A Man Lay Dead
Ratings2
Average rating3
15
Ratings2
Average rating3
Crime comes to a country house: “Any Ngaio Marsh story is certain to be Grade A, and this one is no exception.” —The New York Times This classic from the Golden Age of British mystery opens during a country-house party between the two world wars—servants bustling, gin flowing, the gentlemen in dinner jackets, the ladies all slink and smolder. Even more delicious: The host, Sir Hubert Handesley, has invented a new and especially exciting version of that beloved parlor entertainment, The Murder Game . . . “It’s time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around.” —New York Magazine “A peerless practitioner of the slightly surreal, English-village comedy-mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
I finally finished my Jólabókaflóð gift from last year! I'm not sure what took me so long - I guess there is a double challenge at the start of the story. First, we're introduced to a whole cast of characters (of course - you need a pool of suspects!) and it's tricky keeping them straight at the beginning. Second, this is chock full of contemporary slang and cultural references, so it can be downright baffling at times.
Still, this is a great classic murder mystery that almost out-Christies Christie. A bunch of people congregate in an English country manor to play “The Murder Game,” and of course someone actually gets murdered. It follows all the beats, but does a pretty good job of it. It definitely had me paranoid about who done it! And there are some fun side-notes like the gardener's daughter, and Inspector Alleyn himself is intriguing - sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, and sometime and verging on sociopathic in his dedication to solving the crime. If I read more Ngaio March, it will be to find out more about him.
