A review by judyward
Black As He's Painted by Ngaio Marsh

3.0

The President of Ng'ombwana, a newly independent republic in Africa, is coming to London. There have been several assassination attempts on the President before he arrives in England and the Foreign Office wants to ensure that nothing happens to him during this visit. Luckily, Scotland Yard's Superintendent Roderick Alleyn was a school boy friend of the President during their youth and so Alleyn is assigned to the case. When the Ng'omwanan ambassador is killed by a spear during an embassy reception, everyone assumes that the wrong man was attacked and it will only be a matter of time before the assassin strikes again. In the following days, Alleyn has to deal with his old friend, the President, diplomatic immunity, a wealth of suspects, and one of the most adorable little cats to appear in fiction in quite a while.