DescriptionIt was a horrible death: Maurice Questing was lured into a pool of boiling mud and left there to die. Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, far from home on a wartime quest for German agents, knew that any number of people could have killed him: the English exiles he'd hated, the New Zealanders he'd despised, or the Maoris he'd insulted. Even the spies he'd thwarted...if he wasn't a spy himself.
DescriptionDeath on the Air and Other Stories serves both as the perfect introduction to Ngaio Marsh and as a nostalgic journey for the aficionado. It is the only collection of Ngaio Marsh short stories, first published to celebrate her centenary. Those included are: "Roderick Alleyn", "Portrait of Troy", "Death on the Air", "I Can Find My Way Out", "Chapter and Verse: The Little Copplestone Mystery", "The Hand in the Sand", "The Cupid Mirror", "A Fool about Money", "Morepork", "Moonshine", "Evil Liver", and "My Poor Boy".
DescriptionWhen murder upsets the creative tranquility of an artists' colony, Scotland Yard sends in its most famous investigator. And what begins as a routine case turns out to be the most momentous of Roderick Alleyn's career. For before he can corner the killer, his heart is captured by one of the suspects, the flashing-eyed painter Agatha Troy, who has nothing but scorn for the art of detection.
DescriptionA Christmas pageant turns unholy. Holed up at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate for Christmas, Troy Alleyn is to paint the man's portrait and, while she's there, view the Druid Christmas pageant. Along with a pack of eccentric guests, Troy enjoys the festivities, until one of the pageant's players mysteriously disappears into the snowy night. Did the hired help, each a paroled murderer from the nearby prison, have a deadly hand in this Christmas conundrum? Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to join his wife in finding the lost man, and unraveling the glaring truth from the glittering tinsel.
DescriptionThe quiet village of Swevenings seemed an English pastoral paradise, until the savagely beaten body of a lord was found near a tranquil stream. Suddenly, the playground of British bluebloods has been soiled by murder and the lowest sort of intrigue. But if anyone can clean it up, it's the famous Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard.
DescriptionIt was a horrible death - Maurice Questing was lured into a pool of boiling mud and left there to die. Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, far from home on a wartime quest for German agents, knows that any number of people could have killed him: the English exiles he'd hated, the New Zealanders he'd despised, or the Maoris he'd insulted. Even the spies he'd thwarted - if he wasn't a spy himself...
DescriptionA missing Member of Parliament is found dead, pressed in a bale of wool - and a year later Inspector Roderick Alleyn receives a desperate plea involving him in a gruesome war of espionage where he becomes as much the quarry as the hunter.
DescriptionAfter an evening of friendly darts and vintage brandy, a distinguished, although amorous, barrister is in no condition to drive - or walk. The poor fellow's expired, leaving one less lawyer in the world. Everyone in the cozy pub swears that the untimely death was caused by a dart that punctured the victim's finger. But to Inspector Roderick Alleyn, the "accident" was really a case of murder.
DescriptionWho in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people, among them her fellow cast members from a troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others' lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman, and may soon stage a repeat performance.
