Peregrine Gay falls down a well at the disused theatre known as The Dolphin. This unpleasant event leads the owner to change his mind about demolishing the building and instead it is restored to its former glory and its first play is one especially written by Peregrine himself. Unfortunately the caretaker is murdered and a glove thought to have belonged to Shakespeare’s son which was on display at the theatre is apparently stolen. Roderick Alleyn who had overseen security arrangements at the theatre is called in to investigate the murder which proves to be complex. The cast of the play are not immune from suspicion and they are a well realised collection of theatrical types including an obnoxious child actor. I found myself really hoping he would come to a bad end!As ever this is a well plotted mystery with interesting characters and motivations. I really enjoyed reading it and trying to work out who was responsible for the murder and the robbery. I recommend Ngaio Marsh’s novels if you want crime stories without graphic violence. They can be read in any order.
The only other Ngaio Marsh book I've read was little like a crime novel for the first half and then launched into the investigation for the second half. So I wasn't surprised at this pattern in this book though I'm told that all of her books don't go like this. I enjoyed the slow start wondering what would happen and who was going to die at the Dolphin Theatre. In fact I probably enjoyed the first half more than the second. Inspector Alleyn's investigation got a bit tedious in parts as he conducted interview after interview without uncovering any clues that made much sense to me. I didn't really think the resolution of the plot made much sense but I enjoyed the cast of characters and the theatrical setting. Enjoyable, but at the end of the day, this book was nothing very special.
[These notes were made in 1985:]. Marsh puts her obsession with the theatre to good use in this one, for she can squeeze more oddball characters into a square inch than usual when her 'closed circle' is of theatre people. Once again the puzzle is splendidly complicated - a glove which may have been given by Shakespeare to his son is put on display at a theatre. Glove and theatre are both owned by an eccentric reclusive millionaire, who sets the place up for Jay Peregrine, the director, after Per
—Surreysmum
This is my first Ngaio Marsh (who is, along with about a dozen other women, the Queen of Crime). I was not particularly impressed. I don't read murder mysteries so that I can read half a book before someone dies. All it says to me is that the writer is not particularly good at mysteries and so can't write an entire book centred around the murder. The lead up was interesting, though in my opinion out of place in a murder mystery. Sometimes the lead up to the murder contains a few red herrings and some information relevant to catching the killer. What I most particularly didn't like was the fact that, as in Sherlock Holmes stories, all the important evidence is kept from the reader. What that says to me is that the author is afraid that the reader will be able to work it out for themselves too quickly, and that the author should therefore not be writing mysteries.I enjoyed this, but I wouldn't recommend it and I'm not particularly interested in others by this author.
—Andrea Hickman Walker
