Artists in Crime

By Ngaio Marsh

Book Overview

In the movies, it's known as a "meet cute." But for Inspector Alleyn and Miss Agatha Troy, it's more like irritation: On the ship back to England, she finds him tedious and dull; he thinks she's a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312963599
• ISBN13: 9780312963590
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A consumate teller of tales

I generally don't read much narrative prose, but I do enjoy a good murder mystery, especially of the old "who dunnit" genre. This is certainly one of those. Marsh is a superb teller of tales, creating colorful characters with a greater sense of depth and motivation than does Christie, with whom she was contemporary. She shares with Christie that unfailable ability to devise an unusual end for the victim and a strict adherence to the "rules" of genre--they don't cheat by some manipulation of their plot to make it virtually impossible to find the solution--something about which the writers of the Ellery Queen series, for instance, were not always scrupulous. I find myself satisfied at the end that I was truely fooled, not simply bamboozled, when I read Marsh, and this book was no exception. I also find that I learn something from Marsh: information about social attitudes--some of those expressed in the 30's sounded very familiar--about the theater, about the world in general. This one was especially satisfying in that I had a small bit of arcane knowledge at my disposal that helped me solve the mystery. Instead of feeling the solution was too easy, I could congratulate myself on being aware of oddities and of having a broad background of experiences and knowledge. For the reader who enjoys a "vacation" and a "trip abroad" and into the past, this is certainly the book for you. I enjoyed my trip; "book" yours!

Artists in Crime

A well written murder mystery. If you love Martha Grimes, you will love Ngaio Marsh. The author throws the reader into the art culture of the 1930's England and adds a murder to capture interest into the book. With careful reading and logic, you care solve the mystery too. If you get confused during the story, Ngaio Marsh places several summaries of the clues within the story. The murder mystery is a delight to read from begining to end.