A review by cheryl6of8
Photo d'adieu by Ngaio Marsh

3.0

I managed to complete this book during the periods of wakefulness in a day of naps recovering from jet lag. I am a fan of this series and was excited to read one set in New Zealand. This was a variation of a locked room mystery -- a murder occurs during an event at a posh private lodge on an island in the middle of a lake during a massive storm. All contact with the outside world is temporarily cut off and Alleyn must try to preserve the integrity of the crime scene and investigate the dramatic murder of the great Italian opera star his wife Troy had been hoping to paint. I liked the fact that you get a little flavor of the New Zealand bush in the middle of the mystery. And the characters were well drawn. I was somewhat surprised by the identity of the culprit (probably because there had been opportunity galore to commit the crime prior to a house party attended by a prominent police detective -- the choice of timing still strikes me as odd.) The working out of whodunit, though, is very finely sculpted.