Scales of Justice (1955)

Read my review at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog! ( )

A strange outing for Marsh. From comments made by various characters one can tell that the author herself knows that she is writing about a world which, if it ever existed, is now nearly gone. She has various characters mount assaults on the dying status quo and yet in the end allows it to triumph without ever putting up a cogent defense. The final defense of the status quo is that its greatest attacker is a bad person.
The murder itself is, for Marsh, excessively grisly although one only learns of that in dribs and drabs. If it were not for the many character distractions and for Alleyn unwillingness to act as a police officer rather than a 'gent' the murder would be blatantly obvious and the case would have been rolled up in a matter of hours. ( )

Inspector Alleyn of New Scotland Yard is called to the village of Swevenings by his old family friend, Lady Lacklander. Colonel Cartarette's body lies sprawled beside the river Chyne; beside him is the giant trout he has been trying to catch for years. It will take some careful fishing to catch the killer.
A good series - I like Marsh's murder mysteries better than Agatha Christie's. ( )