Died in the Wool

The views of several people are hashed out as to the alibis of all concerned. It is a little slow to start but gets very interesting latter on. I liked the book very much.

This is a beautifully written murder mystery that's also, to some degree, an espionage novel. As per several of her books, New Zealander Marsh places her detective Alleyn in NZ--this time during WW II. Thus, the usual cast of supporting characters such as Inspector Fox are absent as are the local police (except by reference). As in very few of her novels, Alleyn is on his own--but of course he solves the mystery. Similarly, while the mystery is good IMHO, the best part of the book is the writing--esp. the characterizations and the phraseology. The mystery revolves around 1) a dynamic Member of Parliament-- p. 172: "It all hangs on her. The kind of woman she was." 2) her relationships with the people on her sheep station-- p. 238: "Isn't there something unsound in a happiness that fails in the light?" 3) on a remote South Island plateau-- p. 270: "When you pause at midnight in this house, the landscape comes in through the windows & sends something exciting down your spinal column." It's told via individual expositions by the main characters in separate chapters where, of course, one is tempted to jump to logical, but incorrect, conclusions about both the happenings & the people involved. For me, It was a very fast read--and highly enjoyable, perhaps one of her most enjoyable. Unfortunately, I have but one more of Marsh's novels to enjoy. The page #s refer to a March 1945, 270 page Little Brown, Boston edition. This novel is, interestingly, included in a set of 3 by different mystery masters: The Case of the Golddigger's Purse; Died in the Wool; Pearls Before Swine (Detective Book Club) as well as Marsh anthologies: 3 FOR I SHIPPING DIED IN THE WOOL/KILLER DOLPHIN/A WREATH FOR RIVERA & Ngaio Marsh: A Wreath for Rivera/Final Curtain/Died in the Wool/Colour Scheme.

I should probably read a bio on Ngaio Marsh, because I'm interested in knowing if she lived on a sheep farm when growing up in New Zealand - she seems to know an awful lot about wool! At any rate, this is another classic Marsh novel, though I do still miss Fox and co., as is the case with all the Inspector Alleyn novels set in New Zealand. Alleyn is performing War duty for the Special Services branch, when he responds to a call from a house where a Member of Parliament has been found murdered by being encased in a bale of wool on her own sheep farm. While there are household jealousies and inheritances, there is also a question of secret machinery plans being stolen and given to the enemy. As usual, the characters are finely drawn, and the plot superb (not to mention a bit bizarre!).

Yet another enthralling mystery by Marsh... The characters are realistic even their flaws. Died In The Wool- is set in New Zealand during the onset of WWll. A zealous, outspoken,and very popular MP is found dead in a bail of her own wool. The question is the motive. Had she made enemies because of her shrewdness, or was she caught in the middle of international espionage? Inspector Alleyn is brought in. Thanks to emotional and often biased analysis of this formidable woman by her relatives and employees, Alleyn recreates the circumstances that forced her murder.