A review by siria
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

1.5

A quick read, a fairly standard English Country House mystery. Ngaio Marsh's writing has some verve to it, and the characters of Nigel and Angela were some fun as Bright Young Things who assist Inspector Alleyne in figuring out whodunnit. But even allowing for the fact that what is cliché now was fresh once, <i>A Man Lay Dead</i> is a deeply silly book. The howdunnit just didn't work, and Alleyne's procedural methods had me scratching my head and wondering if any part of his case would stand up in court. I know that the Thirties were a different time—but <i>that</i> different? Then you add in a lot of classism and the xenophobic subplot that went nowhere involving the
religious-yet-also-somehow-Bolshevik centuries-old secret society that is hinted to engage in (presumably gay?) orgies and/or castrations and sometimes immolates its members in locked houses
, and you have me rolling my eyes a bit as I close the book. 
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