I liked this story of murder in a family of no good-nicks. One thing that I thought was odd that set so close to the beginning of the war, no mention is made of it. ( )

Another Inspector Alleyn treat to devour. I truly love Marsh's detective series, and this book was one of the up ones (I think all long series have their up and down books), in large part due to the zany Lampreys. Why did they change the title? The Lampreys deserve to be headlining this novel, as they steal the scene from Alleyn numerous times, which is hard to do. They are silly but endearing, and their verbal interchanges are lively. They are both characters in themselves and also a composite character as a family unit. Robin plays the straight man to their wackiness, and I was pleased with her romantic outcome. As for the actual story? The murder was your typical cozy mystery, a bit on the gruesome side, the clues were dealt, Alleyn was marvelous, the red herrings abounded, and the solution made sense. Nothing to take away, and everything to gain from meeting the Lampreys. I highly recommend this installment in Marsh's classic mystery series. ( )

This book contains at its heart one of Marsh's best creations, the Lamprey family. Dotty, eccentric, lovable, they form the center of a locked room mystery--and distract the reader from the horror of the crime itself. They nearly distract the detectives as well, but as Marsh's Inspector Alleyn can always be relied upon to re-center himself, the distraction does not prove fatal and all of the clues are neatly laid out in the narrative itself. One of the characters even appears in a later book (Night at the Vulcan) and the quiet romance is dealt with deftly. Very well-plotted, very British, very enjoyable. ( )

This was the first Inspector Alleyn mystery that I read, and I enjoyed it a lot. It's basically a "locked room" mystery where all the action takes place in a London flat and the family members are the only suspects. I found the family very entertaining. I understand through other sources that the family may be based on the Micawbers from David Copperfield, but I found them very reminiscent of E. Nesbit's Bastables. ( )