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Roderick Alleyn #33
Money in the Morgue
Inspector Alleyn just wants to write a letter to his wife, but World War II, for one, keeps intruding. It’s war-work, after all, that has brought Alleyn to this seedy hospital in New Zealand’s hinterlands, and it’s the war that has left the hospital swimming in convalescing soldiers – noisy, often drunk, and always over-interested in the nurses. Nor is the weather helping. A storm has killed the electrical power, leaving Alleyn, the soldiers, the medical staff and all stranded in the dark….with a murderer. It’s a good thing for everyone, including the reader, that there’s a Scotland Yard detective on hand.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
121 people are currently reading
831 people want to read
About the author
Ngaio Marsh
198 books823 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 135 reviews
April 24, 2019
This is a classic golden age of crime style novel originally begun by Ngaio Marsh but written by Stella Duffy, featuring the British Chief of Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Here he is working undercover in counterespionage during WW2 in the remote New Zealand Canterbury Plains at the isolated Mount Seager hospital. It would be remiss of me not to mention that I have only read a couple of Marsh novels, and those when I was a child. I remember practically nothing, so I feel ill equipped to comment on how successfully Duffy resurrects Alleyn, what I can say is that I enjoyed reading this, judging it purely on its own merits. It is structured within the time frame of one long night where a series of events occur, that include the theft of payroll money from the hospital safe, strange goings on, bodies going missing, romantic entanglements and dalliances, the search for a traitor and murder.
Mr Glossop delivers the payroll cash to a number of remote locations in his ramshackle van, only to experience a flat tyre at the hospital, and forced to spend the night at the hospital run by the reliable and efficient Matron, who places the cash in the safe. Arriving at the hospital at long last is Sydney Brown, who turns up after a number requests by his elderly grandfather who is on the cusp of dying. Father Sullivan is present to provide comfort to the dying man. There are numerous injured and maimed soldiers at the hospital including a trio who have recovered but are at the centre of a variety of high jinks and mayhem, Privates Maurice Sanders and Bob Pawcett, and Maori Corporal Cuthbert Brayling. Sarah Warne and Rosamund Farqharson, have returned to New Zealand after spending time in England, and Dr Luke Hughes is suffering harrowing PTSD after all he has seen in the war. Alleyn is forced to reveal who he is after it becomes clear money has been stolen. Aided by the helpful Sergeant Bix, Alleyn's night turns into a never ending nightmare with the storm damaging the bridge, making the river impassable, and where the phone lines are down.
Stella Duffy, who spent her childhood in New Zealand, has written a creditable historical mystery set in the tense and difficult times of war. I am not sure that fans of Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn will be satisfied with this, the resurrection of beloved authors and their characters, is a notoriously tricky affair. However, I am sure fans of the golden age of crime who do not come to the novel laden with huge expectations will enjoy this outing of Alleyn. There are a host of diverse characters, a wonderful sense of location amidst the mountains, and a desperately urgent inquiry headed by an Alleyn who proves to be remarkably adept at getting the truth from a number of stubborn and recalcitrant characters. A fun and entertaining historical crime read. Many thanks to HarperCollins.
Mr Glossop delivers the payroll cash to a number of remote locations in his ramshackle van, only to experience a flat tyre at the hospital, and forced to spend the night at the hospital run by the reliable and efficient Matron, who places the cash in the safe. Arriving at the hospital at long last is Sydney Brown, who turns up after a number requests by his elderly grandfather who is on the cusp of dying. Father Sullivan is present to provide comfort to the dying man. There are numerous injured and maimed soldiers at the hospital including a trio who have recovered but are at the centre of a variety of high jinks and mayhem, Privates Maurice Sanders and Bob Pawcett, and Maori Corporal Cuthbert Brayling. Sarah Warne and Rosamund Farqharson, have returned to New Zealand after spending time in England, and Dr Luke Hughes is suffering harrowing PTSD after all he has seen in the war. Alleyn is forced to reveal who he is after it becomes clear money has been stolen. Aided by the helpful Sergeant Bix, Alleyn's night turns into a never ending nightmare with the storm damaging the bridge, making the river impassable, and where the phone lines are down.
Stella Duffy, who spent her childhood in New Zealand, has written a creditable historical mystery set in the tense and difficult times of war. I am not sure that fans of Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn will be satisfied with this, the resurrection of beloved authors and their characters, is a notoriously tricky affair. However, I am sure fans of the golden age of crime who do not come to the novel laden with huge expectations will enjoy this outing of Alleyn. There are a host of diverse characters, a wonderful sense of location amidst the mountains, and a desperately urgent inquiry headed by an Alleyn who proves to be remarkably adept at getting the truth from a number of stubborn and recalcitrant characters. A fun and entertaining historical crime read. Many thanks to HarperCollins.
September 13, 2020
Recently there have been several Golden Age mystery writers, whose characters have been ‘continued’ by modern authors. These have been a mixed bag – while Lord Peter Wimsey was treated respectfully by Jill Paton Walsh (even if some of her sequels were more successful than others), poor Poirot was treated somewhat shabbily; receiving an unsympathetic, and out of character, portrayal by Sophie Hannah.
I am less familiar with the Inspector Alleyn series; having only read the first few books, although I am planning to read the entire series and have loved the ones that I have read already. However, I appreciate that there will be long term fans of the series, who will know every nuance of the characters and who may feel that this has faults. To them, I apologise if you see things in Alleyn that seem incorrect and which I may have missed, not having read the later books.
This is a continuation of a novel that Ngaio Marsh had already started and it is set in her native New Zealand during WWII, where Roderick Alleyn is staying in the Mount Seager Hospital, which has both civilian and military wards. It is near Christmas and a storm is brewing, when hapless Mr Glossop, a payroll delivery clerk, finds that his van breaks down. Stranded for the night, he has a large amount of cash, which Matron suggests she lock in the safe. However, before the night is over, there will be a theft and a murder; meaning that Alleyn has to step in and solve the mystery.
The novel is full of literary illusions and, although Alleyn is the only character who appears from previous books, others are alluded to. In true Golden Age style, there are a number of sub plots going on – almost every character has a secret and, along with the crimes that Alleyn is investigating, there is also a possibly spy lose in the locality and a series of underground tunnels running beneath the hospital. I enjoyed the various cast of characters – from the efficient Matron, to the disapproving Sister Comfort, transport driver Sarah Warne, damaged Dr Luke Hughes, flighty Rosamund Farquharson and others, including a young man visiting his dying grandfather, the ponderous, complaining Mr Glossop, a vicar and some soldiers who dislike being confined to bed…
With the novel taking place over one night, and Alleyn in a new situation, I think this book works well, even if you haven’t read any Ngaio Marsh novels before. I am unsure about allowing other authors to continue well loved characters, but I feel that Stella Duffy has, at least, done her research and that she has treated Roderick Alleyn, and his fans, with respect. It is, obviously, a daunting task to take another author’s character – especially such a beloved one – and write them into a new novel, even if some of the plot came from Marsh herself. However, this is certainly much more in character than the Poirot sequel and was an enjoyable and readable mystery. I love Golden Age detective fiction and this is really a new Golden Age for the genre, with so many books being re-published and so much interest and success in the books. I hope Ngaio Marsh fans enjoy this as much as I did and I hope it will lead new readers back to the original books and to others they may discover.
Incidentally, for those on Goodreads, should you enjoy Golden Age detective fiction, I help moderate a group – Reading the Detectives – which currently has a Ngaio Marsh reading challenge and any fans of the genre are welcome to join in. We are dedicated to exploring all of the great Golden Age authors, such as Christie, Allingham, Sayers and more, so please drop by and take a look!
I am less familiar with the Inspector Alleyn series; having only read the first few books, although I am planning to read the entire series and have loved the ones that I have read already. However, I appreciate that there will be long term fans of the series, who will know every nuance of the characters and who may feel that this has faults. To them, I apologise if you see things in Alleyn that seem incorrect and which I may have missed, not having read the later books.
This is a continuation of a novel that Ngaio Marsh had already started and it is set in her native New Zealand during WWII, where Roderick Alleyn is staying in the Mount Seager Hospital, which has both civilian and military wards. It is near Christmas and a storm is brewing, when hapless Mr Glossop, a payroll delivery clerk, finds that his van breaks down. Stranded for the night, he has a large amount of cash, which Matron suggests she lock in the safe. However, before the night is over, there will be a theft and a murder; meaning that Alleyn has to step in and solve the mystery.
The novel is full of literary illusions and, although Alleyn is the only character who appears from previous books, others are alluded to. In true Golden Age style, there are a number of sub plots going on – almost every character has a secret and, along with the crimes that Alleyn is investigating, there is also a possibly spy lose in the locality and a series of underground tunnels running beneath the hospital. I enjoyed the various cast of characters – from the efficient Matron, to the disapproving Sister Comfort, transport driver Sarah Warne, damaged Dr Luke Hughes, flighty Rosamund Farquharson and others, including a young man visiting his dying grandfather, the ponderous, complaining Mr Glossop, a vicar and some soldiers who dislike being confined to bed…
With the novel taking place over one night, and Alleyn in a new situation, I think this book works well, even if you haven’t read any Ngaio Marsh novels before. I am unsure about allowing other authors to continue well loved characters, but I feel that Stella Duffy has, at least, done her research and that she has treated Roderick Alleyn, and his fans, with respect. It is, obviously, a daunting task to take another author’s character – especially such a beloved one – and write them into a new novel, even if some of the plot came from Marsh herself. However, this is certainly much more in character than the Poirot sequel and was an enjoyable and readable mystery. I love Golden Age detective fiction and this is really a new Golden Age for the genre, with so many books being re-published and so much interest and success in the books. I hope Ngaio Marsh fans enjoy this as much as I did and I hope it will lead new readers back to the original books and to others they may discover.
Incidentally, for those on Goodreads, should you enjoy Golden Age detective fiction, I help moderate a group – Reading the Detectives – which currently has a Ngaio Marsh reading challenge and any fans of the genre are welcome to join in. We are dedicated to exploring all of the great Golden Age authors, such as Christie, Allingham, Sayers and more, so please drop by and take a look!
July 18, 2018
EXCERPT: At about eight o'clock on a disarmingly still midsummer evening, Mr Glossop telephoned from the Transport Office at Mt Seager Hospital to his headquarters twenty miles away across the plains. He made angry jabs with his forefinger at the dial - and to its faint responsive tinkling an invisible curtain rose upon a series of events that were to be confined within the dark hours of that short summer night, bounded between dusk and dawn. So closely did these events follow an arbitrary design of a play that the temptation to represent Mr Glossop as an overture cannot be withstood.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Roderick Alleyn is back in this unique crime novel begun by Ngaio Marsh during the Second World War and now completed by Stella Duffy.
‘Hugely enjoyable’
KATE MOSSE
It’s business as usual for Mr Glossop as he does his regular round delivering wages to government buildings scattered across New Zealand’s lonely Canterbury plains. But when his car breaks down he is stranded for the night at the isolated Mount Seager Hospital, with the telephone lines down, a storm on its way and the nearby river about to burst its banks.
Trapped with him at Mount Seager are a group of quarantined soldiers with a serious case of cabin fever, three young employees embroiled in a tense love triangle, a dying elderly man, an elusive patient whose origins remain a mystery … and a potential killer.
When the payroll disappears from a locked safe and the hospital’s death toll starts to rise faster than normal, can the appearance of an English detective working in counterespionage be just a lucky coincidence – or is something more sinister afoot?
MY THOUGHTS: Money in the Morgue is not going to be remembered as my favorite Ngaio Marsh. Although I was initially excited to find this set in New Zealand, it didn't last. There seemed to be something missing. . . and the story failed to engage me to the extent that I found myself losing interest in parts. But the ending. .. now, that was worth the read and earned this book a whole extra star.
I have to admit to not enjoying Stella Duffy's narration. Her New Zealand accents sounded far more Australian to me, and soon began to grate on my nerves. I do wonder if I might have enjoyed Money in the Morgue more had I read it rather than listening to it. At some point, I may just do that and see if it alters my opinion at all.
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.
DISCLOSURE: I listened to Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy, narrated by Stella Duffy and published by Harper Collins Publishers, 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: Roderick Alleyn is back in this unique crime novel begun by Ngaio Marsh during the Second World War and now completed by Stella Duffy.
‘Hugely enjoyable’
KATE MOSSE
It’s business as usual for Mr Glossop as he does his regular round delivering wages to government buildings scattered across New Zealand’s lonely Canterbury plains. But when his car breaks down he is stranded for the night at the isolated Mount Seager Hospital, with the telephone lines down, a storm on its way and the nearby river about to burst its banks.
Trapped with him at Mount Seager are a group of quarantined soldiers with a serious case of cabin fever, three young employees embroiled in a tense love triangle, a dying elderly man, an elusive patient whose origins remain a mystery … and a potential killer.
When the payroll disappears from a locked safe and the hospital’s death toll starts to rise faster than normal, can the appearance of an English detective working in counterespionage be just a lucky coincidence – or is something more sinister afoot?
MY THOUGHTS: Money in the Morgue is not going to be remembered as my favorite Ngaio Marsh. Although I was initially excited to find this set in New Zealand, it didn't last. There seemed to be something missing. . . and the story failed to engage me to the extent that I found myself losing interest in parts. But the ending. .. now, that was worth the read and earned this book a whole extra star.
I have to admit to not enjoying Stella Duffy's narration. Her New Zealand accents sounded far more Australian to me, and soon began to grate on my nerves. I do wonder if I might have enjoyed Money in the Morgue more had I read it rather than listening to it. At some point, I may just do that and see if it alters my opinion at all.
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.
DISCLOSURE: I listened to Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy, narrated by Stella Duffy and published by Harper Collins Publishers, 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/...
March 30, 2018
Duffy took on the challenge of completing a novel that Golden Age great Marsh had written through only three chapters. The challenge was made more daunting by the fact that it’s essentially a locked-room mystery, and Marsh’s notes said it was to be solved in one summer night.
I’d say Duffy’s plot construction was decent, though I found one element of it a stretch. There was plenty in the investigation that kept me engaged and, while I guessed some of the whodunnit, the climax was tense and filled with action.
Inspector Alleyn was less satisfying. Readers who don’t already know him from Marsh’s books won’t get any feel for him from this book. His usual acquaintances are far away, so we have no scenes of him interacting with them, and there is little introspection. Not having a fully dimensional Alleyn made this just an OK Golden Age type of mystery.
I’d say Duffy’s plot construction was decent, though I found one element of it a stretch. There was plenty in the investigation that kept me engaged and, while I guessed some of the whodunnit, the climax was tense and filled with action.
Inspector Alleyn was less satisfying. Readers who don’t already know him from Marsh’s books won’t get any feel for him from this book. His usual acquaintances are far away, so we have no scenes of him interacting with them, and there is little introspection. Not having a fully dimensional Alleyn made this just an OK Golden Age type of mystery.
February 6, 2018
I've only read the first two of Marsh's original Alleyn books but they feel very different in tone from this one - that said, it's a long series so developments in character/place might well be in line with where Marsh herself took the series.
This one is set in New Zealand during WW2 and while Alleyn is still a Chief Detective as he was in the first book, he's a notably graver figure here with gravitas - a far cry from the school-boy bantering of the early books, even though he was already 40 then.
The story itself is perhaps a bit overloaded: we have a robbery, a spy signalling to the Japanese, and one - or is it two? - murders. Set in a military hospital, there are recuperating soldiers, nurses and various locals, plus hidden tunnels which give it a slightly romp-y feel. The plot is organised around allusions to A Midsummer Night's Dream, with bits of Romeo and Juliet -though it's certainly not necessary to know these.
Overall, this is the kind of book I like to read on commutes as it's interesting enough but can be easily picked up and put down - fun, light, disposable.
This one is set in New Zealand during WW2 and while Alleyn is still a Chief Detective as he was in the first book, he's a notably graver figure here with gravitas - a far cry from the school-boy bantering of the early books, even though he was already 40 then.
The story itself is perhaps a bit overloaded: we have a robbery, a spy signalling to the Japanese, and one - or is it two? - murders. Set in a military hospital, there are recuperating soldiers, nurses and various locals, plus hidden tunnels which give it a slightly romp-y feel. The plot is organised around allusions to A Midsummer Night's Dream, with bits of Romeo and Juliet -though it's certainly not necessary to know these.
Overall, this is the kind of book I like to read on commutes as it's interesting enough but can be easily picked up and put down - fun, light, disposable.
January 30, 2020
Why the dickens isn't the estate of Ngaio Marsh protecting her legacy from fanfic writers?
When another author begins to write using the name of a well-known deceased writer, the reader expects that the prose will be at the level the more famous writer was capable of producing. This is not the case here. This is no more by Ngaio Marsh than it is a retelling of the Ingoldsby Legends.
Marsh's writing skills incorporated the use of the semicolon , a piece of punctuation of which Stella Duffy appears to be ignorant. She crams entire sentences together without help of semicolon or conjunction, using only the comma. And it pains me incredibly to hear poor Alleyn clumsily described instead of shown to us performing in his usual charming manner.
So if you are a Marsh fan for her puzzles, this might work for you. If you are a Marsh fan for her prose, don't buy this book. It will give you literary indigestion.
When another author begins to write using the name of a well-known deceased writer, the reader expects that the prose will be at the level the more famous writer was capable of producing. This is not the case here. This is no more by Ngaio Marsh than it is a retelling of the Ingoldsby Legends.
Marsh's writing skills incorporated the use of the semicolon , a piece of punctuation of which Stella Duffy appears to be ignorant. She crams entire sentences together without help of semicolon or conjunction, using only the comma. And it pains me incredibly to hear poor Alleyn clumsily described instead of shown to us performing in his usual charming manner.
So if you are a Marsh fan for her puzzles, this might work for you. If you are a Marsh fan for her prose, don't buy this book. It will give you literary indigestion.
October 24, 2019
This makes it an even 24 books I've read in the Alleyn series though this one differs in that it was written by another person after Marsh's death. I wasn't aware this was the case when I chose it at my last library visit. I didn't like this one for several reasons but the major problem for me is the portrayal of Alleyn.
Two stars awarded, though, because I did laugh at several junctures of outlandish and/or idiotic behavior and dialogue along with many silly aspects of the plot.
Library Loan
Two stars awarded, though, because I did laugh at several junctures of outlandish and/or idiotic behavior and dialogue along with many silly aspects of the plot.
Library Loan
March 7, 2020
During the middle of last century, Dame Ngaio Marsh was one of the world’s most popular authors; a Queen of Crime alongside Agatha Christie, thanks to her mysteries starring Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Money in the Morgue is an extraordinary literary tag-team between two theatre-loving Kiwi storytellers. A daring theft at a quarantine hospital in wartime Canterbury threatens to derail Inspector Alleyn’s counter-espionage work. Marsh scribbled the set-up during the war, and thirty-five years after the Dame’s death, Duffy seamlessly delivers an absorbing mystery woven with Golden Age stylings and a richly textured sense of time and place.
May 17, 2018
This was a work in progress at the time of Ngaio Marsh's death, and it has now been completed by Stella Duffy. It's a solid read, if not a super-exciting one, and ably maintains the feel of the series - which I enjoyed re-visiting, having read the Alleyn mysteries in my teens.
January 15, 2019
I'm not surprised Ngaio Marsh gave up on this book! The plots (there are at least 3) are not tied together well, and one is just silly. I've just re-read a few of the Alleyn originals, and Stella Duffy's writing style doesn't match at all well with Marsh's. There were various grammatical errors that should have been edited out, and I found bits of dialogue and action jarring, not quite right with NZ even in the 1940s. The constant references Alleyn kept making to fictional detectives & shoe-horning in references to A Midsummer Night's Dream were irritating and contrived. Altogether disappointing, as I'd heard some rave reviews and interviews with Duffy when it was first published.
Continuing on Golden Age detectives seems to be a fashion in publishing, like Disney re-doing its cartoon classics, and as very mixed (usually dire) results. The only one that has been less than mediocre are a couple of Jill Paton Walsh's Peter Wimsey follow-ups, she has managed to stay in character with all the principals, and seems to have a good ear for dialogue and settings.
Continuing on Golden Age detectives seems to be a fashion in publishing, like Disney re-doing its cartoon classics, and as very mixed (usually dire) results. The only one that has been less than mediocre are a couple of Jill Paton Walsh's Peter Wimsey follow-ups, she has managed to stay in character with all the principals, and seems to have a good ear for dialogue and settings.
April 28, 2019
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for a review copy of Money in the Morgue, which Stella Duffy has created from Ngaio Marsh’s outline and notes.
It is 1940 and Chief Detective Roderick Alleyn is in New Zealand to investigate a potential spy ring at Mount Seager Hospital on the South Island. Unfortunately for him the night when his investigation should identify the culprits is more fraught than he could anticipate. A severe storm has cut off the hospital from the outside so he is left to investigate alone, not only a payroll theft but disappearing bodies and murder.
I quite enjoyed Money in the Morgue but I didn’t find it a compelling read. Pleasant is how I would describe it. It must be forty years since I read Ms Marsh’s novels so I feel as if I am coming to the series fresh rather than returning to an old friend. I don’t feel that the novel reads like a Golden Age novel despite the setting and era as it lacks the crispness of prose and simple directness of those novels. I was often fooled by the characters’ words and actions but I always knew where I was and what was happening. In this novel it is all a bit woollier, not only in characterisation but in Alleyn’s thinking and even in the caves and tunnels where much of the action occurs - I gave up trying to understand what led where.
Having said that I enjoyed the plot which is full of twists and turns finishing with a bang of the “I never saw that coming” variety. The motives of the characters are slowly teased out as the novel progresses and all the information is there for the smarter reader (that wouldn’t be me!) to reach the same conclusion as Alleyn. I think I got lost in the tunnels.
Money in the Morgue is a solid read.
It is 1940 and Chief Detective Roderick Alleyn is in New Zealand to investigate a potential spy ring at Mount Seager Hospital on the South Island. Unfortunately for him the night when his investigation should identify the culprits is more fraught than he could anticipate. A severe storm has cut off the hospital from the outside so he is left to investigate alone, not only a payroll theft but disappearing bodies and murder.
I quite enjoyed Money in the Morgue but I didn’t find it a compelling read. Pleasant is how I would describe it. It must be forty years since I read Ms Marsh’s novels so I feel as if I am coming to the series fresh rather than returning to an old friend. I don’t feel that the novel reads like a Golden Age novel despite the setting and era as it lacks the crispness of prose and simple directness of those novels. I was often fooled by the characters’ words and actions but I always knew where I was and what was happening. In this novel it is all a bit woollier, not only in characterisation but in Alleyn’s thinking and even in the caves and tunnels where much of the action occurs - I gave up trying to understand what led where.
Having said that I enjoyed the plot which is full of twists and turns finishing with a bang of the “I never saw that coming” variety. The motives of the characters are slowly teased out as the novel progresses and all the information is there for the smarter reader (that wouldn’t be me!) to reach the same conclusion as Alleyn. I think I got lost in the tunnels.
Money in the Morgue is a solid read.
July 26, 2024
Ngaio Marsh started and then abandoned this story, leaving only the beginning and a few notes. Using those, the mystery was developed and completed by contemporary New Zealand writer Stella Duffy. The WWII setting at a remote hospital in New Zealand was carefully depicted, and the first half of the book is well done. The author also took care that the dialogue reflects the slang and usages of the time. But then the story continued into a mishmash of overly complicated action and unbelievable plot lines. 2.5 stars
April 10, 2019
As someone who's derived a great deal of pleasure from Ngaio Marsh's work over the decades, I was desperately eager to enjoy this novel. Alas, I'm having difficulty gearing myself up to be even lukewarm about it.
Alleyn is stuck in a New Zealand semi-military hospital in the midst of World War II. There's nothing wrong with him except boredom: he's been posted there as part of an investigation into some nebulous espionage plot. One night -- Midsummer Night, in fact -- there's a major theft and a murder, the hospital is cut off from the outside world by a major storm, and the electricity goes down. There's not much option for Alleyn but to investigate . . .
According to the gloss in the book, Marsh began Money in the Morgue but got no further than a chapter or three and some notes. The rest is Duffy's work. I'm guessing that in fact Duffy rewrote even those extant chapters, because nowhere in the novel did I detect Marsh's auctorial voice. And that's a major problem on multiple levels.
First is the obvious point that a Marsh continuation ought to read like a Marsh novel (and Alleyn ought to resemble Alleyn in aspects other than merely the name and the basic physical appearance). It distresses me that new readers may pick this up as their introduction to the Roderick Alleyn series and believe it to be representative of the others.
And, second -- and I really feel badly about saying this -- the lack of stylistic similarity might seem more forgivable if the writing here had something to offer that improved in some way on Marsh's voice, in the way that, say, writers of Holmes continuations (usually) don't slavishly imitate Doyle's style but mold it to suit more modern tastes. But that doesn't apply here. Although Marsh's style inevitably changed over the decades, arguably declining toward the end (although I not long ago read the late-period A Grave Mistake and found little to quibble about), it had a wonderful vibrant strength about it, a confidence of phrase, a sort of rolling rhythm that both pulled the reader along and made the (many) jokes even funnier.
There's nothing of that here. Take this sample sentence from among the countless of its kind I could have chosen to quote in its place:
Or take this as an example of dialogue:
My guess is that "bit" is supposed to be "business" (I can't imagine even Duffy's Alleyn waggishly saying "biz"), something that ought to have been picked up by the copyeditor and/or proofreader. Assuming there was one of either. A lot of the miserable writing in this novel -- including a plethora of elementary grammatical and punctuational errors -- could have been cleared up by any competent copyeditor, with the proofreader as backstop.
The commonest error of all is the misplaced or (most usually) omitted comma. I'm not talking about the use or otherwise of the execrable Oxford comma but about the omission of obligatory commas, such as the one prefacing the addressee in dialogue; as just a solitary consequence of this, at one point we're introduced (I now can't find the page) to the concept of the "total Inspector" when someone's talking sums to Alleyn. Elsewhere, Duffy seems never to have come across a colon or semi-colon she likes, because she (I think unfailingly) replaces them with commas -- to the myriad confusion of at least this reader. Elsewhere I found myself staring in perplexity at the occasional comma that seemed to have appeared like a mushroom on the line, its supposed raison d'etre beyond my comprehension.
All right, assuming you've battled your way through the thick undergrowth of clumsy writing, what about the plot?
In a sense there are two of these. First there's the espionage business that brought Alleyn here in the first place -- the maguffin, if you like. And then of course there's the theft/murder mystery, assuming those two crimes are part and parcel and assuming they're unconnected with the maguffin. Here, quite cleverly, Duffy (I gather Marsh left no notes on this aspect) manages to relate part of what seems a single mystery to the maguffin -- I can't say more on this for fear of egregious spoilerdom. This naturally pulls the maguffin a bit more to the forefront than you'd expect, which would normally imply that the maguffin itself would have to be detailed and explained -- would have to stop being a maguffin, in other words, and be properly integrated into the plot. This latter obligation, though, Duffy fails to fulfill: I came away from the book still having not a clue what the espionage scheme actually was beyond that it involved getting a message about something to a Japanese submarine. Naval maneuvers? Fifth columns? The price of beans? Who knows?
Since the entirety of the tale occurs through Midsummer Night, there are as you'd expect copious allusions to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It seemed the text was trying to point up all the parallels between this tale and Shakespeare's, yet I searched in vain for any such. Alleyn does describe himself as Puck at one point -- and that had me gaping at the page as I racked my brains for any resemblance -- and I suppose, if you really stretched matters, you could find a trace in the figures of the hospital matron and the local priest of Titania and Oberon, with the whole scenario being but a web of illusion that can be blown away afore the morrow, an' all that . . .
Except, y'know: bollocks. The closest resemblance I could find was that the novel does have something of a play-within-a-play going on -- and that's an aspect of it that I did like.
I've no idea if there are plans for further Marsh continuations, as with Agatha Christie. I suppose, if another comes along, I might well pick it up. But I was genuinely disappointed by this one.
Alleyn is stuck in a New Zealand semi-military hospital in the midst of World War II. There's nothing wrong with him except boredom: he's been posted there as part of an investigation into some nebulous espionage plot. One night -- Midsummer Night, in fact -- there's a major theft and a murder, the hospital is cut off from the outside world by a major storm, and the electricity goes down. There's not much option for Alleyn but to investigate . . .
According to the gloss in the book, Marsh began Money in the Morgue but got no further than a chapter or three and some notes. The rest is Duffy's work. I'm guessing that in fact Duffy rewrote even those extant chapters, because nowhere in the novel did I detect Marsh's auctorial voice. And that's a major problem on multiple levels.
First is the obvious point that a Marsh continuation ought to read like a Marsh novel (and Alleyn ought to resemble Alleyn in aspects other than merely the name and the basic physical appearance). It distresses me that new readers may pick this up as their introduction to the Roderick Alleyn series and believe it to be representative of the others.
And, second -- and I really feel badly about saying this -- the lack of stylistic similarity might seem more forgivable if the writing here had something to offer that improved in some way on Marsh's voice, in the way that, say, writers of Holmes continuations (usually) don't slavishly imitate Doyle's style but mold it to suit more modern tastes. But that doesn't apply here. Although Marsh's style inevitably changed over the decades, arguably declining toward the end (although I not long ago read the late-period A Grave Mistake and found little to quibble about), it had a wonderful vibrant strength about it, a confidence of phrase, a sort of rolling rhythm that both pulled the reader along and made the (many) jokes even funnier.
There's nothing of that here. Take this sample sentence from among the countless of its kind I could have chosen to quote in its place:
His own over-riding sense was one of frustration that this incident had interrupted an already disturbed night, coupled with distaste for the upset he would undoubtedly bring to those still awaiting their own orders, at least some of whom must be entirely innocent of any wrong-doing and yet question them he must, prying into their lives regardless of innocence or otherwise. [p85]
Or take this as an example of dialogue:
"Now then, young cub, don't go all petulant on me," Alleyn rejoined. "I'm just rather well practised at this bit of detecting, and I far prefer to speak with one who wants to talk than with those from whom I am forced to poke and pry their secrets. . . ." [p110]
My guess is that "bit" is supposed to be "business" (I can't imagine even Duffy's Alleyn waggishly saying "biz"), something that ought to have been picked up by the copyeditor and/or proofreader. Assuming there was one of either. A lot of the miserable writing in this novel -- including a plethora of elementary grammatical and punctuational errors -- could have been cleared up by any competent copyeditor, with the proofreader as backstop.
The commonest error of all is the misplaced or (most usually) omitted comma. I'm not talking about the use or otherwise of the execrable Oxford comma but about the omission of obligatory commas, such as the one prefacing the addressee in dialogue; as just a solitary consequence of this, at one point we're introduced (I now can't find the page) to the concept of the "total Inspector" when someone's talking sums to Alleyn. Elsewhere, Duffy seems never to have come across a colon or semi-colon she likes, because she (I think unfailingly) replaces them with commas -- to the myriad confusion of at least this reader. Elsewhere I found myself staring in perplexity at the occasional comma that seemed to have appeared like a mushroom on the line, its supposed raison d'etre beyond my comprehension.
All right, assuming you've battled your way through the thick undergrowth of clumsy writing, what about the plot?
In a sense there are two of these. First there's the espionage business that brought Alleyn here in the first place -- the maguffin, if you like. And then of course there's the theft/murder mystery, assuming those two crimes are part and parcel and assuming they're unconnected with the maguffin. Here, quite cleverly, Duffy (I gather Marsh left no notes on this aspect) manages to relate part of what seems a single mystery to the maguffin -- I can't say more on this for fear of egregious spoilerdom. This naturally pulls the maguffin a bit more to the forefront than you'd expect, which would normally imply that the maguffin itself would have to be detailed and explained -- would have to stop being a maguffin, in other words, and be properly integrated into the plot. This latter obligation, though, Duffy fails to fulfill: I came away from the book still having not a clue what the espionage scheme actually was beyond that it involved getting a message about something to a Japanese submarine. Naval maneuvers? Fifth columns? The price of beans? Who knows?
Since the entirety of the tale occurs through Midsummer Night, there are as you'd expect copious allusions to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It seemed the text was trying to point up all the parallels between this tale and Shakespeare's, yet I searched in vain for any such. Alleyn does describe himself as Puck at one point -- and that had me gaping at the page as I racked my brains for any resemblance -- and I suppose, if you really stretched matters, you could find a trace in the figures of the hospital matron and the local priest of Titania and Oberon, with the whole scenario being but a web of illusion that can be blown away afore the morrow, an' all that . . .
Except, y'know: bollocks. The closest resemblance I could find was that the novel does have something of a play-within-a-play going on -- and that's an aspect of it that I did like.
I've no idea if there are plans for further Marsh continuations, as with Agatha Christie. I suppose, if another comes along, I might well pick it up. But I was genuinely disappointed by this one.
March 12, 2018
This is the first Inspector Alleyn mystery novel that I have read. The book is set during the war, in a hospital, in New Zealand. The Inspector sets out to find the culprit of the missing money in a typical mystery story. A very enjoyable read
April 17, 2018
It’ll make a wonderful film, in the right hands
April 20, 2020
First the Money Disappears, Then the Bodies
Review of the Harper Collins paperback (2019) of the original Collins Crime Club hardcover (2018)
Money in the Morgue finds Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn in New Zealand where his creator Ngaio Marsh was able to periodically locate him from his regular duties at Scotland Yard's CID. Alleyn is undercover at a wartime hospital where there is suspicion of spying activity. When the hospital is cut off from the outside world during a storm, the medical payroll is stolen and Alleyn is forced to reveal his true profession as being the only policeman on hand to investigate the crime. But then further complications arise as deaths occur and bodies begin to mysteriously disappear.
I very much enjoyed Money in the Morgue for its reenactment of the Golden Age of Crime due to Stella Duffy's perfect continuation of Ngaio Marsh's abandoned few chapters. For whatever reason Marsh abandoned the project (perhaps it seemed too close to a similar spy hunt in Colour Scheme (1943)), Duffy has completed the book extremely well in capturing Alleyn's character and interactions with the suspects. There is even an Inspector Fox proxy character in Sergeant Bix. Let us hope that Stella Duffy continues with further Alleyn mysteries.
Trivia and Link
Read an article about Stella Duffy's completion of Money in the Morgue in The Guardian here.
Review of the Harper Collins paperback (2019) of the original Collins Crime Club hardcover (2018)
Money in the Morgue finds Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn in New Zealand where his creator Ngaio Marsh was able to periodically locate him from his regular duties at Scotland Yard's CID. Alleyn is undercover at a wartime hospital where there is suspicion of spying activity. When the hospital is cut off from the outside world during a storm, the medical payroll is stolen and Alleyn is forced to reveal his true profession as being the only policeman on hand to investigate the crime. But then further complications arise as deaths occur and bodies begin to mysteriously disappear.
I very much enjoyed Money in the Morgue for its reenactment of the Golden Age of Crime due to Stella Duffy's perfect continuation of Ngaio Marsh's abandoned few chapters. For whatever reason Marsh abandoned the project (perhaps it seemed too close to a similar spy hunt in Colour Scheme (1943)), Duffy has completed the book extremely well in capturing Alleyn's character and interactions with the suspects. There is even an Inspector Fox proxy character in Sergeant Bix. Let us hope that Stella Duffy continues with further Alleyn mysteries.
Trivia and Link
Read an article about Stella Duffy's completion of Money in the Morgue in The Guardian here.
November 19, 2020
Midsummer Night's Dream meets murder in a New Zealand setting, with lush descriptions of the scenery and natural wonders, fantastical hidden sides to the main suspects, secret passages, stolen cash, and classified espionage work amidst the backdrop of a remote WWII hospital all combine for a riveting tale. Marsh left notes and a few intro chapters of this work, and her estate gave their blessing for Stella Duffy to pick up the tale where Marsh left off. I wasn't familiar with Duffy's work, and in the highest praise I can bestow her, I'm still not sure that I am - she did a seamless job infusing Marsh's beloved Inspector Roderick Alleyn with his signature voice, charm, and uncanny second sense.
The characters were complicated and the plot complex, but never muddied. Numerous subplots unfold simultaneously, the reader never sure which ones will be relevant to the theft, and/or the murder and if the two are even connected. I'm fortunate enough to have been to New Zealand before, and Marsh/Duffy do an exquisite job conjuring up the almost mythical setting that is the landscape. Alleyn's repeated allusions to Shakespeare create a soft resonance across the novel to reinforce the magic, the chaos, and the near surrealism of the evening's events. The ending had just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, the final reveal a surprise yet still believable. A thoroughly enjoyable read!
The characters were complicated and the plot complex, but never muddied. Numerous subplots unfold simultaneously, the reader never sure which ones will be relevant to the theft, and/or the murder and if the two are even connected. I'm fortunate enough to have been to New Zealand before, and Marsh/Duffy do an exquisite job conjuring up the almost mythical setting that is the landscape. Alleyn's repeated allusions to Shakespeare create a soft resonance across the novel to reinforce the magic, the chaos, and the near surrealism of the evening's events. The ending had just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, the final reveal a surprise yet still believable. A thoroughly enjoyable read!
March 30, 2021
New Zealand. December 1942. Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn is undercover at Mount Seager Hospital, working on a top secret mission to uncover the meaning behind coded radio messages that have been intercepted. His cover as writer in need of rest and quiet for his nerves allows him to remain anonymous while waiting for sight or sound that will help him with his mission. One everning as a storm breaks over the hospital grounds, he finds that it never rains, but pours. A floodgate of mysterious events is about to be opened.
Mr. Glossop is the courier for the pay packets of various government establishments in the area. His elderly van busts a tire (as he has warned the powers-that-be it will for months) and he is stranded at the hospital for the night. Not that it matters much. The raging storm washes away bits of the bridge on the only available road--making the trip a dangerous prospect at best. Matron Ashdown insists that he deposit the remaining wages in the hospital's safe to spend the night safely tucked away with the hundred pounds winnings of hospital clerk Rosamund Farquharson (whose horse has proven lucky).
That same night, Sydney Brown, the grandson of an elderly man who has been on the edge of expiration for quite some time, has finally come to his grandfather's deathbed--just in time for the man's last moments. There is some confusion over getting word to Matron and the hospital porter, in what seems to be a drunken fit, pushes the trolley with the man in a body bag back and forth between the morgue and the office.
Meanwhile, a restless Mr. Glossop, cooped up in a hot, airless room decides he'd rather sleep with his cot lodged in front of the safe and moves to the matron's office. The entire establishment soon echoes with the courier's cries of "Thief! Robbers! Safe. Thief. Help! Thief. No!" after he finds the safe open and most horribly empty. Alleyn is forced to break cover and begin an investigation and the first thing he notices is that the body bag doesn't seem to be quite as full as it ought to be. Expecting to find the missing money bag, he (and all gathered round) are astonished to find that Mr. Brown's body is indeed gone, but it has been replaced not with stolen loot but with another corpse. Alleyn must get to the bottom of the theft, missing corspe, and murder, all while keeping an eye out for clues that will help him with his true mission at the hospital. He has one long night ahead of him and he deputizes Sergeant Bix, commander of the servicemen who are recuperating at the hospital, to act in the stead of his trusted friend Inspector Fox.
Continuation novels and brand new stories featuring beloved characters are almost always an iffy prospect. There have, of course, been a fairly good number of excellent Sherlock Homes novels written by others. But there has also been numerous really bad ones. I was thrilled when I heard that Jill Paton Walsh was going to used Sayers' source materials and give Lord Peter fans Thrones, Dominations and another chance to read about their favorite sleuth. That story was okay, but nothing like what Sayers would have given us herself. I've read all the others because I love Lord Peter and I kept hoping she'd get it more absolutely right (she never made it as far as I'm concerned). After reading reviews by bloggers I respected, I have completely ignored all of the Sophie Hannah novels about Poirot--I wasn't up to seeing Poirot through Hannah's eyes. The word on the blogging street about Money in the Morgue was generally positive, so when I found it would help me with one the reading challenges I'm doing I decided to give Duffy's rendering of Inspector Alleyn a try.
Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable book. The plot has a number of twists and turns and I can say that I did not see the finale coming at all. The new characters are interesting as are their interactions. I'm not quite sure that she got Alleyn right--particularly when he was interviewing suspects. I liked him best when he was interacting with Sergeant Bix. It definitely reminded me of Alleyn and Brer Fox. A random thought I had was on the naming of the sergeant. I'd be interested to know how complete the chapters Marsh left were and if all the primary characters were named as they appear in the final product. Whether Marsh left a complete roster or Duffy provided/changed any names, I also wonder if Bix was a deliberate attempt to parallel Inspector Fox as the military man steps in as Alleyn's right-hand man for the investigation. Somehow, I think if the sergeant had held the moniker Bassington or some such polysyllabic or hyphenated surname then it wouldn't have been the same.
A major conceit of the book is a connection with A Midsummer Night's Dream. On the one hand, this rings true as the entire night's events have a very dream-like (though I think the participants may opt for nightmarish) quality. Everything happens in the dark and certain events seem to happen in slow-motion. There is also an almost fairy-like glow in the hidden cave that Alleyn investigates at one point. And Alleyn, of course, is known for quoting Shakespeare. However, I don't see a correlation between our characters and those in the play. Alleyn refers to himself as Puck--but that only works for me if you view Puck as the closest thing to a protagonist in the play. Alleyn certainly is not mischievous and the only "tricks" he plays on anyone is "playing" them (as he calls it) to try and get them to tell the truth about the night's events.
This mystery should work really well for those who like their detective fiction in the Golden Age style but may not yet know Marsh's detective. It definitely has the right flavor. It also works for those of us who aren't quite as picky about Inspector Alleyn as we are about other classic detectives (Lord Peter and Poirot--for me) and don't mind if everything rings absolutely true or not. It has a good plot with surprises and provides a lovely view of the New Zealand countryside during the WWII years. ★★★ and 3/4...not quite a full four.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review.
Mr. Glossop is the courier for the pay packets of various government establishments in the area. His elderly van busts a tire (as he has warned the powers-that-be it will for months) and he is stranded at the hospital for the night. Not that it matters much. The raging storm washes away bits of the bridge on the only available road--making the trip a dangerous prospect at best. Matron Ashdown insists that he deposit the remaining wages in the hospital's safe to spend the night safely tucked away with the hundred pounds winnings of hospital clerk Rosamund Farquharson (whose horse has proven lucky).
That same night, Sydney Brown, the grandson of an elderly man who has been on the edge of expiration for quite some time, has finally come to his grandfather's deathbed--just in time for the man's last moments. There is some confusion over getting word to Matron and the hospital porter, in what seems to be a drunken fit, pushes the trolley with the man in a body bag back and forth between the morgue and the office.
Meanwhile, a restless Mr. Glossop, cooped up in a hot, airless room decides he'd rather sleep with his cot lodged in front of the safe and moves to the matron's office. The entire establishment soon echoes with the courier's cries of "Thief! Robbers! Safe. Thief. Help! Thief. No!" after he finds the safe open and most horribly empty. Alleyn is forced to break cover and begin an investigation and the first thing he notices is that the body bag doesn't seem to be quite as full as it ought to be. Expecting to find the missing money bag, he (and all gathered round) are astonished to find that Mr. Brown's body is indeed gone, but it has been replaced not with stolen loot but with another corpse. Alleyn must get to the bottom of the theft, missing corspe, and murder, all while keeping an eye out for clues that will help him with his true mission at the hospital. He has one long night ahead of him and he deputizes Sergeant Bix, commander of the servicemen who are recuperating at the hospital, to act in the stead of his trusted friend Inspector Fox.
Continuation novels and brand new stories featuring beloved characters are almost always an iffy prospect. There have, of course, been a fairly good number of excellent Sherlock Homes novels written by others. But there has also been numerous really bad ones. I was thrilled when I heard that Jill Paton Walsh was going to used Sayers' source materials and give Lord Peter fans Thrones, Dominations and another chance to read about their favorite sleuth. That story was okay, but nothing like what Sayers would have given us herself. I've read all the others because I love Lord Peter and I kept hoping she'd get it more absolutely right (she never made it as far as I'm concerned). After reading reviews by bloggers I respected, I have completely ignored all of the Sophie Hannah novels about Poirot--I wasn't up to seeing Poirot through Hannah's eyes. The word on the blogging street about Money in the Morgue was generally positive, so when I found it would help me with one the reading challenges I'm doing I decided to give Duffy's rendering of Inspector Alleyn a try.
Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable book. The plot has a number of twists and turns and I can say that I did not see the finale coming at all. The new characters are interesting as are their interactions. I'm not quite sure that she got Alleyn right--particularly when he was interviewing suspects. I liked him best when he was interacting with Sergeant Bix. It definitely reminded me of Alleyn and Brer Fox. A random thought I had was on the naming of the sergeant. I'd be interested to know how complete the chapters Marsh left were and if all the primary characters were named as they appear in the final product. Whether Marsh left a complete roster or Duffy provided/changed any names, I also wonder if Bix was a deliberate attempt to parallel Inspector Fox as the military man steps in as Alleyn's right-hand man for the investigation. Somehow, I think if the sergeant had held the moniker Bassington or some such polysyllabic or hyphenated surname then it wouldn't have been the same.
A major conceit of the book is a connection with A Midsummer Night's Dream. On the one hand, this rings true as the entire night's events have a very dream-like (though I think the participants may opt for nightmarish) quality. Everything happens in the dark and certain events seem to happen in slow-motion. There is also an almost fairy-like glow in the hidden cave that Alleyn investigates at one point. And Alleyn, of course, is known for quoting Shakespeare. However, I don't see a correlation between our characters and those in the play. Alleyn refers to himself as Puck--but that only works for me if you view Puck as the closest thing to a protagonist in the play. Alleyn certainly is not mischievous and the only "tricks" he plays on anyone is "playing" them (as he calls it) to try and get them to tell the truth about the night's events.
This mystery should work really well for those who like their detective fiction in the Golden Age style but may not yet know Marsh's detective. It definitely has the right flavor. It also works for those of us who aren't quite as picky about Inspector Alleyn as we are about other classic detectives (Lord Peter and Poirot--for me) and don't mind if everything rings absolutely true or not. It has a good plot with surprises and provides a lovely view of the New Zealand countryside during the WWII years. ★★★ and 3/4...not quite a full four.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review.
February 20, 2022
It’s quite a few years since I read a Ngaio Marsh so, although I can’t comment on the ‘authentic voice’ of this completion, by Stella Duffy, of a partial manuscript, it has served to remind me of how much I liked the Alleyn mysteries and given me the incentive to read them all again.
I have no trouble treating such post-mortem author collaborations as a genre in their own right. This one succeeds, in my view, in achieving a sense of the mind of Alleyn behind the detection and also of NZ towards the end of WWII. The story is complex but the entwining narratives unwind in a way that brought me along and held my interest. The characters were, for the most part, distinguishable and convincing.
I enjoyed it.
I have no trouble treating such post-mortem author collaborations as a genre in their own right. This one succeeds, in my view, in achieving a sense of the mind of Alleyn behind the detection and also of NZ towards the end of WWII. The story is complex but the entwining narratives unwind in a way that brought me along and held my interest. The characters were, for the most part, distinguishable and convincing.
I enjoyed it.
December 15, 2019
This was an mixed-bag of a book but enjoyable for the most part. I really liked the set-up before the crime was originally uncovered. The author(s) did a good job of setting up a locked-room scenario at a military hospital and, when introducing the characters, showed us a series of people with money worries and pressures that might cause them to commit a crime. The investigation was all pretty fun, too. I just thought that it grew slightly farcical as it reached the climax; one secret tunnel under the hospital became two, then three, then four with new hidden entrances springing up every chapter, becoming a little ridiculous by the end.
April 30, 2019
It’s 84 years since Dame Ngaio Marsh published the first Roderick Alleyn novel. Now he’s back, in a crime novel outlined by Marsh during the Second World War and completed by Stella Duffy in 2018. Review at Newtown Review of Books
April 18, 2020
3.5 seems an appropriate rating.
I enjoyed Duffy’s ability to write like Marsh. Has inspired me to re-read a lot of my Marsh collection.
Onto another NZ author now!😉
I enjoyed Duffy’s ability to write like Marsh. Has inspired me to re-read a lot of my Marsh collection.
Onto another NZ author now!😉
August 3, 2024
Ngaio Marsh's unfinished Roderick Alleyn story completed satisfactorily, I think, by Stella Duffy and read by her for the audiobook. I found this an interesting tale set, as it was, in a country hospital in wartime New Zealand. Add the requisite mystery and you have an entertaining read.
June 30, 2018
This really felt like reading a Ngaio Marsh and was very enjoyable, so Stella Duffy has done a great job and it must have been fascinating to do.
Near the beginning there were some weird grammatical errors which were not like Ngaio Marsh and which should have been edited out.
As she wrote Stella Duffy must have ruminated on similarities and differences across the decades. Perhaps an even better book would have been where some sense of this emerged more... or perhaps that should be a different book.
Near the beginning there were some weird grammatical errors which were not like Ngaio Marsh and which should have been edited out.
As she wrote Stella Duffy must have ruminated on similarities and differences across the decades. Perhaps an even better book would have been where some sense of this emerged more... or perhaps that should be a different book.
June 12, 2018
Oh my...
I was incredibly excited to see that Stella Duffy has completed this unfinished Ngaio Marsh novel.
Having read every Marsh book in my late teens and early 20s my expectations were high. This captures the tone of her novels perfectly, it really is a seamless transition.
Having Rory Alleyn back is like finding a photograph of a day out with an old friend that you’d forgotten you had. This is absolutely spot on. The story is engaging, with perfect characterisation and sufficient twists.
A wonderful read.
I was incredibly excited to see that Stella Duffy has completed this unfinished Ngaio Marsh novel.
Having read every Marsh book in my late teens and early 20s my expectations were high. This captures the tone of her novels perfectly, it really is a seamless transition.
Having Rory Alleyn back is like finding a photograph of a day out with an old friend that you’d forgotten you had. This is absolutely spot on. The story is engaging, with perfect characterisation and sufficient twists.
A wonderful read.
March 14, 2018
Stella Duffy has performed an amazing feat, bringing Inspector Alleyn back to life after 35 years. Taking her starting point from three opening chapters left unfinished by Dame Ngaio Marsh in the 1940s, she has created a plot, solved a variety of crimes and given us a book every bit as good as the originals.
'Money in the Morgue' is set in New Zealand, as were only two other Inspector Alleyn books, with the rest almost all set in England. Stella Duffy has done a wonderful job recreating the period as well as the style of writing. Some may find it a little old fashioned, but I have no problem with it and am glad that no attempt was made to 'modernise' the language. There was only one point, as Alleyn "demurred" for the third time in just over a page, that I really noticed anything dated in the dialogue.
I am not sure why the initial chapters were left unfinished. Perhaps the challenges that Dame Ngaio set herself were too hard. 'Money in the Morgue' is essentially a 'locked room' crime, in that all the action takes place in a small Canterbury hospital, temporarily cut off by a swollen river and damaged bridge. No-one can leave the location unless they tramp into the mountains. Nor can the local police get in to help. One other stipulation that Dame Ngaio placed on herself was that all the action should take place in a single night. The crime, the discovery, the interviews of all the suspects and the solution all take place by sunrise. It is no mean feat and it is carried off very well. There are enough twists and turns to keep the most avid crime reader satisfied.
'Money in the Morgue' is set in New Zealand, as were only two other Inspector Alleyn books, with the rest almost all set in England. Stella Duffy has done a wonderful job recreating the period as well as the style of writing. Some may find it a little old fashioned, but I have no problem with it and am glad that no attempt was made to 'modernise' the language. There was only one point, as Alleyn "demurred" for the third time in just over a page, that I really noticed anything dated in the dialogue.
I am not sure why the initial chapters were left unfinished. Perhaps the challenges that Dame Ngaio set herself were too hard. 'Money in the Morgue' is essentially a 'locked room' crime, in that all the action takes place in a small Canterbury hospital, temporarily cut off by a swollen river and damaged bridge. No-one can leave the location unless they tramp into the mountains. Nor can the local police get in to help. One other stipulation that Dame Ngaio placed on herself was that all the action should take place in a single night. The crime, the discovery, the interviews of all the suspects and the solution all take place by sunrise. It is no mean feat and it is carried off very well. There are enough twists and turns to keep the most avid crime reader satisfied.
September 7, 2018
Being asked to finish another well loved and liked author's book must be a real challenge. I'm sure Stella Duffy intended to do it well, and follow the Marsh pattern, but Stella Duffy is not Ngaio Marsh, and her philosophy and beliefs are far from Marsh's own. In places this shows very clearly and, in places Duffy, not Marsh, came through, it stopped the flow of the story for me. And I don't think Stella Duffy was as fond of her Inspector Alleyn as Marsh was. That shows too. She does know New Zealand though which helped with this story.
Set in wartime New Zealand, with everyone anxious about the Japanese threat and all the young Kiwis sent far from home to fight for ‘Home’, we have Inspector Alleyn on secret wartime business. He arrives at Mount Seager Hospital and quickly is involved with a payroll theft and murder. It's a complicated plot as so many of the characters have things to hide, or things to fear and secrets abound. The final few twists are a Duffy specialty and make for breath taking ending.
I think keen readers of Marsh will be a little disappointed, but most fans will enjoy another taste of Inspector Alleyn. I expect there will be another Duffy/Marsh if the sales are good. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's hard to shake that modern tough girl mental state and channel Marsh, who was a tough lady but in very different ways.
Set in wartime New Zealand, with everyone anxious about the Japanese threat and all the young Kiwis sent far from home to fight for ‘Home’, we have Inspector Alleyn on secret wartime business. He arrives at Mount Seager Hospital and quickly is involved with a payroll theft and murder. It's a complicated plot as so many of the characters have things to hide, or things to fear and secrets abound. The final few twists are a Duffy specialty and make for breath taking ending.
I think keen readers of Marsh will be a little disappointed, but most fans will enjoy another taste of Inspector Alleyn. I expect there will be another Duffy/Marsh if the sales are good. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's hard to shake that modern tough girl mental state and channel Marsh, who was a tough lady but in very different ways.
March 16, 2018
Somewhere in my reading about this book I came across a note that I jotted down about who wrote what. Stella Duffy was given Ngaio Marsh's first three chapters and some notes, and says "Chapter four is half her, half me and the rest is all me." And one of the theories is that Marsh started writing it while working as an ambulance driver in Christchurch during WW2.
It's a cosy, and a police procedural (rather than a detective novel in the true sense), and Duffy also packs in a spy story, a locked room mystery, a body swap, some farce and caper and a location based mystery all taking place over the period of one day. For anyone who enjoys mapping out a plot and character motivation there are 14 characters to play with - all in various combinations of being in love, broke and/or discontent.
Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn gives us some lovely insights into how a leadership role might be delivered, when to hold the line and when to let things loosen slightly.
I've gone for a 4 rather than 5 stars because of the period nature of it. The language, formality and intricacies will put a few readers off.
It's a cosy, and a police procedural (rather than a detective novel in the true sense), and Duffy also packs in a spy story, a locked room mystery, a body swap, some farce and caper and a location based mystery all taking place over the period of one day. For anyone who enjoys mapping out a plot and character motivation there are 14 characters to play with - all in various combinations of being in love, broke and/or discontent.
Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn gives us some lovely insights into how a leadership role might be delivered, when to hold the line and when to let things loosen slightly.
I've gone for a 4 rather than 5 stars because of the period nature of it. The language, formality and intricacies will put a few readers off.
April 10, 2018
I was very excited to receive through Goodreads and Harper Collins the latest Inspector Alleyn novel, the last from Ngaio Marsh and brilliantly completed by Stella Duffy. Those who are familiar with the series will not be disappointed and those reading for the first time may well go hunting out others in the series which were written up to 70 years ago. A prolific crime writer Ngaio again keeps the reader in suspense from the first to last page.
Set in a remote New Zealand hospital, cut off from others due to a violent storm which brings down telephone lines and the bridge which is the only route out, murder, theft, and complicated relationships abound. Alleyne, in situ for a very specific purpose has to take control and endeavour to solve the crimes before dawn breaks. The dynamics of the characters are enthralling and make it impossible to put the book down.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan then this is the read for you.
Set in a remote New Zealand hospital, cut off from others due to a violent storm which brings down telephone lines and the bridge which is the only route out, murder, theft, and complicated relationships abound. Alleyne, in situ for a very specific purpose has to take control and endeavour to solve the crimes before dawn breaks. The dynamics of the characters are enthralling and make it impossible to put the book down.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan then this is the read for you.
March 8, 2020
DNF--I stopped on page 62. I'd gone that far because I hoped it would get more interesting, but it did not. I'm very disappointed since I'd been excited to see a new Inspector Alleyn book--I used to be a huge fan.
It may be that the language is authentic to the period, but it was often impenetrable to me, and I read a lot of period books as well as those set in Australia and New Zealand. Added to the language challenges was the fact that sometimes paragraphs went on for more than a page following mostly uninteresting characters. If the book had started with Alleyn I might have suffered through more, but this simply wasn't worth turning one more page.
It may be that the language is authentic to the period, but it was often impenetrable to me, and I read a lot of period books as well as those set in Australia and New Zealand. Added to the language challenges was the fact that sometimes paragraphs went on for more than a page following mostly uninteresting characters. If the book had started with Alleyn I might have suffered through more, but this simply wasn't worth turning one more page.
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