Reviews

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

Only show reviews with written explanations

briesespieces's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 ✨. it’s always nice to read a book by a prolific author for the first time and end up liking how they write. i really enjoyed the mystery even though i found it a bit predictable but the twists and turns (minus the unnecessary ones) saved it. look forward to reading more from this series!

isobeltr's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

ncostell's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

elothwen's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This was a lot of fun. Marsh's characters are a lot snappier and wittier than Christie's, but her plot was very silly. Not a bad silly, but the Russian element was ridiculous (but again, not bad).

Spoiler

I was shocked by the gruesome violence with the pins under the nails. Not something you usually see in classic mystery novels. Also, Rankin taking Wilde's pants off in front of everybody? What was that about?

The inspector was alright (no one can be Poirot), but I'll miss Nigel as the protagonist. I will definitely read more of this series, though; it was exciting and quick.

meera01's review against another edition

Go to review page

relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This was only ok. It got better at the end but mostly because the mystery getting solved. But there were too many characters that were indistinguishable from each other and I did not care about the person who was murdered either.