A misdirected letter, a valuable glove, and art forgery: Three more by Marsh

Ngaio Marsh. Hand in Glove (1962) Mr Period Pyke, careful with his money, can afford two servants. He spends his time keeping up with the social life of his upper middle class acquaintances, sending condolences and congratulations as appropriate. This time, the envelopes are mixed up, and the condolences arrive before the death, which turns out to be a murder discovered during a treasure hunt. Mix in an art forgery scam (of Troy’s paintings), assorted other malfeasance, stupidity, and secrets both guilty and not, and Alleyn’s work is cut out for him. The usual mix of social comedy, romance, and acute character observation make this a pleasure to read. The title refers to the glove tat is te killer's undoing.

     Marsh is underrated in my opinion. This book is episode six in the TV series. ***

 

Ngaio Marsh. Death at the Dolphin (1967) [Killer
Dolphin, 1966, in the USA] Peregrine Jay restores the decaying Dolphin Theatre with the patronage of the oil millionaire who owns the property. On the opening night of the first play there’s a murder very like the one that closed down the theatre many years before. Alleyn happens to attend, so of course has to take on the investigation.
     The cast and conflicts resemble the earlier one. Perhaps Marsh decided to rework the earlier tale, or perhaps she just wanted to indulge in writing about theatre, which she does very well. I read the theatre cases as much for insight into that wonderful business of make-believe as for the crime puzzle and the social comedy.
     As usual, there’s a romance, this time between the young playwright whose play about Shakespeare affords the opportunity to showcase a glove made by Shakespeare’s father. It’s the theft of this glove that leads to murder. Satisfying read. ***

Ngaio Marsh. Clutch of Constables (1968) On a whim. Troy decides to join a river cruise to fill in the time between a completed commission and  Alleyn’s return from Australia. Thus she becomes a witness to murder. There’s also art-forgery and drug running. The perp is the Jampot, man who manages to blend into whatever milieu affords opportunities for his crimes. All the bits and piece fit together into a satisfying picture of crime, there are nicely done satiric vignettes of American and other tourists, and an ambience of leisurely river cruising so well done that occasionally it verges on tedium.
     No one is who or what they seem (even Troy tries to hide her identity), so solving the puzzle becomes a problem in teasing out the incompatible falsehoods among the many (and mostly irrelevant) truths. Alleyn reappears just in time, and all ends well and poetically just. ***