Paperback
A Surfeit of Lampreys
By Ngaio Marsh
Ngaio Marsh’s most popular novel begins when a young New Zealander’s first contact with the English gentry is the body of Lord Wutherford – with a meat skewer through the eye…
The Lampreys had plenty of charm – but no cash. They all knew they were peculiar – and rather gloried in it. The double and triple charades, for instance, with which they would entertain their guests – like rich but awful Uncle Gabriel, who was always such a bore. The Lampreys thought if they jollied him up he would bail them out – yet again.
Instead, Uncle Gabriel met a violent end. And Chief Inspector Alleyn had to work our which of them killed him…
‘The brilliant Ngaio Marsh ranks with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers’Times Literary Supplement -
‘Brilliantly readable… first class detection.’Observer -
‘Ngaio Marsh transcended the detective genre by the power of her writing and the rich variety of characters who people her novels.’P.D. James -
‘Ngaio Marsh is among the most brilliant of those authors who are transforming the detective story from a mere puzzle into a novel with many other qualities.’Times Literary Supplement -
‘The finest writer in the English languange of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an Empress.’The Sun -