Boomps-A-Daisy Timing Solves the Crime (Death and the Dancing Footman, Ngaio Marsh 1942)

Ngaio Marsh. Death and the Dancing Footman (1942). A re-read, and more enjoyable because this time I could see how Marsh constructed the puzzle and developed characters just enough to engage our sympathies. She’s good at using stereotypes for ambience. This novel is now an historic document showing what the readers of the time expected by way of comic relief, and what they took for granted about the social fabric of their time.

The puzzle centres on a radio used to provide an alibi. Times are of the essence, and the footman’s dance, executed when he hears a popular song on the radio, crystallises the timetable. A suitable mix of motives, past griefs and conflicts, and present evils complicates Alleyn’s work, and provides the narrative texture that satisfies the reader. Me, in this case.

Recommended. ***