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Overture to Death
by
Ngaio Marsh
vintage mystery, detective mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Felony & Mayhem Press on December 15, 2012 and has 325 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dead Water, Killer Dolphin, A Man Lay Dead, Enter a Murderer, The Nursing Home Murder, Death in Ecstasy, Vintage Murder, Artists in Crime, Death in a White Tie, Death at the Bar, Surfeit of Lampreys, Death and the Dancing Footman, Died in the Wool, Swing, Brother, Swing, Night at the Vulcan, Colour Scheme, Spinsters in Jeopardy, Scales of Justice, The Death of a Fool, Singing in the Shroud, False Scent, Clutch of Constables, Hand in Glove, When in Rome, Tied Up In Tinsel
Eighth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series. The focus is on two nasty spinsters, Eleanor Prentice and Idris Campanula.
My Take
This is a tricksy one, and I’d’ve never figured it out. All these interactions with the villagers, the church, the squire, and a performance to raise money amongst the jealousy, rampant love, and misinterpretations. Whew.
There is a lot of thinking going on, which means third person global subjective point-of-view from most of the characters’ points-of-view. It’s a POV which provides us with their innermost thoughts and a true understanding of their characters. Ick.
That poor rector, lol. Okay, I shouldn’t laugh, as he is a nice man who bemoans being the recipient of Miss Campanula’s and Eleanor’s scandalous “confessions” and attentions.
As for Eleanor and Miss Campanula, oy. What a pair! Always plotting and scheming, doing their best to hurt others, trying to look so charitable to the parson. I’m torn between laughing at them and hating them. As for that bit of past history Eleanor remembers . . . ooh, lol.
Poor Dinah is having a horrible time what with Campanula and Eleanor lying to her father about her activities and as producer for the play, none of her actors are learning their lines. That Campanula sabotages the rehearsals with her muttering and wooden delivery.
As for Selina, her greatest joy appears to be attaching men to her side. And seeing to her own health first, as Templett discovers. Poor boy. A lucky escape, that.
Alleyn talks about his coming marriage! He does crack me up when he claims his memory is so bad. Of course, I do the same thing . . .
It’s a pip of a story and one of the best . . . so far *grin*.
The Story
It’s a war between love and wealth. Pen Cuckoo needs wealth while Henry Jerningham wants love. More love . . . or is it desire? . . . flows from Cousin Eleanor and Miss Campanula to the unsuspecting rector.
It’s been decided to put on a play, Shop Windows by Jacob Hunt, as a fundraiser for the Young People’s Friendly Circle and get a new piano. The squire will play the General; Miss Prentice, the Duchess; Miss Campanula, Mrs Arbuthnot, a good character part; Dr Templett the French Ambassador; Selia, Hélène, the woman who lost her memory; and Dinah will be the producer.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the CID at Scotland Yard.
Detective-Inspector Fox, a.k.a. Brer Fox, and Detective-Sergeants Bailey and Thompson are part of Alleyn’s team. I think Alison is one of Alleyn’s men.
Nigel Bathgate is a journalist and a good friend of Alleyn’s. He’s also got lots of contacts everywhere. Angela is his wife and their son is three now.
Pen Cuckoo is . . .
. . . the Jerningham family estate in Dorset. Winton is its dower house. Jocelyn Jerningham VII, the local squire and acting chief constable for the county (if Sir George Dillington is not available), has a son and heir, Henry, who is in love with Dinah. Cousin Eleanor Prentice is the aging, interfering spinster cousin of the worst type who moved to Pen Cuckoo three years ago; Ethelbert Nevin’s Venetian Suite is her pièce de resistance. Taylor is the butler. Rumbold is the estate agent.
Dinah Copeland is the daughter of the parson and had been an actress for all of six weeks. A widower, Walter Copeland, is the rector of Winton St Giles with a social inferiority complex. Mary is the deaf maid.
The hypocritical Miss Idris Campanula, a.k.a. the Receiving Set, is a wealthy spinster who lives at the Red House and whose will is said to benefit the rector. She is friends with Eleanor on the basis of mutual antipathies and interests with a love for scandal. Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C sharp Major” is her “owned” specialty. General Campanula is Idris’ cousin who took her in. Gibson is Miss Campanula’s chauffeur. Eric Campanula, the son of William, is Idris’ second cousin last heard of in Nairobi. Messrs. Waterworth, Waterworth and Biggs are Idris’ lawyers. Another Mary is her parlourmaid/lady’s-maid.
Dr Billy Templett, the local doctor and police surgeon, is married to Freda, who has spinal paralysis; Templetts have been at Chippingwood for as long as Jerninghams have been at Pen Cuckoo, although his older brother went through most of the family fortune.
The kind but malicious Selia Ross is an actress and has no qualms about having an affair with a married man. She’s currently living at Duck Cottage, Cloudyfold, since April.
The mechanically minded Georgie Biggins is a young mischief-maker and will be the call-boy for the play. His dad has an old Ford they hire out. The third Cain boy’s injured big toe provides many excuses. The eldest Cain boy is scout-master with no idea of discipline. Cissie Drury did a lot of damage to the piano. Joe Hopkins. Old Mrs Thrinne. Miss Gladys Wright is a village maiden and one of the church’s best workers in charge of programmes. Her brother is the village idiot.
Lord Appleby is the local master of the hunt? Lady Appleby will faint. Mr Prosser, the chemist of Chipping, and Mr Blandish, the police superintendent, are both church wardens. The chatty Sergeant Charley Roper, Constable Fife, and Smith are with the Chipping Constabulary. Sir George lives at Moorton Park. Mrs Peach runs the local inn where Joe is the bartender. Mrs Peach’s father-in-law won’t have electricity in the house. Mrs Cartwright is very pregnant. Mrs Bains at Mill Farm was in labour.
The Young People’s Friendly Circle helps out in assorted parishes and is in need of funds. Eleanor is its president and Miss Campanula is its secretary. Posh Jimmy has a gang. Saul Tranter is a poacher with a story. Miss Bruce is a telephone operator.
Preece’s in Great Chipping sells pianos. Claude Smith was imprisoned for blackmail. His partner, Sarah Rosen, got off.
The Cover and Title
The cover is multiple gradients of teals. The top of the cover goes from dark to light with the centered title in white to teal. The stretched-out banner is a pale grayish teal with the author’s name in the signature art deco font with its multiplicity of texture and teals. The bottom “half” of the cover is a series of scalloped white lines radiating out from the bottom to the sides with a teal gradient inside each. The center graphic has a dark, dark background with a graphic of a wicker basket and three balls of yarn with two pink knitting needles stuck into the yellow ball. Arcing over the basket’s bottom is a pale teal banner with the series info in either white or a very pale teal.
The title is a reference to Miss Prentice’s and Miss Campanula’s signature pieces of music, their Overture to Death.
