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tarshka's review against another edition
1.0
I do not care about Roderick Alleyn's family and the more they are in a book, the more boring I usually find it. Alleyn himself is already a bit unbearable "perfect".
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
3.0
It's rather hard to give a Ngaio Marsh a middling (much less a low) rating; this was overwrought, racist, sexist, fat-shaming twaddle ... but it was very well-written twaddle. The family bits - even, remarkably, the bits about Alleyn's son Ricky - were lovely; character bits in general were lovely. Which is surprising to me because generally the appearance on the scene of a little boy with quite a bit of dialogue is going to be a death knell for a book - especially an audiobook. But Nadia May's narration is terrific, even including the kid. Descriptions are very good. The whole kidnapping plot and its resolution was realistic and excellently done. But the whole cult thing was strongly reminiscent of "Death in Ecstasy" - which is funny, because Alleyn's thoughts even reference the events of that book a couple of times. I haven't read it in years, but I still kept thinking "But didn't she already do this?"
Also, the thought of that little goat figurine is disturbing, luminescing away in the chubby clutch of a little boy, probably painted with radioluminescent paint which will kill Ricky eventually ...
And wow, does Ngaio Marsh come off as hating fat people and spinsters. Since I happen to be both, I'm not over-fond of this book.
Also, the thought of that little goat figurine is disturbing, luminescing away in the chubby clutch of a little boy, probably painted with radioluminescent paint which will kill Ricky eventually ...
And wow, does Ngaio Marsh come off as hating fat people and spinsters. Since I happen to be both, I'm not over-fond of this book.
dmhayden76's review
It felt disjointed & I had a hard time getting into the story.
crazygoangirl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
This is my first Inspector Allen book by Ngaio Marsh. In fact it’s my first Ngaio Marsh! I’ve watched a couple of Inspector Alleyn episodes but never read any of the books. I’m not sure this was the best place to start since it’s book #17 in the series but I didn’t feel like I was missing out on a lot of context.
Alleyn, wife Troy (wonder if Marsh named her Agatha after a certain Dame!) and son Ricky travel to the tiny village of Roqueville, France, motivated in part by letters from P.E. Barbel, a distant cousin of Agatha’s and in part for an undercover assignment that Alleyn accepts in conjunction with the French Surete. The plan to mix business with pleasure goes wrong right from the start when the family helps a fellow traveler who falls seriously ill from a ruptured appendix on the train taking them to Roqueville! They take her to the Château de la Chèvre d’Argent and things develop from there.
The writing is atmospheric and sinister and gave me Pale Horse vibes. Not much happens initially as Marsh sets the scene with very unlikeable characters! She implies a lot of background but reveals relevant bits of information only through Alleyn’s conversations with Monsieur DuPont, his Surete contact. Even Troy and Ricky got on my nerves at times - especially ‘precocious’ Ricky 😆 There’s no mystery as such. The criminals are known to us and to Alleyn from the start and it’s a matter of finding proof to apprehend them. There was however a neat twist that was cleverly done and I enjoyed Raoul, the chauffeur’s character very much!
I’m not sure if I should read this series from the beginning. Even if I decide to, it won’t be anytime soon. I would rather re-read Christie ♥️
Alleyn, wife Troy (wonder if Marsh named her Agatha after a certain Dame!) and son Ricky travel to the tiny village of Roqueville, France, motivated in part by letters from P.E. Barbel, a distant cousin of Agatha’s and in part for an undercover assignment that Alleyn accepts in conjunction with the French Surete. The plan to mix business with pleasure goes wrong right from the start when the family helps a fellow traveler who falls seriously ill from a ruptured appendix on the train taking them to Roqueville! They take her to the Château de la Chèvre d’Argent and things develop from there.
The writing is atmospheric and sinister and gave me Pale Horse vibes. Not much happens initially as Marsh sets the scene with very unlikeable characters! She implies a lot of background but reveals relevant bits of information only through Alleyn’s conversations with Monsieur DuPont, his Surete contact. Even Troy and Ricky got on my nerves at times - especially ‘precocious’ Ricky 😆 There’s no mystery as such. The criminals are known to us and to Alleyn from the start and it’s a matter of finding proof to apprehend them. There was however a neat twist that was cleverly done and I enjoyed Raoul, the chauffeur’s character very much!
I’m not sure if I should read this series from the beginning. Even if I decide to, it won’t be anytime soon. I would rather re-read Christie ♥️
memphisholli's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
smcleish's review
2.0
Originally published on my blog here in October 1998.
Much though I think Ngaio Marsh writes better when she goes beyond the standard situations of the crime genre, Spinsters in Jeopardy doesn't really work. It is a thriller rather than a detective story; the identities of the bad guys are known from the start and it is just a matter of accumulating evidence, which is done by infiltrating their headquarters - a medieval castle now the home of an exotic cult which is a cover for a drugs cartel - and catching them in their vile activities. In fact, she has exchanged the conventional gestures of [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg] for those of second-rate thirties thrillers, and she should really have left them alone.
Aside from this, Spinsters in Jeopardy has a distinctly stereotypical view of the French character, which reminds one of more chauvinistic writes such as Christie, and it also suffers by reusing several elements from earlier - and superior - Marsh novel about a conman running a cult as a front for drug smuggling ([b:Death in Ecstasy|835692|Death in Ecstasy|Ngaio Marsh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311984073s/835692.jpg|868812]).
All in all, this is one of her books that is perhaps best avoided.
Much though I think Ngaio Marsh writes better when she goes beyond the standard situations of the crime genre, Spinsters in Jeopardy doesn't really work. It is a thriller rather than a detective story; the identities of the bad guys are known from the start and it is just a matter of accumulating evidence, which is done by infiltrating their headquarters - a medieval castle now the home of an exotic cult which is a cover for a drugs cartel - and catching them in their vile activities. In fact, she has exchanged the conventional gestures of [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg] for those of second-rate thirties thrillers, and she should really have left them alone.
Aside from this, Spinsters in Jeopardy has a distinctly stereotypical view of the French character, which reminds one of more chauvinistic writes such as Christie, and it also suffers by reusing several elements from earlier - and superior - Marsh novel about a conman running a cult as a front for drug smuggling ([b:Death in Ecstasy|835692|Death in Ecstasy|Ngaio Marsh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311984073s/835692.jpg|868812]).
All in all, this is one of her books that is perhaps best avoided.
kpeninger's review
2.0
This is definitely Marsh's take on a thriller, and while it wasn't terrible, it isn't what I like about the Alleyn books. I probably won't be revisiting this one whenever I decide I want to read a random Alleyn.
plainbob's review
4.0
The Rites of the Sun section at the end is a little silly, but there is some great Troy and Ricky stuff before getting there.
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