Death in a White Tie

Marsh continues to give value with this offering as does the versatile James Saxons reading. His characterisation brings Nagiro Marshes well developed personalities to life, and both enhance the rythum of the tale. It catches the feelling of this era, and section of society well.

To enjoy this book you need to forget gritty realism of modern policing and immerse yourself in the fictional world where members of high society are murdered and the crime is investigated by one of their own. It's a world of coming-out balls, ladies of leisure with their social secretaries, where young men over-spend their allowances and are duped by bounders. As in Agatha Christie novels you also need to grit your teeth as foreigners are called Degoes and anti-semitic remarks are causally made. These caveats apart it's an easy listen and James Saxon does a splendid job of enacting the speech patterns of a wide variety of characters.

A classic 'whodunnit' of the highest order. Ngaio Marsh introduces the characters, brings them to life, and then kills one off, leaving you to work out which one of the others is the killer. It's constructed perfectly, giving the listener ample opportunity to work out his own theory, with clues helpfully provided along the way. For what it's worth, I picked the wrong man!

The reading is also wonderful, allowing you to distinguish between characters, but without being obtrusive.