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False Scent
by
Ngaio Marsh
detective mystery, forensic mystery, vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Felony & Mayhem Press on February 15, 2015 and has 255 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, 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, Clutch of Constables, Hand in Glove, When in Rome, Tied Up In Tinsel
Twenty-first in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard detective in the late 1950s.
My Take
Well, it does tell you how great Miss Bellamy’s ego is when it starts off with her fantasy about who’s attending her funeral!
And it only gets worse when she discovers her friends are getting good breaks. Vindictive, selfish, rude, exceedingly temperamental. She’s aging and getting so mean, that her compatriots are moving on. Producers, writers, and her husband are all ticked off with her behavior.
I do love Br’er Fox. He’s stolid, has a sense of humor, is working on his French, and has his own way with staff. Alleyn is, of course, his usual insightful and intelligent self, who works his way through the facts, lies, and evasions.
There’s quite the adversarial relationship between Old Ninn and Florence. Whee-ooh! That Florence is just plain nasty!
Poor usual, Marsh has plenty of secrets to reveal along with “witnesses” who won’t tell the whole truth. Alleyn, of course, does his schtick where he tells his compatriots what he thinks . . . but doesn’t tell us, except to conclude! Arghh. Of course, it does make the story more intriguing, lol.
Marsh is using third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a number of characters, so we know what occurs between different characters as well as what they’re thinking and feeling.
It’s so very character-driven, especially around Mary Bellamy. What a witch! Many of the others are involved in the theatre and dramatic in their roles.
Romance-wise, it feels put on, not real, especially with Anelida cold one minute and warm the next.
Mystery-wise. Yep. It’s a mystery all right. Marsh kept me in suspense right to the end. With a weirdly Happily Ever After.
The Story
It’s her birthday and everything should revolve around her, everything. Including everything about her career. No one else should be able to build on her success!
Fortunately, Mary Bellamy is a great actress and is determined to show her sociable face to her party guests, even as she attacks her family.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is from a higher social strata than most cops, and he’s in CID at Scotland Yard. His wife, Troy, is a famous painter. His team includes Inspector Fox “Br’er Fox”, Detective-Sergeant (DS) Bailey whose specialty is fingerprints, DS Thompson who’s a dab hand with a camera, and Dr Curtis, the police surgeon. Police Constable Philpott is part of this investigation.
Miss Mary Bellamy is a famous actress on the stage in London and loves to garden. Poor Charles Templeton, her husband, a self-made man, is always her last thought. And he’s persnickety about objects being perfect. Colonel Maurice Warrender is Charles’ cousin and friend. Miss Clara Plumtree, a.k.a. Old Ninn, is Mary’s family nurse. Florence “Floy” is her dresser and personal maid. Gracefield is the butler.
Richard Dakers, Miss Bellamy and Charles’ ward, has written a new play, Husbandry in Heaven.
The adventurous Bertie Saracen is Mary’s great friend who has created her dresses since she first stepped on a stage. Kate “Pinky” Cavendish has been playing supportive roles to Mary Bellamy and finally has an offer for a lead role. Dr Frank Harkness is Miss Bellamy’s physician and an old friend of Ocatavius Browne‘s, who owns the Pegasus bookshop next door. He and Anelida Lee, a.k.a. Nell, his niece and an up-and-coming actress, are great friends of Richard’s — Charles likes them, too. Hodge is their cat.
Theatre
The Management includes Montague Marchant with Miss Bellamy holding a significant percentage. Timon “Timmy” Gantry is “the great producer”. Bongo Dillon writes plays. George is the stage doorkeeper at the Unicorn.
Florrie is a friend of Miss Bellamy’s in New York. Mrs Tinker is a flower-woman. Guests at the birthday party include Bunny, Paul, and Tony.
The Cover and Title
The cover is fuchsia and lilac. The top half of the cover barely has the usual gradient and is the background for the gradated title in deep lilac to white. The stretched-out banner of lilac in the center showcases the author’s name in its deco font and deep purple in solids and etched lines with a white glow around it. The bottom of the cover focuses on a purplish pink azalea with red stamens and surrounded by bright green leaves. White lines with scallops on one side ray out from the bottom center to the sides with gradations of dark to light purple on each side. At the very bottom is a lilac arch with the series information in white.
The title is true enough, for it’s a False Scent that betrays.
