Death And The Dancing Footman (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I can't find the spelling for the characters so some of the names may be a bit off.A house party has been carefully assembled. The host, Jonathon Royal, has "plotted" to bring together a group of people with who to make a "flesh and blood" art project He wants to confine a group of people in his house to see how drama might unfold. To that end, he has invited seven characters with an "emotional, intellectual tension and antagonism."He explains to his "audience," Audrey Mandrake, a playwright, who all of the characters in this macabre play are to be. A mother, Mrs. Sandra Compline, with two sons, William (32, soldier) and Nicholas (29). She clearly favors the second, more handsome Nicholas, who is to be cut completely out of his inheritance by the rules of entail. William is engaged to Nick's ex-fiancee, Miss Cloris Wynn (also invited, hated by Sandra). Also, the Nick's inamorata, the reason for his breakup with Cloris, Madame Lissa, who has also come under the gimlet eye of our host's aunt, Lady Hersey Amblington when she opens a beauty salon which takes away the brilliant and brightest customers from the aunt's. The last guest? Dr. Francis Hart, the man who not only leaves Madame Lissa's flat "at a most scandalous hour" but who is also a beauty specialist. In fact, the one who botched Sandra's plastic surgery twenty years ago. The first morning of the house party, Audrey is pushed into the swimming pool and almost drowns. Having been wearing a cloak that Nicholas, Jonathon, and Francis all own identical versions of, it is hard to say who the intended victim really was.Then a trap is set up for Nicholas, but it ends up William who dies. His mother takes an overdose and lies on the edge of death. Who has planned all this? And who perpetrated such a horrible murder? It all hangs on the footman who dances along to "Bootsy, Baby" in the corridor.
Narrator - James SaxonNarration - Of the narrator's of Ngaio Marsh books, James Saxon is my favorite. In some of the recordings the quality makes him a bit hard to understand, but overall his tone and narrative style suit the Roderick Alleyn series perfectly. Characters - The characters in this book are an ensemble cast of enemies at a house party hosted by a bored man who wants to build his own real-life drama play. I found there were no characters in this book which I disliked entirely which therefore kept me vested in the book more than some. The mix of characters with their quirks makes for an enjoyable read.Plot - It is definitely best read these in order as Marsh often refers to characters and plot points from previous books throughout this series. This is one of my favorite books in the series. The plot starts out with a lot of foreboding as the organizer of the house party explains his guest list to his primary guest and explains how he has invited a family whose mother dotes on the youngest son while the oldest adores her in return and dislikes his brother, in addition the elder brother is bringing his fiancee who was first engaged to the younger brother. In addition, the younger brother's new mistress is invited as is her rumored other paramour and her business rival, who happens to be the cousin of the party organizer. Interesting times ahead. The book is full of red herrings and side stories. Definitely a "Must Read" for fans of this genre.
What do You think about Death And The Dancing Footman (2011)?
I adored the staging of the story line: a bored wanna-be invites a group of people to a house party that ends up being snowed in for the weekend. He purposely set up the most antagonistic elements as if he were staging a play because he wanted to witness his own artistry in character manipulation. I liked it because it allowed an in-depth exploration of each character. Instead of being left to interpret people's motivations by their dialog, the host dissects and analyzes each guest's inmost impulses by their behavior with each other. It was such a crack up that he totally missed the obvious murder in the heart of one of his guests! Shows we shouldn't try to be too intellectual.
—Darcy
I have yet to find a Marsh book that I enjoyed as much as Night at the Vulcan, but this one comes close.It's always interesting when your cast is completely composed of characters that is utterly unlikeable for the most part. Almost every one of them had traits that made them repulsive to both the reader and the other characters in the novel, and putting them in one party together on the weekend is asking for a murder to happen. Rather than rooting for any particular character, you're left to focus on working out which one of these irritating individuals did the dirty deed. What fun. It's always amusing when you have a detective who appears on scene, sees the mess, and comments that he's stuck with "a couple of bodies and seven lunatics."My only complaint is that the set-up and the actual events following the murder took too long, so that by the time Alleyn made his entrance and solved it, the whole mystery felt a bit underwhelming. The late appearance of the detective figure worked for something like Night at the Vulcan, but here, when you care little for the characters and events unrelated to the murder have little interest, it made the novel feel stagnant. The murderer is also ridiculously easy to figure out, although Marsh did extremely well to trick the reader into thinking that it's too obvious to be possible.
—Hannah
E' anche più bello dei gialli della Christie, ai quali, come si legge nella quarta di copertina, è sempre stato paragonato. Ricorda molto i giochi da tavolo tipo Cluedo, dove l'azione si svolge tutta all'interno di una lussuosa dimora di inizio/metà Novecento con tanto di maggiordomo. Ma vi anticipo che non è stato lui. A dire il vero non è che il colpo di scena finale sia così stupefacente e la maggior parte dei lettori saprà su chi far cadere i giusti sospetti già un paio di capitoli dopo il delitto, ma è piacevole il ritratto dei personaggi, l'intrecciarsi delle loro vicende e le debolezze che nascondono un passato abbastanza travagliato. Di azione ce n'è veramente poca e a forza di leggere i particolari delle tre stanze clou (salottino, fumoir e biblioteca), le si impara a conoscere quasi fossero parte di casa nostra. E' un giallo "di ambientazione", anche se, svolgendosi in un periodo notevole come la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, un legame con gli eventi storici avrebbe aggiunto sale alla faccenda. Comunque molto ben scritto.
—Sara
