Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh

     As you probably already know, Ngaio Marsh has been compared to Agatha Christie—some say she’s even better than the famous and prolific Christie. I love them both and find Marsh’s mysteries to have a little more “bite” than Christie’s, but quite a bit less “bite” than those by P.D. James. I really like all of these authors and am completely enjoying the Ngaio Marsh mysteries I’m reading lately.

     In this book we meet the son of our urbane and intelligent Inspector Alleyn, young Ricky Alleyn, who finds himself involved with a captivating lady, a repulsive artist, an oily landlord and a murdered horsewoman, all on an idyllic British Island off the coast of France where Ricky has gone to write. (How’s that for a one sentence summary!!)

     I liked Ricky immensely and, of course, who isn’t a little in love with Roderick Alleyn? The story was pleasantly convoluted and the supporting characters were interesting and, in some cases, satisfyingly offensive. I really liked the book.

Bad language: none
Sex: none

P.S. I always try to find pictures of the actual covers from the books I read. Sometimes they're harder to find than others. It was a little difficult to find a picture of this one (I'm too lazy to take my own photos), but here it is! This cover must have been, I imagine, from the original printing of the book--it looks so very 70s, doesn't it?