Atmospheric…
A desperate theft in a wartime hospital, isolated at that point from the outside world, as the inspector finds himself amidst the action. An atmospheric tale and a perfect sense of time and place with deftly drawn characters, the mix between Marsh and Duffy often being hard to spot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of escapism and my time out from a hectic world. The story grabs you from the outset and pulls you in and the storytelling really made it worth reading. Characterisation was on point and I know I will be looking out for new publications from this author or similar reads in the future. A recommended read.

Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy
There has been a spate recently of much loved authors of the Golden Age of Crime being used as the model for a new book such as the novels by Sophie Hannah. I have only read one Inspector Alleyn novel and found it mind numbingly boring. It took over three quarters of the book for Inspector Alleyn to appear and the murder to occur! I did not therefore really hold out much hope for this novel. This book was begun by Marsh in the 1940s and left unfinished.
The story is set in New Zealand during World War 2 being set in a military hospital. The plot appears to be very full of characters and incidents but I did prefer it to my one other foray into the work of Ngaio Marsh. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review the book in return for an honest review.

Very good sequel, and nothing out of place. The ending is really quite impressively like Ngaio Marsh.

I became hooked on the original books, which my grandad had every one of! Along with Agatha Christine, Dame Ngaio was the queen of the upper crust mystery novel! They were a great escape for me as a kid - seeing how the other half lived back in the 20s and 30s.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is undertaking some secret squirrel work on NZ during the 2nd world war. He is currently within a rural hospital undercover. Set over one long, drearily wet night the story moves along at a brisk pace but with all the usual red herrings that you expect.

Theft of payroll money, spies, misguided romance and treacherous friends - what a fab read. Great mix of characters and the locations are stunning.

This is a good mystery puzzle, certainly in the style of Ngaio Marsh. I loved the atmospheric feel, the characters and the New Zealand setting. However, perhaps because I've been in love with the character of Roderick Alleyn for years, I don't think this quite caught the allure of the man. I also though that his inability to write to his wife was extremely not in character. Probably a better read for someone who has never read Ms Marsh's work.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for a review copy of Money in the Morgue, which Stella Duffy has created from Ngaio Marsh’s outline and notes.

It is 1940 and Chief Detective Roderick Alleyn is in New Zealand to investigate a potential spy ring at Mount Seager Hospital on the South Island. Unfortunately for him the night when his investigation should identify the culprits is more fraught than he could anticipate. A severe storm has cut off the hospital from the outside so he is left to investigate alone, not only a payroll theft but disappearing bodies and murder.

I quite enjoyed Money in the Morgue but I didn’t find it a compelling read. Pleasant is how I would describe it. It must be forty years since I read Ms Marsh’s novels so I feel as if I am coming to the series fresh rather than returning to an old friend. I don’t feel that the novel reads like a Golden Age novel despite the setting and era as it lacks the crispness of prose and simple directness of those novels. I was often fooled by the characters’ words and actions but I always knew where I was and what was happening. In this novel it is all a bit woollier, not only in characterisation but in Alleyn’s thinking and even in the caves and tunnels where much of the action occurs - I gave up trying to understand what led where.

Having said that I enjoyed the plot which is full of twists and turns finishing with a bang of the “I never saw that coming” variety. The motives of the characters are slowly teased out as the novel progresses and all the information is there for the smarter reader (that wouldn’t be me!) to reach the same conclusion as Alleyn. I think I got lost in the tunnels.

Money in the Morgue is a solid read.

I was very excited to read a new Ngaio Marsh novel as I loved her books
I found the book a bit slow with some exciting moments and some parts a bit slow.
I think it's hard to continue a book started by one of the Queens of Golden Age and, as a reader, I had high expectations.
The unusual setting and the claustrophobic atmosphere do not help but I can say I found the book entertaining and enjoyable.
The plot is full of twists and turns, with a great and unexpected solution.
I think it must be read with an open mind and without expecting the exact of copy of Ms Marsh style.
The general impression is that this could have been a great novella but it was turned in a novel.
It's recommended because it's entertaining even if not up to the usual Marsh standard.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Retro -setting locked door mystery - it's made for a long flight or a rainy bank holiday. Well written, with a wryly cheeked-tongue.

This is a classic golden age of crime style novel originally begun by Ngaio Marsh but written by Stella Duffy, featuring the British Chief of Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Here he is working undercover in counterespionage during WW2 in the remote New Zealand Canterbury Plains at the isolated Mount Seager hospital. It would be remiss of me not to mention that I have only read a couple of Marsh novels, and those when I was a child. I remember practically nothing, so I feel ill equipped to comment on how successfully Duffy resurrects Alleyn, what I can say is that I enjoyed reading this, judging it purely on its own merits. It is structured within the time frame of one long night where a series of events occur, that include the theft of payroll money from the hospital safe, strange goings on, bodies going missing, romantic entanglements and dalliances, the search for a traitor and murder.

Mr Glossop delivers the payroll cash to a number of remote locations in his ramshackle van, only to experience a flat tyre at the hospital, and forced to spend the night at the hospital run by the reliable and efficient Matron, who places the cash in the safe. Arriving at the hospital at long last is Sydney Brown, who turns up after number requests by his elderly grandfather who is on the cusp of dying. Father Sullivan is present to provide comfort to the dying man. There are numerous injured and maimed soldiers at the hospital including a trio who have recovered but are at the centre of a variety of high jinks and mayhem, Privates Maurice Sanders and Bob Pawcett, and Maori Corporal Cuthbert Brayling. Sarah Warne and Rosamund Farqharson, have returned to New Zealand after spending time in England, and Dr Luke Hughes is suffering harrowing PTSD after all he has seen in the war. Alleyn is forced to reveal who he is after it becomes clear money has been stolen. Aided by the helpful Sergeant Bix, Alleyn's night turns into a never ending nightmare with the storm damaging the bridge, making the river impassable, and where the phone lines are down.

Stella Duffy, who spent her childhood in New Zealand, has written a creditable historical mystery set in the tense and difficult times of war. I am not sure that fans of Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn will be satisfied with this, the resurrection of beloved authors and their characters, is a notoriously tricky affair. However, I am sure fans of the golden age of crime who do not come to the novel laden with huge expectations will enjoy this outing of Alleyn. There are a host of diverse characters, a wonderful sense of location amidst the mountains, and a desperately urgent inquiry headed by an Alleyn who proves to be remarkably adept at getting the truth from a number of stubborn and recalcitrant characters. A fun and entertaining historical crime read. Many thanks to HarperCollins.

I was excited to see this book appear as I've read and re-read all the Inspector Alleyn books many times over the last 30 years. I was pleased to read it but in many ways it was disappointing. The opening was strong, and the descriptions of New Zealand showed Marsh's love for the country; the setting in a WW2 hospital cut off during a storm was promising and the mystery was set up well.
But I certainly thought it was easy to see the join where Marsh left off and Duffy took over - Alleyn begins to weave Shakespearean quotes and references into his conversations, which mostly perplex those listening and come over as incredibly patronising - something Alleyn never was. The plot proceeds nicely but aspects felt ludicrous towards the end (hard to say more without spoilers).
So overall I was disappointed, though glad to revisit an old friend. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

‘Murder. It always came back to murder.’

As a massive fan of Golden Age crime, and having read all of Ngaio Marsh’s books a long time ago, it was with some trepidation that I approached this. Indeed, I have put off reading it until now. How can a modern writer possibly come up with the voice, the style, of Marsh and re-create her most famous character, Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn? So, I’m not going to compare, or point out the impossibility of the whole enterprise (ok, well I might).

There is quite a lot to like about the book, but I was never convinced by it all. The setting was a take on a locked room or isolated mansion mystery: a remote military and civilian hospital where a sudden storm brings down the telephone lines and makes the only road into the place, over a rickety bridge, impassable. We have a set of characters and multiple plot lines going on: there is the theft of a large amount of wage money; the death of one of the patients, and then one of the staff; bodies go missing; a secret mission for Allen to try to uncover a spy network passing on messages to the Japanese (this being wartime New Zealand); there are secret tunnels running everywhere…. To be honest, I felt that there was just too much going on. There is a map at the start of the book but frankly I just gave up trying to work out where people were running to and from. Everyone has a secret (of course) and in the course of one night Allen has to try to solve what has happened. The denouement, where all the characters converge on the morgue, is – frankly - farcical, I’m afraid. As I said, it is a very long time since I read Marsh but it just didn’t seem at all like the book she would have written.

That’s not to say it isn’t a bit of fun, and some of the characters are gloriously loopy, some of the humour raising a smile. I think, too, that Duffy does capture something of the character of Alleyn, and of the country and landscape of Marsh’s native New Zealand. It also, nicely, feels like a tribute to Ngaio Marsh herself, with Stella Duffy throwing in lots of Shakespearean references, and setting up a re-enactment of the events with Alleyn as ‘director – both a nod to Marsh’s primary passion for the theatre and directing.

So, hmm, a bit of a bumpy ride, I guess. I read it more as a tribute to Ngaio Marsh, not an attempt to ‘write’ as she did. I’m not sure how much of a plot outline had been left in her notes, but the various threads of the book all felt a little forced, if I’m honest – at least for me. And the ending was more Carry On than Golden Age. An interesting read, for sure, which ultimately raises questions about the re-imagining of a writer’s work and style. Maybe we should just let sleeping dogs lie?

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

I must confess that Ngaio Marsh is not my favourite classic crime writer, and that I have not previously read anything by Stella Duffy. However, it strikes me that in her realisation of this Roderick Alleyn novel from the few chapters and notes which Marsh left, Stella Duffy has made the best of a bad job.

The major conceit is as theatrical as one might expect- Alleyn has a Midsummer Night to solve a case which involves wartime espionage, murder and disappearances in the New Zealand countryside. This he does in the approved Marsh manner by conducting a lot of interviews and using a lot of intuitive knowledge.He also makes a number of somewhat tedious literary allusions, which few of those to whom they are addressed understand, and which make him look even more of the “stuck-up Pom” many of the characters take him to be, and which does not strike me as authentic.

Overall, I found this novel fairly unexciting and a tad predictable.It was easy to read, but rather dull.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Collins (Collins Crime Club), for the digital review copy.