I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Death at the Bar
by
Ngaio Marsh
vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Felony & Mayhem Press on February 12, 2013 and has 284 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
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, Overture to Death, 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
Ninth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series with this tale set in Ottercombe in Devon. It was originally published in 1940. The focus is on three close friends.
My Take
Marsh makes good use of dialect in both spelling and sentence structure showing us the social status and/or origins of various characters. I know it’s not acceptable today, but in Marsh’s day it was quite the thing.
Marsh has created a more realistic set of characters who care about each other, but do not object to being malicious to each other. Luke needs to be liked and can’t leave well enough alone. Especially when it comes to Decima. Seb spends money like water. Norman likes what he does, but he’s not making a fortune. Will is belligerent — which only makes me feel sorry for him at the end.
We learn a lot of this through Marsh’s use of third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a number of characters. Dessy has her newfangled ideas about radical notions and free love, with which Will is not impressed. The interactions amongst the three friends visiting Ottercombe are messing with their relationship. It doesn’t help that Luke can’t resist heckling people.
“I’m a farmer’s daughter. A peasant.”
“‘The worst of you communists,’ said Cubitt, ‘is that you’re such snobs.'”
Abel doesn’t agree with Decima’s notions, but he’s not afraid to stick up for what he sees as right. Especially with Nark baiting him about poisoning others!
It’s impossible for the victim to be poisoned and that’s what makes things interesting. Well, the inheritors’ financial backgrounds also make it interesting, adding in more questions. Legge’s reactions make life even more interesting. He’s certainly worried about the police framing him. Then he swings into a type of megalomania from his status in life previously.
Brammington does not sound like the best choice for chief constable, lol.
“Logic is only the art of going wrong with confidence.”
There is action but, per usual, people are keeping secrets with emphasis on the characters — their pasts, their personalities, and Alleyn’s investigation style of interview after interview interspersed with thoughts.
It’s yet another twisty Marsh tale that is amazing as Alleyn unveils whodunnit.
The Story
It’s a poisoning and Abel Pomeroy will not let it go. Nor it seems do the police intend to ignore it.
If only the police hadn’t been so standoffish, a denial that encouraged Abel to head up to Scotland Yard, bringing Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn down for a look-see.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID at Scotland Yard. George Alleyn is his older brother. His team includes Detective-Inspector “Br’er Fox” Fox, who’s been sweating the French for the past two years.
Luke Watchman, a King’s Counsel acquainted with Alleyn, is vacationing with two others. Sebastian Parish is Luke’s cousin and a successful actor. Norman Cubitt is an artist and Luke’s best friend . Miss Tobin had been Norman’s governess.
Ottercombe is . . .
. . . an ocean-based village owned by one man. It has a history of smuggling and wrecking. Abel Pomeroy (he’d been a surgeon’s orderly in the war) runs the Plume of Feathers, the local pub and inn. Mrs Ives is housekeeper and cook. Will is Abel’s youngest son and helps out. Dick Oates, the Ottercombe policeman, and Arthur Gill, the grocer, are friends with Abel. George Nark is an elderly bachelor-farmer who likes to stir things up. Mary Yeo has a shop. Petronella Broome runs a brothel. William Glass used to run a tavern next to it. Jim Moore owns Cary Edge Farm and is Decima “Dessy” Moore‘s father. Mrs Moore is the snooty sort.
Bob Legge, a relative newcomer, is a motorist who wasn’t paying attention but he is good at darts. He’s also the secretary and treasurer of the Coombe Left Movement as well as secretary for other groups and an agent for various things.
Members of the Coombe Left Movement, a branch of the South Devon Left, include the luscious Decima Moore, Will Pomeroy, and Legge.
The oldish, fattish Irish Violet Darragh does watercolors and intends to help Legge, for her own reasons. She also seems interested in Norman. Lord Bryonie had been a cousin of Miss Darragh’s and defended by Luke. Terence had been her brother. The Sean O’Darraghs had hosted George Alleyn.
Illington is . . .
. . . a nearby village. Dr Shaw is a physician. Dr James Mordant is the coroner with a specialty in bacteriology. Bernard Noggins is the local chemist. Superintendent Nick Harper is with the police.
Colonel the Honourable Maxwell Brammington, Chief Constable of South Devon, has suggested that Harper consult with Alleyn who happens to be Brammington’s friend. Shankley Court is where he lives and his brother rules.
The Courvoisier ’87 came from old Lawyer Payne in Diddlestock. The Montague Thringle case included Byronie as Thringle’s cat’s-paw.
The Cover and Title
The cover is pumpkin spice! Hmm, I must be feeling hungry, lol. It’s a gradient of mellow oranges starting with the top of the cover looking just like a pumpkin pie with the title having its own gradient of white to pale orange. The pale orange banner that stretches from wide on the left to narrower on the right forms a background for the art deco font for the author’s name with its textured brown lines and dark brown, and cream. Below it is an array of scalloped white lines angling from the bottom out to the sides with their own pumpkin gradient between each. The central graphic under the banner has a background gradient of almost black to toasty brown with the dart board dotted with two darts. A frosty mug of beer is in the foreground with the pale peach banner arching with the series info in white.
The title is where it happened, for it was Death at the Bar.
