death on the Air and Other Stories serves equally as the perfect introduction to Ngaio Marsh and her creation, Inspector Roderick Alleyn, or as a nostalgic journey for their many fans, each story echoing the themes explored in her detective novels. The collection includes ten short stories, a television screenplay for the series, Crown Court, and, as a postscript, a letter written by the author.