Light Thickens

Rating:
Summary: For cozy fans and Shakespeareans
Review: "Light Thickens" is Ngaio Marsh's last novel and one of her best. The mystery centers around a production of "Macbeth" at the Dolphin Theatre in London. Most of those involved in the play are superstitious to varying degrees about the bad-luck curse traditionally associated with "Macbeth." Even to say the play's name is considered dangerous, so it's referred to as "the Scots play." During rehearsals someone starts playing gruesome practical jokes. And somebody is sending out anonymous messages about a likable and talented child actor whose father is the Hampstead Chopper, a notorious serial killer confined in the Broadmoor asylum. One night, during a performance attended by Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, a grisly murder involving a ceremonial sword occurs just before the final curtain. If you like traditional British cozies with mostly pleasant characters, you'll probably enjoy this mystery, and if you're also a Shakespeare aficionado, you'll enjoy it even more.

Rating:
Summary: For cozy fans and Shakespeareans
Review: "Light Thickens" is Ngaio Marsh's last novel and one of her best. The mystery centers around a production of "Macbeth" at the Dolphin Theatre in London. Most of those involved in the play are superstitious to varying degrees about the bad-luck curse traditionally associated with "Macbeth." Even to say the play's name is considered dangerous, so it's referred to as "the Scots play." During rehearsals someone starts playing gruesome practical jokes. And somebody is sending out anonymous messages about a likable and talented child actor whose father is the Hampstead Chopper, a notorious serial killer confined in the Broadmoor asylum. One night, during a performance attended by Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, a grisly murder involving a ceremonial sword occurs just before the final curtain. If you like traditional British cozies with mostly pleasant characters, you'll probably enjoy this mystery, and if you're also a Shakespeare aficionado, you'll enjoy it even more.

Rating:
Summary: Strong on theatrical detail, weak on mystery plot
Review: I have enjoyed Ngaio Marsh mysteries in the past, and I am interested in Macbeth, so I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, as a mystery it was disappointing. The lead in to the murder took the first two-thirds of this confusingly over-populated book, with the murder itself almost an afterthought. The plot centered around the production of Macbeth, and not the victim or criminal. I cannot reveal the weakness of the plot without also revealing the ending, but the solution was so excessively convenient that I wound up very frustrated. The identity of both the murderer and the victim seemed largely a matter of coincidence and not of fate.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!! Bravo!!!
Review: This is the first Ngaio Marsh I've bought for my personal library, having read most of the Inspector Lynley series written by Elizabeth George, and I have to say that James Saxon's narration makes this an enjoyable piece of work, so I certainly have plans to purchase more titles in the future!

Rating:
Summary: Light Thickens
Review: This is the last book written by The Queen of Classic Mystery Ngaio Marsh. I is beautifully written and dramatic.