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    Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)
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    Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)
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    Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)
    Ebook335 pages5 hours

    Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)

    By Ngaio Marsh

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 29, 2009
    ISBN9780007344680
    Unavailable
    Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)
    Author

    Ngaio Marsh

    Dame Ngaio Marsh was born in New Zealand in 1895 and died in February 1982. She wrote over 30 detective novels and many of her stories have theatrical settings, for Ngaio Marsh’s real passion was the theatre. She was both an actress and producer and almost single-handedly revived the New Zealand public’s interest in the theatre. It was for this work that the received what she called her ‘damery’ in 1966.

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    Reviews for Spinsters in Jeopardy (The Ngaio Marsh Collection)

    3.5/5

    105 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A later book, where Alleyn, Troy and their young son Ricky are in France partly on holiday, partly for Alleyn to investigate the goings on at a specific Château, where the authorities believe there is a major drug ring going on.

      Travelling through by train, one of their fellow passengers is taken ill, allowing Alleyn to gain access to the château where one of the residents is a well known doctor. All three of the Alleyns remain in town, with Miss Truebody as a cover, and allows Alleyn further access to the place.

      It soon becomes clear that there is something not right with the place, including some very cultish behaviour and some drug taking. Alleyn's cover is almost blown several times by people who know either him or Troy, but he gets away with it. A young Ricky (about 5 I would guess) gets kidnapped and rescued. Inspector Fox's absence is countered by the presence of the useful Raoul, who gets involved in the denouement at the end.

      Nice to have a change from New Zealand or England as a setting, even if the majority of people are English.
    • 3/5
      I had good memories of this book, and was looking forward to coming to it in the series re-read. Sadly, I found that the prejudices of the time spoiled much of this book for me. The casually racism and misogyny I expected. However, there was a scene where some weird pseudo "Pagan" rites were described. Although I could tell that the character who described them was outraged, I was almost amused to note that the description, for the most part, could be applied to a High Church Episcopal service with equal accuracy. It was very odd. I also was saddened by the bias and inaccuracy of the descriptions of marijuana, and also the lack of strength that Troy has in this volume. It's as though Ms. Marsh feels that through marriage and children, Troy is now weakened.
    • 3/5
      Alleyn on the Trail of Cults & DrugsReview of the Fontana paperback edition (1983) of the 1954 originalThere isn't any mystery investigation here as the villains are known from the outset. CID Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn is on loan to the French Sûreté to investigate as suspected drugs gang in their chateau / castle base. As a distant relative of his artist wife Agatha Troy lives nearby they use the opportunity of a family vacation as a cover story to explain Alleyn's presence in the vicinity. A medical emergency by a fellow passenger on their train gets them entrance to the chateau. Various perils and escapes ensue. The drugs gang is also part of a satanic ritual cult just to add further evil-doings to the proceedings. This was more of an adventure story than a mystery puzzle for Alleyn to solve, which made it only a so-so outing for the series. This was part of my current re-read project of works from the Golden Age of Crime of which many are still in my collection after first being read in the 1970s and 1980s.
    • 4/5
      This entry in the series has a lot of Troy (and little Ricky) which I liked but was less of a mystery than a suspense/thriller.
    • 4/5
      Despite the datedness of the drug addled cult, I enjoyed this one, especially the interactions between Alleyn and his wife.
    • 4/5
      Marsh certainly matured during the course of her career. In "Spinsters in Jeopardy" she is both histrionic and domestic. Ricky's juvenile conversation is enjoyable, if unrealistic, the Italian lovers are funny, and the train journey and Italy are powerfully described. The orgiastic drug cult is hysterical and there is even a little bit of history thrown in. With all this the nonsensical plot is easy to tolerate.
    • 2/5
      Difficult book to read because it is chock full, from beginning to end, with hysterical images/misconceptions of what was going on among the 'smart community' and the jet set. The portrayal of drugs reminds one of Reefer Madness. No doubt there were those who having no other source of information Marsh's rendition of the drug scene as accurate but even they must have seen how dreadfully plotted it was. There was no reason for almost any of the exciting things in the novel to happen save for the fact Marsh needed something exciting to happen. Marsh also has the problem of writing about something "indescribably horrific and vile" when one cannot describe it. Or even give more than the vaguest hints. If public sex and copulation (which is hinted at) is the vilest thing Marsh or her audience could imagine then one presumes they seldom ventured out of the world of cozies. This book was written after the Second World War so surely the facts of the previous decade should have provided far worse horrors than any hinted at in this book.
    • 2/5
      Not her best with an attempt to get "with it" for a 50's audience (originally published 1954) - black magic and the drug trade sounding a little hokey to more modern ears; however it's an amusing read for fans of Roderick Alley and his gorgeous painter wife Troy and the landscape of the Mediterranean coast of France is rather nicely evoked.
    • 3/5
      I honestly don't know who in the era managed to annoy Ngaio Marsh with their magick but this book is in response to it. I have my sneaking suspicion that it was Crowley. There's a polemic against magick and such superstition in this modern era and the most appaling mishmash of magickal types. The villans are painted very black with no redeming features and the good guys very very good. Even nastier practices are hinted at but not actually comitted.A good read but very, very biased.