Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
England, slutningen af 1930'erne.
Tre venner, advokaten Luke Watchman, maleren Norman Cubitt og skuespilleren Sebastian Parish, der er Lukes fætter, mødes hvert år i nogle uger på kroen Fjerhammen i en lille flække i Devon. Her er der også en lille venstreorienteret klike med Robert Legge som
Klassisk krimi med et væld af mistænkte og motiver, men ikke ret troværdig
Tre venner, advokaten Luke Watchman, maleren Norman Cubitt og skuespilleren Sebastian Parish, der er Lukes fætter, mødes hvert år i nogle uger på kroen Fjerhammen i en lille flække i Devon. Her er der også en lille venstreorienteret klike med Robert Legge som
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sekretær. Legge er også vældig ferm til at spille dart. En uvejrsaften spiller de dart og Legge udfordres til at skyde fire pile ind mellem fingrene på Watchman mens denne holder hånden på skiven. Normalt er det en smal sag for Legge, men den sidste pil rammer en finger. Watchman bliver bleg og må lægge sig. Han får lidt jod på riften og lidt cognac og dør så. Forgiftet med rottegift forstærket med cyankalium, men hvordan? Kriminalkommisær ved New Skotland Yard Roderick Alleyn på 43 og hans tro følgesvend kriminalassistent T. R. Fox bliver tilkaldt som forstærkning for det lokale politi. Alleyns kone Agatha Troy er en berømt portrætmaler, så han har let ved at tale med Cubitt. Parish er begunstiget i Watchmans testamente og var den, der hentede giften, så han er oplagt. Det viser sig dog at være Legge, der har et horn i siden på Watchman, fordi denne fik ham idømt en hård dom nogle år forinden.Klassisk krimi med et væld af mistænkte og motiver, men ikke ret troværdig
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Genres
Publication
Kbh : Samlerens Lommebøger, 1971. 3. oplag.
Description
A game of darts does involve some danger, but it's rarely lethal. There are exceptions, however, like the famous barrister who was enjoying a pint at the Plume of Feathers pub, and is now residing at the morgue. But Inspector Roderick Alleyn has a growing hunch that this peculiar "accident" can be traced to an old legal case ...
User reviews
LibraryThing member MrsLee
Sorry, the only opinion I have written in my book for this is that it is "a nice little mystery."
LibraryThing member Figgles
A good little quirky, but not too quirky, Ngaio Marsh. Sometimes her characters are more like caricatures but she avoids that in this Alleyn mystery. Fun read.
LibraryThing member mmyoung
Among my least favourite of the Marsh's books in my current rereading of her oeuvre. It is not only drenched with sexism and classism -- it also seems to be set in some alternate universe. Finished (according to the endmatter) in May of 1939 it is set in an England where there seems to be no hint
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of a troubled Europe looming nearby. Reading the book without knowing the realities of politics and culture at the time one would imagine that the greatest threat to the continuation of ordered life in England was the way in which some members of the lower classes (especially those who had, perhaps, read too much) were being led astray by ideas of collectivism and the dismantling of the existing class system. Show Less
LibraryThing member thorold
I think this is the first Marsh I've read. I found it a bit light on characterisation and rather oversophisticated technically — a crime so complicated that you can't imagine why anyone would take the trouble to commit it. The few jokes all came out of the rather undeveloped
Not in the top echelon of inter-war crime stories, but still better than a lot of more recent efforts: there are certainly worse ways of killing a couple of hours at an airport.
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character-stereotypes, and the West Country setting was very off-the-shelf too. The story only really seemed to come to life in a couple of little scenes featuring the implausibly-literary chief constable of the county. Not in the top echelon of inter-war crime stories, but still better than a lot of more recent efforts: there are certainly worse ways of killing a couple of hours at an airport.
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LibraryThing member Vivl
I feel no guilt at the pleasure I get from reading Ngaio Marsh novels. Her writing is superb, her characters are intensely human and her mysteries are excellent. What more could one want?
LibraryThing member leslie.98
While I knew that I had read this entry in the Inspector Alleyn series, as I have read all the Marsh books on my shelves at some point in the past 35 years, when I saw the audiobook on Hoopla & read the blurb it didn't sound familiar. Once I started listening though, it came back to me. Ironically,
Wanda McCaddon does an excellent narration and this Golden Age mystery stands up to the test of time well imo.
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I spent about 2/3 of my time listening to this mystery sure I knew who the murderer was only to find it was someone else! Wanda McCaddon does an excellent narration and this Golden Age mystery stands up to the test of time well imo.
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LibraryThing member alanteder
Poison in the Pub
Review of the Felony & Mayhem paperback edition (2013) of the 1940 original
Death at the Bar was rather a simple Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn story which didn't have many of the features that I most love about the series. Although this is after Alleyn's marriage to painter Agatha
Another character entirely is given the quoting role, but does so in a verbose and muddled manner that becomes irritating. That character gives the standard Sherlock Holmes nod about Alleyn having perhaps 'written a monograph' about an obscure detection clue.
Although published in 1940 and presumably written the previous year, there are no references to the war whether impending or not. The title does manage to convey a pun in that the story is about a lawyer (i.e. one who has been called to the bar) who is poisoned in a pub.
Review of the Felony & Mayhem paperback edition (2013) of the 1940 original
Death at the Bar was rather a simple Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn story which didn't have many of the features that I most love about the series. Although this is after Alleyn's marriage to painter Agatha
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Troy, Troy does not make an appearance. The banter between Alleyn and his No. 2 Fox is very minimal. Alleyn makes few quotes from Shakespeare or other classics. The solution, although clever enough, doesn't have quite the excitement of many of the Alleyn mysteries.Another character entirely is given the quoting role, but does so in a verbose and muddled manner that becomes irritating. That character gives the standard Sherlock Holmes nod about Alleyn having perhaps 'written a monograph' about an obscure detection clue.
Although published in 1940 and presumably written the previous year, there are no references to the war whether impending or not. The title does manage to convey a pun in that the story is about a lawyer (i.e. one who has been called to the bar) who is poisoned in a pub.
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LibraryThing member nordie
Setting in for a cozy night of brandy and darts at the pub, an inebriated lawyer suffers a seemingly harmless dart puncture. But within moments of his injury, the unlucky barrister loses more than a simple game of darts--he loses his life. Called in to investigate this alleged accident, Inspector
I have a feeling that I've read this book before, but remembered little enough of what went on to find the re-read worth while.
The main protagonists are a group of friends from London, who often spend their holidays in the village: Luke Watchman, an eminent lawyer, Sebastian Parish, celebrated actor, and Norman Cubitt, painter, who is painting a portrait of Parish in the countryside near the village.
Since their holiday a year before, a new character has appeared on the scene: Robert (Bob) Legge, a secretive character with an interesting trick with darts. On the second night of the holiday, and after a decent amount of alcohol all round, Watchman lies dead on the pub floor, having died from cyanide poisoning, apparently injected via a dart wielded by Legge.
Through various technicalities, Alleyn and Fox end up traveling down to Devon to investigate. Fingers are pointed almost instantly at Legge, who is proving to be rather erratic in his behaviour, in no small part due to the 6 year sentence previously given as a result of Watchman's work at the bar. However, Fox and Alleyn find that everyone in the room at the time of the death has a motive for seeing the barrister dead. It all boils down to who could have got the cyanide into the Watchman's system. It's then up to Alleyn and Fox to prove precisely who killed Watchman, even when it means a risk to life and limb for the two policemen.
This is number 9 in the Alleyn series, and Marsh is on a roll. Ever so slightly racist (looking back with 20:20 hindsight about someone "visiting the Jews" - i.e. the moneylenders) but generally working class vs upper class struggles. There are plenty of over the top characters, including the local barman, the fat Irish painter, the actor etc. Some nice small touches in the relationship between Alleyn and Fox helps lighten the mood a little. Not one of the best Alleyn stories, and not one of the worst, so a middle ranking rating.
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Roderick Alleyn wonders about the rules of this friendly bar game--and probes into a pub full of motives for murderI have a feeling that I've read this book before, but remembered little enough of what went on to find the re-read worth while.
The main protagonists are a group of friends from London, who often spend their holidays in the village: Luke Watchman, an eminent lawyer, Sebastian Parish, celebrated actor, and Norman Cubitt, painter, who is painting a portrait of Parish in the countryside near the village.
Since their holiday a year before, a new character has appeared on the scene: Robert (Bob) Legge, a secretive character with an interesting trick with darts. On the second night of the holiday, and after a decent amount of alcohol all round, Watchman lies dead on the pub floor, having died from cyanide poisoning, apparently injected via a dart wielded by Legge.
Through various technicalities, Alleyn and Fox end up traveling down to Devon to investigate. Fingers are pointed almost instantly at Legge, who is proving to be rather erratic in his behaviour, in no small part due to the 6 year sentence previously given as a result of Watchman's work at the bar. However, Fox and Alleyn find that everyone in the room at the time of the death has a motive for seeing the barrister dead. It all boils down to who could have got the cyanide into the Watchman's system. It's then up to Alleyn and Fox to prove precisely who killed Watchman, even when it means a risk to life and limb for the two policemen.
This is number 9 in the Alleyn series, and Marsh is on a roll. Ever so slightly racist (looking back with 20:20 hindsight about someone "visiting the Jews" - i.e. the moneylenders) but generally working class vs upper class struggles. There are plenty of over the top characters, including the local barman, the fat Irish painter, the actor etc. Some nice small touches in the relationship between Alleyn and Fox helps lighten the mood a little. Not one of the best Alleyn stories, and not one of the worst, so a middle ranking rating.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1940
Physical description
248 p.; 18.1 cm
ISBN
8756800193 / 9788756800198
Local notes
Omslag: Lars Horve
Omslaget viser en hånd, der dækker en del af en dartskive
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Death at the bar" af Åse Henriksen
Omslaget viser en hånd, der dækker en del af en dartskive
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Death at the bar" af Åse Henriksen
Similar in this library
Series
Pages
248
DDC/MDS
| 813 |