One of Ngaio Marsh's most famous murder mysteries, which introduces Inspector Alleyn to his future wife, the irrepressible Agatha Troy. It started as a student exercise, the knife under the drape, the model's pose chalked in place. But before Agatha Troy, artist and instructor, returns to the class, the pose has been re-enacted in earnest: the model is dead, fixed for ever in one of the most dramatic poses Troy has ever seen. It's a difficult case for Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn. How can he believe ...
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One of Ngaio Marsh's most famous murder mysteries, which introduces Inspector Alleyn to his future wife, the irrepressible Agatha Troy. It started as a student exercise, the knife under the drape, the model's pose chalked in place. But before Agatha Troy, artist and instructor, returns to the class, the pose has been re-enacted in earnest: the model is dead, fixed for ever in one of the most dramatic poses Troy has ever seen. It's a difficult case for Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn. How can he believe that the woman he loves is a murderess? And yet no one can be above suspicion...
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Add this copy of Artists in Crime to cart. $57.10, fair condition, Sold by BookDrop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Phoenix, AZ, UNITED STATES, published 1967 by Fontana.
This book encapsulates the era of British Crime writing..DL Sayers, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham-all superb authors at this time.This novel is a gem!
DrewGirl
Nov 9, 2007
Not the Best Marsh
Systematically reading through the Inspector Alleyn mysteries, I was excited to finally reach this book, where Alleyn meets Agatha Troy for the first time on a ship sailing back to England from New Zealand, where Alleyn had been recuperating (and solving another murder!) Unfortunately, their initial meeting is full of prickliness and misunderstandings and neither is left with any hope in the future of their friendship. Murder changes that, however, when Alleyn is called back early from his vacation to investigate the death of an artists' model at Troy's studio-home, which is near to his family estate. During the course of the investigation, Alleyn struggles to subdue his growing attachment to Troy and to prevent it from skewing his perception of the case. After a thorough investigation and a few surprises, Alleyn finally resolves the mystery and clears suspicion from his lady love. Their relationship is left hanging in question, however, leaving the reader with a feeling of anticipation for the next book in the series. I thought that this would be one of the better Alleyn books, but I was disappointed. The mystery is only somewhat engaging, the investigation is almost too routine and the period-based slang / social references were often confusing. The one redeeming feature of the book is Alleyn's attraction to Troy and his fight to contain his admiration for her because he both believes that she doesn't like him and because he doesn't want his feelings to hinder his investigation. It's amusing to see a grown man struggle like a teenage boy! Otherwise, though, I was not very thrilled with this book. Marsh's characters are usually so well-drawn and her books often contain a wealth of great insights on human nature and life, but I found this book to sadly lack in both of those qualities. Oh well...even great authors have bad days, I guess!
