Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Wofano Wotanto" data-source="post: 9351699" data-attributes="member: 7044704">Sluggishly finishing up the last few Ngaio Marsh novels I haven't ever gotten around to in an attempt to find something my sister might enjoy, as she's developed a sudden curiosity about mystery as a genre.&nbsp; Most recent was Light Thickens, which was a very odd entry.&nbsp; It's one of several &quot;theatrical&quot; books in the series, and spends most of its page count on the preparation and opening weeks of a run of Macbeth which gets its season (heh) cut short when the lead actor is decapitated during a performance.&nbsp; Roderick Alleyn is barely present for a huge part of the novel, with recurring thespian character Peregrine Jay as POV protag early on, and when Alleyn does show up the mystery is very shallow and disappointing, with the killer outright confessing the moment they're confronted and a side plot being left hanging in a very unsatisfying way.&nbsp; It wasn't a terrible read as such, but it's not really a mystery[SPOILER]and I'm getting very tired of Marsh making characters with mental health issues the killer.&nbsp; I expect and can tolerate the frequent anti-Communist themes as part of the period when these were written and set (1982 in this case) but she really likes punching down at people in her later years. [/SPOILER]This one's not going on the rec list for sib, and I'm starting to think maybe none of the Alleyn books will be.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wofano Wotanto, post: 9351699, member: 7044704"] Sluggishly finishing up the last few Ngaio Marsh novels I haven't ever gotten around to in an attempt to find something my sister might enjoy, as she's developed a sudden curiosity about mystery as a genre. Most recent was Light Thickens, which was a very odd entry. It's one of several "theatrical" books in the series, and spends most of its page count on the preparation and opening weeks of a run of Macbeth which gets its season (heh) cut short when the lead actor is decapitated during a performance. Roderick Alleyn is barely present for a huge part of the novel, with recurring thespian character Peregrine Jay as POV protag early on, and when Alleyn does show up the mystery is very shallow and disappointing, with the killer outright confessing the moment they're confronted and a side plot being left hanging in a very unsatisfying way. It wasn't a terrible read as such, but it's not really a mystery [SPOILER]and I'm getting very tired of Marsh making characters with mental health issues the killer. I expect and can tolerate the frequent anti-Communist themes as part of the period when these were written and set (1982 in this case) but she really likes punching down at people in her later years. [/SPOILER] This one's not going on the rec list for sib, and I'm starting to think maybe none of the Alleyn books will be. [/QUOTE]

Verification