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'Her detective novels are hilarious - less about detecting than delighting, with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase . . . Nancy Spain was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal' Sandi Toksvig Miriam Birdseye is daring, brilliant - and a long way from The Ivy. Our dashing heroine, a famous revue artist, takes to the slopes with her coterie of admirers. Champagne flows and wherever Miriam goes she leaves a trail of gossip in her wake. Fellow show more ski-resort guests include the celebrated Russian ex-ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina, whose beauty is matched only by her languor, Natasha's burly husband, nightclub owner Johnny DuVivien, and the wealthy Flahertés, a family who have made their money importing scents: handsome playboy Barney, his wife Regan, their two obnoxious children and the governess, Rosalie. Unbeknownst to Regan, Barney's mistress, a film star, is also there with her husband. When secrets start to unravel, tensions rise, and soon amateur sleuths Miriam and Natasha have not one but two murders to solve. In the hands of Nancy Spain, for whom farce and humour are a lot more fun than a conventional detective novel, the result is a deliciously wild ride. 'An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain foreign: in her world an inspired craziness rules . . . Her wit, her zest, her outrageousness, and the colloquial stylishness of her writing are quite her own' Elizabeth Bowen show lessTags
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Member Reviews
'Death Goes On Skis' finds our dotty detective duo in Schizo-Frenia taking a ski holiday. Natasha and Miriam Birdseye together with a remarkable collection of misfits gather in the 'Water Station' Hotel in Katslochen for their holiday. Their enjoyment is quickly curtailed when one of the guests falls (or is pushed) from a window of the hotel. This is at first deemed an accident until a second death is discovered. As with most of this series,it is the odd characters rather than the crimes that interest the reader. It has to be admitted that in some cases,annoy rather that interest is the operative word.
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Author Information
22+ Works 324 Members
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Virago Modern Classics (718)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Death Goes on Skis
- Original publication date
- 1949
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 64
- Popularity
- 485,960
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.35)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 2
