A strangely mixed group gathers for a weekend at a country estate in England. Sir Hubert Handesley, the host, is known for his witty social games. This time, he proposes a death game, where one participant must play the murderer and another the victim. However, the game turns into a bitter reality... This marks the first case of Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a classic of detective literature.
Les enquêtes de Roderick Alleyn Séries
Cette série policière suit le brillant mais gentleman Inspecteur Roderick Alleyn alors qu'il démêle des mystères de meurtre complexes. Chaque affaire est méticuleusement conçue, mettant l'accent sur la psychologie des personnages et la déduction élégante. Les lecteurs se retrouveront captivés par des intrigues pleines de suspense se déroulant dans de charmants décors anglais. Elle offre la satisfaction classique des 'whodunits' pour les amateurs du genre.
Ordre de lecture recommandé
The crime was committed on stage at the theatre, when an unloaded gun fired a very real bullet; the victim was an actor clawing his way to stardom using blackmail instead of talent; the suspects included two unwilling girlfriends and several relieved blackmail victims. The stage was set for one of Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn's most baffling cases
Ngaio Marsh's bestselling and ingenious third novel remains one of the most popular pieces of crime fiction of all time.
Atterrés, les fidèles du temple de la Flamme Sacrée contemplent le corps inerte de Miss Cara Quayne. Que s'est-il passé ? Pourtant, la cérémonie avait bien commencé. Chacun des adeptes avait bu dans la coupe de vin sacré, avec l'espoir d'entrer enfin en extase... Mais qui sont donc ces gens ? Des mystiques drogués, les victimes d'une énorme mascarade ou des criminels diaboliques ? Autant de questions que se pose notre très élégant et séduisant inspecteur Roderick Alleyn.
A touring theatre company in New Zealand forms the basis of one of Marsh's most ambitious and innovative novels.
Un vrai crime d'artiste
- 345pages
- 13 heures de lecture
Dans ce roman policier, l'inspecteur Alleyn découvre le meurtrier parmi les passionnés d'art dans un manoir de campagne appartenant à une célèbre peintre. Cette charmante artiste organise des cours de peinture, où les participants sont parfois pris dans un enchevêtrement de sympathies, de vanités blessées et d'intrigues. La situation atteint son paroxysme avec le meurtre curieux d'un jeune modèle, suivi de celui de son amant. L'inspecteur Alleyn, héros favori de l'auteure, s'empare de l'affaire et parvient rapidement à naviguer dans cet environnement attrayant ainsi que dans les relations complexes entre tous les suspects, menant bientôt à une résolution surprenante de cette affaire inhabituelle.
Death in a White Tie
- 336pages
- 12 heures de lecture
Debutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim. But Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up. He had already planted his friend Lord Robert Gospell at the scene.
Overture to Death
- 248pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Who in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people, among them her fellow cast members from a troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others' lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman -- and may soon stage a repeat performance.
It's true, darts is nobody's idea of a low-risk amusement, yet it is rarely lethal. Tell that to the famous barrister who was enjoying a pint at the Plume of Feathers pub, and is now residing at the morgue. Inspector Roderick Alleyn has a growing hunch that the peculiar "accident" can be traced to an old legal case.
A Surfeit of Lampreys
- 304pages
- 11 heures de lecture
Ngaio Marsh's most popular novel begins when a young New Zealander's first contact with the English gentry is the body of Lord Wutherford - with a meat skewer through the eye...
Grands détectives: La mort en embuscade
- 382pages
- 14 heures de lecture
Réunir, dans le huis clos de son vieux manoir enneigé, sept personnes qui se détestent cordialement, tisser une subtile toile de rancoeurs inexprimées et de secrets morbides, Jonathan Royal trouve l'idée amusante. Mais lorsque sa mise en scène tourne au drame, il n'a de cesse que de faire arrêter le coupable. Il sait exactement lequel de ses invités a commis l'ignoble crime. Arrivé sur place, l'inspecteur Alleyn procède pourtant à la redistribution des rôles...
Zwei mysteriöse Fälle des Inspektors Alleyn. Die Handlung des Detektivromans spielt in der exotischen Umgebung Neuseelands während des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Eine grausame Mordtat in einem Maori-Reservat in der Nähe von Thermalquellen zieht Inspektor Roderick Alleyn an, der diesmal inkognito ermittelt und gleichzeitig nach einem feindlichen Agenten sucht. Der berühmte Kriminalbeamte von Scotland Yard lässt sich nicht von falschen Spuren täuschen und deckt sowohl den Mörder als auch den Landesverräter auf. Die Autorin, die nicht umsonst als die zweite Agatha Christie bezeichnet wird, fesselt mit einer spannenden Geschichte und einer brillanten Schilderung der maorischen Kultur.
Klasický detektivní román se odehrává během 2. světové války na Novém Zélandu, kam přijíždí anglický policejní inspektor spolupracovat na případu špionáže. Vrchní inspektor Alleyn přijíždí v roce 1943 na Nový Zéland, aby odhalil pachatele záhadné a brutální vraždy manželky majitele ovčí farmy a zároveň pomohl místní policii v pátrání po špionáži. Obou úkolů se jako obvykle zhostí s úspěchem a nakonec jen taktak unikne vražednému útoku na svou osobu. Vedle zdařilé zápletky vyniká tento detektivní román mistrným prokreslením charakterů, zachycením života na Novém Zélandu za 2. světové války a překrásnými popisy novozélandské horské přírody.
Penguin Crime: Final Curtain
- 256pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Troy Alleyn, Inspector Roderick Alleyn's beautiful young wife, is engaged to paint a portrait of Sir Henry Ancred, famed Shakespearean actor and family patriarch, but she senses all is not well in the dreary castle of Ancreton. When old Hnery is found dead after a suspicious dinner and an unfortunate family fracas, Troy enlists the impeccable aid of her husband to determine who among a cast of players would have a motive for murder -- and the theatrical gift to carry it out.
"Lord Pastern and Baggot (yes, that's one person) is a classic English eccentric, given to passionate, peculiar enthusiasms. His latest? Drumming in a jazz band. His rather stuffy wife is not amused, and even less so when her daughter falls hard for Carlos Rivera, the band's sleazy piano accordionist. Aside from the young woman, nobody likes Rivera very much, so there's a wealth of suspects when he is shot in the middle of a performance. Happily, Inspector Alleyn is in the audience, ready solve the murder, soothe Lord P & B, and generally get everyone back on beat. Who knew he was such a jazzbo?"--Back cover.
Detektivní román z londýnského divadelního prostředí. Vrchní inspektor Scotland Yardu Alleyn vyšetřuje také v tomto příběhu vraždu v divadle, a to při premiéře nově nastudované hry, přičemž během vyšetřování dochází k další smrti jednoho z vyšetřovaných. Pátrání, které hledámotiv činu v napjatých vztazích mezi herci, nalézá jej překvapivě v jiné sféře.
Spinsters In Jeopardy
- 246pages
- 9 heures de lecture
For Inspector Roderick Alleyn, the trip was to be official; for his family, a Mediterranean romp. But a plot torn from the pages of a gothic novel soon engulfed them all. Alleyn's son was kidnapped. A very wealthy spinster was murdered. And in an eerie chateau, carved out of the Riviera mountainside, Alleyn faced the ultimate jet-set cult.
Collection British L'heure du Crime - 19: L'empreinte de la justice
- 254pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Off with His Head
- 255pages
- 9 heures de lecture
“I didn’t reckon to be flustered “, said Carey, “but this flustered me, proper. Partly, no doubt, it was the way the Guiser was got up. Like a clown with the tunic thing pulled up. It’d have been over his head if—well, never mind. He didn’t paint his face but he had one of these masks. So he looked, if you can follow me, gentlemen, like a kind of doll that the head had come off of. There was the body, sort of doubled up, and there was the head, two feet away, grinning, which was right nasty...”
L’assassin aux fleurs
- 311pages
- 11 heures de lecture
Tous à bord pour un meurtre. Le Cape Farewell prend la mer, transportant un étrangleur en série qui s'exprime avec des fleurs et une petite chanson. Derrière, sur un quai londonien enveloppé de brouillard, repose sa dernière victime. À bord, l'inspecteur Roderick Alleyn travaille sous couverture pour l'identifier avant qu'il ne frappe à nouveau. Mais, avec un groupe de passagers névrosés, bombastiques, sournois et passionnés se querellant, combien de temps pourra-t-il maintenir l'enquête sur la bonne voie ?
Mary Bellamy, ageing darling of the London stage, holds a 50th-birthday party - a gala where she has assembled everyone who loves her and fears her power. Then someone uses a deadly insect spray on Mary instead of the azaleas. Superintendent Alleyn investigates.
La Mort en gants blancs
- 382pages
- 14 heures de lecture
Qui a participé au meurtre d'un gentleman de la campagne ? Une multitude de tensions règne dans la maison de campagne anglaise partagée par le retraité distingué Percival Pyke Period et l'avocat ennuyeux Harry Cartell. Jusqu'à ce qu'un d'eux, après une flamboyante chasse au trésor organisée par une douairière, soit retrouvé assassiné, face contre terre dans la boue d'un drain ouvert. Lequel des suspects de l'inspecteur Roderick Alleyn, liés par un ensemble complexe de relations, portait une paire de gants cruciale, désormais manquante, pour commettre cet acte odieux ?
Děj detektivního příběhu Ngaio Marshové se tentokrát odehrává na malém cornwallském ostrůvku v Lamanšském průlivu, kde pomůže ponoření do pramene vody malému prostoduchému chlapci, jenž má plné ruce bradavic. Celá vesnice založí na údajně léčivém prameni svou prosperitu, ale šarlatánství s tím spojené se nelíbí staré slečně Prideové, jež ostrov zdědila a chce vše vrátit do starých kolejí.Po svém příjezdu se však stává terčem nebezpečných útoků a nakonec dochází k záměně osob a k surové vraždě, kterou za přispění místní policie opět vyřeší schopný a elegantní superintendant ze Scotland Yardu Roderick Alleyn, bývalý žák a starý přítel slečny Prideové.
The discovery of a piece of authentic Shakespearean memorabilia leads to a murder at the recently reopened Dolphin theater and Inspector Alleyn investigates
10 18 grands détectives: Croisière mortelle
- 253pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Five Days Out of Time … that was how the ad had described the Zodiac cruise on the “weirdly misted” English river. The passengers were the usual, unusual lot: a couple of unpleasantly hygienic Americans, an aloof Ethiopian doctor, a snooping cleric with a wall-eye, an artist running away from her success… But they were not all what they seemed. For Inspector Alleyn knew that one of them was the faceless “Jampot”—the ruthless killer who could take on any personality, whose thumb was a deadly weapon. The problem was, which one ? Alleyn had five days to trap him, or the other passengers would pay with their lives—and one of those passengers was Alleyn’s wife!
Comme à Rome
- 286pages
- 11 heures de lecture
Death on a Guided Tour It was April in Rome, and gathered together in the church of San Tommaso in Pallario was the kind of varied group of people that can only meet on a tour. It included a superannuated jetsetter and her junkie nephew, a bad-tempered, ultra-British major, a boisterous Baron and Baroness, and an extremely reticent best-selling author. They were there under the aegis of one Sebastian Mailer, who had promised them a most unconventional tour—a claim no one later disputed, after encountering murder, blackmail and drug-running. Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, in Rome on a special mission, became involved in the case, and found it one of his most baffling—a case in which every suspect might equally well prove a victim… (Publisher’s description)
Tied Up in Tinsel
- 224pages
- 8 heures de lecture
When a much disliked visiting servant disappears without trace after playing Santa Claus, foul play is at once suspected - and suspicion falls on the guests. The very thought that such a respectable bunch would commit murder seems like a heresy.
The charismatic president of Ng'ombwana in Africa has enemies of every stripe--from ex-colonists to new rivals, from dispossessed businessmen to racist crackpots. But when a ceremonial spear deals death at the president's lavish embassy party in London, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn must decipher the victim's last utterance and expose the assassin.
Last Ditch
- 221pages
- 8 heures de lecture
The last ditch hidden behind a hedge, is a sheer drop, murderously deep—especially when someone stretches a wire across to trip a horse. The last to jump is a young stablehand, who is duly crushed beneath several stone of well-groomed mare. The last straw for Roderick Alleyn is when his young son Ricky becomes involved—right up to his considerably endangered neck...
A Grave Mistake
- 256pages
- 9 heures de lecture
A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday... A bit snobbish and a trifle high-strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact, she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second. And Inspector Roderick Alleyn, C.I.D., digging about Upper Quintern, may unearth still a third...deeply buried motive for murder.
Photo Finish
- 264pages
- 10 heures de lecture
The murder of a famous opera soprano finds Inspector Alleyn crawling around backstage in her life, interviewing agents, past lovers, servants, and others hoping to learn who dispatched La Sommita with her own stiletto.
The owner of the Dolphin Theatre is putting on a production of Macbeth, the play that always brings bad luck. One night, the claymore swings and the dummy's head is more than real. Luckily, Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn is in the audience.
Money in the Morgue
- 336pages
- 12 heures de lecture
Roderick Alleyn is back in this unique crime novel begun by Ngaio Marsh during the Second World War and now completed by Stella Duffy in a way that has delighted reviewers and critics alike.
Dans le même esprit
Died in the Wool / Final Curtain / Swing, Brother, Swing
- 768pages
- 27 heures de lecture
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime's first book, the fifth volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime's first book, the tenth volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
Night at the Vulcan
- 255pages
- 9 heures de lecture
It's more than opening night jitters. The leading man is found dead after the very first performance. Was it suicide or homicide? Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn takes center stage in the investigation of the unlucky actor's dramatic demise. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Death in a White Tie / Overture to Death / Death at the Bar
- 848pages
- 30 heures de lecture
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime's first book, the third volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime's first book, the seventh volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
Vintage Murder / Death in Ecstasy / Artists in Crime
- 752pages
- 27 heures de lecture
Celebrating 75 years since the debut of the Empress of Crime, this second volume of omnibus editions compiles the complete series of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries. Fans of detective fiction will appreciate the collection's depth, showcasing the evolution of the beloved character and the intricate plots that have captivated readers over decades.
Three Inspector Alleyn novels plus a bonus story "The Cupid mirror".
