201:, for most of her adult life, Ngaio Marsh divided her time between her native New Zealand and travel abroad, with frequent and often prolonged periods spent in England, where most of her detective fiction is set. World War Two interrupted this pattern, obliging Ngaio Marsh to remain in New Zealand from April 1938 until June 1949, when she finally returned to England for another lengthy stay. During this ten-year period, Marsh lived with her elderly father on the outskirts of Christchurch, continued to write, drove a Red Cross transport vehicle and began her dedicated project to develop a professional theatre in New Zealand, working with students from Canterbury University, directing, producing and touring plays around the country. Again, according to her biographers, this had an inevitable and interesting effect on her detective fiction.
272:
Shakespearean actor
Geoffrey Gaunt is advised by his Australian doctor to stay at Wai-ata-tapu to heal his ailing leg. Gaunt arrives and settles in, using the baths. He and his secretary Dikon Bell notice the Claires' daughter, Barbara, always in worn out clothes. Gaunt purchases a fashionable outfit
302:
The police find a historic Maori battle adze at the home of
Questing that belonged to the local chief Rua's grandfather. Its original location was considered a secret known only to a few select Maori people. Huia, the Claires' housekeeper, admits she overheard her grandfather Rua talking about the
318:
Smith is taken in custody, and known by police to be an enemy agent. Gaunt will head to London. The Claire family is free of the debt to
Questing. Dickon Bell decides to try once more to enlist, and asks Barbara, whom he loves, to write to him. Her father gives the gift of clothes back to Gaunt.
393:
that this mystery novel, “civilized literature”, excels on many aspects in a strongly positive review. It has humor, creates a good atmosphere, and “a group of characters, English, Maori and New
Zealander, who are fascinating and completely credible.” She calls out the sinister Questing and the
287:
Everyone comes together at a concert put on by the Te Rarawa community in their village hall, in honour of
Geoffrey Gaunt, who delivers speeches from select plays, and Questing makes an annoying speech. Some people return to the guest house walking through the area of boiling mud pools and hot
314:
Falls deduces that Smith, the alcoholic handyman, was the only person who fits as the killer of
Questing. Smith wore hobnail boots to remove a crucial white trail flag during the concert and tossed them in that mud pool, which boots the police later found. Questing told Smith about his
256:
In New
Zealand's North Island, near the fictional coastal town of Harpoon, the Claire family operates a guest house at the Wai-ata-tapu hot springs. Colonel Claire struggles to turn a profit, and businessman Maurice Questing is eager to call up his loan and seize the resort.
413:
is the hardest to place, suggesting “Ngawha
Springs guest house near Kaikohe, on New Zealand's North Island,” with a nearby port city as the most likely match. Jones remarked that Marsh uses “the spectacular scenery of New Zealand to great effect in her books.”
264:
signals from Rangi Peak and feels
Questing must be a spy for the enemy; soon after an allied ship leaving a New Zealand port is sunk. In addition, the local Maori leaders suspect Questing is a treasure hunter seeking to loot sacred Maori items.
310:
Falls leads a discussion at the guest house where he posits that
Questing is colourblind, explaining many lies he told regarding colours because he rarely admitted this physical fact to anyone. He could not distinguish a red from green.
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The group at Wai-ata-tapu each tells how he got home that evening and who they saw. Police interviews make them nervous. Theories as to whether Questing is dead or alive become moot when the police find Questing's skull at the mud pool.
291:
Questing does not return and a horrific scream suggests that that he has fallen into Taupo-tapu, the huge boiling mud pool. According to Maori legend a dishonoured Te Rarawa girl met this fatal end with a similar, terrible shriek.
36:
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No one much likes Questing: alcoholic handyman, Bert Smith, accuses Questing of trying to murder him by sending him across a railway with a train coming, claiming the crossing signal was green when it was red.
280:
Questing next tells Smith that the signal was broken, and still later that he looked at the signal through a coloured windscreen. Dikon Bell is a reliable person, trusted by both Simon and his sister Barbara.
315:
colourblindness to explain the mishap with the traffic signal. Smith lures Questing into the mud pool by removing the white trail flag for the safe path. Questing follows the red flags, which signal danger.
306:
Police find a large hoard of Maori relics alongside the adze, illegal to take or hold. A letter left to Bell from Questing, written before the concert, indicates his plan to leave the country for Australia.
417:
One reviewer gave a positive review, liking the well-drawn characters. He proposes that there are three mysteries in this novel: “who is the spy, who murdered Questing, and where is Alleyn?”
260:
Meanwhile, Colonel Claire's brother-in-law, Dr James Ackrington, writes to Inspector Roderick Alleyn alerting him that Questing may be an enemy agent. Son Simon Claire observes flashing
284:
A newcomer arrives at the guest house named Septimus Falls, having seen an ad for the place. Falls taps in Morse code leading Simon to suspect Falls is an enemy ally of Questing.
303:
adze and told a friend who then told Bert Smith its location. Smith fetched it for Questing. Rua is livid, eventually allowing police to hold it until the case is cleared.
295:
Police begin investigating Questing’s disappearance by searching the mud pool and interviewing people. Police recover boots and a vest from the boiling pool first.
394:
irascible and candid Dr James Ackrington, brother of Mrs Claire, the actor Geoffrey Gaunt, and the “cerebral secretary” Dikon Bell, as characters well portrayed.
322:
Detective Sergeant Webley gains praise from Septimus Falls. Falls reveals himself to the police to be Roderick Alleyn, working undercover for the military during
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wrote, "The only true detective novel this month is by Ngaio Marsh - and what a good one it is... as lively a tale as heart could wish."
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409:, Gwenyth Jones describes trips through New Zealand using the several Marsh novels set in that country. She notes that the scene of
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212:, published in 1942. Since her 1938 return to New Zealand, four Roderick Alleyn mysteries had been written and published (
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there, to investigate wartime espionage. Although Marsh published two further New Zealand-set Alleyn mysteries (
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Marsh was commissioned by her publishers Collins to write one of their series of illustrated books for schools,
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1980), the two wartime New Zealand novels stand distinctly apart from her main body of detective fiction.
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156:, and was first published in 1943 by Collins Crime Club. The novel takes place in the
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Ngaio Marsh: A Bibliography of English Language Publications in Hardback and Paperback
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228:), all set in England. Now in 1942, Marsh decided to set her next two novels (
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208:, and she travelled the country extensively while writing her contribution,
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also places Alleyn in New Zealand doing wartime counterespionage work.
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522:"Murder in an Exotic Background; COLOUR SCHEME. By Ngaio Marsh"
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springs, while others ride home in a car, taking the road.
546:
John, K. (28 August 1943). "Notes for the Novel Reader".
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Colonel Edward and Agnes Claire – owners of Wai-ata-tapu
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236:) in New Zealand, dispatching her series detective
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374:Eru Saul — half caste man, sometime friend to Huia
197:According to her biographers Margaret Lewis and
335:Chief-Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard
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344:Barbara Claire – their daughter, 23 years old
8:
515:
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502:Marsh & Burden, Ngaio & R W (1942).
347:Dr James Ackrington – Agnes Claire's brother
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690:
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428:was one of four Alleyn novels adapted for
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27:
615:Gibbs, Rowan; Williams, Richard (1990).
520:Disney, Dorothy Cameron (11 July 1943).
371:Huia – Maori housekeeper at Wai-ata-tapu
368:Septimus Falls – a guest at Wai-ata-tapu
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341:Simon Claire – their son, 19 years old
176:resort on the coast of New Zealand's
152:; it is the twelfth novel to feature
7:
563:Jones, Gwenyth (18 September 1988).
206:The British Commonwealth In Pictures
565:"Ngaio Marsh's Scenes Of the Crime"
350:Geoffrey Gaunt – a celebrated actor
16:1943 detective novel by Ngaio Marsh
362:Bert Smith – an alcoholic handyman
19:For colour scheme in general, see
14:
644:Shorter, Eric (9 October 2011).
359:Maurice Questing – a businessman
997:Novels set during World War II
960:The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries
623:: Dragonby Press. p. 44.
479:Ngaio Marsh: Her Life in Crime
432:in 1977. Alleyn was played by
356:Alfred Colly – Gaunt's dresser
168:; the plot involves suspected
1:
788:Death and the Dancing Footman
226:Death And The Dancing Footman
117:Death and the Dancing Footman
552:. No. 5445. p. 24.
549:The Illustrated London News
456:. Chatto & Windus Ltd.
399:The Illustrated London News
273:for Barbara from a shop in
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353:Dikon Bell – his secretary
18:
992:Novels set in New Zealand
703:Inspector Roderick Alleyn
377:Detective Sergeant Webley
33:
1002:Collins Crime Club books
590:"Review 'Colour Scheme'"
477:Drayton, Joanne (2008).
452:Lewis, Margaret (1991).
430:South Pacific Television
365:Rua Te Kahu– Maori chief
732:The Nursing Home Murder
646:"George Baker obituary"
982:Roderick Alleyn novels
851:Singing in the Shrouds
387:Dorothy Cameron Disney
907:Black as He's Painted
830:Spinsters in Jeopardy
421:Television adaptation
405:In a 1988 article in
886:Clutch of Constables
879:Death at the Dolphin
760:Death in a White Tie
987:1943 British novels
953:Ngaio Marsh Theatre
816:Swing Brother Swing
781:Surfeit of Lampreys
454:Ngaio Marsh: A Life
222:Surfeit Of Lampreys
183:Marsh's next novel
30:
569:The New York Times
526:The New York Times
506:. London: Collins.
481:. Harper Collins.
407:The New York Times
391:The New York Times
88:Collins Crime Club
969:
968:
900:Tied Up in Tinsel
844:Off With His Head
837:Scales of Justice
767:Overture to Death
596:. 20 October 2023
214:Overture To Death
137:
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78:Detective fiction
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802:Died in the Wool
774:Death at the Bar
753:Artists in Crime
739:Death in Ecstasy
725:Enter a Murderer
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234:Died In The Wool
218:Death At The Bar
186:Died in the Wool
178:Northland region
158:Northland region
130:Died in the Wool
125:Followed by
112:Preceded by
95:Publication date
40:First UK edition
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655:. Retrieved
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572:. Retrieved
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529:. Retrieved
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434:George Baker
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166:World War II
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21:Color scheme
858:False Scent
699:Ngaio Marsh
504:New Zealand
463:07012-09852
210:New Zealand
174:hot springs
162:New Zealand
150:Ngaio Marsh
50:Ngaio Marsh
976:Categories
914:Last Ditch
872:Dead Water
621:Scunthorpe
440:References
330:Characters
262:Morse Code
193:Background
389:wrote in
382:Reception
170:espionage
84:Publisher
945:See also
600:24 March
574:24 March
531:24 March
275:Auckland
56:Language
657:15 July
164:during
59:English
710:Novels
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485:
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244:1937,
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119:
64:Series
46:Author
144:is a
107:Print
74:Genre
659:2024
625:ISBN
602:2024
576:2024
533:2024
483:ISBN
458:ISBN
232:and
224:and
99:1943
701:'s
160:of
148:by
978::
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220:,
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691:e
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
