Death in a White Tie

By Ngaio Marsh

A body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery, perhaps the finest of Marsh’s 1930s novels.

The season had begun. Débutantes 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.

But someone else got there first…

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Sep 3, 2009
• ISBN: 9780007344451

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.

Reviews for Death in a White Tie

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this is the first Alleyn mystery where I genuinely felt for the victim, which helped greatly in my enjoyment of the story. It's the first one where you spend part of the book following the victim closely, too, and where Alleyn has personal feelings on the matter, both of which I think are relevant. I know that the trope of the personally involved detective can be exasperating -- and Alleyn even refers to it, in one of those unsubtle bits of meta -- but at least it's another way for the reader to engage with the case.The actual puzzle aspect of the story is more or less as usual: a character you wouldn't normally suspect ends up in it up to the neck, where the guy who looks like a sure thing is actually innocent. Still, the reasoning does make sense, all the timings match up, etc, so it makes perfect sense, which Ngaio Marsh is admittedly good at (apart from the weird mix of opportunism and premeditation in the crime in the first Alleyn book).As for Alleyn's personal life, well. I still can't help but feel he's a cut rate Wimsey. His relationship with Troy has some similar ups and downs to Wimsey's with Harriet, but we don't get to see as much interaction, as much of the push-and-pull they feel, and so it feels less compelling. I know I'm biased as a major fan of Sayers already, but I can't help the feeling.

[jellyfishjones · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1930's London, high society, and cold-blooded murder - as far as murder mysteries go, this is about as classic as it gets. Marsh's prose is wonderful. The plot is well-paced, and the clues leave one guessing right till the end. Reading this, one understands why Marsh (along with her contemporary Christie) is still considered a standard-bearer for the murder mystery genre.

[mmyoung_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Less artificial in its construction than some of her earlier books -- better characterization in general. Scary hints of the level of casual antisemitism of Britain at the time with an almost offhand comment about Germany's treatment of Jews -- this is written and set in the late 30s before the war but after the situation in Germany had become almost intolerable for Jews. Less rabid and knee jerk in its treatment of illegal drugs with hints of the changing sensibilities about sex.

[iamiam_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had forgotten what a smart read this was. A bit tough to get going, but once you're past the first third or so, it becomes quite entertaining.

[nmhale_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This installment in the Alleyn mystery series was in the same vein as much of the series, but, like the previous ones, this book is bulkier than the beginning ones. Alleyn's personal life, in the form of Troy, his love interest, adds to the novel. His romantic aspirations have to take a backseat to the latest crime. Alleyn has been investigating a series of blackmails targeting women of the upper class, and since his family is also a part of that gentile group, he has been employing an old family friend, Lord Gospel, affectionately known as Bunchy, to make the type of inquiries unavailable to police officers. The case takes a dark turn when Bunchy winds up dead, strangled with his own tie. This is the first time that we've seen Alleyn investigate the death of a friend, and we are privy to his guilt, anger, pain, and uncertainty. That, combined with his love life, makes this the novel that has revealed the most, so far, of Alleyn's personal life. The story still has the usual complement of suspects, all with their secrets, some related to the crime, and some not. Also, the mystery is interesting. I enjoyed the blackmailing angle as a change of pace from murder (as much as I love my murder mysteries), and I really wanted to know who did it, a sign of a good mystery.A couple of things didn't work for me, though. First off, the size. I enjoy my big clunker books, but with Marsh, and most mysteries, for that matter, I like them short and swift. Notice how Agatha Christie's books are all in bite-size pieces? I like that. Helps me get to the end, and therefore the answer, quicker. Marsh's books started out that way, but they have gradually been gaining weight, presumably because we are getting more into Alleyn's personal life, not just his professional. I like learning all that information, but maybe spread out in smaller doses across more books? The other aspect that I didn't like was she made it a little too easy this time: I figured out the culprit in the side mystery quickly, and I determined the killer before all was revealed. I like it when my mystery authors make me surprised at the end. Thus the three and a half stars, rather than four. A solid read, but not as good as earlier entries in the series.

[musicmom41 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lady Alleyn is chaperoning her granddaughter (Inspector Alleyn’s niece) in her coming out season. Alleyn has enlisted the help of a dear old friend to look into a case of blackmail; this request leads to murder. I think this is the second book which has Troy in it. This was a very good story and although I had a pretty good idea who the culprit was I wasn’t absolutely sure until the end. I think I was sleepy when the clinching clue was subtly presented—it wasn’t blatant and required a little bit of time calculating, but I should have caught it.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting, though I tagged the murderer before he even did it. I liked Inspector Allyen and his cohorts, but not on the same intimate level as Lord Peter, Archie Goodwin and Cadfael. Not as humorous.