Description
Book SynopsisA touring theatre company in New Zealand forms the basis of one of Marsh's most ambitious and innovative novels.New Zealand theatrical manager Alfred Meyer wanted to celebrate his wife's birthday in style. The piece de résistance would be the jeroboam of champagne which would descend gently into a nest of fern and coloured lights on the table, set up on stage after the performance.But something went horribly wrong. Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn witnessed it himself. Was Meyer's death the product of Maori superstitions? Or something much more down to earth?
Trade Review‘The brilliant Ngaio Marsh ranks with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers’
Times Literary Supplement
‘The theatre detail is engrossing.’
Margaret Lewis
‘A far more ambitious novel than anything Marsh had attempted before.’
American Journal of Popular Culture
‘Her work is as nearly flawless as makes no odds. Character, plot, wit, good writing, and sound technique.’
Sunday Times
‘The finest writer in the English languange of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an Empress.’
The Sun
