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Artists in Crime

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Artists in Crime

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: Philip Franks
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About this listen

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 reenacted in earnest: the model is dead, fixed forever 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....

©1938 Original Text of 1938 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio Classics Cosy Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Crime Thriller

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Critic reviews

"The queen of the straight crime novel - long may she reign!" ( Sunday Times)
"The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an Empress." ( The Sun)
All stars
Most relevant
I devoured all the Alleyn books many years ago and still re read them. This Audible reading had me riveted. Although I knew the story well I was drawn completely into the world of the artists, Troy and Alleyn. Philip Franks has a very subtle style, the characters were credible and very distinctive, he never over plays things. So many male readers sound like pantomime dames when interpreting female parts...but his are quiet and distinctive. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Well done to all concerned.

Wonderful

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love this book read it many years ago but how sad that the narrator mispronounces the main characters name. In the name Alleyn the y is silent therefore name is pronounced Allen not Alain. Sorry to be so picky but when you know and love a character its really irritating and spoils an otherwise enjoyable story.

Wrong name

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Not my favourite Marsh because the "romance" between Alleyn and Troy leaves me cold, but I do like the art world being explored and the actual killer was quite a surprise to me the first time I encountered the book. The narrator mispronouncing the name of the main character every single time however really, really gets annoying.

Good story let down by narrator

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How I wish Philip Franks had narrated all of the unabridged Ngaio Marsh! You forget it is one man doing it all. His voices and accents are marvellous. The story itself is pretty more gruesome in parts. But then as with all the best 'Golden Age' mysteries, everything comes right in the end, justice is done and comforting cosiness is restored.

Narration was brilliant

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Ngaio Marsh's detective novels are not quite as well-known today as those of Agatha Christie. I think one reason might be that Marsh's books follow an overarching storyline – each novel stands alone as a separate work, but it is a bit harder to get into them if you pick up a random book in the series. It is well worth doing that, though. I find myself well and truly hooked on these novels now.

This particular novel (the sixth in the series) is the best one yet. In addition to being a really well-crafted and plotted mystery, it offers a window into a time that's not all that distant, but which is already very much a foreign country. The characters are superbly written and (unlike Christie's characters) rounded and three-dimensional; it's hard to sympathise with some of their more essentialist ways of reasoning, but it really seems like these are realistic people, whose lives are shaped by their time. And Alleyn's mother is a lovely character (very much like Lord Peter Wimsey's mother, to make a comparison to another Golden Age detective.)

There is a romantic sub-plot, which never takes over the story, but is relevant to the overall story arch. In addition, passion, real or simulated, shows up in various forms. The effects, positive or negative, of passion are the driving force underlying almost everything – but we are never subjected to it directly, only to its traces.

The performance is excellent, and I did not notice any of the audio problems reported by other reviewers.

Highly recommended, but read the earlier novels first

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