Tied Up In Tinsel

Roderick Alleyn #27

by Ngaio Marsh

A 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.

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, Classics, British Literature

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Dame 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

Reviews

[John Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was amused by the review that said Christie was a better author than Marsh because it took fully half of Tied up in Tinsel for the murder to occur. To me that means half a book of character development—half a book of learning about personalities, relationships, motives. And for all Christie’s fantastic books and incredible plots, her greatest weakness is that her characters tend to be rather cardboard-ish. Marsh’s writing is also better technically (although Dorothy Sayers writes rings about both of them).

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I confuse myself as I am capable of intense dislike as well as great admiration for an author's work. Is it my mood when I read? I would not like to think so. I believe I have awarded just one star to a few books by Marsh and kind of gave up on the idea that I could like her Alleyn books.
Since a goodreads pal of mine recently reviewed one of her books favorably I looked for some at my library and carried out a couple of them. They are pristine paperbacks from Felony & Mayhem Press.
So...I went with this Christmas theme first and was very happy with the book. For the first hundred pages it is Alleyn's wife, the artist, who is featured. She is doing a portrait for a successful man at his country house overlooking a prison. Several graduates from this prison are employed at the house. [funny enough in itself, right?]

Of course this sets up quite an interesting scene for the drama about to be played out. If you are reading this, John, I want you to know I did laugh out loud more than once. And there was ample tension as Father Christmas, in Celtic costume to mix things up a bit, goes missing after the procession to bring the children in for a holiday party.

What a parcel of extreme characters in this drama! I have read Marsh before, and I know I did not like her emphasis on staging, but she was a theater director - so why should I be so grumpy about it?

There were a couple of expressions I was not familiar with - "keeping obbo" Anybody? I'm just an old lady and not embarrassed to say I don't want to guess at the meaning. Thanks!
edit: Never mind. I found definition that perhaps indicates I am not THAT old! It goes back to observation balloons used in World War I and adopted as police slang for surveillance work.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan and I kept seeing Marsh's name pop up when looking for similar authors. But honestly, although there may be quite a lot of similarities between those two authors' plots, Christie's writing is far, far superior. It literally took half the book until the murder happened and the detective/main character showed up. That is just way too much build-up. If it's done properly, it doesn't need to be a problem, but it was just filled with superfluous detail and boring non-events. I was hoping that the second half would be more exciting, but alas. The detective is absolutely bland and the other characters are totally unbelievable and not nearly interesting enough to make up for that. The worst part though was the murderer - there were no clues whatsoever for the reader to work out who had committed the murder. At the end it was simply revealed and only then did we find out the motive etc. I think I'll stick with Christie.

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even after finishing, & even though I'm still not sure if I've read this one before, I'm giving this one a solid 4*. I think this was one of Marsh's better books.

I really liked the way Christmas pageantry was described in this book (unlike my Christmas read from last year by Cyril Hare where Christmas was just an excuse to bring the characters together)

& the Troy/Roderick romance wasn't as irritating as usual although there was still the annoying presumption that of course Troy was not to be considered a suspect

Other than the endless angst that the upper classes shouldn't be mixed up in something so frightfully, frightfully common as murder I liked the dialogue, dated as it was - with the exception of the youngest guest Cressida. Like Agatha Christie, Marsh really struggled with dialogue for younger characters when she herself was older & Cressida swung between 1930s & 1970s speech. I wonder if Marsh would have been more comfortable picking a decade & leaving Alleyn in it - like Sue Grafton has with her Kinsey books.

An ingenious crime, well plotted & deftly(if you will pardon the pun!) executed.

Merry Christmas my fellow Good Readers!

Looking forward to more wonderful reads in 2016.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the later Roderick Alleyn mysteries, published in 1972. It is Christmas, and Troy is painting the portrait of Hillary, owner of Halberds. Running a country house is difficult in modern times, so Hillary avails himself of a staff released from prison, for various crimes. All have one thing in common – they have committed only one crime; whether poisoning, killing a burglar with a booby trap, murdering a ‘sinful lady,’ or killing their wife’s lover. Hillary sees them as unlikely to commit further crimes, but the assorted staff make an interesting group.

Alongside this are the guests, including Hillary’s Uncle ‘Flea,’ and Aunt ‘Bed,’ a cheeky Cockney named Bert and Hillary’s intended, the languid Cressida. Into this mixed group, there is a Christmas pageant for the children, with a druid, rather than Santa and, of course, murder. Not really my favourite, although it had an interesting plot. Rated 3.5.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Xmas mystery. An isolated house where all the servants were once convicted of murder. Troy is painting Hillary the owner and an avowed eccentric snob keen on the rehabilitation of criminals. Moult the Colonels manservant disappears after delivering presents. Where is he? What has happened?

Moult was hated by the servants and the colonel and his wife are reticent with Smith the partner of Hillary a bit of a joker. Cressida Totternam the beautiful fiancé and actress of Hillary is to good to be true and anyone who hates cats in my book is a suspect.

What Marsh does well is set the wintry scene and develops the characters so they are not one dimensional. I enjoyed the humor and plot development of thus story. Alleyn arrived and was curtailed into investigating. The murderer is there with the clues.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After initially thinking this wasn't for me, I'm so glad my friend (who loves this one) encouraged me to "press on". This was a delightful country manor house murder mystery, made even more delicious by the odd assortment of characters, and I do mean characters with a capitol C!! I kept having to remind myself that this was written in 1972 as Marsh wrote this in the style she started with in 1934. The only clues that this was in the early 70's were one reference to mini and maxi skirts, another to someone attending a "happening", and another indicating there was a television. Otherwise, this could have come straight out of the golden age. A very fun addition to my annual December reads.

Why I'm reading this: 'Tis the season!

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas mystery with interesting characters and interesting twists.

“It was a tricky business adapting oneself to a domestic staff entirely composed of murderers.”

The author did a great job letting us get to know each guest and each staff member before the suspected murder occurs. I never guessed who did it and why. Kept me interested throughout.

I purchased my edition at Hatchards book store in London. It was one of their limited edition books with a very enticing book cover. Couldn’t resist it!

Published: 1972

[Julie Durnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Roderick Alleyn mystery and unusual for me to skip around and not start with the first book in a series. I found this English manor home Christmas murder story delightful, with a most eclectic cast of characters, an intriguing home renovation, and beautiful setting. I thought the list of characters in the beginning a nice touch but would have appreciated a blueprint of the house more.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Troy and Alleyn Christmas mystery. Troy is to paint the portrait of Hilary Bill -Tasman at Halberds Manor over the holiday period.
Hilary hosted a Christmas pageant. Once the play was over it was discovered one of the servants employed by one of the guest has disappeared.
Hillary's entire staff is made up of murderers. It is believed that these men killed once under great duress, but was very unlikely to kill again. But of course they are the most obvious suspects.
Although published in the 1970's, the book had the feel of being set in a much earlier time. I did have a little trouble getting into the story. I was nearly sixty pages in before it started to pick up a bit.
Despite the slow start, this was a pretty good English mystery. Overall a B -

[Nancy Butts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Ngaio Marsh mysteries, set at Christmas at a sumptuous restored manor located just over the hill from a British prison. The "lord" of the manor is a sybaritic, snobbish man who is also an astute and wealthy businessman restoring his family's decrepit estate with ostentatious luxury. This being the early 70s, he can't find the storybook family retainers so he hires ex-cons: one-time murderers, to be exact. Into this he brings Troy Alleyn to paint his portrait, and also his eccentric family and his hypersexual fiancee. Naturally, there's a murder, and naturally, Troy's husband, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, is called in to crack the case.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a string of suspects in this Christmas Country House whodunnit, but luckily Roderick Alleyn is on hand (kind of) to get to the bottom of the mystery.

An enjoyable later Christmas whodunnit from Ngaio Marsh and a very clever twist on the County House trope.

I loved that the problem of the lack of domestic staff was solved by having the house serviced by ex cons (murderer's who've served their time) who are then instantly added to the suspect list rather then I'm other similar plotted books just accessory characters.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-seventh in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series revolving around a Scotland Yard detective. The focus is on an isolated estate at Christmas c.1970s. It was originally published in 1972.

My Take
It's sad and yet eventually happy in that while Hilary's family lost their home and couldn't sell it, it came to be rescued with Hilary's belief in the redemption of staff comprising oncers newly released from prison. He is quite adamant about their trustworthiness. He reckons that the "single-job" man is more well-behaved, citing Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Wing Pinero.

It's a limited global subjective point-of-view, mostly bouncing between Troy and Alleyn, but the guests and staff have their own bits in here with some twisty action — and thinking — going on at Halberds.

It's rather scary, the faith Hilary has in his staff. There is another side to his reasoning — Halberds is far from civilization, and ex-cons are more grateful and easier to employ. Although Cooke makes an excellent point about gratitude, that being expected to constantly be grateful is wearing.

Another bit of scary is that Fox and Alleyn have both been responsible for capturing some of these oncers.

Is interpretation a sort of caricature?

I'm both touched and amused at Hilary's family's Christmas traditions. It's quite eclectic and fun. That snow sculpture of Nigel's sounds amazing.

That said, I don't care for their idea of Christmas. The day itself, I mean. The tree goes up on Christmas Eve and comes down Christmas night. What's the fun in that? I much prefer my family's idea of Christmas celebrating. Sure, it's quite the seigneurial gesture to have the local families in for Christmas pageantry, gift-giving, and dinner, but that's about it for holidaymaking. Too impersonal.

It's a scary household — not that they're all ex-cons, but because they each seem to have it in for each other. Moult doesn't help, as he despises the lot of them. That Nigel is a scary one with his penchant for bursting into tears over his crime. I'd be real careful to be as nun-like as possible around him!

I do like Troy. She's intelligent with a sense of humor although she's awfully shy in many ways with certain insecurities. As for Alleyn, I love how unpretentious he is, that he can laugh at himself, and isn't afraid of doing what makes him happy.

More twistiness is that Uncle Bert. He's such a Cockney, laying it on thick to ensure that everyone knows his social status. Troy soon rumbles that it's a put-on, although I must confess that I don't blame him. As for Cressida . . . Yuck. She's such a drama queen and makes me think she's still a teenager with a need to shock the parents.

Lol, Wrayburn is truly distressed at the number of bathrooms at Halberds. Meanwhile, Alleyn is impressed with the colonel's intelligence, despite his odd domestic arrangements. He's not kidding about the "odd". And Aunt Bed reads books backwards!

Tied Up in Tinsel shifts back and forth between a slow and a fast pace as well as action and character. It goes on and on about searching for the missing man and yet it kept my mind revving to learn more about this screwy family.

I do enjoy Marsh's prose with her blend — or should I say differentiation? — of class accents and intelligence.

Lol, that third from last paragraph was a crack-up! Do NOT peek though, as it's the story that really makes it work.

The Story
It begins with a history of riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches. With Rory gone, Troy Alleyn has been commissioned to paint Hilary Bill-Tasman and enjoy the Druid Christmas pageant.

It's a clever bit of celebrating that enthralls the local children and Hilary's houseguests enjoy the drama until that drama turns into a man missing, a player who 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.

The Characters
Troy Alleyn is a renowned portraitist in great demand. Her husband is Chief Detective Inspector (Chief-Superintendent??) Roderick Alleyn, who is with CID at Scotland Yard. Sir George Alleyn, the baron, is Rory's older brother whom the colonel knew.

His team includes . . .
Detective-Inspector Fox; Detective Sergeants Bailey and Thompson, the fingerprint and photography experts; and, Sir James Curtis, who is the consultant pathologist to the Yard.

Hilary Bill-Tasman has purchased back his family home, Halberds, which is near the small town of Downlow. His father and "Uncle Bert", a.k.a., Albert Smith partnered in the scraps-antiques business as Bill-Tasman and Smith Associates and made a fortune as they evolved into the antiquarian trade.

Colonel Frederick Fleaton and Bedelia Forrester, known as Uncle Flea and Aunt Bed, are Hilary's maternal relations. Fiddle is Bed's dresser; Alf Moult, a former soldier is the colonel's valet. Cressida Tottenham, an actress with a preference for Organic-Expressivism, is Hilary's fiancée. She's also Uncle Flea's ward, her biological father having saved Uncle Flea's life in the war. Zell is the director of Cressida's theatre group.

Mervyn Cox is the head houseman who had been a sign-writer whose boobytrap killed a burglar, Warty Thompson. Cooke, a.k.a. Kittiwee, is the cook who loves cats. The fussy Cressida is allergic to Slyboots and Smartypants, the cook's cats. Vincent is the gardener-chauffeur; he had made up an arsenical preparation to control fungi. Blore (a headwaiter who murdered his wife's lover) is the chief steward. Nigel is the second houseman. (He used to work in waxworks and manufacturing horses for merry-go-rounds, but became a religious fanatic.) Boy, a.k.a. Thomas Appleby, is a farmer's son temporarily added to the staff for the holidays.

The Vale is . . .
. . . a local prison. Major Jim Marchbanks is its governor as well as a friend of Rory's.

Downlow PD
Jack Wrayburn is the divisional superintendent of police in Downlow. Buck and Mack are police dogs. Dr Moore is the divisional surgeon.

I think Steptoe and Son were rivals with Bill-Tasman and Smith Associates.

The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily a cheery grass green with the top half in a left-top-and-right gradation from dark to light to focus on the title in its gradation of white-to-darker green. Around the half-way point is the stretched-out banner of pale green with the author's name in its art deco font with dark green solids and etched lines surrounded by a soft white glow. In the bottom half is the "traditional" angled rays with their individual gradations of dark green to lighter while a white scalloped border separates them. In the center is a deep red background with some evergreen tips protruding from the top, pointing at the blue and white glass ornament. Overlapping the ball ornament is a pale green arch with the series info in white.

The title is the clue, Tied Up In Tinsel, that points them in the right direction.

[Marisol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngaio Marsh escritora considerada una de las reinas del crimen durante la era dorada del género de detectives nos presenta esta novela que transcurre en un poblado remoto en algún lugar de Inglaterra.

Hillary es un snob venido de una familia aristocrática caída en desgracia que logró resarcir su fortuna gracias al trabajo duro del padre, ahora el tiene fortuna y una mansión donde vive solo con su servidumbre, conformada por puros ex presidiarios que cumplieron condena por asesinato, ¿a que no hay mejor puesta de escena para un asesinato?.

Es época navideña y Hillary ha contratado a la famosa pintora Troy para hacer su retrato, mientras espera la llegada de sus tíos, una excéntrica pareja de ancianos apodados el tío pulga y la tía cama, una especie de padrino, que fue íntimo amigo de su padre y a Cressida, una rubia de belleza etérea y orgullosa de su linaje.

Aunque parece algo típicamente británico, uno se topa con algo totalmente contrario, iniciando con la servidumbre, que parece una invitación a cometer un crimen, o las excentricidades de los invitados, como los tíos viajando con una caja donde guardan sus más valiosas pertenencias.

Troy parece ser la única cuerda en la historia, una extraña que mira a todos como lo haría una doctora con sus ratas de laboratorio en algún experimento y analizando el comportamiento ante ciertas variables.

Aunque me costo agarrarle el ritmo por lo extraño que resulta todo, termine disfrutándolo, es como salir de la zona de comodidad y ver que se pueden crear cosas buenas fuera de ella.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining Christmas mystery. Troy Alleyn is spending. Christmas painting the portrait of a rich eccentric, while Inspector Alleyn is abroad (their son is never mentioned, and I did wonder what he was doing for Christmas). The rich eccentric, Hilary Bill-Tasman, having difficulty finding domestic staff, has employed several murderers who have been released from prison. So when a murderer occurs in the house, they are naturally suspected. But things may not be that simple. There are several guests in the house who may have their own reasons for committing murder. There are some good characters in this one and the story is fun, if a bit far fetched, but it is Christmas after all.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

After really enjoying 'Scales Of Justice', I found myself a little disappointed in 'Tied Up In Tinsel'. It was a mildly entertaining Christmas mystery that started well as a sort of brightly-lit pantomime peopled with characters so eccentric but so recognisable that they could be straight from Comedia Del Arte or a British sixties sitcom. It spiralled down into a pedestrian investigation once Alleyn arrived and rather fizzled out.

I particularly regretted that, having been centre stage for the first half of the book, Troy Alleyn, Roderick Alleyn's wife becomes a shadow in the background once her husband arrives. I know that this is probably realistic but nothing else about this deliberately larger-than-life book is realistic, so insisting on realism here seems such a waste.

I had great hopes of the conceit of the novel: a murder at Christmas, at an elaborate Druidical/Christian hybrid pageant, in a snowed-in Country House where all the servants are convicted murderers. Initially, the book lived up to its promise providing an extraordinarily colourful cast with host, guests and servants all having bizarre characteristics, histories and mannerisms. I think they shone particularly brightly through Troy Alleyn's empathetic eyes. The start of the book was also filled with good-humoured, pantomime style humour that worked quite well.

The book took a dive once Alleyn was dragged in to investigate the disappearance of a member of the household who is feared to be dead. I found Alleyn to be dull. I also hadn't realised just how much upper-class entitlement he wraps around himself while setting out to be 'firm but fair' and 'good with the chaps'.

I thought the mystery was a little too transparent, based as it was on one false assumption, so I found myself waiting for Alleyn to figure out how to prove the culprit did it. The mechanism for doing that, when it finally arrived, was implausible and rather lazy.

The novel felt old-fashioned for something published in 1971. It was filled with a previous generation's stereotypes but then, most of the participants were quite old.

James Saxon's narration was a bit variable. He got some of the characters voices perfectly and managed the humour very well but he couldn't cope with the young female lead's use of 'You know' as verbal padding. It sounded like he'd never heard the phrase used that way and so he made it sound rather odd. I also got the impression that he didn't trust the text outside of the dialogue and rather rushed it in parts. His, often plummy, narration probably contributed to my impression of the book as old-fashioned.

Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample of James Saxon's work.

https://soundcloud.com/hachetteaudiou...

[Anne]

Unfinished @ 40%/unrated.

Although it has an intriguing premise and zany characters, it failed to captured my interest. There was something about the dialogue that felt awkward. I tried the digital and audio format - of the two the digital format was my preference. However, after putting this book aside for a break (to read a couple others), I cannot find any curiosity about finishing it.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my tour of the mystery masters of yesteryear, this novel marks the end of my planned three-set Ngaio Marsh sampling. As one of the “Queens of Crime Fiction” I had chosen three books rather than a single novel: one from early in her career, one from the middle, and this one closer towards the end.

In this one, #27 in the Roderick Alleyn series, we find a typical English detective novel set-up: Mr. Hillary Bill-Tasman, the eccentric wealthy bachelor of Halberds Manor is throwing a Christmas party, complete with a traditional Druid Christmas pageant. Invited guests become key characters as does the Manor’s staff. When a person goes missing, the hunt is on and anybody could be behind it. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Hillary believes in second chances, so his entire staff (cook, butler, groundskeeper, etc.) are former criminals of one stripe or another.

This is the third novel in the series I’ve read, and I enjoyed it more than the others. Perhaps I’ve grown a bit more accustomed to the author’s style or perhaps the “gentlemen detective” character of Roderick Alleyn and his sidekick, Fox has grown more familiar. This is a taught mystery novel with nicely drawn characters that interact in fascinating ways. The mystery itself unfolds in a rather unusual way and it was nice to see that the standard detective novel tropes really didn't make an appearance (other than the setup). I do find it interesting that two of the three books I’ve read are heavy on characterization for much of the novel, before the murder happens or is discovered. In this one it’s about half way through, allowing us to fully appreciate and understand the characters, their (sometimes quirky) motivations, the setting, etc. Inspector Alleyn does not even appear until later in the novel. I understand this is typical of many of Ms. Marsh’s books.

Many readers rank this among the best of the series and though I am not qualified to make such a comparison, I did enjoy it thoroughly. I am confident this will not be my last Ngaio Marsh/Roderick Alleyn novel.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a marvelous book. The plot is a little far-fetched but it's so beautifully written that one forgives this.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for this new-to-me very enjoyable GA mystery by Ngaio Marsh. I’ve read many of her books in the last several years with one of my GR groups, and found her usually entertaining with her aristocratic series detective, Inspector Alleyn (“Rory” to friends) of Scotland Yard and his artist wife, Agatha Troy (“Troy”).

Here, Troy is spending Christmas at the country estate of a wealthy businessman with a quirky household - his staff are all former inmates who’ve committed murder. “One-timers” as Hilary explains his reform “experiment” to Troy - reasoning these men had been goaded beyond endurance by circumstances at the time of their crimes, but are now harmless. It doesn’t hurt that it’s 1972 and very expensive to staff a vast estate, even for the rich!

Anyway, Troy is there to paint Hilary’s portrait, and stays through Christmas as Alleyn is on duty in Australia. Also in the house party are Hilary’s uncle and aunt (Col. Forrester and wife, referred to as “B”), and their general factotum, Moult (a former soldier who served under the uncle), and Clarissa, their beautiful former ward and now Hilary’s fiancée. She was quite funny, clearly a spoiled, rather frivolous beauty, but no dummy. The aunt and uncle are the typical upright, elderly retired characters one would expect, but more comic relief is provided by the elderly Cockney honorary uncle (Mr. Smith) who was in business with Hilary’s father. Hilary explains at the beginning that the uncle took care of him after his father died, then the aunt and uncle came in and took him off to live with them, assuming “his rightful place” among the English upper crust. (Again, 1972, when such things apparently still mattered). But everyone stayed chummy, hence the Christmas house party.

Hilary likes being Lord Bountiful, and has a Christmas party of sorts laid on with elderly Col. F. appearing bearded and robed as a Christmas Druid figure to wave to the area kiddies and hand out presents. Everyone is drilled in their roles and it seems to go off well, until it is discovered that Moult, who took old Col. F’s place because he felt unwell, has disappeared. He was very contemptuous toward the former inmate staff, and they disliked him in return; a series of malicious practical jokes seem to point to the staff, or was it Moult trying to get them in trouble? Luckily, Alleyn makes it home in time to get assigned the case.

This was very enjoyable, but I’m sometimes at a loss with Marsh’s humor or characters - I feel like there is an inside joke I’m missing, like with the bizarre affectations she gives her characters. But this was an interesting, entertaining Christmas-themed mystery, and I enjoyed it. The ending made sense and was believable - I suspected the killer, but not for the reason Alleyn explained at the end, just vague suspicion! But his summation made sense.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always think Marsh is like a lesser Christie, when really she’s very different—more interested in character, more patient, less melodramatic and more theatrical. I might also say less fun, since one doesn’t get the light-entertainment joy of a complex puzzle being unraveled by a comical/ludicrous genius like Poirot. At least in this late book, Alleyn and his wife Troy are drawn so realistically that you almost don’t realize that you are in a puzzle mystery at all. I very much liked Troy as the focal point of the first half, and I think the story falters a little when Alleyn and the police take over. But on the whole, the quality of the writing, detection, solution, characters, and setting make me want to go back to Marsh and try them all. Yay! Another classic mystery author with more than thirty books to revel in! No wonder I never quite get to Dostoevsky.

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always found Ngaio Marsh more elegant than Agatha Christie. Long on detail, witty dialogue, very much "English country house murder." This one was good if you enjoy the atmosphere more than the murder as the sole murder occurs quite late into the book. The narrator was good, very much “Downton Abbey” type intonation. I did have a difficult time with some of the words as they are archaic now and, as they were spoken, I couldn’t figure out how they are spelled. But there weren’t many and the book was still very much enjoyable, in my opinion.

[FangirlNation · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Ngaio Marsh’s 1972 novel Tied Up in Tinsel, Hilary Bill-Tasman has purchased Halberds, his family estate, forcedby his grandfather to be sold. Because staffing such a manor costs a lot of money, Hilary has found a solution to this problem: He has hired five murderers released from prison. After all, they aren’t really a risk. Cook killed a man for abusing a cat. Marvin killed a cat burglar with a booby trap that went wrong. Blah lashed out at his wife’s lover; it wasn’t his fault that he happened to be cooking with a knife right then. Nigel, incited by religious fervor, killed a “sinful lady.” And Vincent, a gardener, poisoned his nasty boss with arsenical spray, but the jury in ther appeal agreed that he didn’t realize the woman was in the greenhouse. Now they serve as servants to Hilary.

Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this is a 3.5. The telling of the story was interesting, though there were certainly a number of sections that could have been tightened up. Troy (Alleyn's wife) is painting a portrait of a rich man who is trying to rebuild his ancestor's home to new glory. This happens over Christmas as Alleyn is on duty doing policework and won't return until just after the holiday.

The set up of the household is strange, and the "family" just as strange. And while I had one person as a hopeful pick for victim they weren't picked. The nice thing about this Christmas time mystery is that the holiday does actually happen and events during it are important to the crime.

Alleyn is asked to come and help - and then gets assigned to the case. At least he knows that his wife's accounts are accurate and he gets a quick run down of events. A quick read in general. I haven't read a lot of Marsh's books- but this had a similar feel the the last one- dramatic. A good one to read for the holidays or if you like snow.

[Jen St · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only was this a perfect book to finish on Christmas Eve, it also made me like Ngaio Marsh books more. This was a more complex mystery, a la Agatha Christie, and it will push me to read more.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha Troy Alleyn, who is finishing up a portrait of her host, is spending Christmas at Hilary Bill-Tasman's country house. Bill-Tasman is from an old family, but had re-purchase the family pile with earnings from a lucky and lucrative business partnership as well as a few big win in the pools. But it's not a typical country house Christmas. The entire staff of the manor are "oncers"--men who have murdered once, in a kind of brainstorm of passion and have been released from prison for good behavior. The authorities believe they aren't dangerous. Less likely to do it again because they know what being in prison is like now. In addition to this rather unconventional lot of servants, there is the Christmas festivities themselves. A kind of mash-up of druidic/pagan, Christian, and Santa Claus all rolled into a weird bundle. And--once all the guests arrive, there is an odd kind of tension. We have Bill-Tasman's fiancee, the lovely and totally mod Cressida Tottenham, who punctuates every sentence with "you know" and who thinks Alleyn (once he arrives) is "the mostest." We have Bill-Tasman's Uncle Flea (Colonel Fleaton Forrester) and Aunt Bed along with Uncle Flea's former batman cum valet, Moult. And we have honorary uncle & business partner, Bert Smith. None of them are too fond of the staff--especially after a series of practical jokes referencing the style of the various "oncers" is played upon them.

Uncle Flea is all set to do his usual round as a Father Christmas turned Druid when he has one of his "turns" (weak heart) and Moult steps in to take his place. But things get really tense when Moult disappears directly after handing out the gifts. A search of the house and as much of the grounds as is practical in the obligatory snow storm gives no trace of the man. Where is he? Why has he disappeared? And...is he still alive? There was a kind of armed truce between Moult and the manor house staff--and the staff were certain that Moult was behind the practical jokes meant to make things look bad for them. Would they go so far as to do away with the man? Alleyn has been out of the country on special assignment, but he arrives home just in time to be invited to join the house party (ostensibly so he won't have to be alone for the holidays, but Bill-Tasman really wants him to lend the local constabulary a hand). And when Moult's body is discovered, it turns into a real busman's holiday and Alleyn is asked by the local police to take over.

This is a mixed bag for me. Marsh does the country house set-up well. She's got quite a crew of eccentric characters. The plot is pretty good--but I don't see any way that the reader could know the motive for the killing. I just don't. I knew exactly where the Moult's body would be found as soon as we knew he was missing. And can I say that I found Marsh's attempt to use "hip" late 60s/early 70s slang to be the furthest thing possible from "the mostest." If felt forced--like, you know? Alleyn and Troy are delightful as always, but Alleyn's appearance comes much too late in the game. And we barely get to see Fox at all. A decent mystery for the Christmas season, but not one of Marsh's strongest.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read a dozen or more of Ngaio Marsh's books, trying to discover precisely why she gained a reputation as a writer of note. I think I've finally arrived at a conclusion. Marsh was a New Zealander, but the voice she uses in her dreary novels is the voice to which she aspires - an English public schoolgirl, cloistered in some former stately home which now offers an expensive and exclusive education to the daughters of the nobility and the elegantly rich. She is, forever, trapped in the era after the Great War, dreaming of elegance and sophistication (and escape) in a world which has become only too real.
I can picture her. She aspires to a prominent role in the school - not as headgirl, but as the school's Muse. She'll sit in the dark, after lights out and the teachers are assuredly asleep, reading by candlelight (inevitably a 'flickering candlelight', or 'guttering candlelight') to a rapt circle of school chums ... virginal ingenues captivated by risque but non-threatening murder mysteries, tales full of the sound of elegant people of their own class, with occasional sneers at the idiocy of the working classes.
Marsh is writing for her idealised image of the English public schoolgirl, now a matronly audience ... an audience scarred by the losses of the Great War, an audience which lost a role and an Empire after the Second World War. Marsh isn't writing mysteries which will satisfy a 21st century mind (or even a late 20th century one) ... she's bequeathing us a legacy of social archaeology.
And in this particular trench we'll dig up a tale of Alleyn's wife, gone to spend Christmas in some stately home painting a portrait of its owner. An unusual place - Tudor, ancient, being restored to its former glories ... and staffed by men who have all been convicted of a murder! Scope for plenty of red herrings there, then, you imagine.
As usual, Marsh lards her prose with unnecessary adverbs, classical allusions and exaggerated use of words. The characters, of course, are poured from the same moulds as usual. The names are changed, but it's very much the same cast as usual. And, as usual, to read the book you have to self-induce a spirit of masochism.
A third of the way through and I was convinced it was unreadable. I was desperate for a murder. There will be one. It's all a bit obvious, really. But Alleyn will arrive (he must be in his 70s by this time), and he and his geriatric colleagues will, ever so politely, uncover the villain.
That's it - dire - I'm washing my hands of Marsh, no more.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in July 1999.

This novel was published in the early seventies, but like most of Marsh's later works it still reads as though set in the thirties. The contemporary references it contains (there is one on the first page to Steptoe and Son, for example) seem rather out of place. Part of the reason for this is Alleyn's refusal to age; he spends over thirty years in his early forties. (Other authors managed to do this more convincingly: Leslie Charteris keeps Simon Templar around thirty, but he remains contemporary with his surroundings.)

It is hardly surprising, given the title, that Tied Up in Tinsel is set at Christmas. It is an English country house party Christmas, as portrayed in several Marsh novels (and innumerable Christie ones). It is the title that leads me to suspect that it was written specifically for the Christmas present market in what is perhaps a rather cynical way.

As happens so frequently, Troy Alleyn becomes involved in a murder through her painting. The victim is the personal servant of one of the houseguests - this is one of the reasons that the novel seems to be more of the thirties than of the seventies. The house servants are the one element which marks out Tied Up in Tinsel from so many other crime novels. Owing to a particular interest in criminal reform on the part of the house's owner, they are all convicted murderers, men considered particularly unlikely to re-offend. This provides a mechanism by which the puzzle can be made more convoluted. While it would not really be fair to make the murderers objects of suspicion - and those involved in the investigation affirm their innocence throughout - their fear of an automatic assumption of their guilt is used to motivate truculence, lying and obstruction.

[Pupottina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tutti probabili criminali.

La poliedrica scrittrice neozelandese NGAIO MARSH, autrice di numerosi gialli, divenuti bestseller, attrice, regista e produttrice cinematografica, è una che sapeva il fatto suo. Nel romanzo del 1972, stranamente ancora inedito in Italia, dal titolo QUELLA CASA NELLA BRUGHIERA, ha dato il suo meglio.
È eccezionale come sia riuscita a creare un cosiddetto "enigma da camera chiusa" o meglio "da ambiente circoscritto". In una sperduta residenza di campagna, mentre è in programma un recital natalizio, sta per accadere un delitto. Nessuno lo immagina, nonostante il proprietario, nell'ambito di un programma di reinserimento lavorativo per ex detenuti, ne abbia scelto tanti da impiegare come domestici nella sua splendida ed immensa tenuta.
Ci si perde tra le stanze, i saloni, i giardini della residenza Halberds di Hilary Bill-Tasman e nell'osservare i movimenti frettolosi dei tanti ospiti, affaccendati nei loro compiti o meglio ruoli da perfetti personaggi di un giallo, dove sta per essere commesso un delitto.
Inizialmente è soltanto una misteriosa sparizione, ma quando tanti criminali, diversi fra loro, affollano un ambiente circoscritto, come la residenza Halberds, tutti ne diventano i probabili sospettati. Per fortuna, tra le ospiti, c'è proprio Agatha Troy, moglie del sovrintendente di Scotland Yard, Roderick Alleyn. Entrambi sapranno smascherare il colpevole, portando alla luce le sue spregevoli motivazioni. I geni, contenuti nel DNA, possono svelare un criminale, prima che lo diventi?
I romanzi gialli di NGAIO MARSH sono interessanti soprattutto per il sapiente utilizzo dei dialoghi che ne fanno degli autentici gioielli del genere. QUELLA CASA NELLA BRUGHIERA è forse il migliore che abbia scritto.