I'm going through Marsh binges at the moment, but then, for me she is definitely comfort reading at this point. When I first discovered them, I gave myself space between (most of) the individual books, too.
The shortcomings fortunately only show up in a couple of books. In some of them, there is enough other stuff for the books to still be enjoyable on some level (e.g. "Singing in the Shrouds" and "Swing, Brother, Swing" / aka "A Wreath for Rivera"). And all told, there are only two books in the collection that are on the level of Christie's "The Big Four" -- "Death in Ecstasy" and "Spinsters in Jeopardy" -- and none, at least IMHO, on the level of "Passenger to Frankfurt".
But when she is good -- even when she isn't quite as good as in "Scales of Justice" -- she is *really* good.
Great review. It encourages me to read more Marsh. I think the willingness to confront the English th
flirtation with whst Marsh cslls 'the Nazi heresy' varied by class and political affiliation.
My father, working class and a trade union man, made sure I grew up well-versed in the taste the British Aristrocracy had for fascism, citing Baronet Mosley's British Union of Fascists and Viscount Rothermere's 'Hurrah For The Blackshirts" article in the Daiy Mail (which he owned). He also held the (not yet proven) view that Churchill would have cut a deal to preserve the Empire if America had not used Peal Harbour as an excuse to intervene in a European war.
One of the things I admired about this book was the way Marsh tackled the guilt of the aristocracy over their behaviour in the thirties. There are oblique references to the gentry not having the money to maintain their lifestyle any more, which was partly caused by having the Tories kicked out in 1948 and the aristocracy's wealth seized by inheritance tax, which always seemed to me to be an act of retribution for their betrayal.
I agree that "the Nazi heresy" held a particular attraction to the English upper class -- and from the Nazis' POV they were clearly the most worthwhile targets; not only because they were considered to be by far the easiest and most worthwhile fish to catch but also because the Nazis, in turn, had the petit-bourgeois' quintessential envy-cum-admiration for the fact that Britain actually still had such a thing as a "real" upper class to begin with, complete with that attitude of absolute superiority that is (and was even more, back then) drilled into them in places like Eton and Oxbridge.
I hadn't made the connection between the aristocracy's falling for the Nazi propaganda and the post-WWII inheritance tax laws -- I'd so far chiefly seen those as a piece of legislation in the spirit of "eveybody must do their bit to get the country back on its feet" (similar to the grounds currently urged, at least in Germany, for the (re)introduction of a wealth tax) -- but what with the election defeat (despite Churchill's leadership during WWII) I'm not exactly surprised about the "payback" idea, either.
Really good and informative review, it made me really curious to read the book. Given how it's part of a series, can I read this one right away or is there going to be a problem with continuity? And if that's the case, what other book do you suggest to start with?
(I had asked this same question a few days ago with my old account, so I'm trying again and hoping that the black magic-based algorithm keeping up the site doesn't do it again)
Thank you -- and I'll be interested what you make of it when you do read it. This was a buddy read, and though it's from the middle of the series, I had suggested it because it's a very good book to start the series with even if you haven't read any of the other books yet (as in fact most of those participating in the buddy read hadn't).
That said, if you do want to read the series in order, I'd suggest starting with books 6 and 7 (or only book 7 "Death in a White Tie", which I like decidedly better than book 6, "Artists in Crime"). They're the two books where Alleyn meets his wife-to-be (Agatha Troy -- generally referred to as Troy, even after their marriage), and though there isn't much of a continuity / back story issue to most of the rest of the series, the Alleyn / Troy marriage is the one thing that does evolve "in the background" of the subsequent books, so there will be occasional references to earlier books as the series progresses, which are of course less obviously clear to anybody who hasn't read those earlier books. (Also, there are occasional instances of "mini-series within the series" with a later book referring back to one specific earlier book, where in theory the same thought applies.) But there are still plenty of books that can be read completely out of order, and FWIW, I happened to read the very last book first and was instantly drawn into the series by that one, so make of that what you will! :)
(For completion's sake, Marsh was still very much finding her form in the first 4 books, so they're not the most compelling calling card -- particularly not book 4, "Death in Ecstasy" -- and book 5 ("Vintage Murder"), though OK on its own terms, is not the best book to start with because Alleyn is not on his own terrain there but happens to be in New Zealand, Marsh's own home country, so it's a bit of an unusual setting for him, even if he does return to NZ several more times throughout the series.)
Thank you for the explanation. Since there are no problems with it I'll start with this one, your review really sold me on it, and when I'll pick up another one I'll choose by following your suggestions.
I hope you'll enjoy it! Btw, this was part of a series of weekend buddy reads that some of us have been embarking on in recent weeks (including Moonlight Reader, BrokenTune and Mike Finn, who commented on this review). Feel free to join us! Our next book, starting tomorrow, is going to be Charles Portis's "True Grit".
But, basically, this is a "no rules, no pack drill" kind of thing. Since it's a "forget the pandemic" series of buddy reads -- and since most of us gravitate in that direction anyway -- a lot of the books tend to be mysteries, Golden Age and otherwise, but really, anything goes as long as it manages to give us a collective good time and makes us forget the grim realities "out there" for a while. If you have a suggestion, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would welcome it!
No worries. Btw, it might be a good idea to comment somewhere else (e.g., on MR's above-linked post) to say you're in, just in case the others arent following discussions on this post any longer.
Gotta love Thomasina! :D
But when she is good -- even when she isn't quite as good as in "Scales of Justice" -- she is *really* good.
flirtation with whst Marsh cslls 'the Nazi heresy' varied by class and political affiliation.
My father, working class and a trade union man, made sure I grew up well-versed in the taste the British Aristrocracy had for fascism, citing Baronet Mosley's British Union of Fascists and Viscount Rothermere's 'Hurrah For The Blackshirts" article in the Daiy Mail (which he owned). He also held the (not yet proven) view that Churchill would have cut a deal to preserve the Empire if America had not used Peal Harbour as an excuse to intervene in a European war.
One of the things I admired about this book was the way Marsh tackled the guilt of the aristocracy over their behaviour in the thirties. There are oblique references to the gentry not having the money to maintain their lifestyle any more, which was partly caused by having the Tories kicked out in 1948 and the aristocracy's wealth seized by inheritance tax, which always seemed to me to be an act of retribution for their betrayal.
I hadn't made the connection between the aristocracy's falling for the Nazi propaganda and the post-WWII inheritance tax laws -- I'd so far chiefly seen those as a piece of legislation in the spirit of "eveybody must do their bit to get the country back on its feet" (similar to the grounds currently urged, at least in Germany, for the (re)introduction of a wealth tax) -- but what with the election defeat (despite Churchill's leadership during WWII) I'm not exactly surprised about the "payback" idea, either.
(I had asked this same question a few days ago with my old account, so I'm trying again and hoping that the black magic-based algorithm keeping up the site doesn't do it again)
That said, if you do want to read the series in order, I'd suggest starting with books 6 and 7 (or only book 7 "Death in a White Tie", which I like decidedly better than book 6, "Artists in Crime"). They're the two books where Alleyn meets his wife-to-be (Agatha Troy -- generally referred to as Troy, even after their marriage), and though there isn't much of a continuity / back story issue to most of the rest of the series, the Alleyn / Troy marriage is the one thing that does evolve "in the background" of the subsequent books, so there will be occasional references to earlier books as the series progresses, which are of course less obviously clear to anybody who hasn't read those earlier books. (Also, there are occasional instances of "mini-series within the series" with a later book referring back to one specific earlier book, where in theory the same thought applies.) But there are still plenty of books that can be read completely out of order, and FWIW, I happened to read the very last book first and was instantly drawn into the series by that one, so make of that what you will! :)
(For completion's sake, Marsh was still very much finding her form in the first 4 books, so they're not the most compelling calling card -- particularly not book 4, "Death in Ecstasy" -- and book 5 ("Vintage Murder"), though OK on its own terms, is not the best book to start with because Alleyn is not on his own terrain there but happens to be in New Zealand, Marsh's own home country, so it's a bit of an unusual setting for him, even if he does return to NZ several more times throughout the series.)
http://moonlightreader.booklikes.com/post/2217684/buddy-reading-the-pandemic-a-proposal-for-what-s-next
But, basically, this is a "no rules, no pack drill" kind of thing. Since it's a "forget the pandemic" series of buddy reads -- and since most of us gravitate in that direction anyway -- a lot of the books tend to be mysteries, Golden Age and otherwise, but really, anything goes as long as it manages to give us a collective good time and makes us forget the grim realities "out there" for a while. If you have a suggestion, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would welcome it!