Man Lay Dead

James Saxon gives a royal send-off to Ngaio Marsh's very first Roderick Alleyn mystery, originally published in 1934. Russian spy rings could be dealt with then as somehow detached from anything Soviet, no sound Englishman need be suspected of association with the rather laughable group, and, wel,l to say more would be revealing too much. Nothing else about the book is dated since it is in the classic mold as it was being modified by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Margery Allingham, among the fine "British" practitioners. I enjoyed reading this fledgling Marsh effort, written ten years previous to my first acquaintanceship with Alley,n which occurred during WW2 through Colour Scheme. I should think this archetypal country house mystery would be required listening for any Marsh fan since, in addition to meeting Alleyn for the first time, we also get to meet the quite young and naive reporter, Bathgate, portrayed as few reporters have been in mystery stories. New Marsh readers will not be quite as enthralled, as the villain of the piece is not entirely unpredictable and the Russian element is more a diversion than an intrinsic element of the plot. Still and all, it is an admirable first effort which is, as I have pointed out, given a first rate performance by the expert James Saxon. It should be an enjoyable few hours for any classic mystery fan, although not up to the standard Marsh later set for her works.

This 1934 entry pretty much has it all... a large English manorial estate, a weekend party where "The Murder Game" is being played out, a Russian doctor whose specialty is ancient weapons, and of course, a murder. Inspector Roderick Alleyn is called in when a man, who was the recent recipient of an ancient and valuable Russian knife, is murdered. And his good friend was a weapons collector who wanted the knife at all costs. But another weekend guest, a quirky Russian doctor, desires the knife for yet another reason: it's morally property of an ancient (and dangerous) Russian Secret Society. There was also some hanky-panky going on between the victim and another man's wife, the jealous husband and the victim's mistress both being guests at the scene and they thus become murder suspects. In any event, said knife becomes an effective murder weapon as this elite group plays "The Murder Game". A young investigative reporter (who's there as a guest) also becomes a suspect but ends up helping Inspector Alleyn to solve the crime. There is also a sub-plot concerning the covert and nefarious activities of the Russian Secret Society in England. This is a good one -- VERY cozy! My highest recommendation.

This is a book which is part of one of my favorite series. Ngaio Marsh is an excellent writer. I always enjoy her books.

In 1934 Ngaio Marsh gave us the first of a series which for lovers of the English cozy deserves to be known better than I think it is. This, the first in the series gets things off to a great start. True, this may not be Ms. Marsh's best crafted pure mystery; she got better with time and the plot here is so much a paradigm for the genre that it is at least now a cliche. But Roderick Alleyn arrives on the scene as an interesting and believable centerpiece with enough of an enigma about him to make us want to know more. I have read a half dozen others before coming to this one but wish I had started here.

This, Ngaios first novel( although it is the second i've read after "Death at the Dolphin", which is not as good) has to be the best she's written,I read it in one sitting, which must merit praise. She certainly ranks with Christie as one of the Golden ages best novelists. I certainly look forward to reading many more by her and hope that they are all up to this standard. She keeps you guessing right to the end. I recommened this novel to all who love cozy, classic, detective stories.