Photo Finish (1980)

The next-to-last and last in the Inspector Alleyn series. They were….alright. Quite honestly, they made me glad that there were no more because Alleyn didn’t have the charm and interest which makes the earlier books so readable. Black as He’s Painted and Last Ditch were much better. ( )

This was one of Ngaio Marsh's last mysteries and is one of her most atmospheric as Alleyn and Troy are whisked off to an island in the South Island of New Zealand, so that Troy can paint a famous Italian soprano. The descriptions of New Zealand show Marsh's love for her home and numerous touches make this rather formulaic mystery about a diva opera star a beautiful way to visit New Zealand. In terms of the mystery, the main character has a tabloid photographer taking awful pictures of her and sending them and Alleyn's brought in to try and investigate, which he'd rather not do. Everything ends up complicated with a grand storm and an awful opera, but the strings all come together. I would recommend this to lovers of cozy mysteries such as Sayers or Christie and those who know New Zealand. ( )

La Somita, an American Italian opera singer is in New Zealand on part of a world tour. She has been followed down under by a “pap” photographer who has made a name taking very unflattering photos of her. Inspector Alleyn and his wife are invited down to NZ to stay, Alleyn to investigate who the pap is and Troy to paint the singer.
Meanwhile, La Somita has taken a fancy to a young composer who has written an opera for her, which turns out to be appalling and never to be repeated. Soon after the first and only performance, La Somita is found dead with a stiletto knife through her heart and an unflattering photo pinned to her chest.

It’s therefore Alleyn’s job to investigate the different strands (whilst having no jurisdiction and being stuck on a small island off the coast during a storm)

The narration is good, with the different nationalities being represented well. The story isn’t dated (I think it was written in the 70s but could be wrong), with the issues of fame and blood feuds being (almost) as relevant today as ever. There are plenty of suspects and suspicious motives, and for once it took me ages to work out the “whodunit”.

I had no idea this was 31st in a series. As there is no reference to previous events, or indeed, character development, this doesn't hinder reading this as a standalone. I wasn't sure what era this was set in which is slightly confusing.

A grand opera diva invites the detective and his wife (a famous artist) to her holiday challet in NZ. The detective is encouraged to go by his boss, on the grounds that drug smuggling is though to happen within the diva's entourage. However it turns out that the diva gets murdered, and all thought of drug smuggling are forgotten. Fortunetly for the author they'd constructed a giant storm on the surrounding lake, timed just to trap only a select handful of guests, so the detective doesn't have that many suspects to work with.

It all seemed a little bit contrived to me, and also somewhat obvious, but after 31 books I'm sure there opportunities for orginality must be somewhat stretched. It was enjoyable enough read for fans of 'classic' detective fiction, and I'm probably intrigued enough to hunt out the beginning of the series. ( )

First Ngaio Marsh I have read. Very enjoyable. Rather a 'set piece' on an island cut off from the wider world by weather, but none the less enjoyable for that. I agree with those who feel that Mrs Alleyne doesn't contribute much. Looking forward to reading more of Dame Ngaio's work. ( )