Clutch of Constables is my classic choice for June. I love books by Ngaio Marsh, especially when Agatha “Troy” Alleyn, Inspector Alleyn’s wife, plays a starring role in the book. If you love all things mysterious, you’ll enjoy this great read…
A classic Ngaio Marsh novel which features blood-curdling murders in the confines of a riverboat, the Zodiac, cruising through Constable country.’He looks upon the murders that he did in fact perform as tiresome and regrettable necessities,’ reflected Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn on the international crook known as `the Jampot’.
But it was Alleyn’s wife Troy who knew `the Jampot’ best: she had shared close quarters with him on the tiny pleasure steamer Zodiac on a cruise along the peaceful rivers of `Constable country’. And it was she who knew something was badly wrong even before Alleyn was called in to solve the two murders on board…
Uctred thought he had discovered pig bones. He did not know or care why they were in the cesspit at the base of Bampton Castle wall. Then he found the skull. Uctred is a tenant, bound to the land of Lord Gilbert, third Baron Talbot, lord of Bampton Castle, and had slaughtered many pigs. He knew the difference between human and pig skulls. Lord Gilbert called for me to inspect the bones. All knew whose bones they must be.
Artists in Crime is one of Ngaio Marshs’ thirty novels with Inspector Roderick Alleyn set in England in the 1930’s. I love this one because it introduces Agatha Troy, an artist and teacher, who Inspector Alleyn falls in love with. I love a little romance in a good mystery novel. 🙂
Jennifer Hallmark 