From AudioFile
Set in small but cosmopolitan coastal villages in southeast England and northwest France, this Inspector Roderick Alleyn mystery centering on drugs and murder is as comforting and satisfying as a cup of Earl Grey tea. With the deft touch of a master, Marsh paints her highly visual English countryside sets and charming, gracious characters--mixing a broad canvas of upper-class aristocrats, Bohemian artists, channel-faring sailors and dock hands, with the odd village nutter thrown in for good measure. Nadia May is unfaltering in carrying off this wonderful work which, in its simplicity, is a throwback to a less complicated, more gently paced period. M.D.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Review
"It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York magazine



Book Description
Horseplay turns deadly...

Young Ricky Alleyn has come to the picturesque fishing village of Deep Cove to write. Through the sleepy little town offers few diversions, Ricky manages to find the most distracting one of all: murder. For in a muddy ditch, he sees a dead equestrienne whose last leap was anything but an accident. And when Ricky himself disappears, the case becomes a horse of a different color for his father, Inspector Roderick Alleyn.



From the Publisher
'The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical whodunnit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an empress' - The Sun 'Rich, raffish, engagingly eccentric' - Daily Express 'She writes as beautifully as ever.' Sunday Times


About the Author
From her first book in 1934 to her final volume just before her death in 1982, Ngaio Marsh's work has remained legendary, and is often compared to that of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. During her celebrated fifty-year career, Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, was named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, won numerous prestigious awards, and penned 32 mystery novels.

Now St. Martin's Dead Letter Mysteries is thrilled to make all of Marsh's novels available again for old fans to relish and new ones to discover. So sit back, draw the curtains, lock the doors, and put yourself in the hands of Grande Dame of detective novels...

FROM THE PUBLISHER