A review by barbarahowe
Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

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.