Review of Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh (1935, William Collins)

Arthur Surbonadier is an mildly talented actor whose uncle, Jacob Saint, owns a string of theatres, including The Unicorn.  Arthur has been cast in a significant role, but he would like to be a lead actor and is prepared to blackmail his uncle to get his way.  He’s also vying with the charming Felix Gardener for the hand of leading lady, Stephanie Vaughan, and playing hooky with the props master’s daughter.  In the finale of the play Arthur is shot by Felix’s character using blanks, but the night that Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience with his friend and journalist, Nigel Bathgate, the gun contains real bullets, with Arthur dying as the final curtain is closed.  With no shortage of suspects, Alleyn starts to investigate the case, trying to determine who swapped the blanks for real bullets.
Published in 1935, Enter a Murderer was the second book in the Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn series.  The story is effectively a locked mystery in that the perpetrator has to be either one of the actors or the stage hands with access to the stage props just prior to the final scene in which Arthur Surbonadier is shot dead, and Alleyn is in the audience and is present on stage just seconds after the shooting meaning that the time for tampering with evidence is minimal.  Marsh sets the story up nicely so that there a number of credible candidates for the role of murderer, all with the motive, opportunity and means to do away with the rotter, Arthur.  The telling is essentially plot driven, focusing on the action, interchanges between characters and the mystery puzzle, and almost has the feel of a play script.  The characterisation is somewhat weaker, with the cast made up of theatre and upper class stock types, and there is little sense of place - the tale could have been set in any theatre, anywhere.  Marsh slowly moves the pieces into place, with the hapless Bathgate providing the diversions as he jumps to conclusions, whilst Alleyn haughtily slots the evidence together, revealing the killer through a classic denouement of restaging the final scene.  Overall, an interesting theatre-based mystery puzzle.

Review of Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (1935, Hamlyn)

Hercule Poirot is flying from Paris to London.  In the same section of the plane are ten fellow passengers - a Parisian lady, a countess and her friend, a businessman, a dentist, a hairdresser who has won the Irish sweepstakes, a Harley Street doctor, father and son archaeologists, and a detective author - who are served by two stewards.  As they near the airport at Croyden, one of the stewards tries to wake the Parisian lady, Madame Giselle, only to discover that she is dead.  At first it appears that she has died of a reaction to a wasp sting, but the ever observant Poirot finds at her feet a small blowpipe dart disguised as a wasp.  The puzzling questions are who killed her and how were they not observed doing it given that none of the passengers witnessed another using a blowpipe?  On landing Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard is on hand to investigate.  It soon transpires that Madame Giselle was a wealthy moneylender who profited from making loans to selected individuals and made sure they paid by holding damaging information about them, and her will leaves her fortune to the daughter she gave away at birth.  Whilst Japp flounders, Poirot uncovers some fairly clear links between some of the passengers and Madame Giselle, though others appear to have no connection or motive for her death.  Through careful deduction he slowly pieces together what happened on the plane before denouncing the culprit.

Death in the Clouds is a classic locked room mystery - a murder is committed in a space occupied by thirteen people, yet no-one witnesses the crime and all of them could conceivably have a motive for the death.  Christie excels at creating such puzzles and telling them in an engaging, often witty voice, that is all show and no tell.  The secret is clever plotting that slowly reveals how various elements of the murder were committed and why, but which keep as many suspects in the frame as possible until a final denouement whilst feeding the reader red herrings and leading them down false paths as they try to determine the killer’s identity.  Her telling is aided by well drawn characterization, especially Poirot and Japp, and some nice observational touches that keep matters plausible.  There are two weaknesses to her style of storytelling, however, both evident in Death in the Clouds.  First, the story is all about the puzzle and rarely do they open up wider reflective questions for the reader.  The effect is a tale that is intriguing but which lacks contemplative depth.  Second, it is almost impossible for the reader to deduce the identity of the murderer before the denouement as some crucial clues are held back and often they are quite outlandish.  Nevertheless, Death in the Clouds is an enjoyable read and Poirot is a delight.