A review by 1mpossiblealice
Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

2.25

Not my favourite Marsh by a long way. There's loads of the book before anyone even dies - which sometimes is fine, but in this instance it was clear who was going to be killed and that person just became more irritating and I kept wanting him to be killed just so I wouldn't have to read about him anymore. The characters mostly feel believable but almost all of them were annoying. The young female character just seems to be there for some odious men to flirt with/assault and not much else. And there's very little Alleyn in this book, and none of his friends etc like Nigel or Fox or Troy, who are some of my favourites. 
However - the setting is original and interesting. The book features Maori characters and while the way they are presented can seem patronising at times to a modern reader, for the time of writing she's way more inclusive etc than most other writers - there are a few Maori characters, they have names and distinct personalities and feel like a proper part of the story. She also mentions the fact that Maoris fought for the British in WW2 (this book is set during WW2) which I didn't know, and the historical context was good. She also does create very good characters, they feel like real people, just mostly quite annoying real people! 
So this isn't going to put me off the series, but it's not one of my favourites.