[.ca] Artists in Crime (ISBN 0312963599)

1930s Style at Its Best:
This novel, which relates the first meeting between Scotland Yard Inspector Roderick Alleyn and the artist Agatha Troy, is both a good mystery and a good picture of what kind of book was popular in the 1930s. After Alleyn and Troy meet on a ship sailing back to England from the South Pacific (and they do not meet well, although he is interested in her), Alleyn is called to investigate a murder at Troy's home conveniently down the road from his mother's. An artist's model has been murdered, and there is literally a cast of suspects who had the motivation to 'do her in', including Troy herself. The plot is pretty procedural, although the identity of the murderer is kept hidden for quite awhile. The great thing is the language and style of the novel: slang terms, endearments, and descriptions of people are wonderfully appropriate to the time in which the novel first appeared. The relationship between Alleyn and his mother could not be written 'straight' today: the 'darlings' and 'mammas' would be a joke in the 21st century, especially since Alleyn is not a young man at this point. Troy and Alleyn's misunderstandings, and the rather melodramatic 'Epilogue in a Garden' is fun to read and would have played well to the original readers; it's full of dramatic tension and yet a little silly at the same time. Better than most modern mysteries.

Clever Mystery introduces Agatha Troy:
When a beautiful model is murdered in a most unlikely way, Inspector Allen is required to investigate both the crime and the woman of his dreams: noted artist Agatha Troy. Marsh's generally superior skills as a writer are a bit muddy in this novel, but even so her cast of characters--particularly Allen's mother, Troy, and the art students--are colorfully drawn and combined with an unusually clever plot. A must-read for Marsh fans!

Not good enough:
Having never read any of Ngaio Marsh's books before I thought I'd try the chronological approach. Apparently this wasn't such a good idea as according to other reviewers her better work was later. The book was well plotted and intelligent but ultimately I found the social scenery a bit dated and finally got on my nerves. It did keep me interested and I was surprised at the end. All in all not great but worth pursuing further

A bit disappointed:
I guess that on my quest to read as many Marsh novels as possible, my expectations have grown. While it was fun watching Alleyn falling head over heels in love, neither the plot nor the characters particularly grabbed me. I think the artists all came off a bit as stereotypes, at times downright annoying. Not a bad read, but far from Marsh's best.

A Competent Mystery:
As a long-standing Marsh fan, I don't rate this one as a favorite, but for those interested in the series, this is the book where Alleyn meets Agatha Troy for the first time. (In general, if you want to find the best Marshs, look at the copyright date -- the later the better. This is an early one, 1938; her last was published in 1982.) This is a solidly written, solidly plotted, murder mystery of the Golden Age and won't disappoint, but her best work was yet to come.