Enter a Murderer (Inspector Roderick Alleyn, 2)

"Enter a Murderer" is the second in Ngaio Marsh's "Inspector Allyen" series. You may want to read the first book, "A Man Lay Dead", before this one as one of the first book's character, Nigel Bathgate, plays a significant role in book # 2 but it is not necessary to do so. The book is about a murder involving a theater group. All characters well developed and a suspenseful plot. Highly recommend.

Ngaio Marsh (1985-1982) was one of the four “Queens of Crime” (the others being Marjorie Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers) who largely defined the 20th Century English murder mystery. All her mystery novels feature Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard, and the 1935 ENTER A MURDERER is his second appearance. The novel also marks the first appearance of a character that will eventually be known as “Br’er Fox,” Alleyn’s most trusted assistant. Although she is now best recalled as an author, Marsh was also a professional stage actress and director, and ENTER A MURDERER is set against the theatrical world that she knew so well. Reporter Nigel Bathgate has received two tickets for a popular stage thriller playing at The Unicorn Theatre, a play titled The Rat and the Badger. He invites Alleyn to join him for the performance—and pretense becomes fact when an actor is murdered. In Marsh’s first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD, Alleyn was a cardboardish figure, and most of the novel followed Bathgate. In ENTER A MURDERER, however, Alleyn is much more developed and completely in charge, and the result is much more satisfying. The people who work at the theatre, and the atmosphere of the theatre itself, is also memorably developed. This is still not Marsh at her best, but it is easy to see how rapidly her confidence as a writer has improved, and although the book takes a few mis-turns, it is a fascinating read. Recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The mystery is good enough. Enjoy. I read old mysteries for two reasons. The mysteries are all about people, psychology. No modern forensics, no DNA for instance. The second, more important reason is that we get little time capsules, snapshots of the time and place, in this case 1935. England 1935. Very much England. The world today is better. We get all the everyday details writers of historical fiction miss. Example. Notes are taken with pencils. If you have ever tried writing with a fountain pen you understand. A functioning ballpoint pen wasn't invented until 1938... (Aside. Poor King Charles. No wonder he swore. Anyone reading in a year or two might not remember...) Telephones. Not everywhere. Stuck in walls. I remember, from when I was little. On Ms Marsh's characters. They are all characters, not quite stereotypes but not normal people. Actors. A bit overdone. Roderick Alleyn is insufferable. He is an aristocrat, yes, but that is not really an excuse to talk down to everyone. Poor nice and wise Mr Fox. I read these stories many years ago. I can't remember being so annoyed. The mystery is still good, even if the motive seems contrived. Today. Do go ahead and enjoy. You have to think like people in 1935.

This is for the audio book read by the wonderful Anton Lesser. The story was all right, but I had a lot of trouble dealing with the descriptions of locations and back alleys; back stage stairwells and whatnot around the theater. The story was all right, but did not really keep me in suspense very much. Anton Lesser, whom I know from "Endeavour", was an excellent reader. I enjoyed his performance more that the book itself. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a mystery right now....

The leading man shoots another actor on stage. The gun was supposed to have dummy cartridges, but the ammunition somehow turned out to be real. Inspector Roderick and his sidekick journalist Nigel Bathgate watch the death from excellent seats. The acting is so good that the audience applauds resoundingly, unaware of the tragedy. Alleyn’s biggest obstacle in solving the case is how well all the actors act, and how well everyone lies. In general, actors in books irritate me; they always seem overly theatrical. But Ngaio Marsh does such a good job of portraying character in this book, that I was able to enjoy the story thoroughly. Alleyn‘s droll remarks and posh demeanor keep the narrative lively. And Nigel, despite his boyish fits of pique, is an intelligent and appealing Watson. Enter a Murderer was first published in 1935. It has all the expected qualities of Golden Age crime fiction: cleverness, wit and charm.

Gmail must have loved the stage! Makes a fun backdrop for a murder. Everyone has a motive and I always enjoy Allyn's clever repartee!

Inspector Alleyn is quite the detective. The Unicorn Theater is putting on the Rat and the Beaver. One of the cast is killed when live ammunition is substituted for a dummy. And then the acting really begins. Inspector Alleyn finds his murderer and I never saw it! Can't wait for the next book.

Not her best, but Ngaio Marsh is an excellent writer and plotter. Her characters are interesting and Roderick Alleyn is the best detective of this genre in my opinion - Same period as Peter Wimsey - but a man and unlike Dorothy Sayers, Marsh writes the story doesn't begin it with the most boring rehash of a coroner's inquest. A college professor got me started on these years ago because I was a theatre/English major and like this novel, Marsh often has her murders theater related.

A classic whodunnit without too much ideas behind but a pleasurable reading in a very classic british style. No Sherlock of course.

Abordée après avoir lu tous les Agatha Christie, je n'ai jamais été déçue par Ngaio Marsh : du grand art et de la finesse. A lire en Anglais ou en Français. Un régal d'écriture et d'intrigue. Pour ceux qui aiment les subtilités de la langue anglaise et le brio d'intrigues policières qui se présentent plus comme des énigmes que comme du "polar". En bref : pour gourmets.

As usual, Ms Marsh plots events skilfully and creates characters that grip the reader's interest sometimes as pitiful creatures or grotesques but always as individual human beings from most walks of society. In this novel her professional theatrical experience lets her draw the reader into a small world, insidiously corrupted by ambition and jealousy, in which drink and drugs lead to murder. The investigating officers, chief of whom is actually present in the audience, disentangle a sticky web of lies and evasions. The settings are always convincing, the dialogue dramatically fits its speakers and the style is economical and witty. Ms Marsh may indicate foul language but she does not reproduce it. She does not shy away from the violence and horror of murder but she does not encourage the reader to lick their lips over it: she leaves us in no doubt of her judgement that murder is always diabolical, destroying both the victim and what is left of humanity in the killer, cutting them off from society. Most people, she implies, are capable of killing, but we choose not to. I would recommend this book to any open-minded, literate reader interested in theatre, the mores of the Thirties and human nature.

I rarely give up on a book, but this new to me author introduced so many characters in the first chapter I just couldn't keep track. Maybe because I only read at bedtime.

Roderick Alleyn, Scotland Yard detective, accepts an invitation to the theatre from Nigel Bathgate, a journalist friend. It turns out to be a case of being in the right place at the right time when I murder is committed on stage in front of him. Arthur Surbonadier, a nephew of the theatre owner, Jacob Saint, is murdered for real instead of just as part of the action of the play. Even though Alleyn is on the spot it is still a difficult case to solve and there are many twists and turns to the plot before the murderer is brought to justice. I enjoyed the story but found some of the dialogue just a touch too theatrical. It fits the theatrical background but I found it grated on me after a while. The only other Ngaio Marsh story I had read prior to this was Final Curtain which is much later in the series and I felt that Alleyn was much less likeable as a character in this book than he was in the later one. It is clear he grew and changed as the series developed. That said, the book is well plotted and the murder ingenious. The corpse is suitably dislikeable as well and it is clear many people could have murdered him from motive alone, including his own uncle. An enjoyable read though maybe not the author's best book.