Inspector Alleyn has the upper crust contacts and manners, but like more modern detectives, he's a bona fide cop. Offers elegant country house settings, complex cases, and a detective who works for Scotland Yard. Agatha Troy is the Inspector's independent and insightful lady friend.

"It's spring 1948 and Inspector Alleyn joins a weekend party at Frantock Hall. The host, Sir Hubert Handesley, tries to liven up the scene with a game of murder-- but one guest really does end up dead. Alleyn has to solve more than one mystery when he finds that, in addition to the murder, an enormously valuable silver chalice has gone missing"--Container.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is a Scotland Yard detective whose aristocratic breeding gives him access to the elite and their crimes.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is a Scotland Yard detective whose aristocratic breeding gives him access to the elite and their crimes. This second set of elegant mysteries contains four episodes.

In Vintage Murder, Ngaio Marsh transports readers to the lush vineyards and scenic landscapes of New Zealand, where Inspector Roderick Alleyn finds himself entangled in a murder investigation while on holiday. The story takes a dark turn during a celebratory theatrical party, when a bottle of champagne is rigged to cause a deadly accident. What starts as an evening of joy and laughter for the theater troupe ends in tragedy when one of their own is...

Ng'ombwana is a (fictional) African nation to have emerged in the wake of colonialism; as it happens, its President is Inspector Alleyn's old school chum, the "Boomer."

London's chattering about a new playhouse and spreading theater gossip until a murder takes center-stage.

In Overture to Death, Ngaio Marsh crafts a classic English village mystery, rich with intrigue, jealousy, and drama. The story centers around a small-town amateur theatrical performance where a seemingly innocent piano rehearsal becomes the setting for a sinister murder. During the play's preparations, tensions run high among the townspeople, particularly between two competitive and meddling middle-aged women, who are vying for attention and control...

"For one unlucky Member of Parliament, a simple visit to the hospital (the 'nursing home' of the title) proves fatal. But as Inspector Alleyn will discover, any number of people had reason to help the gentleman to his just reward, including the sour surgeon, his besotted nurse, a resentful wife, and a cabinet full of political rivals."--P. [4] of cover.

It's 1972, and while Elton John and Alice Cooper may be topping the charts, Inspector Alleyn s latest case is set in that most gloriously retro environment: The country-house party. A Christmas party, as it happens, where Agatha Troy is enjoying the local holiday pageant and also painting the host's portrait. The painting's coming along fine, but the pageant goes a little pear-shaped when one of the players disappears. Could one of the party's eccentric...