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A review by jessica_sim
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
3.0
Phew, that was quite an adventure in the last four chapters! I am still a bit reeling from all the excitement. But then, suddenly it was all over, and I sat there, dazed, left with so so many questions.
This is the first book Ngaio Marsh wrote and the first book by her hand that I read. I like that very much! To discover her work and to do so in the proper order. It also means that I am not quite sure yet what to expect from her works. I am an ardent Golden Age detective fan, and as such I found this book to be a pleasant, fast, in-between read. It lifted my spirits and delighted me with properly archaic conversations and all the essential elements: the country house, an exciting collection of equally suspicious guest, a strange detective taking weird liberties to get to the truth and a big dramatic review with everyone present.
Sparsed in between all that fun there is a weird subplot regarding a Russian secret society and very rare knife. Why of why? I think the story would have been sufficient without any of the confusion this brings. Especially the unexplained obsession of the host with the mysterious knife and his suspicious behaviour regarding it (never satisfactorily explained) towards the end. The conversation where he expresses his scientific need for the knife, and all the meaningful glances exchanged there, made my head race to entirely different conclusions and are the cause of my current state of unconvincedness and incomplete satisfaction after finishing the book.
The Russian conspiracy did offer a burst of excitement in London. I loved the nightly adventure, though it did not really have a constructive bearing on the case ...
All in all: enjoyable! I will immediately dive into the next book in the series.
This is the first book Ngaio Marsh wrote and the first book by her hand that I read. I like that very much! To discover her work and to do so in the proper order. It also means that I am not quite sure yet what to expect from her works. I am an ardent Golden Age detective fan, and as such I found this book to be a pleasant, fast, in-between read. It lifted my spirits and delighted me with properly archaic conversations and all the essential elements: the country house, an exciting collection of equally suspicious guest, a strange detective taking weird liberties to get to the truth and a big dramatic review with everyone present.
Sparsed in between all that fun there is a weird subplot regarding a Russian secret society and very rare knife. Why of why? I think the story would have been sufficient without any of the confusion this brings. Especially the unexplained obsession of the host with the mysterious knife and his suspicious behaviour regarding it (never satisfactorily explained) towards the end. The conversation where he expresses his scientific need for the knife, and all the meaningful glances exchanged there, made my head race to entirely different conclusions and are the cause of my current state of unconvincedness and incomplete satisfaction after finishing the book.
The Russian conspiracy did offer a burst of excitement in London. I loved the nightly adventure, though it did not really have a constructive bearing on the case ...
All in all: enjoyable! I will immediately dive into the next book in the series.