Last ditch

Format:

Book

Title:

Last ditch

Author:

Marsh, Ngaio, 1895-1982 author

ISBN:

9781631940521

Edition:

Felony & Mayhem edition.

Publication:

New York : Felony & Mayhem Press, [2016]

Physical Description:

256, 6 pages ; 20 cm

Series title(s):

Roderick Alleyn ;

Felony & Mayhem mystery.

Number in series:

#29.

Summary:

Roderick Alleyn's son Ricky Alleyn is now 21, and has taken himself off to a secluded island to write a novel. Or think about writing a novel. Or look for distractions so he can avoid writing a novel. The distractions abound, mostly in the form of colorful local characters, until Ricky stumbles across a murder and then gets himself kidnapped. Which is too bad for Ricky (and the murder-victim), but it brings Inspector Alleyn to the island. A subtheme involving drug-running may strike a jarring note, but Last Ditch was first published in 1977, and as such, it offers a remarkable look at what happens when the characters and conventions of the Golden Age fetch up in the distinctly tarnished present.

Subject(s):

Alleyn, Roderick (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Police -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Fiction.

Mystery fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	MYSTERY Marsh, N.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Astonishingly, this "Inspector Alleyn" mystery was written in 1977, and Inspector Alleyn has a 21 year old son who gets into trouble in the Channel Islands, necessitating the arrival of Roderick Alleyn himself to sort out the colorful locals and solve the mystery.

Author Notes

Ngaio Marsh was born on April 23, 1895 in Christchurch, New Zealand. She attended St. Mary's College and Canterbury University.

She worked in the theater acting, producing, and even painting scenery. She was a partner in an interior decorating business in England from 1928 to 1932. She later returned to New Zealand and produced plays for a Shakespearean repertory company. She also worked with the Drama Department of Canterbury University. During World War II, she served in the New Zealand Red Cross Transport Unit. She traveled to England frequently and founded the British Commonwealth Theatre Company in 1949.

Her first novel, A Man Lay Dead, was published in 1934. She wrote more than 40 books including the Roderick Alleyn Mysteries series and Black Beech and Honeydew. She also wrote theatrical and television plays. She was named to the Order of the British Empire in 1949 and was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. The Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in 1977.

She died on February 18, 1982 at the age of 82.

(Bowker Author Biography)