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Roderick Alleyn #9
Death at the Bar
A classic Ngaio Marsh novel in which a game of darts in an English pub has gruesome consequences.
At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of playing darts, but on this occasion an experiment takes the place of the usual game – a fatal experiment which calls for investigation.
A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play their parts in the unravelling of the problem…
At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of playing darts, but on this occasion an experiment takes the place of the usual game – a fatal experiment which calls for investigation.
A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play their parts in the unravelling of the problem…
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1940
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1003 people want to read
About the author
Ngaio Marsh
198 books819 followersDame Ngaio Marsh, born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900, but she was born in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 314 reviews
September 3, 2018
Two of my bookgroups on Goodreads are reading Ngaio Marsh this month—I read the first, a later title in the series, earlier on (technically, last month), and now, this one. Death at the Bar, published in 1939, is ninth in the Roderick Alleyn series by Marsh, and is also a reread for me. Compared to Clutch of Constables, the other title I read, this one has more the ordinary format (disliked chap gets killed, police called in, investigates, denouement), and while I liked the different format in Constables, this one for me was the more interesting read. In this one, London Barrister, Luke Watchman heads down to South Devon for a holiday with his cousin, actor Sebastian Parrish, and friend, artist Norman Cubitt. But while the innkeeper and publican Abel Pomeroy is welcoming, with other guests at the inn and local inhabitants, Watchman’s relations aren’t as cordial. While they don’t exactly wish him away, he manages to pick a fight or two and rub some of them the wrong way. There are tensions between others too, some over politics, and perhaps other more personal issues as well. A dart game on the second evening of Watchman’s visit goes very wrong, and one participant drops dead. A mystery is thus at hand, and when the local police can’t quite handle the matter, Alleyn and with him, Fox are called in.
Since I read the other Marsh book so close to this one, I can’t help comparing the two, and this one as I said stood out as the better one for me on more than one count. I found the mystery itself had much more meat to it—I certainly did not guess whodunit (having read it ages ago I didn’t remember it at all), and even on one of the side plots while I guessed somewhat in the right direction, the final answer was not what I thought but something very different. But another aspect was pretty much guessable not from the book itself but from the blurb at the back which was a little annoying (my ed. Was a 1975 Fontana ed.) But very satisfying as a mystery. Again the characters too I thought seem more strongly developed and interesting to read about, each with their secrets, insecurities, and stories. Another standout in this book for me were the touches of humour including Marsh poking fun at herself. She writes,
‘Your novelist too has passed the halcyon days when he could ignore routine. He reads books about Scotland Yard, he swots up police manuals. He knows that routine is deadly dull and hopelessly poor material for a thriller; so, like a wise potboiler, he compromises, He heads one chapter “Routine”, dismisses six weeks of drudgery in as many phrases, cuts the cackle, and gets to the ‘osses.’
This is an observation by Alleyn, in a chapter titled, what else, but ‘Routine’! There’s also another fun instance, involving the Local PC, Oates, but that I’ll leave to you to read when you read the book. All in all, this was a very enjoyable mystery read for me!
Since I read the other Marsh book so close to this one, I can’t help comparing the two, and this one as I said stood out as the better one for me on more than one count. I found the mystery itself had much more meat to it—I certainly did not guess whodunit (having read it ages ago I didn’t remember it at all), and even on one of the side plots while I guessed somewhat in the right direction, the final answer was not what I thought but something very different. But another aspect was pretty much guessable not from the book itself but from the blurb at the back which was a little annoying (my ed. Was a 1975 Fontana ed.) But very satisfying as a mystery. Again the characters too I thought seem more strongly developed and interesting to read about, each with their secrets, insecurities, and stories. Another standout in this book for me were the touches of humour including Marsh poking fun at herself. She writes,
‘Your novelist too has passed the halcyon days when he could ignore routine. He reads books about Scotland Yard, he swots up police manuals. He knows that routine is deadly dull and hopelessly poor material for a thriller; so, like a wise potboiler, he compromises, He heads one chapter “Routine”, dismisses six weeks of drudgery in as many phrases, cuts the cackle, and gets to the ‘osses.’
This is an observation by Alleyn, in a chapter titled, what else, but ‘Routine’! There’s also another fun instance, involving the Local PC, Oates, but that I’ll leave to you to read when you read the book. All in all, this was a very enjoyable mystery read for me!
March 7, 2018
EXCERPT: probably the alarming entrance into this village has saved it from becoming another Clovelly or Polpero. Ladies with 'ye olde shoppe' ambitions would hesitate to drive through Coombe Tunnel and very large cars are unable to do so. Moreover, the village is not too picturesque. It is merely a group of houses whose whitewash is tarnished by the sea. There are no secret stairs in any of them, no ghosts walk Ottercombe Steps, no smugglers cave looks out from Coombe Rock. For all that, the place has a history of grog-running and wrecking. There is a story of a fight in the tunnel between excisemen and the men of Coombe, and there are traces of the gate that closed the tunnel every night at sunset. The whole of Ottercombe is the property of an irascible eccentric who keeps the houses in good repair, won't let one of them to a strange shopkeeper and breathes venom on the word 'publicity'. If a stranger cares to stay in Ottercombe he must put up at the Plume of Feathers, where Abel Pomeroy has four guest rooms, and Mrs Ives does the housekeeping and cooking. If the Coombe men like him, they will take him out in their boats and play darts with him in the evening. He may walk around the cliffs, fish off the rocks, or drive seven miles to Islington where there is a golf course and a three-star hotel. These are the amenities of Ottercombe.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: A classic Ngaio Marsh novel in which a game of darts in an English pub has gruesome consequences.
At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of playing darts, but on this occasion an experiment takes the place of the usual game – a fatal experiment which calls for investigation.
A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play their parts in the unravelling of the problem…
MY THOUGHTS: I am embarrassed to admit that this is the first book I have read by New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh, and I was quite surprised to find it set in South Devon rather than in New Zealand. I am also ashamed to admit that I knew very little about this author, and had to look her up.
Marsh has written an atmospheric 'whodunit', a little reminiscent of Christie's work, but somewhat 'fuller' in both character and atmosphere. I like that her main character, Detective Roderick Alleyn, doesn't exhibit all the idiosyncrasies and affectations so commonly found in lead characters of this era. He is a relatively normal, if somewhat laid back, character with keen powers of observation.
There is plenty of misdirection, and red herrings abound in Death at the Bar. It kept my brain whirring and my interest levels high. I have found a new alternative to re-rereading Christie and Ngaio Marsh has a new fan.
I listened to Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh, narrated by Nadia May and published by Blackstone Audio, via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
ABOUT THIS BOOK: A classic Ngaio Marsh novel in which a game of darts in an English pub has gruesome consequences.
At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of playing darts, but on this occasion an experiment takes the place of the usual game – a fatal experiment which calls for investigation.
A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play their parts in the unravelling of the problem…
MY THOUGHTS: I am embarrassed to admit that this is the first book I have read by New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh, and I was quite surprised to find it set in South Devon rather than in New Zealand. I am also ashamed to admit that I knew very little about this author, and had to look her up.
Marsh has written an atmospheric 'whodunit', a little reminiscent of Christie's work, but somewhat 'fuller' in both character and atmosphere. I like that her main character, Detective Roderick Alleyn, doesn't exhibit all the idiosyncrasies and affectations so commonly found in lead characters of this era. He is a relatively normal, if somewhat laid back, character with keen powers of observation.
There is plenty of misdirection, and red herrings abound in Death at the Bar. It kept my brain whirring and my interest levels high. I have found a new alternative to re-rereading Christie and Ngaio Marsh has a new fan.
I listened to Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh, narrated by Nadia May and published by Blackstone Audio, via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
June 7, 2021
Well I deducted the wrong person for the murder. A barrister called Watchman goes to a town in Devon with his cousin Parish and friend Cubitt. He has a collision with his car with a lodger at the pub he is staying in called Robert Legge.
Watchman while playing darts suddenly dies. Rat poison, everyone except the publican had a motive. The village is very atmospheric with the coastal landscape the beautiful Decima, eccentric Miss Darragh, Wil the landlords son and Legge the dodgy treasurer with something to hide.
Lots of clues and suspects with red herrings. Sometimes its the most obvious suspect with the biggest motive.
Watchman while playing darts suddenly dies. Rat poison, everyone except the publican had a motive. The village is very atmospheric with the coastal landscape the beautiful Decima, eccentric Miss Darragh, Wil the landlords son and Legge the dodgy treasurer with something to hide.
Lots of clues and suspects with red herrings. Sometimes its the most obvious suspect with the biggest motive.
June 30, 2024
I am just discovering these early Inspector Alleyn mysteries... Classic drawing room mystery without the drawing room and an interesting ending.
(Reviewed 4-14-11)
(Reviewed 4-14-11)
August 26, 2018
The ninth Roderick Alleyn mystery sees three friends meet up for a holiday in Devon. Luke Watchman is a top London barrister, his cousin, Sebastian Parrish an actor and Norman Cubitt an artist. The three men spent last year staying at the Plume of Feathers, whose landlord is the friendly Abel Pomeroy; aided by his son, Will, who runs, ‘The Left Group,’ a political group with more members than you would expect in the small fishing village of Ottercombe.
Watchman is looking forward to the holiday and to seeing the divine, Decima Moore again. His romantic feelings for Decima have not changed, but she is now involved with Will. His initial enthusiasm for the trip is also dented, literally, by a run in on the way there with another car. The driver, Robert Legge, is staying at the Plumb of Feathers and is very much a member of the local community – acting as Treasurer for Will’s group and excelling at darts in the bar. When he endeavours to try out a dart trick, it ends in a bizarre tragedy and Alleyn and Fox are brought in to investigate a murder. Alleyn has to wade through a cast of suspects and motives, to get to the truth, in a case which sees both him, and his faithful, ‘Foxkins,’ come into personal danger.
This is a good addition to the series so far. I would not say it is one of my favourites, but it is a good, well-written, mystery, with a good cast of characters and a good setting. I enjoyed the insights into the relationship between Alleyn and Fox and the greater role that the loyal Fox had in the novel. Overall, I am enjoying this series very much and look forward to reading on.
Watchman is looking forward to the holiday and to seeing the divine, Decima Moore again. His romantic feelings for Decima have not changed, but she is now involved with Will. His initial enthusiasm for the trip is also dented, literally, by a run in on the way there with another car. The driver, Robert Legge, is staying at the Plumb of Feathers and is very much a member of the local community – acting as Treasurer for Will’s group and excelling at darts in the bar. When he endeavours to try out a dart trick, it ends in a bizarre tragedy and Alleyn and Fox are brought in to investigate a murder. Alleyn has to wade through a cast of suspects and motives, to get to the truth, in a case which sees both him, and his faithful, ‘Foxkins,’ come into personal danger.
This is a good addition to the series so far. I would not say it is one of my favourites, but it is a good, well-written, mystery, with a good cast of characters and a good setting. I enjoyed the insights into the relationship between Alleyn and Fox and the greater role that the loyal Fox had in the novel. Overall, I am enjoying this series very much and look forward to reading on.
May 30, 2016
I don’t quite understand people who like Marsh’s books as much as, say, Dorothy L. Sayers’. Alleyn just doesn’t have the same depth of characterisation as Wimsey, and while the character of Troy is quite fun, she doesn’t seem to have come into it as much as Harriet. It is true that Wimsey books go buy without Harriet, though usually there’s Parker and Bunter, the Dowager Duchess and plenty of other supporting characters who pop up repeatedly. In these books, it seems to often be just Alleyn and Fox, and the possibilities of that partnership are limited.
The mystery itself is… okay. It takes some time to build up a set of characters to theorise about first (though I hope they’re not intended to be likeable as such, because most of them are not), which at least adds a bit of interest; I do like the way crime/mystery stories can be used as a character study. I found the ending ridiculously drawn out; enough red herrings, let’s have the culprit, please.
I think Ngaio Marsh’s books, properly spaced out, will keep me entertained well enough, but I’m probably going to avoid reading them back to back. They’re just too dry, and Alleyn isn’t enough of a person to me.
Originally posted here.
The mystery itself is… okay. It takes some time to build up a set of characters to theorise about first (though I hope they’re not intended to be likeable as such, because most of them are not), which at least adds a bit of interest; I do like the way crime/mystery stories can be used as a character study. I found the ending ridiculously drawn out; enough red herrings, let’s have the culprit, please.
I think Ngaio Marsh’s books, properly spaced out, will keep me entertained well enough, but I’m probably going to avoid reading them back to back. They’re just too dry, and Alleyn isn’t enough of a person to me.
Originally posted here.
June 1, 2021
Death at the Bar is not so much a whodunit as a howdunit. Once you figure out how the murder was committed, you will know who the killer was. I’ll bet you never figure out the how, but of course Inspector Alleyn does. Be prepared for an abrupt conclusion.
March 21, 2017
Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh is a "reread" for me. Reread is in quotes because I actually listened to it this time. Our local library had clear out of all their books on tape about this time last year and I scooped up this 8-cassette rendition read by James Saxon. Saxon, by the way is terrific to listen to. He manages to give all of the characters their own distinct voice (although I think it was a good thing that there were only two ladies--one of whom had a nice Irish brogue). I am not, generally speaking, an audio-book kind of reader. Not that I have anything against them, I just process the books much better in print (particularly on a first go-round). But when faced with a weekend trip in the middle of a read-a-thon I thought listening would be a great way to stay on track for the 'thon. And as mentioned I thoroughly enjoyed Saxon as the reader.
But down to cases: Attorney, Luke Watchman is headed to Devon and the Plume of Feathers pub for an annual holiday with his cousin Sebastian Parish and his friend Noman Cubitt. On the way there he has a minor mishap with another motorist. Watchman jumps out of his car to berate the other man on his driving habits and the driver mutters an apology at him and tries to avoid being seen clearly. Watchman is somewhat mollified, but gets the impression that he might know the other man and that the driver definitely doesn't want to be seen by him.
Watchman arrives at the Feathers and once settled he meets up with Parish and Cubitt in the private bar--where he regales them with the tale of his accident and his impressions of the other man. The other man is none other than Robert Legge--a fellow guest of the pub and a man who has been sitting in a secluded part of the bar. Watchman tries to engage him in conversation, but it is clear that Legge does not want to be sociable.
During the course of the evening it is revealed that Legge is a "masterpiece" with the darts and can do all sorts of tricks with the darts and board--from playing Round the Clock (hitting point sections in order) to a circus-type move where he can outline a person's hand with darts. Watchman doubts his skill--challenging him to repeat exactly a set of dart moves from the previous evening (and losing money on the bet) and then a game of Round the Clock, but shying away from presenting his hand for the circus trick. The next evening Watchman changes his mind and says that if Legge can beat him at Round the Clock again, then he will let Legge do his dart and hand trick with him--he figures the worst that can happen is a prick from the dart and he's gotten a bit of courage from the brandy bottle produced by the proprietor.
He would be wrong...by the end of the night Watchman is dead and a trace of cyanide found on the dart. There was plenty of the stuff about the place--Abel Pomeroy, the pub owner, had been using the deadly poison to dispose of rats. Someone decided to use it to dispose of Watchman. But who? The obvious person is Legge because he threw the dart. But there are several witnesses to swear that he could not possibly have smeared poison on the instrument. When Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Detective Sergeant Fox arrive to assist the local constabulary, they find all sorts of motives lurking about--there's Decima Moore and her boyfriend, Will Pomeroy who differ on politics and who don't appreciate Watchman's attentions to the lovely Decima; Parish and Cubitt are legatees under Watchman's will; and there are a couple of people who had dealings with Watchman in court. The difficulty is that those with the most motive seem to have the least opportunity. Fox will get a taste of poison himself (and be saved by Alleyn) before they can bring the crime home to the culprit.
The last time I read this one Marsh fooled me. She did it again and (this is embarrassing) I'm pretty sure she fooled me in the same way. I latched onto a particular character and, just as one of the characters kept bleating on about how Abel Pomeroy has tried to poison them all (he hasn't), I could not get that character out of my head as the villain of the piece. Marsh managed to force the clues on me and I still missed them. I thoroughly enjoyed having the wool pulled over my eyes. Four stars.
First published at my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
But down to cases: Attorney, Luke Watchman is headed to Devon and the Plume of Feathers pub for an annual holiday with his cousin Sebastian Parish and his friend Noman Cubitt. On the way there he has a minor mishap with another motorist. Watchman jumps out of his car to berate the other man on his driving habits and the driver mutters an apology at him and tries to avoid being seen clearly. Watchman is somewhat mollified, but gets the impression that he might know the other man and that the driver definitely doesn't want to be seen by him.
Watchman arrives at the Feathers and once settled he meets up with Parish and Cubitt in the private bar--where he regales them with the tale of his accident and his impressions of the other man. The other man is none other than Robert Legge--a fellow guest of the pub and a man who has been sitting in a secluded part of the bar. Watchman tries to engage him in conversation, but it is clear that Legge does not want to be sociable.
During the course of the evening it is revealed that Legge is a "masterpiece" with the darts and can do all sorts of tricks with the darts and board--from playing Round the Clock (hitting point sections in order) to a circus-type move where he can outline a person's hand with darts. Watchman doubts his skill--challenging him to repeat exactly a set of dart moves from the previous evening (and losing money on the bet) and then a game of Round the Clock, but shying away from presenting his hand for the circus trick. The next evening Watchman changes his mind and says that if Legge can beat him at Round the Clock again, then he will let Legge do his dart and hand trick with him--he figures the worst that can happen is a prick from the dart and he's gotten a bit of courage from the brandy bottle produced by the proprietor.
He would be wrong...by the end of the night Watchman is dead and a trace of cyanide found on the dart. There was plenty of the stuff about the place--Abel Pomeroy, the pub owner, had been using the deadly poison to dispose of rats. Someone decided to use it to dispose of Watchman. But who? The obvious person is Legge because he threw the dart. But there are several witnesses to swear that he could not possibly have smeared poison on the instrument. When Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Detective Sergeant Fox arrive to assist the local constabulary, they find all sorts of motives lurking about--there's Decima Moore and her boyfriend, Will Pomeroy who differ on politics and who don't appreciate Watchman's attentions to the lovely Decima; Parish and Cubitt are legatees under Watchman's will; and there are a couple of people who had dealings with Watchman in court. The difficulty is that those with the most motive seem to have the least opportunity. Fox will get a taste of poison himself (and be saved by Alleyn) before they can bring the crime home to the culprit.
The last time I read this one Marsh fooled me. She did it again and (this is embarrassing) I'm pretty sure she fooled me in the same way. I latched onto a particular character and, just as one of the characters kept bleating on about how Abel Pomeroy has tried to poison them all (he hasn't), I could not get that character out of my head as the villain of the piece. Marsh managed to force the clues on me and I still missed them. I thoroughly enjoyed having the wool pulled over my eyes. Four stars.
First published at my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
September 6, 2018
Alleyn investigates a murder at the Plume of Feathers, a Devon pub. The murder happens during a game of darts, and all those in the bar come under suspicion. Alleyn and Fox arrive from Scotland Yard to quiz the suspects and follow up their stories.
Although I liked the country pub setting, this mystery took an age to get going and I never really cared who did it. The plot is clever and skilfully put together, and the Alleyn and Fox relationship continues to work well. However, this didn't really appeal to me and I didn't find it at all memorable.
Although I liked the country pub setting, this mystery took an age to get going and I never really cared who did it. The plot is clever and skilfully put together, and the Alleyn and Fox relationship continues to work well. However, this didn't really appeal to me and I didn't find it at all memorable.
March 9, 2020
B+:
I'm coming around to Marsh as my favourite of the supposed four "crime queens". Although she doesn't quite have the same ability as Christie to pull the rug completely from under you (indeed I guess the culprit half the time, although not on this occasion), she plays fair with the reader, and her methods of murder are totally original. Books #6-#10 of the Alleyn series (I haven't read past there) sustain a high level of quality. This particular installment features a typically diverting mix of romance, politics, and (less typically) pub darts! Great fun.
I'm coming around to Marsh as my favourite of the supposed four "crime queens". Although she doesn't quite have the same ability as Christie to pull the rug completely from under you (indeed I guess the culprit half the time, although not on this occasion), she plays fair with the reader, and her methods of murder are totally original. Books #6-#10 of the Alleyn series (I haven't read past there) sustain a high level of quality. This particular installment features a typically diverting mix of romance, politics, and (less typically) pub darts! Great fun.
February 6, 2017
While I knew that I had read this entry in the Inspector Alleyn series, as I have read all the Marsh books on my shelves at some point in the past 35 years, when I saw the audiobook on Hoopla & read the blurb it didn't sound familiar. Once I started listening though, it came back to me. Ironically, I spent about 2/3 of my time listening to this mystery sure I knew who the murderer was only to find it was someone else!
Wanda McCaddon does an excellent narration and this Golden Age mystery stands up to the test of time well imo.
Wanda McCaddon does an excellent narration and this Golden Age mystery stands up to the test of time well imo.
December 17, 2020
A British crime novelist that I had not read before (I say read, but I listened to the audio book).
Early on the format of this book caught my interest. The first few chapters introduced all the suspects, some of their backgrounds and some potential motives. All of this before the actual crime had been committed. Normally we only find out about the suspects after the crime and the investigation is underway.
Characters were pretty varied and interesting. Plot wise this kept me guessing up until the end. Although I had a fair idea of where some of the clues were going I couldn't fit them all together to make a conclusion to who the murderer was.
A decent tale and I am sure I will read more of this author.
Note: The audio version I listened to was a new rendition by James Saxon, who did a great job with all the accents. There is an older version available narrated by some lady.
Early on the format of this book caught my interest. The first few chapters introduced all the suspects, some of their backgrounds and some potential motives. All of this before the actual crime had been committed. Normally we only find out about the suspects after the crime and the investigation is underway.
Characters were pretty varied and interesting. Plot wise this kept me guessing up until the end. Although I had a fair idea of where some of the clues were going I couldn't fit them all together to make a conclusion to who the murderer was.
A decent tale and I am sure I will read more of this author.
Note: The audio version I listened to was a new rendition by James Saxon, who did a great job with all the accents. There is an older version available narrated by some lady.
March 22, 2020
Within the context I love Ngaio Marsh, I FRICKIN LOVED Death at the Bar.
It's absolute perfection: It takes place in a pub in a mythical Devonian coastal village with a smuggling backstory, there's vintage brandy, poisoned darts, old lags, communistic rustics, famous artists and a crazy local Chief Inspector. And who you gonna call when the local plod can't solve a seemingly simple death in the bar over a game of Round the Clock? Inspector Alleyn & Foxkin or course.
It's absolute perfection: It takes place in a pub in a mythical Devonian coastal village with a smuggling backstory, there's vintage brandy, poisoned darts, old lags, communistic rustics, famous artists and a crazy local Chief Inspector. And who you gonna call when the local plod can't solve a seemingly simple death in the bar over a game of Round the Clock? Inspector Alleyn & Foxkin or course.
March 13, 2018
I wish there were a detective who gets it totally wrong, admits his/her mistake, and muddled through, rather than being mostly perfect. This one was twisty and unpleasant and I’m not sure I’m very fond of Alleyn at the moment.
October 9, 2018
As part of the Ngaio Marsh Reading Challenge, I am rereading her first 12 Inspector Alleyn books (one per month). I read nearly all of these back in junior high school when I had run through all of the Agatha Christies that our public library had and was looking for more classic crime. This was my first time sitting down with Death at the Bar (1945) since then. I did listen to it as an audio novel several years ago and I have watched the televised version with Patrick Malahide, so the culprit did not come as such a surprise as it did in the past. As I mentioned in my review of the audio novel, Marsh managed to get me to focus on the same red herring both when I first read it and when I listened--but it hadn't been long enough this time for her to pull that trick again.
But down to cases: Attorney, Luke Watchman is headed to Devon and the Plume of Feathers pub for an annual holiday with his cousin Sebastian Parish and his friend Noman Cubitt. On the way there he has a minor mishap with another motorist. Watchman jumps out of his car to berate the other man on his driving habits and the driver mutters an apology at him and tries to avoid being seen clearly. Watchman is somewhat mollified, but gets the impression that he might know the other man and that the driver definitely doesn't want to be seen by him.
Watchman arrives at the Feathers and once settled he meets up with Parish and Cubitt in the private bar--where he regales them with the tale of his accident and his impressions of the other man. The other man is none other than Robert Legge--a fellow guest of the pub and a man who has been sitting in a secluded part of the bar. Watchman tries to engage him in conversation, but it is clear that Legge does not want to be sociable.
During the course of the evening it is revealed that Legge is a "masterpiece" with the darts and can do all sorts of tricks with the darts and board--from playing Round the Clock (hitting point sections in order) to a circus-type move where he can outline a person's hand with darts. Watchman doubts his skill--challenging him to repeat exactly a set of dart moves from the previous evening (and losing money on the bet) and then a game of Round the Clock, but shying away from presenting his hand for the circus trick. The next evening Watchman changes his mind and says that if Legge can beat him at Round the Clock again, then he will let Legge do his dart and hand trick with him--he figures the worst that can happen is a prick from the dart and he's gotten a bit of courage from the brandy bottle produced by the proprietor.
He would be wrong...by the end of the night Watchman is dead and a trace of cyanide found on the dart. There was plenty of the stuff about the place--Abel Pomeroy, the pub owner, had been using the deadly poison to dispose of rats. Someone decided to use it to dispose of Watchman. But who? The obvious person is Legge because he threw the dart. But there are several witnesses to swear that he could not possibly have smeared poison on the instrument. When Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Detective Sergeant Fox arrive to assist the local constabulary, they find all sorts of motives lurking about--there's Decima Moore and her boyfriend, Will Pomeroy who differ on politics and who don't appreciate Watchman's attentions to the lovely Decima; Parish and Cubitt are legatees under Watchman's will; and there are a couple of people who had dealings with Watchman in court. The difficulty is that those with the most motive seem to have the least opportunity. Fox will get a taste of poison himself (and be saved by Alleyn) before they can bring the crime home to the culprit.
I don't have a lot new to say about Death at the Bar. It is one of my favorite Alleyn novels. I particularly like the setting and the variety of characters. Since I remembered who the culprit was, I was able to focus more on the descriptions of the village and to watch the interactions between the characters. Overall, it still ranks as a ★★★★ outing.
One (totally minor but kindof annoying) thing that stood out to me on this reading was Marsh's over-use of the word "masterpiece." I get that she was trying to produce the flavor of the area's idiomatic language--but absolutely everything that was out of the ordinary was a "masterpiece"--from Legge's abilities in dart-throwing to the thunderous rain storm that hits the night of the murder to Alleyn and Fox, who have "the witty brains of those masterpieces at Scotland Yard."
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
But down to cases: Attorney, Luke Watchman is headed to Devon and the Plume of Feathers pub for an annual holiday with his cousin Sebastian Parish and his friend Noman Cubitt. On the way there he has a minor mishap with another motorist. Watchman jumps out of his car to berate the other man on his driving habits and the driver mutters an apology at him and tries to avoid being seen clearly. Watchman is somewhat mollified, but gets the impression that he might know the other man and that the driver definitely doesn't want to be seen by him.
Watchman arrives at the Feathers and once settled he meets up with Parish and Cubitt in the private bar--where he regales them with the tale of his accident and his impressions of the other man. The other man is none other than Robert Legge--a fellow guest of the pub and a man who has been sitting in a secluded part of the bar. Watchman tries to engage him in conversation, but it is clear that Legge does not want to be sociable.
During the course of the evening it is revealed that Legge is a "masterpiece" with the darts and can do all sorts of tricks with the darts and board--from playing Round the Clock (hitting point sections in order) to a circus-type move where he can outline a person's hand with darts. Watchman doubts his skill--challenging him to repeat exactly a set of dart moves from the previous evening (and losing money on the bet) and then a game of Round the Clock, but shying away from presenting his hand for the circus trick. The next evening Watchman changes his mind and says that if Legge can beat him at Round the Clock again, then he will let Legge do his dart and hand trick with him--he figures the worst that can happen is a prick from the dart and he's gotten a bit of courage from the brandy bottle produced by the proprietor.
He would be wrong...by the end of the night Watchman is dead and a trace of cyanide found on the dart. There was plenty of the stuff about the place--Abel Pomeroy, the pub owner, had been using the deadly poison to dispose of rats. Someone decided to use it to dispose of Watchman. But who? The obvious person is Legge because he threw the dart. But there are several witnesses to swear that he could not possibly have smeared poison on the instrument. When Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Detective Sergeant Fox arrive to assist the local constabulary, they find all sorts of motives lurking about--there's Decima Moore and her boyfriend, Will Pomeroy who differ on politics and who don't appreciate Watchman's attentions to the lovely Decima; Parish and Cubitt are legatees under Watchman's will; and there are a couple of people who had dealings with Watchman in court. The difficulty is that those with the most motive seem to have the least opportunity. Fox will get a taste of poison himself (and be saved by Alleyn) before they can bring the crime home to the culprit.
I don't have a lot new to say about Death at the Bar. It is one of my favorite Alleyn novels. I particularly like the setting and the variety of characters. Since I remembered who the culprit was, I was able to focus more on the descriptions of the village and to watch the interactions between the characters. Overall, it still ranks as a ★★★★ outing.
One (totally minor but kindof annoying) thing that stood out to me on this reading was Marsh's over-use of the word "masterpiece." I get that she was trying to produce the flavor of the area's idiomatic language--but absolutely everything that was out of the ordinary was a "masterpiece"--from Legge's abilities in dart-throwing to the thunderous rain storm that hits the night of the murder to Alleyn and Fox, who have "the witty brains of those masterpieces at Scotland Yard."
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
February 11, 2021
Poison in the Pub
Review of the Felony & Mayhem paperback edition (2013) of the 1940 original
Death at the Bar was rather a simple Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn story which didn't have many of the features that I most love about the series. Although this is after Alleyn's marriage to painter Agatha Troy, Troy does not make an appearance. The banter between Alleyn and his No. 2 Fox is very minimal. Alleyn makes few quotes from Shakespeare or other classics. The solution, although clever enough, doesn't have quite the excitement of many of the Alleyn mysteries.
Another character entirely is given the quoting role, but does so in a verbose and muddled manner that becomes irritating. That character gives the standard Sherlock Holmes nod about Alleyn having perhaps 'written a monograph' about an obscure detection clue.
Although published in 1940 and presumably written the previous year, there are no references to the war whether impending or not. The title does manage to convey a pun in that the story is about a lawyer (i.e. one who has been called to the bar) who is poisoned in a pub.
Review of the Felony & Mayhem paperback edition (2013) of the 1940 original
Death at the Bar was rather a simple Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn story which didn't have many of the features that I most love about the series. Although this is after Alleyn's marriage to painter Agatha Troy, Troy does not make an appearance. The banter between Alleyn and his No. 2 Fox is very minimal. Alleyn makes few quotes from Shakespeare or other classics. The solution, although clever enough, doesn't have quite the excitement of many of the Alleyn mysteries.
Another character entirely is given the quoting role, but does so in a verbose and muddled manner that becomes irritating. That character gives the standard Sherlock Holmes nod about Alleyn having perhaps 'written a monograph' about an obscure detection clue.
Although published in 1940 and presumably written the previous year, there are no references to the war whether impending or not. The title does manage to convey a pun in that the story is about a lawyer (i.e. one who has been called to the bar) who is poisoned in a pub.
July 24, 2017
After a very slow build-up, we finally have a corpse after almost eighty or so pages and the introduction of Marsh's hero, the aristocratic Roderick Alleyn. Having said that, once Alleyn and the faithful Fox turn up, the action really starts and this becomes an engaging and worthwhile read, perfect for a couple of hours in the garden on a sunny day.
Barrister Luke Watchman is a far from attractive character and probably deserves to be bumped off whilst spending a rural idyll with his cousin (another annoying theatrical type beloved of the equally theatrical Marsh) and the usual array of types. A mix of aristos and champagne socialists, it takes Alleyn less than two days to solve what is apparently a fiendishly difficult crime and one that has evidently baffled the local plod.
Barrister Luke Watchman is a far from attractive character and probably deserves to be bumped off whilst spending a rural idyll with his cousin (another annoying theatrical type beloved of the equally theatrical Marsh) and the usual array of types. A mix of aristos and champagne socialists, it takes Alleyn less than two days to solve what is apparently a fiendishly difficult crime and one that has evidently baffled the local plod.
July 29, 2021
A distinguished barrister dies, apparently accidentally, in a pub in Devon, where he is on holiday. But it emerges that the death may not have been accidental after all, so naturally the local constabulary calls in Scotland Yard. there are some very interesting characters,and it is not too easy to guess how the murder was done, and by whom. The romance also is more a bit more interesting than in most of the Inspector Alleyn books, less predictable. I would have liked to see more of Constable Oates. This edition also includes a whimsical early short story by Marsh,which is quite fun.
July 17, 2012
During a dark and stormy night (I've always wanted to type that), a well-known barrister's hand is punctured by a dart during a demonstration in the private taproom of the pub in a small village in Cornwall. Within minutes, he is dead. Inspector Roderick Alleyn is called in to sort through the plentiful suspects--most of whom seem to have a motive--sift through the clues, and discover what happened. An enjoyable mystery with plenty of twists, turns, and red herrings.
September 2, 2020
The puzzle to be solved is elaborate and generally well-constructed, and the whole thing is a witty bit of froth, just the right thing for my addled and overloaded brain right now.
November 28, 2017
In Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh, three longtime friends join together to visit their annual vacation spot in Ottocomb in Devon, where they gather at the Plume of Feathers Pub. All three friends are famous in their own right, with Luke Watchman an elite barrister, Sebastian Darrow a famous actor, and Norman Cubit a top painter. The pub is a central gathering point for the community, where locals and gusts gather one stormy night. They discover that Abel Pomeroy, the owner of the pub, owns three valuable bottles of a high quality brandy, so the group breaks open one bottle. One local man, Bob Legge, has a reputation for being a genius with darts and convinces Luke, who has been sniping at Legge in underhanded hints about some knowledge of a potential criminal background, to let him throw darts between each finger spread out against the dartboard. But in his first ever error, he nicks one of Luke’s fingers with a dart, which sends Luke into a near-fainting fit, as he can’t stand the sight of blood. Just as they try to clean the wound with iodine and give Luke brandy to steady him, the storm kills the power. When it comes back on, Luke Watchman lies dying.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
November 3, 2021
This was a serviceable mystery with a fairly interesting (although confusing) mechanism, and an okay solution - nothing super mind-blowing.
Luke Watchman falls down dead after being nicked on the hand by an errant dart, when another pub patron attempts to do a dart trick on him. The dart is later found to be laced with cyanide, but the packet of darts was newly opened and all the people in the private bar couldn't have done the poisoning without the others seeing them at it.
I missed Marsh's engaging storytelling, where the story plods along without much drag. There isn't much bloat or filler, which I've come to appreciate after having explored some other golden age mysteries which seem to go on forever. It doesn't hurt that we're back to a good ol' straightforward murder mystery.
But overall, this was just OK. The cast of characters were not very likeable in general. It did play some games with me in terms of who the culprit might be in the end (is it a bluff? A double bluff? A triple bluff?). The solution was satisfying enough, although not as mind-blowingly twisty as I might've hoped.
Luke Watchman falls down dead after being nicked on the hand by an errant dart, when another pub patron attempts to do a dart trick on him. The dart is later found to be laced with cyanide, but the packet of darts was newly opened and all the people in the private bar couldn't have done the poisoning without the others seeing them at it.
I missed Marsh's engaging storytelling, where the story plods along without much drag. There isn't much bloat or filler, which I've come to appreciate after having explored some other golden age mysteries which seem to go on forever. It doesn't hurt that we're back to a good ol' straightforward murder mystery.
But overall, this was just OK. The cast of characters were not very likeable in general. It did play some games with me in terms of who the culprit might be in the end (is it a bluff? A double bluff? A triple bluff?). The solution was satisfying enough, although not as mind-blowingly twisty as I might've hoped.
September 3, 2024
Another wonderful entry in the Roderick Alleyn series. For the first time ever I actually picked up on an essential clue early in the story and half-figured out how the murderer did it. Ha!
All the things I love about Alleyn were in this book. His gentlemanlike behavior, his deep affection for his sidekick, Fox, and his literary quotes.
Marsh's good writing is always a delight: "As Luke Watchman drove across Otterbrook Bridge, the setting sun shone full in his eyes. A molten flood of sunlight poured towards him through the channel of the lane and broke into sequins across Otterbrook waters."
Just a little trip free of charge. Never pick up a Ngaio Marsh to kill a few minutes before your invited guests show up. I was so involved in the narrative that I was tempted to lock the door when they actually arrived.
All the things I love about Alleyn were in this book. His gentlemanlike behavior, his deep affection for his sidekick, Fox, and his literary quotes.
Marsh's good writing is always a delight: "As Luke Watchman drove across Otterbrook Bridge, the setting sun shone full in his eyes. A molten flood of sunlight poured towards him through the channel of the lane and broke into sequins across Otterbrook waters."
Just a little trip free of charge. Never pick up a Ngaio Marsh to kill a few minutes before your invited guests show up. I was so involved in the narrative that I was tempted to lock the door when they actually arrived.
September 19, 2020
Alleyn went ahead. His pleasant voice ran on and on and a kind of orderliness began to appear. The impossible, the possible, and the probable were sorted into groups, and from the kaleidoscopic jumble of evidence, was form a pattern.
November 21, 2024
Deliciously satisfying, and I had the wrong person for the murder all along. A joy.
September 14, 2024
Good characterization, very good plot.
September 12, 2019
Death at the Bar is the 9th book in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn mystery series by Ngaio Marsh and the 14th that I've read; obviously not all sequence. I don't think it's critical to read them in order but there are changes in Alleyn's life that do make it worth while to do so.
The story start at an isolated village and pub in south Devon. We meet the main characters; one Luke Watchman, distinguished barrister, gets into a fender bender with another man, while on his way to the Plume of Feathers. He plans to spend his annual holiday with his cousin; an actor and his best friend, a painter. The rest of the cast is a small group; a young woman graduate, a lady (another painter) from Ireland, a drunk farmer and the inn owner and his son. Someone will die and although the inquest seems to indicate it may have been an accident, the inn owner, not satisfied and also fearing for his inn's reputation, goes to Scotland Yard and presents himself to Inspector Alleyn and his intrepid Sgt Fox. Alleyn can't just go lollygagging down to Devon without a request from the local authorities but this also comes.
So our two intrepid investigators head off to see what's what and that's the gist of the story. It appears that the victim has been poisoned with arsenic. How this happened is one of the subjects of the inquiry. Was it when he was pricked by a dart? Was it when he drank the glass of brandy? Or something else? And who might have done it? The woman he harassed? The cousin who would inherit his estate? The man who collided with him? Or one of the others?
It's an interesting, nicely paced mystery, as are all of the Alleyn mysteries. The witnesses / suspects aren't very forthcoming, quite often due to their distrust of the police; the big machine! Alleyn and Fox make a great team, one playing off the other and the local police are also interesting enough. The story builds very nicely and gets quite exciting as we near the end, no big bombs going off or anything like that, but very tense. All in all, a satisfying, excellent, entertaining story. (4 stars)
The story start at an isolated village and pub in south Devon. We meet the main characters; one Luke Watchman, distinguished barrister, gets into a fender bender with another man, while on his way to the Plume of Feathers. He plans to spend his annual holiday with his cousin; an actor and his best friend, a painter. The rest of the cast is a small group; a young woman graduate, a lady (another painter) from Ireland, a drunk farmer and the inn owner and his son. Someone will die and although the inquest seems to indicate it may have been an accident, the inn owner, not satisfied and also fearing for his inn's reputation, goes to Scotland Yard and presents himself to Inspector Alleyn and his intrepid Sgt Fox. Alleyn can't just go lollygagging down to Devon without a request from the local authorities but this also comes.
So our two intrepid investigators head off to see what's what and that's the gist of the story. It appears that the victim has been poisoned with arsenic. How this happened is one of the subjects of the inquiry. Was it when he was pricked by a dart? Was it when he drank the glass of brandy? Or something else? And who might have done it? The woman he harassed? The cousin who would inherit his estate? The man who collided with him? Or one of the others?
It's an interesting, nicely paced mystery, as are all of the Alleyn mysteries. The witnesses / suspects aren't very forthcoming, quite often due to their distrust of the police; the big machine! Alleyn and Fox make a great team, one playing off the other and the local police are also interesting enough. The story builds very nicely and gets quite exciting as we near the end, no big bombs going off or anything like that, but very tense. All in all, a satisfying, excellent, entertaining story. (4 stars)
September 2, 2017
I'm sure other people have felt and expressed this, but Roderick Alleyn is no Peter Wimsey. And this comparison is worthwhile because Ms Marsh, in her book introductions, loves to express disdain at the fact that Dorothy L Sayers made the mistake of falling in love with her Wimsey whereas Ngaio Marsh has managed to keep her head and just stay friends with her Alleyn. I say Bah to that. There's no question in my mind that Ngaio harbored a sincere passion for her inscrutable Inspector Alleyn. And that's not a bad thing at all!
I've read 9 books and 6 short stories so far featuring these characters, and while I like them a lot, I have a sneaking suspicion that if the setting was not what is my absolute favorite in escape fiction (1920-1945 England), I would not go on with this series.
This particular story confirms my opinion that Ms Marsh's favourite plot device is excruciatingly convoluted modus operandi. Unlike some of the earlier stories (Death in the Black Tie for example, where I fell in love with Bunchy), none of the characters really came alive for me. 5/5 for descriptions of rural England as always. And 4/5 for just the right amount of red herrings and the unexpected denouement style. Alleyn abandoned his usual "must get the murderer to confess in the most melodramatic fashion as possible" in this one, and I enjoyed the change.
I've read 9 books and 6 short stories so far featuring these characters, and while I like them a lot, I have a sneaking suspicion that if the setting was not what is my absolute favorite in escape fiction (1920-1945 England), I would not go on with this series.
This particular story confirms my opinion that Ms Marsh's favourite plot device is excruciatingly convoluted modus operandi. Unlike some of the earlier stories (Death in the Black Tie for example, where I fell in love with Bunchy), none of the characters really came alive for me. 5/5 for descriptions of rural England as always. And 4/5 for just the right amount of red herrings and the unexpected denouement style. Alleyn abandoned his usual "must get the murderer to confess in the most melodramatic fashion as possible" in this one, and I enjoyed the change.
December 15, 2020
Another strong installment, but not my favorite after two such strong contenders. The setting was certainly unique - the town, the pub, the characters. Maybe it was because the victim's personality was rather elusive. Or maybe he just wasn't very likable! Lots of murky motives from the various players. My favorite riddle was trying to figure out not if but how the victim was poisoned. Lots of different options, but I had my suspicions from the start and they were eventually confirmed, though the method was more complicated than I anticipated. Have to admit I was totally stumped on the identity of the murderer in this one. Gradually gave up trying to figure it out for myself and went along for the ride. Was totally surprised. Still trying to determine how believable the culprit was in terms of psychology/motivation.
A nice little side romance unfurls, which is believable and entertaining and utterly delightful. There's also a suspenseful and poignant scene with Br'er Fox and Alleyn, which highlights and further cements their working relationship. Some definite subplot gems sprinkled throughout the murder plot.
A nice little side romance unfurls, which is believable and entertaining and utterly delightful. There's also a suspenseful and poignant scene with Br'er Fox and Alleyn, which highlights and further cements their working relationship. Some definite subplot gems sprinkled throughout the murder plot.
February 10, 2012
I really enjoyed the lead up to the murder section of this book, but the sluething left me cold. I found it very repetitive - we went through the scenario once when it happened, once when Alleyn investigated and then again when the Chief Constable rehashed the whole thing. Marsh's cleverness lies in her ability to turn suspicion in every direction so the reader has no idea who is the actual culprit, but she could have wound this one up alot more quickly in my opinion.
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