A review by elothwen
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

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.