Photo Finish

Summary: A New Zealand trip for Alleyn and Troy goes sideways when Isabella Sommita, a soprano and diva is murdered after she debuts a badly written opera composed by her latest love interest.

Troy has been invited to paint the portrait of famed soprano Isabella Sommita by her Aristotle Onassis-like friend, Montague Reece. It appears to have all the trappings of a romantic getaway for her and Alleyn. She has been invited to Reece’s Waihoe Lodge on a remote lake in New Zealand. Alleyn has been invited separately to “consult” on dealing with a particularly annoying member of the paparazzi, calling himself “Strix” who has managed to insinuate himself into a variety of situations where he has taken the most unflattering pictures of show more The Sommita. Alleyn is reluctant to go, given the penchant they have for getting mixed up in murder cases together. The deal is sealed however by his superior, who thinks he ought to go because of a vague international drug connection that The Sommita is rumored to have some association with.

The setting and the Lodge are as stunningly beautiful as Troy and Alleyn imagine. Marsh, a native New Zealander, describes the scene so vividly I could see it in my mind’s eye, and a storm section later in the book so palpably that I felt I was hearing the wind and rain pelt the Lodge. Reece has set up a well-appointed studio for Troy to use for the portrait and they are treated as guests of honor. But she will never make more than preliminary sketches.

Isabella Sommita, like many of the stage figures in Marsh’s books is full of herself, in this case the definition of diva. She is barely tolerated by her entourage, the maid Maria, her manager Ben Ruby, and the rest of the household staff including the very proper housekeeper Mrs. Bacon and the officious secretary of Mr. Reece, Ned Hanley. She has taken under her wing (and into her bed) Rupert Bartholomew, a young composer who has written a mediocre work just for her, The Alien Corn, with The Sommita playing the title role of the biblical role, complete with a climactic song that allows her to hit her famous high notes. They will debut the piece at the Waihoe Lodge with a cast of supporting singers, a music critic and Signor Beppo Lattienzo, with whom The Sommita had trained.

It’s thought that the remote location was safe from the increasingly hostile photographic intrusions of “Strix” but an incident during rehearsals, another photograph taken, suggests “Strix” is in their midst, yet he cannot be found. As the performance approaches, Rupert Bartholomew, who will conduct, begins to realize what a mess he is. He is awakening both to the poor quality of his composition and how he is in thrall to The Sommita. He tries to back out but neither Reece nor The Sommita will hear of it.

The guests arrive as a storm is setting in. The production comes off, with The Sommita giving her all to a very poor piece. As everyone is applauded, Bartholomew summons the courage to apologize for his shoddy work. The Sommita is infuriated and storms off to her bedroom while Rupert faints. When The Sommita doesn’t appear, Reece covers for her and asks Maria to take her a warm drink. A scream follows. The Sommita is lying spread-eagle on her bed–dead. A stiletto has been driven into her heart (post-mortem as it turns out) with a photograph taken earlier in the day pinned to her.

The storm has risen and most of the guests, save the performers and a few special guests have just gotten out in time. The rest are stuck there and the lake is so turbulent that the police cannot come. So Alleyn reluctantly takes charge and does his best to secure the crime scene and to collect evidence while it is fresh with the assistance of Dr Carmichael, even though he has no authority other than Mr. Reece’s permission.

Was it “Strix”? Or Rupert, who had a key to the bedroom as her lover? Or someone else in the household? And does a book Alleyn found in the Lodge library describing a vendetta between two New York crime families in which a young woman dies under similar circumstances have anything to do with the case? By the time the authorities arrive, Alleyn has figured out who “Strix” is and is ready, with Inspector Hazelmere to resolve the case.

I have to admit that having read a number of Marsh’s works, this felt a bit formulaic to me–a stage personality, a remote house party, a performance with the death of a lead, an extreme weather event leaving Alleyn in charge. Even so, the final denouement had some twists that caught me by surprise. And I have to admit that I have always enjoyed the New Zealand settings the best. This work was the next to last published in her life, two years before she died, showing her still quite competent in re-mixing the standard devices into an engaging story. show less

Opera singer Isabella Sommita has been plagued by a tenacious paparazzi determined to get unflattering photos of her. A young man has attracted her notice for the opera he has composed especially for her. It's to be performed at a luxurious island location for celebrated guests including Troy Alleyn who will be painting Sommita’s portrait, and her husband police inspector Roderick Alleyn. Sommita performed well, although the opera is mediocre. Naturally, this being a mystery novel, there is a storm, phones are cut off and the single trip by the small launch is unable to take everyone off the island. When Sommita is found murdered Alleyn and the launch operator are able to communicate by morse code using the bright lighting with drapes show more open, and even by semaphore, surely the weirdest part of the story. In my experience a storm might take out electricity leaving phones in working order, but obviously things are different in New Zealand.

Marsh is often compared to Agatha Christie but for me she is not in the same league as Christie. There was a lot of repetition in this humdrum novel. It was dragged out so much that it cancelled out any suspense that might have been generated, despite ample red herrings. show less

Troy is used as an excuse to get Alleyn into the setting in New Zealand. I usually love the books with Troy in, but I loathe the New Zealand ones, and in this one Troy does very little other than stand around, she doesn't even get to do any painting. The plot is a little far-fetched and Alleyn is stymied by not having any real authority to act, and as soon as the NZ police turn up Marsh finishes the book in a rush, as if to get it over with.

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.

The penultimate Alleyn novel takes Marsh’s detective hero back to her native New Zealand. Once again a portrait commission for Alleyn’s wife Agatha Troy leads to her joining a house party, this time at a millionaire’s island retreat, and unusually Alleyn is included in the invitation. Whilst the case is interesting and the cast of characters varied Marsh doesn’t quite nail the tone with some reversion to a more 30s manner. Still it’s a good fun read.

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 show more as Sayers or Christie and those who know New Zealand. show less

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 show more 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. show less