Grave Mistake

by Ngaio Marsh

Book Overview

A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday... A bit snobbish and a trifle high-strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact, she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312972970
• ISBN13: 9780312972974
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.3" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Good story, but the ending...3.5 stars

I'm very torn between 3 & 4 stars. I enjoyed the story very much--till the end, esp. the fine characterizations--esp. Verity, the playwright. Alleyn & Fox got a bit more physical in this one too. I did figure out most of it, but the ending left me kind of annoyed, even incredulous. To describe the problem would involve a big spoiler, so I'll refrain, but either the murderer is a psychopath or had an unbelievable psychology IMHO. Still, this was otherwise a quite clever book. It is also available in a nice collection of 5 novels with "Scales of Justice, Death of a Fool, Tied Up in Tinsel, & Photo Finish")--FIVE COMPLETE NOVELS SCALES OF JUSTICE DEATH OF A FOOL TIED UP IN TINSEL GRAVE MISTAKE PHOTO FINISH

A pleasant surprise

I don't know why I've never read any of Marsh's books. Perhaps I expected them to be in the "cosy" style or formulaic. This was not the case, I'm relieved to say. Grave Mistake has some very well-drawn characters, lots of suspects, superior plotting, and a vocabulary that puts a lot of contemporary writers to shame. While the style of speech is somewhat old-fashioned, it does not deter from a thoroughly entertaining book. Marsh was obviously a keen and perceptive observer of human nature and it shows both in the interior thoughts of the characters and in their behavior. While I doubt that I'll go back to the beginning and read the author's complete works, this was a rewarding adventure in reading.Recommended.

A Personal Favorite

Although the solution to the crime becomes increasingly apparent as the novel progresses, GRAVE MISTAKE--along with BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED and DEAD WATER--remains one of my three favorite Marsh novels. Why? Because it is a showcase for Marsh's skill in creating and presenting memorable characters, and this tale of lost treasure and multiple murder not only abounds with them, it is told with unusual wit even for the always witty Marsh.The story concerns the extremely rich Sybil Foster--who is also very much the hypocondriac. But on this occasion she has good reason to feel particularly under the weather: she is about to run afoul of her extremely unattractive step-son by her late first husband, who is determined to find an extremely valuable stamp his father concealed somewhere on the estate shortly before his death. Rather than cope with "Charmless Claude," she takes her self off to Greengages, a private rest home popular with the wealthy seeking a week's relaxion. But instead of relaxation, Sybil finds one crisis after another--and ultimately mysterious death.This is one of Marsh's most brilliantly written novels, dripping with atmosphere, and of the many memorable portraits it offers the character Verity Preston--Sybil's sometime friend--is Marsh writing at the top of her skill. As noted above, savvy readers will spot the killer before Inspector Allen does, but GRAVE MISTAKE is so beautifully done that even those who do figure it out shouldn't mind in the least. A personal favorite, and strongly recommended.

Grave-ly good

Perhaps this one is a bit generic for most people, but it is one of her best from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. A good, solid mystery plot and a nice English village setting.

Much better than i anticipated.

First Marsh i've read in, oh, probably twentyfive years. I recall being a little unimpressed previously, which must be why i never went back to her. I am here to confirm, after this book, that i made a grave mistake in writing her off. More reviews of her work will doubtless feature here in the future, as i shall continue to read her. Like P.D. James, Marsh has the ability to create believable, likable or unlikable characters, and put them into situations in which they act and react properly. Also like James, she can create a nice twist in the tale. The mystery here is not as hard to penetrate as, for example, Christie at the height of her powers; nevertheless, it is terribly satisfying to know that i had figured out, along with Alleyn and Fox ~ the policemen involved ~ just who had killed whom and why. I love books in which the characters make me stop reading for a moment or two because i'm frustrated with what they've said or done, because it's so true and so annoying. This book made me do that several times, with several of the characters ~ Sybil Foster, the victim, Dr. Schramm, the man with a past ~ and this involuntary action is a tribute to the writing.