Not her best with an attempt to get "with it" for a 50's audience (originally published 1954) - black magic and the drug trade sounding a little hokey to more modern ears; however it's an amusing read for fans of Roderick Alley and his gorgeous painter wife Troy and the landscape of the Mediterranean coast of France is rather nicely evoked. ( )

Inspector Roderick Alleyn glimpses from a train the shocking scene of a murder in progress. Thus begins his exploration of the Chateau of the Silver Goat, where death threatens a spinster—and even Alleyn’s own son.

I honestly don't know who in the era managed to annoy Ngaio Marsh with their magick but this book is in response to it. I have my sneaking suspicion that it was Crowley. There's a polemic against magick and such superstition in this modern era and the most appaling mishmash of magickal types. The villans are painted very black with no redeming features and the good guys very very good. Even nastier practices are hinted at but not actually comitted.

A good read but very, very biased. ( )