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Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but still a good way to pass time
Review: The format of this Marsh mystery differed a bit, in that it cut back and forth between Inspector Alleyn teaching a class and the case that he actually uses as an example, which incidentally, involves his wife Troy. Troy decides to take a breather after her London art show and sees that there is a last minute cancellation on a mini-cruise. She signs up for it, and realizes, shortly into the trip, that she may be on bored with a famous international criminal - one wanted for murder. But which one of her fellow passengers is "The Jampot"? Alleyn himself is in the States on business, so a good deal of the information is first learned through Troy's letters to him (an interesting change, since we usually see Alleyn's letters to Troy). But as he becomes more and more alarmed by her reports, he returns to try and catch the Jampot before yet another murder is committed.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best, but still a good way to pass time
Review: The format of this Marsh mystery differed a bit, in that it cut back and forth between Inspector Alleyn teaching a class and the case that he actually uses as an example, which incidentally, involves his wife Troy. Troy decides to take a breather after her London art show and sees that there is a last minute cancellation on a mini-cruise. She signs up for it, and realizes, shortly into the trip, that she may be on bored with a famous international criminal - one wanted for murder. But which one of her fellow passengers is "The Jampot"? Alleyn himself is in the States on business, so a good deal of the information is first learned through Troy's letters to him (an interesting change, since we usually see Alleyn's letters to Troy). But as he becomes more and more alarmed by her reports, he returns to try and catch the Jampot before yet another murder is committed.
Rating:
Summary: Colorful and Entertaining
Review: Unlike most of Marsh's Inspector Allen novels, A Clutch of Constables focuses primarily on his celebrated artist wife Troy, who has taken a spur of the moment river cruise only to find herself increasingly disturbed by mysterious goings-on during the voyage. Instead of damaging the story, the shift in focus to Troy makes for a refreshing change, and like most Marsh novels A CLUTCH OF CONSTABLES abounds with colorful, finely drawn characters and considerable atmosphere. Readers will quickly identify the nature of the criminal plot, but they will not be quite as quick to identify the ring-leader. A very entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read!
Review: While Ngaio Marsh was extremely adept at the traditional detective stories, often her best work occurred when she was able to step out of some of the traditional confines of the genre. There is no better example of this than in Clutch of Constables.Action takes place during a cruise along an unnamed river in England. Chief Inspector Alleyn's (Marsh's hero for those new to her books) wife has center stage as she is at the center of events as murder(?) strikes within the confined space of the riverboat. Are her suspicions correct or just the result of over-wrought nerves? You be the judge. Here Ms. Marsh is freed from the "Introduction-Murder-Police Arrive-Suspects are questioned" narrative that sometimes haunts her work. Suspects are introduced, but we are unsure of what to suspect them of? The crime occurs far into the novel, and instead of the usual detective story of pursuing clues, we instead are left to examine the atmosphere on board the riverboat and the social interplay between a cast of characters all of which seem both innocent and slightly off-kilter at the same time. The seedier the character the less you suspect them, the more charming the character the more you suspet them. Some characters are so annoying you'd glady strangle them given half the chance. Marsh successfully plays the psychological angle here as she expertly increases the tension with the result of at least one moment of genuine horror. A good read.
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