Scales of Justice

Despite the difficulties for contemporary Americans with Marsh's use of the British language (i.e. lots of odd & rather opaque & perhaps dated colloquialisms), she definitely has a way with words. The title is a pun on fish scales since trout are prominent & important to the storyline--and the solution to the mystery. I liked her droll humor in "doling out the lesser stimulants of courtship in positively homeopathic doses...Mrs. Cartarette swung, as Lady Lacklander angrily notices, everything that a woman could swing" & Phinn's description of portly Lady Lacklander: "Lady Brobdignagia [from Swift], the Dowager Tun, the Mammoth Matriarch." I found the book clever and quite enjoyable. Better than several of Marsh's other works--though, perhaps not her best. The murder method is unusual, the red herrings many, the usual cast of police characters (Alleyn, Fox, etc.), but the characterizations were IMHO a bit extreme--somewhat one-dimensional for some, except for the scene between Mrs. C. & the nurse. This novel is included in some multi-novel books such as FIVE COMPLETE NOVELS SCALES OF JUSTICE DEATH OF A FOOL TIED UP IN TINSEL GRAVE MISTAKE PHOTO FINISH. Enjoy!

Swevenings is a post card pretty little English village. The cottages are, with two known exceptions, tidy. The villagers are happy and like things just the way they are. Lord and Lady Lacklander are respected and admired. Then, suddenly after the death of the old lord things get messy. It turns out that Swevenings may look like heaven but is actually hiding a very painful and ugly secret, one that the old lord wanted exposed and one that costs his best friend his life. You have the sensible nurse, the village drunk, the not crazy at all eccentric, the grande dame, the cloying young lovers and of course the bleached blonde outsider. Into this mix comes our handsome detective. He's not a flashy genius or a talented amateur. He's a cop, albeit one with a distinguished family background. His humor is gentle, his habits are unremarkable. He just keeps plugging away until he solves this case becuase it's his job and becuase the crime offends his sense of decency. Scales of Justice is classic example of the cozy msystery and it pretty much unrolls the way you'd expect it to. By the end of the book things have been set right and life in Swevenings goes back to the bland sweetness of before. It's a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

English countryside, aristocratic detective, quirky characters, humor -- what more does one want. This was the first Inspector Alleyn I've read and the best so far.