Ngaio Marsh

A Shakespearean actor shuffles off his mortal coil in this "skillfully wrought" country-house mystery (The New York Times). Sir Henry Ancred, a celebrated Shakespearean actor, has arranged to have his portrait painted by Agatha Troy, wife of Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But when Ancred is killed at his own birthday party, leaving behind a family full of suspects, Troy's work ends and Inspector Alleyn's begins ...

In Death in Ecstasy, Ngaio Marsh presents a thrilling mystery set within an unconventional religious cult, where Inspector Roderick Alleyn finds himself entangled in a case filled with deception, secrecy, and deadly intentions. The story unfolds when a young woman named Cara Quayne dies suddenly during a mysterious ceremony at the House of the Sacred Flame. Her death appears to be poisoning, but the circumstances are suspicious, and each member of...

Superintendent Alleyn's old school chum, nicknamed the "Boomer," has become the president of the newly emerged African nation of Ng'ombwana, newly emerged in the wake of colonialism. Old school ties being what they are, his friend-making an official visit to London-insists that Alleyn handle his security, rather than Her Majesty's Special Branch. The Special Branch is not best pleased about this, as the Boomer is known to have some very deadly enemies,...

Ricky Alleyn, son of the renowned police detective Roderick Alleyn, has taken himself to a secluded island to write a novel. Or think about writing a novel. Or look for distractions so he can avoid writing a novel. The distractions abound, mostly in the form of colorful local characters, so all is beer and skittles until Ricky stumbles across a murder and then gets himself kidnapped. Naturally his father rushes to the island to save the day ...

Inspector Alleyn just wants to write a letter to his wife, but World War II, for one, keeps intruding. It's war-work, after all, that has brought Alleyn to this seedy hospital in New Zealand's hinterlands, and it's the war that has left the hospital swimming in convalescing soldiers - noisy, often drunk, and always over-interested in the nurses. Nor is the weather helping. A storm has killed the electrical power, leaving Alleyn, the soldiers, the...

Upper Quintern is the sort of Little English Village that is home mostly to the very rich and the servants who make their lives delightful. But Sybil Foster's life is not delightful; exhausted from her various family stresses-- a daughter, for instance, who wants to marry a man without a title! ? Sybil takes herself off to a local hotel that specializes in soothing shattered nerves. When she's killed, Inspector Alleyn has a real puzzler on his hands....

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...

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is a Scotland Yard detective whose aristocratic breeding gives him access to the elite and their crimes. This second set of elegant mysteries contains four episodes.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is a Scotland Yard detective whose aristocratic breeding gives him access to the elite and their crimes. This second set of elegant mysteries contains four episodes.

Troy has a commission to paint a birthday portrait of the famous actor Sir Henry Ancred at his country estate, Ancreton Manor. She finds the volatile Sir Henry agitated and ill, surrounded by his eccentric and equally dramatic family. A sudden, suspicious death at the manor leads Troy to call in Alleyn to investigate. He finds a tale of anonymous letters and bitter arguments over the dead man's will, lending credence to Troy's suspicions.