Died in the Wool (St. Martin's Dead Letter Mysteries.)

Rating:
Summary: A gruesome tale of jealousy, espionage, murder and...wool?
Review: I should probably read a bio on Ngaio Marsh, because I'm interested in knowing if she lived on a sheep farm when growing up in New Zealand - she seems to know an awful lot about wool! At any rate, this is another classic Marsh novel, though I do still miss Fox and co., as is the case with all the Inspector Alleyn novels set in New Zealand. Alleyn is performing War duty for the Special Services branch, when he responds to a call from a house where a Member of Parliament has been found murdered by being encased in a bale of wool on her own sheep farm. While there are household jealousies and inheritances, there is also a question of secret machinery plans being stolen and given to the enemy. As usual, the characters are finely drawn, and the plot superb (not to mention a bit bizarre!).

Rating:
Summary: A gruesome tale of jealousy, espionage, murder and...wool?
Review: I should probably read a bio on Ngaio Marsh, because I'm interested in knowing if she lived on a sheep farm when growing up in New Zealand - she seems to know an awful lot about wool! At any rate, this is another classic Marsh novel, though I do still miss Fox and co., as is the case with all the Inspector Alleyn novels set in New Zealand. Alleyn is performing War duty for the Special Services branch, when he responds to a call from a house where a Member of Parliament has been found murdered by being encased in a bale of wool on her own sheep farm. While there are household jealousies and inheritances, there is also a question of secret machinery plans being stolen and given to the enemy. As usual, the characters are finely drawn, and the plot superb (not to mention a bit bizarre!).

Rating:
Summary: A well-spun yarn, but not too colorful
Review: The chief suspects in this murder mystery each describe their version of events, some eighteen months after the crime. This gives the story a most unusual and intriguing structure. The characters are well drawn, distinct without being overstated. There is also a fine sense of period and place, those being wartime New Zealand.

So why a grudging three stars? Well, the solution to the puzzle is rather plodding; a systematic analysis of details rather than a brilliant insight. Also there is a general dullness about the characters and their setting. I suppose that's not surprising, given they are on a remote farm in winter, suffering the deprivations of war and trying to come to terms with an unsolved murder. But it would have benefited from the occasional comic relief or lightness of touch that Dorothy L Sayers or Conan Doyle could have brought to it.

All in all, recommended for the unusual structure and setting (albeit the `local color' is mostly gray) and for the quality of the writing, which is very good, but don't expect a classic puzzle. The author even makes one error in the solution (don't worry, this is not a spoiler) when Alleyn says "Only (the guilty person) could have put...". Actually, one other person could have; namely the one who found said item. I will however concede that the build up to the climax is genuinely suspenseful.

Rating:
Summary: A well-spun yarn, but not too colorful
Review: The chief suspects in this murder mystery each describe their version of events, some eighteen months after the crime. This gives the story a most unusual and intriguing structure. The characters are well drawn, distinct without being overstated. There is also a fine sense of period and place, those being wartime New Zealand.

So why a grudging three stars? Well, the solution to the puzzle is rather plodding; a systematic analysis of details rather than a brilliant insight. Also there is a general dullness about the characters and their setting. I suppose that's not surprising, given they are on a remote farm in winter, suffering the deprivations of war and trying to come to terms with an unsolved murder. But it would have benefited from the occasional comic relief or lightness of touch that Dorothy L Sayers or Conan Doyle could have brought to it.

All in all, recommended for the unusual structure and setting (albeit the 'local color' is mostly gray) and for the quality of the writing, which is very good, but don't expect a classic puzzle. The author even makes one error in the solution (don't worry, this is not a spoiler) when Alleyn says "Only (the guilty person) could have put...". Actually, one other person could have; namely the one who found said item. I will however concede that the build up to the climax is genuinely suspenseful.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Mystery with an Unusual Structure
Review: World War II finds Inspector Allen in New Zealand--and in DIED IN THE WOOL he is summoned to Mount Moon, a remote sheep ranch where a particularly grotesque murder may or may not be related to Axis espionage.

As always, Marsh gives her novel plenty of colorful characters and interesting atmosphere, and on this occasion she gives it something more as well: the novel is told largely via flashback as the various suspects and witnesses recall the victim's complexity--and how she disappeared only to be found some time later stitched up into a bale of wool. Although the flashback structure sometimes has a certain awkwardness, Marsh brings her story off in very fine style and in such a way that you'll never see the solution coming. Recommended.