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    Grave Mistake
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    Grave Mistake
    Unavailable
    Grave Mistake
    Ebook322 pages5 hours

    Grave Mistake

    By Ngaio Marsh

    4.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    Another classic Ngaio Marsh novel.

    At first it looked as if Sybil Foster had intentionally left the world: with two husbands dead, a daughter marrying the wrong man and – it later appeared – a debilitating disease, it was no wonder she took her own life.

    But no one believed she was the type – especially Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn. For the field was ripe with unfortunate engagements – one of them a very grave mistake…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJan 7, 2010
    ISBN9780007344857
    Unavailable
    Grave Mistake
    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 Grave Mistake

    4.5/5

    4 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      1978, Inspector Alleyn, small village and upper crust-y society; cosy police procedural, classic. Story wonderful, narration poor.

      When a spoiled and self-indulgent middle-aged woman suddenly dies at a posh “rest hotel”, the initial verdict appears to be suicide. But her many friends swear it was most unlike her, and Alleyn and Fox aren’t comfortable with the case either.

      Nifty little time-capsule of a story that although set in early 1970s seemed to fit far better in the early 1950s, with its tightly structured social strata and its attitudes towards women. Yet this is a superbly crafted “village cosy”, complete with a long, leisured set-up, complicated unraveling, and careful denouement.


      For this reread I listened to
      1986, Chivers Audio Books, read by Jane Asher

      Asher’s narration was extremely annoying, progressing to downright aggravating by the end. Her use of European accents was abominable, and a definite problem, as one of the major characters is supposedly Swiss in origin; she couldn’t make up her mind whether he had a French or a German accent, and every now and then threw in what appeared to be some sort of Balkan just for contrast.

      And we won’t mention The Greek Millionaire’s accent, which was sometimes Italian, sometimes almost Greek, often also Balkan. And she’d slide accents around, not keeping the lines clear as to which character was speaking at any given time. aggggh. Never going to listen to Asher again if I can help it!! Think she’s been “fair” on some other reads I've listened to, but on this one with its multitude of foreign accents? Terrible.
    • 4/5
      This was my first exposure to the Inspector Roderick Alleyn mysteries, and friends have told me that it probably wasn't the best one to read "first" (as it is near the end of the 30+ book series). Honestly, however, I enjoyed it. It's quite slow to get into at first, with perhaps too many characters introduced in the first few chapters. But, once the "murder" occurs, I got sucked into the story and the character interactions. Alleyn himself doesn't appear as fully developed as some of the "guest" characters, but that allowed the rest of the cast to shine.Although I figured out parts of the "mystery" before the big reveal at the end, I was reading this one mainly for the atmosphere and the interesting characters. Ultimately, I found this one to be quite entertaining, and will certainly track down more Ngaio Marsh when the opportunity presents itself.
    • 4/5
      It's been interesting to read this series in order. Her later books have more modern dialogue and the main characters are more relaxed with each other. This book finds Alleyn and company doing what they do best, poking around in a murder in a small village. The conversations between Alleyn and Fox are what I enjoy the most and are at their best in this book. Everything is satisfactorily resolved, well, almost everything. I like it when the best not so good people don't reward for the misdoings and that doesn't happen here. It's probably a better reflection of real life though.