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emziesreads's review against another edition
mysterious
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
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
2.0
Colour Scheme (1943) is one of the smaller number of detective novels that Ngaio Marsh set in her home country, New Zealand. Most of her books, which feature Roderick Alleyn as her detective, are set in England. But a few, including Colour Scheme and Died in the Wool, take Inspector Alleyn away from his accustomed haunts.
This one is set during WW II at a small, privately owned health spa located on the coast of New Zealand's North Island. The spa features warm to hot mud and steam baths. Unfortunately, one of the members of the little community winds up taking a plunge in the more unhealthy boiling mud pools (in an area normally marked clearly by red flags). Was it an accident as it appears or did someone help Maurice Questing to his final mud bath? Unpleasant as the fellow was, it is a horrible death and, naturally, the local police must investigate. There are rumors of espionage, the raiding of ancient Maori burial grounds, underhanded dealings to take over the spa--possibly involving blackmail (or a similar hold)...plenty of motives to go around. There are also rumors that London's Chief Inspector Alleyn is in the neighborhood and taking an interest in spy activity.
I am, generally speaking, a huge fan of Ngaio Marsh and her Inspector Alleyn novels. However, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this one. There is a very long lead up to the murder. There is an even longer lead up to the appearance of Alleyn. There isn't a whole lot of real investigation on the part of Alleyn. Questing is a very unlikeable character and, while, his death is horrible, I didn't have the usual enthusiasm to have his murderer caught....until the final motive was revealed, that is. I did enjoy reading about the Maori culture and it is obvious that this is Marsh's home ground when she writes of New Zealand and its inhabitants. It just isn't a true Alleyn book. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if he had been left out of it and she'd given us a straight mystery novel with home-grown detectives only. Redeeming characteristics: descriptions of Maori culture and New Zealand and the characters of Dikon Bell and Barbara Claire. The mystery itself isn't very difficult. I caught on to one of the major clues fairly early. But, again, handled as a straight-forward New Zealand mystery without Alleyn (or more to the point...his obvious absence from most of the book when you keep expecting him to appear) would have made the mystery far more engaging. Two stars out of five
This one is set during WW II at a small, privately owned health spa located on the coast of New Zealand's North Island. The spa features warm to hot mud and steam baths. Unfortunately, one of the members of the little community winds up taking a plunge in the more unhealthy boiling mud pools (in an area normally marked clearly by red flags). Was it an accident as it appears or did someone help Maurice Questing to his final mud bath? Unpleasant as the fellow was, it is a horrible death and, naturally, the local police must investigate. There are rumors of espionage, the raiding of ancient Maori burial grounds, underhanded dealings to take over the spa--possibly involving blackmail (or a similar hold)...plenty of motives to go around. There are also rumors that London's Chief Inspector Alleyn is in the neighborhood and taking an interest in spy activity.
I am, generally speaking, a huge fan of Ngaio Marsh and her Inspector Alleyn novels. However, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this one. There is a very long lead up to the murder. There is an even longer lead up to the appearance of Alleyn. There isn't a whole lot of real investigation on the part of Alleyn. Questing is a very unlikeable character and, while, his death is horrible, I didn't have the usual enthusiasm to have his murderer caught....until the final motive was revealed, that is. I did enjoy reading about the Maori culture and it is obvious that this is Marsh's home ground when she writes of New Zealand and its inhabitants. It just isn't a true Alleyn book. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if he had been left out of it and she'd given us a straight mystery novel with home-grown detectives only. Redeeming characteristics: descriptions of Maori culture and New Zealand and the characters of Dikon Bell and Barbara Claire. The mystery itself isn't very difficult. I caught on to one of the major clues fairly early. But, again, handled as a straight-forward New Zealand mystery without Alleyn (or more to the point...his obvious absence from most of the book when you keep expecting him to appear) would have made the mystery far more engaging. Two stars out of five
missn80's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I enjoyed this one the most, so far!
georgefrogbooks's review
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
dimins's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
In a nutshell, this one was spectacularly <i>okay</i>. Ngaio Marsh clearly pays a lot of attention to the cast of characters maybe even more than the mystery, but it still made for an entertaining story. There were a few great twists at the end. What was particularly intriguing to me in this story is the interface between the Maoi people with the English migrants, and how they interacted with each other. I don’t think I’ve read a novel based in New Zealand before, much less in the WW2 era.
The setting is an English health resort run by the comically dysfunctional Claire family. The father, Colonel Claire, is beset by a slimy money-grabber, appropriately named Questing, who is slowly taking possession over the property. In an attempt to boost the resort’s business, Questing invites famous actor Geoffrey Gaunt, his secretary Dikon Bell, and his dresser to receive treatment from the resort’s famous mud spas for his bad leg. The Claire family is on friendly terms with the Maoi people, on whose lands the health resort is situated. Their maid Huai is a granddaughter of the chieftain Rua. Huai is courted by half-Maoi loiterer Eru Saul as well as general employee Herbert Smith, who is a particular friend of Simon, the son of Colonel Claire. Col Claire’s brother in law, Dr James Ackrington, is a cantankerous long-time resident of the resort, and he is followed by a guest of the resort, Septimus Falls. Questing steps on all the wrong toes and most people have a motive to kill him when he eventually winds up in a pit of boiling mud.
I mean, you can kinda tell from the above that this story is very much character-driven. In fact, the mystery doesn’t even start proper until about halfway through the book. In the meantime, we learn everything about the dynamics between all the above characters and how things lead up to the actual murder. The tone of the book is always kept rather light-hearted so despite the huge cast of characters, things never feel too dense to handle.
The most interesting character to me is probably Rua, and what we learn about him and his tribe. He is said to have been a journalist and an MP, but in his old age he has returned to govern his tribe. Unlike many novels where we see white characters being incredibly racist and intolerant to other cultures and practices, this novel seems to present a fairly tolerant and harmonious relationship between the white and Maoi characters, at least as much as can be expected for something written in the WW2 era. We also get references about Maois enlisting for the war effort against Germany too, and just a tiny glimpse about the whole politics behind that. There is even a Maoi concert held to which the Claires and their guests are invited, and during which important plot events happen. When the white characters are caught by surprise by Maoi practices that they aren’t used to, they don’t usually fall back on racist comments or insults. So if anything, this book has just made me even more curious about what the whole climate is like back then between the Maoi and the European migrants to New Zealand. I would be hesitant to call a book written in the early 1940s as progressive, but the treatment of Maoi tribes, folklore, and characters was generally a breath of fresh air in this one, and if anything I’d remember this book for this point especially.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
madreadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book to be very colonial in view, and it felt like not much happened until the end of the novel - it took a while to get going. Hence my lower rating. Might try a different Ngaio Marsh at a later date as she is a well respected and beloved crime writer for a reason.
12grace4's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
readmore's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
my_potato_farm's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, this one's remarkably well done.
Don't let it be your first N. Marsh mystery, though. It will be more fun if you've read a couple of others first.
Don't let it be your first N. Marsh mystery, though. It will be more fun if you've read a couple of others first.
barbarahowe's review
2.0
This murder mystery/WWII spy story is not one of Marsh's best. Set in a New Zealand thermal spa run by transplanted Brits, it's more character study--with some really unappealing characters--than satisfying mystery. Roderick Alleyn shows up very late, and without his wife, Troy, or his British police sidekick, Fox, to give the story a little sparkle, he has no discernible personality. The descriptions of the New Zealand landscape were terrific, but offset by some rather obvious race and class snobbery--authentic for the time, I'm sure, but not very appealing now.