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verityw's review against another edition
3.0
I've been saving reading the last couple of Alleyn books for a while now, because I don't want the series to be over, but I treated myself to this for the new year. This is not as good as the best of them, but it's a lot of fun and because it's a closed house type situation, the long term reader doesn't notice/remember/think about how old Alleyn would be now given the implied setting! Also lovely to have some Troy again - they're not the most demonstrative of couples, but their relationship is so well written that you really do feel like you're reading about a couple who are truly comfortable with each other and still in love after all these years...
marystevens's review against another edition
4.0
Marsh's penultimate book, set in her home country, New Zealand. A persistent paparazzi, Strix, is annoying the diva, Sommitta (highest). She demands police protection; they agree because they think there Are drugs involved in her entourage but they dont tell her; then she invites Roderick Alleyn's wife to paint her at a remote retreat where a new opera by Sommita's lover will be performed. So...everybody's on a remote island, power is lost because of a storm and... Guess what? There's a murder! It's a puzzle mystery and a good one!
jojoinabox's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
tlsouthard's review against another edition
4.0
I like Inspector Alleyn and I like his artist wife Troy. This is the next to the last book in the Alleyn series (there are 32 of them!). I like Marsh's style. I thought this one was good, a nice puzzle, interesting characters, though some were not too fleshed out...
smessmores's review
4.0
New Zealand, actors and actressess...it's a Marsh book! An enjoyable story. I had my hopes pinned on a particular person for the job, but the clues were well laid out for the eventual reveal.
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in October 1999.
Right at the end of her career, Marsh took her detective Alleyn back to her beloved New Zealand, scene of some of his earlier successes. It was almost forty years after her previous novel set outside Europe. Photo Finish also features a flamboyant, larger than life stage personality, the soprano Isabella Sommita. Emotionally exhausted after attacks on her by a photographer naming himself Strix, who pursued her across the world, surprising her in unflattering poses to destroy her image, she goes to the New Zealand home of her multimillionaire lover. From there she summons both Alleyn and his wife - Alleyn to investigate the identity of Strix, Troy to paint "La Sommita". Alleyn accepts because he is interested in suspicions that some of Sommita's entourage are involved in the drug trade, Troy because she is fascinated by the singer's face and the challenge of conveying a personality whose vanity and temper are almost as famous as her voice.
At the house, in an inaccessible part of the South Island, the party is cut off by bad weather. Then her maid finds Isabella Sommita, dead, with Strix's latest photo attached to her body by the dagger through her heart.
This, Marsh's last but one novel, is more like an Agatha Christie than most of her books. It has a strong puzzle at its centre, to which character distinctly takes a second place. This is the case to the extent that I found it difficult to remember which of the characters were which in some cases. The background is well done; the beauty of the South Island is portrayed convincingly but is never obtrusive.
In quite a large proportion of Marsh's novels - I should think around ten of the fifty or so - Troy is innocently involved in one of her husband's cases. I have mentioned this before, but I bring it up again since it is mentioned in Photo Finish. Alleyn remarks how much he hates Troy being involved in his investigations, and says that this has happened four times. Perhaps through a career of over fifty years Marsh had a less solid memory of her novels than I do at the moment, having read them through in order in two years, but I was immediately able to think of more examples than this.
Right at the end of her career, Marsh took her detective Alleyn back to her beloved New Zealand, scene of some of his earlier successes. It was almost forty years after her previous novel set outside Europe. Photo Finish also features a flamboyant, larger than life stage personality, the soprano Isabella Sommita. Emotionally exhausted after attacks on her by a photographer naming himself Strix, who pursued her across the world, surprising her in unflattering poses to destroy her image, she goes to the New Zealand home of her multimillionaire lover. From there she summons both Alleyn and his wife - Alleyn to investigate the identity of Strix, Troy to paint "La Sommita". Alleyn accepts because he is interested in suspicions that some of Sommita's entourage are involved in the drug trade, Troy because she is fascinated by the singer's face and the challenge of conveying a personality whose vanity and temper are almost as famous as her voice.
At the house, in an inaccessible part of the South Island, the party is cut off by bad weather. Then her maid finds Isabella Sommita, dead, with Strix's latest photo attached to her body by the dagger through her heart.
This, Marsh's last but one novel, is more like an Agatha Christie than most of her books. It has a strong puzzle at its centre, to which character distinctly takes a second place. This is the case to the extent that I found it difficult to remember which of the characters were which in some cases. The background is well done; the beauty of the South Island is portrayed convincingly but is never obtrusive.
In quite a large proportion of Marsh's novels - I should think around ten of the fifty or so - Troy is innocently involved in one of her husband's cases. I have mentioned this before, but I bring it up again since it is mentioned in Photo Finish. Alleyn remarks how much he hates Troy being involved in his investigations, and says that this has happened four times. Perhaps through a career of over fifty years Marsh had a less solid memory of her novels than I do at the moment, having read them through in order in two years, but I was immediately able to think of more examples than this.
pers's review
4.0
I love Ngaio Marsh's 'Inspector Alleyn' tales - very much of the Golden Age of detective fiction.
singinglight's review
3.0
The next-to-last and last in the Inspector Alleyn series. They were….alright. Quite honestly, they made me glad that there were no more because Alleyn didn’t have the charm and interest which makes the earlier books so readable. Black as He’s Painted and Last Ditch were much better.
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