The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh (1969)
Contains essays on Alleyn and Troy as well as the short stories “Death on the Air”, “I Can Find My Way Out”, “The Little Copplestone Mystery”, “The Hand in the Sand”, “The Cupid Mirror”, “A Fool About Money”, “Morepork”, and a telescript of “Evil Liver”.
I prefer her novels, but overall I liked it.
The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1929)
A weekend house party in the country turns into a trap and the guests are held hostage by a gang of criminals.
Suspenseful, good pacing, clever plotting – I really liked it.
Dear Writer by Maggie Smith (2025)
Advice mainly geared toward poets, but lots of value for any writer.
Maggie Smith has a friendly, easygoing and encouraging way of writing that makes you feel not only that you could write, but that you should.
Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh (1945)
The body of Florence Rubrick, a brash politician in wartime New Zealand, is found stuffed in a bale of wool sent for processing by the sheep farm she shares with a bunch of dubious characters. Alleyn, in New Zealand on official spy-hunting business, is brought in to investigate.
Enjoyable.
The Little Nugget by PG Wodehouse (1913)
The rich, estranged parents of a horrible child, nicknamed The Little Nugget, are engaged in an ongoing war over the boy, with each side using spies and kidnappers to steal him away from the other.
Not quite as joke-packed as many Wodehouses, but there are still many very funny passages.
Your To-Die-For Life by Karen Salmansohn (2025)
Essentially memento mori and therefore live accordingly, but it has lots of good advice and was a quick, pleasant read.
