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Ngaio Marsh

    23 april 1895 – 18 februari 1982

    Ngaio Marsh was een meesterlijke verteller wiens misdaadromans doordrenkt zijn van haar diepe waardering voor theater en schilderkunst. Gedurende een carrière van vijftig jaar creëerde ze ingewikkelde mysteries, waarbij ze de memorabele detective Roderick Alleyn introduceerde. Marshs werken verkennen vaak de dramatische werelden van het podium en het kunstenaarsatelier, waarbij spanning wordt gecombineerd met scherpe observaties van de menselijke natuur. Haar onderscheidende stijl en thematische diepgang bevestigden haar nalatenschap als een prominente figuur in de gouden eeuw van de detectivefictie.

    Ngaio Marsh
    Death in a White Tie / Overture to Death / Death at the Bar
    Died in the Wool
    When in Rome
    Death And The Dancing Footman
    Door in jacquet
    Dood op Binnenlandse Zaken
    • Dood op Binnenlandse Zaken

      • 184bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      When Britain's Home Secretary complained of abdominal pains, it seemed like a simple case of appendicitis. But minutes after his operation, the ill-fated politician lay dead on the table. When Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to dissect the situation, he finds many a likely suspect, including a vengeful surgeon, a lovelorn nurse, an unhappy wife, and a cabinet full of political foes.

      Dood op Binnenlandse Zaken
      3,9
    • Another detective story by the renowned author, whose brilliant dialogue recalls Agatha Christie, unfolds in an English country estate cut off from the outside world by heavy snowfall. A murder occurs within the disparate group invited for a weekend by an eccentric host, and once again, Chief Inspector Alleyn from Scotland Yard expertly solves the case, managing to reach the scene despite the adverse weather conditions.

      Death And The Dancing Footman
      4,4
    • When in Rome

      • 250bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      Death on a Guided Tour It was April in Rome, and gathered together in the church of San Tommaso in Pallario was the kind of varied group of people that can only meet on a tour. It included a superannuated jetsetter and her junkie nephew, a bad-tempered, ultra-British major, a boisterous Baron and Baroness, and an extremely reticent best-selling author. They were there under the aegis of one Sebastian Mailer, who had promised them a most unconventional tour—a claim no one later disputed, after encountering murder, blackmail and drug-running. Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, in Rome on a special mission, became involved in the case, and found it one of his most baffling—a case in which every suspect might equally well prove a victim… (Publisher’s description)

      When in Rome
      4,3
    • Died in the Wool

      • 256bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      One summer evening in 1942, Flossie Rubrick, goes to her husband's wool shed to rehearse a patriotic speech - and disappears. Three weeks later she turns up at an auction, packed inside one of her own bales of wool and very, very dead

      Died in the Wool
      4,1
    • Black beech and honeydew

      an autobiography

      The new series of Ngaio Marsh editions concludes with a new edition of her autobiography. What sort of person was Ngaio Marsh, whose detective novels made her name known throughout the world? With all the insight and sense of style her readers have come to expect of her, her autobiography reveals the influences and environment that have shaped her personality. Widely acclaimed when first published in 1965, Black Beech and Honeydew is a sensitive account of Ngaio Marsh's childhood and adolescence in Christchurch and the establishment of her theatre and writing careers both there and in the UK. It captures all the joys, fears and hopes of a spirited young woman growing up and transmits an artist's gradual awareness of the special flavour of life in New Zealand and the individual character of its landscape. Fully revised and updated in 1981, this new edition is reissued 21 years later as a commemoration of Ngaio Marsh's life and work. It is a sanguine, poised, unpretentious, thoughtful and often moving record of a full life, and -- despite its unavailability for nearly 20 years -- has been acclaimed as her most distinguished work. No one who had read and enjoyed any of Ngaio Marsh's 32 novels can afford to overlook this gifted and charming autobiography.

      Black beech and honeydew
      3,5
    • Photo Finish

      • 264bladzijden
      • 10 uur lezen

      The murder of a famous opera soprano finds Inspector Alleyn crawling around backstage in her life, interviewing agents, past lovers, servants, and others hoping to learn who dispatched La Sommita with her own stiletto.

      Photo Finish
      4,0
    • Clutch of Constables

      • 222bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      Five Days Out of Time … that was how the ad had described the Zodiac cruise on the “weirdly misted” English river. The passengers were the usual, unusual lot: a couple of unpleasantly hygienic Americans, an aloof Ethiopian doctor, a snooping cleric with a wall-eye, an artist running away from her success… But they were not all what they seemed. For Inspector Alleyn knew that one of them was the faceless “Jampot”—the ruthless killer who could take on any personality, whose thumb was a deadly weapon. The problem was, which one ? Alleyn had five days to trap him, or the other passengers would pay with their lives—and one of those passengers was Alleyn’s wife!

      Clutch of Constables
      4,1
    • The discovery of a piece of authentic Shakespearean memorabilia leads to a murder at the recently reopened Dolphin theater and Inspector Alleyn investigates

      Death at the Dolphin
      4,0
    • Penguin Crime: Final Curtain

      • 256bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      Troy Alleyn, Inspector Roderick Alleyn's beautiful young wife, is engaged to paint a portrait of Sir Henry Ancred, famed Shakespearean actor and family patriarch, but she senses all is not well in the dreary castle of Ancreton. When old Hnery is found dead after a suspicious dinner and an unfortunate family fracas, Troy enlists the impeccable aid of her husband to determine who among a cast of players would have a motive for murder -- and the theatrical gift to carry it out.

      Penguin Crime: Final Curtain
      3,8
    • Mary Bellamy, ageing darling of the London stage, holds a 50th-birthday party - a gala where she has assembled everyone who loves her and fears her power. Then someone uses a deadly insect spray on Mary instead of the azaleas. Superintendent Alleyn investigates.

      False Scent
      3,8
    • Death in a White Tie

      • 336bladzijden
      • 12 uur lezen

      Debutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim. But Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up. He had already planted his friend Lord Robert Gospell at the scene.

      Death in a White Tie
      4,0
    • All aboard for murder The Cape Farewell steams out to sea, carrying a serial strangler who says it with flowers and a little song. Behind, on a fogbound London dock, lies his latest lovely victim; and on board, working undercover to identify him before he strikes again, is Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But-with a collection of neurotic, bombastic, shifty, and passionate passengers at one another's throats-how long can he keep the investigation on course?

      Singing in the Shrouds
      4,0
    • MURDER IN HIGH C... A persistent paparazzi has hounded operatic soprano Isabella Sommita until her nerves are at the breaking point. Now her millionaire boyfriend has whisked her to a New Zealand island to recover. There she plans a performance of an aria written just for her by her secret young lover, who, along with a bevy of envious celebrities, is also on the island. It's the perfect set-up for grand opera—wild passions...and bloody murder. And when the great singer is found dead, a photo on her bosom, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn must find out who did the diva in...

      Photo-finish
      3,7
    • "Lord Pastern and Baggot (yes, that's one person) is a classic English eccentric, given to passionate, peculiar enthusiasms. His latest? Drumming in a jazz band. His rather stuffy wife is not amused, and even less so when her daughter falls hard for Carlos Rivera, the band's sleazy piano accordionist. Aside from the young woman, nobody likes Rivera very much, so there's a wealth of suspects when he is shot in the middle of a performance. Happily, Inspector Alleyn is in the audience, ready solve the murder, soothe Lord P & B, and generally get everyone back on beat. Who knew he was such a jazzbo?"--Back cover.

      A Wreath for Rivera
      3,6
    • Invitation to Murder… Lady Bantling had a talent for outrageous parties, but she never dreamed her mad treasure hunt would end in murder—with a famous lawyer dead in a drain excavation, his skull bashed in by a pipe… Who had planned this horrendous happening? Superintendent Alleyn probes the alibis of some elegant aristocrats—for the hidden clue to a particularly deadly guest. (Publisher’s description)

      Hand in Glove
      3,9
    • A Grave Mistake

      • 256bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday... A bit snobbish and a trifle high-strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact, she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second. And Inspector Roderick Alleyn, C.I.D., digging about Upper Quintern, may unearth still a third...deeply buried motive for murder.

      A Grave Mistake
      3,9
    • Overture to Death

      • 248bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      Who in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people, among them her fellow cast members from a troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others' lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman -- and may soon stage a repeat performance.

      Overture to Death
      3,8
    • Artists in Crime

      • 310bladzijden
      • 11 uur lezen

      When murder upsets the creative tranquility of an artists' colony, Scotland Yard sends in its most famous investigator. And what begins as a routine case turns out to be the most momentous of Roderick Alleyn's career. For before he can corner the killer, his heart is captured by one of the suspects-the flashing-eyed painter Agatha Troy, who has nothing but scorn for the art of detection.

      Artists in Crime
      3,9
    • A strangely mixed group gathers for a weekend at a country estate in England. Sir Hubert Handesley, the host, is known for his witty social games. This time, he proposes a death game, where one participant must play the murderer and another the victim. However, the game turns into a bitter reality... This marks the first case of Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a classic of detective literature.

      A Man Lay Dead
      3,5
    • When Cara Quayne collapsed after drinking the ritual wine at the House of the Sacred Flame, she was experiencing a moment that would soon turn deadly. The mystery of how prussic acid found its way into the group's wine presents a challenging puzzle for Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding the wealthy cult member's untimely demise, he must navigate the complexities of the bizarre group and uncover the truth behind this shocking event.

      Death in Ecstasy
      3,5
    • The crime was committed on stage at the theatre, when an unloaded gun fired a very real bullet; the victim was an actor clawing his way to stardom using blackmail instead of talent; the suspects included two unwilling girlfriends and several relieved blackmail victims. The stage was set for one of Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn's most baffling cases

      Enter a Murderer
      3,6
    • Night at the Vulcan

      • 255bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      It's more than opening night jitters. The leading man is found dead after the very first performance. Was it suicide or homicide? Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn takes center stage in the investigation of the unlucky actor's dramatic demise. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

      Night at the Vulcan
      3,7
    • Last Ditch

      • 221bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      The last ditch hidden behind a hedge, is a sheer drop, murderously deep—especially when someone stretches a wire across to trip a horse. The last to jump is a young stablehand, who is duly crushed beneath several stone of well-groomed mare. The last straw for Roderick Alleyn is when his young son Ricky becomes involved—right up to his considerably endangered neck...

      Last Ditch
      3,3
    • The owner of the Dolphin Theatre is putting on a production of Macbeth, the play that always brings bad luck. One night, the claymore swings and the dummy's head is more than real. Luckily, Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn is in the audience.

      Light Thickens
      3,5
    • Spinsters In Jeopardy

      • 246bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      For Inspector Roderick Alleyn, the trip was to be official; for his family, a Mediterranean romp. But a plot torn from the pages of a gothic novel soon engulfed them all. Alleyn's son was kidnapped. A very wealthy spinster was murdered. And in an eerie chateau, carved out of the Riviera mountainside, Alleyn faced the ultimate jet-set cult.

      Spinsters In Jeopardy
      3,1
    • A touring theatre company in New Zealand forms the basis of one of Marsh's most ambitious and innovative novels.

      Vintage Murder
      3,5
    • Money in the Morgue

      • 336bladzijden
      • 12 uur lezen

      Roderick Alleyn is back in this unique crime novel begun by Ngaio Marsh during the Second World War and now completed by Stella Duffy in a way that has delighted reviewers and critics alike.

      Money in the Morgue
      3,5
    • Bodies from the Library 4

      • 416bladzijden
      • 15 uur lezen

      This annual anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a short novel by Christianna Brand.

      Bodies from the Library 4
      3,5
    • A Christmas pageant turns unholy.Holed up at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate for Christmas, Troy Alleyn is to paint the man's portrait and, while she's there, view the Druid Christmas pageant. Along with a pack of eccentric guests, Troy enjoys the festivities-- until one of the pageant's players mysteriously disappears into the snowy night. Did the hired help-- each a paroled murderer from the nearby prison-- have a deadly hand in this Christmas conundrum? Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to join his wife in finding the lost man-- and unraveling the glaring truth from the glittering tinsel.

      Tied Up In Tinsel
      3,4
    • Off with His Head

      • 255bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      “I didn’t reckon to be flustered “, said Carey, “but this flustered me, proper. Partly, no doubt, it was the way the Guiser was got up. Like a clown with the tunic thing pulled up. It’d have been over his head if—well, never mind. He didn’t paint his face but he had one of these masks. So he looked, if you can follow me, gentlemen, like a kind of doll that the head had come off of. There was the body, sort of doubled up, and there was the head, two feet away, grinning, which was right nasty...”

      Off with His Head
      3,5
    • The charismatic president of Ng'ombwana in Africa has enemies of every stripe--from ex-colonists to new rivals, from dispossessed businessmen to racist crackpots. But when a ceremonial spear deals death at the president's lavish embassy party in London, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn must decipher the victim's last utterance and expose the assassin.

      Black As He's Painted
      3,4
    • It's true, darts is nobody's idea of a low-risk amusement, yet it is rarely lethal. Tell that to the famous barrister who was enjoying a pint at the Plume of Feathers pub, and is now residing at the morgue. Inspector Roderick Alleyn has a growing hunch that the peculiar "accident" can be traced to an old legal case.

      Death at the Bar
      3,2
    • Dead Water

      • 286bladzijden
      • 11 uur lezen

      A week of death threats at a faith-healing resort ends in murder. Inspector Roderick Alleyn is then faced with the most challenging case of his career. What makes matters worse is the fact that one of the suspects is his oldest friend. In classic Marsh fashion, the other suspect turns out to be none other than the victim herself.

      Dead Water
    • Děj detektivního příběhu Ngaio Marshové se tentokrát odehrává na malém cornwallském ostrůvku v Lamanšském průlivu, kde pomůže ponoření do pramene vody malému prostoduchému chlapci, jenž má plné ruce bradavic. Celá vesnice založí na údajně léčivém prameni svou prosperitu, ale šarlatánství s tím spojené se nelíbí staré slečně Prideové, jež ostrov zdědila a chce vše vrátit do starých kolejí.Po svém příjezdu se však stává terčem nebezpečných útoků a nakonec dochází k záměně osob a k surové vraždě, kterou za přispění místní policie opět vyřeší schopný a elegantní superintendant ze Scotland Yardu Roderick Alleyn, bývalý žák a starý přítel slečny Prideové.

      Mrtvá voda
      4,7
    • Un autre des cas du surintendant Alleyn et de son fidèle collaborateur Fox se déroule cette fois dans un petit village de la campagne anglaise parmi l'honorabilité locale. La vie paisible est soudain troublée par un acte violent inattendu, le meurtre inexplicable du colonel Cartarett, l'homme le plus aimable de la région. Un polar captivant qui se termine, bien sûr, par la découverte et l'arrestation d'un meurtrier très surprenant, agrémenté d'une description réussie de l'environnement et des personnages de l'histoire.

      Collection British L'heure du Crime - 19: L'empreinte de la justice
      4,5
    • Kniha obsahuje tři případy : 1. Vražda po plese — přeložila Hana Knížková. 2. Smrt v Delfínu — přeložila Olga Rychlíková. 3. Nedokončený portrét — přeložila Hana Knížková. Doslov „Třetí dáma zločinu“ napsala Hana Knížková. Vydání první.

      Třikrát superintendent Alleyn
      4,3
    • Populárna spisovateľka novozélandského pôvodu Ngaio Marshová sa radí medzi úspešné autorky klasického detektívneho žánru, ako sú Agatha Christie a Dorothy Sayersová. Medzi zvláštnosti jej štýlu patrí zvýšený dôraz na vykreslenie charakterov a prostredia často ešte prv, ako dôjde k tragédii. Vo všetkých troch príbehoch vystupuje inšpektor Scotland Yardu Alleyn, ktorý v spolupráci s inšpektorom Foxom rozuzľuje zamotané prípady za pomoci svojej pohotovosti a bystrého úsudku. Prvý príbeh Vrah na scéne sa odohráva v zákulisí divadla, kde priamo pred očami divákov prichádza k vražde. V druhom príbehu Smrť v taxíku autorka vniká do kruhov londýnskej smotánky. Vydieranie, ktoré sa končí smrťou, vyvolá veľký rozruch v spoločnosti aj na Scotland Yarde. Tretí príbeh Posledná opona tematicky opäť začiera do hereckého prostredia s čudáckou rodinou, sídliacou na starom zámku. Prednosťou rozprávačského umenia Marshovej je najmä sugestívne vystihnutie atmosféry umocnené pôsobivým udržiavaním napätia.

      3x inšpektor Alleyn
      4,2
    • Zwei mysteriöse Fälle des Inspektors Alleyn. Die Handlung des Detektivromans spielt in der exotischen Umgebung Neuseelands während des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Eine grausame Mordtat in einem Maori-Reservat in der Nähe von Thermalquellen zieht Inspektor Roderick Alleyn an, der diesmal inkognito ermittelt und gleichzeitig nach einem feindlichen Agenten sucht. Der berühmte Kriminalbeamte von Scotland Yard lässt sich nicht von falschen Spuren täuschen und deckt sowohl den Mörder als auch den Landesverräter auf. Die Autorin, die nicht umsonst als die zweite Agatha Christie bezeichnet wird, fesselt mit einer spannenden Geschichte und einer brillanten Schilderung der maorischen Kultur.

      Bei Gefahr Rot
      4,2
    • Na staré šlechtické sídlo ve Frantocku se sjíždějí různorodí hosté, aby se věnovali neobvyklým zábavám. Nevinná „hra na vraždy“ však skončí nečekanou tragédií. Každý z přítomných má sice skálopevné alibi, ale vrchní inspektor Alleyn si dokáže poradit i s takovou záhadou

      ...a ležel tam mrtvý muž
      3,0
    • Detektivní příběh z divadelního prostředí přináší čtenáři efektivní zápletku s vraždou na jevišti uprostřed divadelního představení.

      Vejde vrah
      4,0
    • Hilary hat die Idee, entlassene Mörder als Personal einzustellen, was bei seinen Gästen für Unbehagen sorgt. Superintendent Alleyn sieht sich gezwungen, einzugreifen.

      Der Tod eines Schneemanns. Classic Krimi
    • Auf Mardian Castle wird das heidnische Fest des Schwertertanzes gefeiert. Als der Darsteller des Narren ermordet wird, übernimmt Inspektor Alleyn von Scotland Yard den Fall, der die Tradition in Frage stellt.

      Der Tod des Narren. Ein Inspektor-Alleyn-Roman