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Singing in the Shrouds

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About this listen

 On a cold February night the police find the third corpse on the quayside in the Pool of London, her body covered with flower petals and pearls. The killer walked away, singing. When the cargo ship, Cape Farewell, sets sail, she carries nine passengers, one of whom is known to be the murderer. Which is why Superintendent Roderick Alleyn joins the ship at Portsmouth on the most difficult assignment of his professional career...
Singing in the Shrouds was first published in 1958.©1958 Original Text of 1958 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio Cosy Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives Urban Classics Crime Thriller Detective Suspense

Critic reviews

"Ngaio Marsh at her intelligent best." (Times Literary Supplement)

"Superlatively good." (Sunday Times)

"Astoundingly good...moments of pure hilarity set among moments of real fear. Masterly." (Daily Express)
All stars
Most relevant
Enjoyed the entire story immensely, but then I am a huge fan of Ngaio Marsh. The narration by James Saxon was, as always, super.

Excellent narration

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Another great story with excellent narration. I prefer Nadia May/Wanda McCaddon (and have purchased books based on the fact that she narrates them!) but James Saxon creates great characters. A book to listen to again.

Shipboard thrills

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I am of the opinion that Ngaio Marsh was a far superior crime writer to Agatha Christie, and, while this is not her greatest novel, it still beats the vast majority of the better known writer's work. Her character, Roderick Alleyn, who, like Ngaio Marsh herself, suffers from frequent mispronunciation of his name, is an understated, sophisticated, and very likeable chap. Marsh never made the mistake of giving him gimmicky personality traits, neither did she make a fool of herself and fall in love with her fictional creation, as Dorothy L Sayers did with her sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey.
This story, which, like all of Marsh's books, begins with a superb opening scene (which I imagine in black and white) that creates a wonderfully evocative atmosphere, is unusual in that the motive for murder is an unpredictable one. It is, however, still possible, as with her other works, for the reader to work out who dunnit. Marsh always plays fair with her audience.
The action takes place on board a ship used primarily for freight, but carrying just nine passengers (with the addition of Alleyn) which, as with all Golden Age detective fiction, gives the perfectly restricted environment.

The reader is the late James Saxon, who is so versatile and adept at creating a whole cast of individual character voices, it is easy to forget it is just him. He was obviously an accomplished actor who was, perhaps, handicapped by his extremely boyish looks. It's a really great shame that he died at a relatively young age, and would never know that he would be so admired by a host of audiobook fans.

A perfect combination

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Perhaps not the best Ngaio Marsh story, but still enjoyable and well read. Characters were engaging.

Very enjoyable murder mystery.

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One of the stars of the "golden age" of crime writing, Ms Marsh has long been a favourite of mine. I enjoyed this story very much. It is performed with skill that I found enhanced the story. Mr Saxon deserves his excellent reputation.

A mystery of its time.

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