Scan barcode
gingerjane's review against another edition
3.0
Alleyn seems pretty much fully formed in this first book, the Russian sub plot was all kinds of silliness.
tarshka's review against another edition
mysterious
3.0
Alright start to Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn series.
nekreader's review against another edition
2.0
Ah the classic British weekend in the country murder mystery. I liked it in the end, but had a tough time getting going and keeping the characters straight. There also seemed to be one plot too many. Although not as strong as the better Agatha Christie mysteries, A Man Lay Dead is still an enjoyable read. I'm interested to try some more and see how Marsh develops Roderick Alleyn.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
Here's the introduction to Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn in the first of the series and the first novel Ngio Marsh wrote. A real murder is committed during a country house party game of Murder, and there are Russians and young women who drive too fast and mysterious knives. All great fun, although I'm hoping the character of Roderick Alleyn settles to something rather than jumping around in an alarming way that I find difficult to follow. The plot is rather thin and fluffy too, but it is interesting to see where one the the "Queens of Crime" started her journey.
vstewart76's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
missmary98's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a fantastic introduction to the series and the main characters that it would've been a 5 if it wasn't for that side plot with the Russians that I'm still super confused about.
ma_non's review against another edition
3.0
« chatouillez un russe, et il sortira son couteau mongol. »
3 étoiles parce que je l’ai lu, sans que ce soit une lecture incroyable pour autant, c’est tout de même un récit qui change, écrit en 1940 donc forcément, c’est léger, c’est différent, donc appréciable.
J’aime les enquêtes, j’aime qu’on me raconte le déroulé d’un crime plusieurs fois pour déterminer qui a fait le coup. Et pour le coup! Une vraie débandade, c’est pas demain qu’un crime sera commis de cette façon, en terme de créativité, j’ai galéré à m’imaginer la mise en scène. Et puis les personnages ont des dialogues tellement improbables, et hilarants. Ça rend des situations sérieuses vraiment très cocasses et c’était très bien vu !
3 étoiles parce que je l’ai lu, sans que ce soit une lecture incroyable pour autant, c’est tout de même un récit qui change, écrit en 1940 donc forcément, c’est léger, c’est différent, donc appréciable.
J’aime les enquêtes, j’aime qu’on me raconte le déroulé d’un crime plusieurs fois pour déterminer qui a fait le coup. Et pour le coup! Une vraie débandade, c’est pas demain qu’un crime sera commis de cette façon, en terme de créativité, j’ai galéré à m’imaginer la mise en scène. Et puis les personnages ont des dialogues tellement improbables, et hilarants. Ça rend des situations sérieuses vraiment très cocasses et c’était très bien vu !
johnke's review against another edition
2.0
The author has a beautiful way with words and at some points, the language was so wonderfully modern, all wry and sardonic and self-aware. But the plotting was awful, with a dozen or so characters not so much introduced but rather vomited onto the page over a couple of paragraphs so I spent half the book going “now which one is this?” For example, there are two characters, a Mr and a Mrs Wilde, and yet while the two are in conversation, the author would refer to one of them as “Wilde”, as in “”Wilde said...”.
This was my first Inspector Alleyn book, but based on this outing, I don’t know if I’ll make the effort with the rest.
This was my first Inspector Alleyn book, but based on this outing, I don’t know if I’ll make the effort with the rest.