Reviews

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

dmturner's review

mysterious medium-paced

2.75

The first Inspector Alleyn book and fairly terrible.

beatriz1998's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"Eu não imagino; detetives não têm permissão para imaginar. Eles percebem probabilidades."

book_concierge's review against another edition

2.0

2.5**

The first mystery novel by Marsh introduces Inspector Detective Roderick Alleyn. At Sir Hubert Handesley’s country house party, five guests have gathered for a parlor game of “Murder.” It’s all in fun, until the lights come back on and there is an actual corpse. Given the prominence of the household, Scotland Yard is called in. By the time Alleyn arrives from London the victim’s body has been moved, everyone has an alibi, and the butler has gone missing.

I can clearly see how Marsh became known as one of the “Queens of Crime” alongside Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. However, I found this to be slow-moving and unnecessarily complicated

Spoiler

by a side plot involving sedition and Russian spies

. There are a few nods to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, which I did appreciate, and a budding romance which I did not.

I’m glad I finally read something by Marsh; not sure if I’ll read another.

briesespieces's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 ✨. it’s always nice to read a book by a prolific author for the first time and end up liking how they write. i really enjoyed the mystery even though i found it a bit predictable but the twists and turns (minus the unnecessary ones) saved it. look forward to reading more from this series!

isobeltr's review

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

ncostell's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

elothwen's review against another edition

4.0

This was a lot of fun. Marsh's characters are a lot snappier and wittier than Christie's, but her plot was very silly. Not a bad silly, but the Russian element was ridiculous (but again, not bad).

Spoiler

I was shocked by the gruesome violence with the pins under the nails. Not something you usually see in classic mystery novels. Also, Rankin taking Wilde's pants off in front of everybody? What was that about?

The inspector was alright (no one can be Poirot), but I'll miss Nigel as the protagonist. I will definitely read more of this series, though; it was exciting and quick.

meera01's review against another edition

relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This was only ok. It got better at the end but mostly because the mystery getting solved. But there were too many characters that were indistinguishable from each other and I did not care about the person who was murdered either. 

kimmahkimmah's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

tgaddie's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0