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Roderick Alleyn #16
Night at the Vulcan
A London actor was dying for a star billing...
From the leading lady's liaison to the harassment of an aging juvenile lead-there's never a dull moment, darling, at the Vulcan Theatre. But vanity and hysterics, suspicion and superstition, brandy and jealousy, are upstaged by a death on opening night. Was it really suicide? Or a macabre encore to a long-ago murder in the same backstage room? Scotland Yard's cast of suspects for the final curtain.
From the leading lady's liaison to the harassment of an aging juvenile lead-there's never a dull moment, darling, at the Vulcan Theatre. But vanity and hysterics, suspicion and superstition, brandy and jealousy, are upstaged by a death on opening night. Was it really suicide? Or a macabre encore to a long-ago murder in the same backstage room? Scotland Yard's cast of suspects for the final curtain.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
About the author
Ngaio Marsh
187 books753 followersDame Ngaio Marsh, born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900, but she was born in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
August 23, 2024
Martyn Tarne is in need of help... make that a great need, just a couple of weeks in England arriving from her native New Zealand the poor, nineteen-year- old girl wants to be a star on the London stage, but first any job will do. Luck... she has none, all her money was stolen on the long, lonely ship voyage from home, the daughter of a sheep farmer with a small amount of acting experience. Get employment or sleep on the street...even in 1951 there are risks. However The Vulcan Theatre new play is about to have its Opening Night... the original title of this novel... Ngaio Marsh is if I may say so the Agatha Christie of New Zealand ( not a put- down) , with a background in the theatre , a fine mystery writer, while this is my first book I have read of hers but not the last. Truth be told I never heard of the lady... until a gift changed all this to my great benefit...Now back to the subject...Miss Tarne has a hidden friend in the cast a distant relative a third cousin to be precise, she has never met and wants to stay incognito if possible, but what a relative, the actor- manager and owner of the refurbished The Vulcan, Adrian Poole who doesn't know she exists. The playhouse has a bad reputation though, a murder occurred there not long ago, in fact five years previously not good . Embarrassed by the connection Martyn is very uncomfortable when found out, the lowly dresser to star Helen Hamilton and happy to get the job through a fluke, any thing would have done. The cast is at first suspicious and uneasy, noticing the strikingly family resemblance, is this girl trying to steal Gay Gainsford role, the niece of Clark Bennington a legendary fading thespian with a little drinking problem, imagine an actor who indulges, husband of the lovely Helen Hamilton the much loved actress in films. Jacques Dore is an indispensable but very ugly man from France, assistant to Mr. Poole... can do it all , make clothes, makeup, design the settings on the stage, everyone's favorite confidant. He dominates the story yet one of many suspects. Another person the author of the play Dr. John James Rutherford, is hated by the whole group with his constant vicious verbal attacks on the actors, not professional. After an unfortunate "accident," Inspector Roderick Alleyn of the famous Scotland Yard comes in to solve the mystery, mishap, suicide or murder ? Mr. Alleyn is puzzled, seemingly such a routine case nothing special observed or felt, ... of an ..
unhappy man ending his miserable life, evolves into something deeply sinister. This will test the brilliant inspector... is he up to the challenge ? A well written story about plays and how they are put together...with much difficulty, anxiety and conflict an old- fashioned mystery to some not I, by a writer that knew both quite thoroughly. Fine entertainment for the mystery fan.... and the theatre lover.
unhappy man ending his miserable life, evolves into something deeply sinister. This will test the brilliant inspector... is he up to the challenge ? A well written story about plays and how they are put together...with much difficulty, anxiety and conflict an old- fashioned mystery to some not I, by a writer that knew both quite thoroughly. Fine entertainment for the mystery fan.... and the theatre lover.
February 8, 2016
Dame Ngaio Marsh has pulled it off big-time in this one. This mystery which moves at breakneck pace takes place over a period of four days, during the rehearsals and opening night of the play "Thus to Revisit". The author draws her knowledge of the stage enormously, and we are presented with the spectacle of the stirring human drama, taking place backstage in the dressing rooms.
Martyn Tarne is a young girl, not quite out of teenage, on the lookout to make it on the London stage. She hopes to use her uncanny physical resemblance to Adam Poole, the leading man and the producer of the play in question, as there is a part which has exactly the same requirements. Unfortunately, however, she misses out on the casting but manages to land a job as the dresser to the leading lady, Helena Hamilton.
Once in, Martyn finds she has entered into a seething cauldron of human emotions. Poole is having an affair with Helena, who is married to Clark Bennington, an actor in the twilight of his career. Bennington is an alcoholic, partly due to the reason that he is being cuckolded - and he makes a life hell for all others involved with the play. The team has another unbearable character in the person of Dr John Rutherford, author of the play; he is harsh with everybody, especially with Gay Gainsford, Bennington's niece, who is the actress playing the part Martyn was hoping to get. J.G.Darcey, a character actor who is sweet on Gay, Parry Percival, another actor and Jacques Dore (Jacko), "general dogsbody to Poole" completes the cast of characters in this dressing room drama.
The setting is also not pleasant. Years before, an actor had been murdered at the Vulcan Theatre where the play is slated to open. It had been shutdown since then; recently Poole has purchased it, pooh-poohing the superstitious whispers. However, in the show business, superstition rarely goes away so easily.
The trouble starts when Martyn is given the job of understudy to Gay: it is not long before Dr John notices the resemblance to Poole and wants her to be given the role. However, Bennington would have none of it, and she is secretly relieved. But Gay goes to pieces and throws hysterics just before the start, and Martyn is forced to make her first stage appearance in inauspicious circumstances.
The play is a hit: however, just before the curtain call, Bennington commits suicide by inhaling gas exactly like the previous murder. The only problem is, Chief Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard knows it's murder...
***
This novel about a play is actually structured like a classic play: the setting is confined, the time frame compressed and the characters, limited. The action rises from the beginning up to the point of the murder, which is the first climax - then there is the resolution, ending with the second climax of the unmasking of the murderer. It is a very fast read.
Also, Dame Ngaio has succeeded in that particular sleight of hand where the readers are misdirected at the crucial moment from the actual clues. It is not as breathtaking as Agatha Christie does (IMO, at least) but pretty impressive all the same. And when you review it after the cat is out of the bag, it all holds up well.
Martyn Tarne is a young girl, not quite out of teenage, on the lookout to make it on the London stage. She hopes to use her uncanny physical resemblance to Adam Poole, the leading man and the producer of the play in question, as there is a part which has exactly the same requirements. Unfortunately, however, she misses out on the casting but manages to land a job as the dresser to the leading lady, Helena Hamilton.
Once in, Martyn finds she has entered into a seething cauldron of human emotions. Poole is having an affair with Helena, who is married to Clark Bennington, an actor in the twilight of his career. Bennington is an alcoholic, partly due to the reason that he is being cuckolded - and he makes a life hell for all others involved with the play. The team has another unbearable character in the person of Dr John Rutherford, author of the play; he is harsh with everybody, especially with Gay Gainsford, Bennington's niece, who is the actress playing the part Martyn was hoping to get. J.G.Darcey, a character actor who is sweet on Gay, Parry Percival, another actor and Jacques Dore (Jacko), "general dogsbody to Poole" completes the cast of characters in this dressing room drama.
The setting is also not pleasant. Years before, an actor had been murdered at the Vulcan Theatre where the play is slated to open. It had been shutdown since then; recently Poole has purchased it, pooh-poohing the superstitious whispers. However, in the show business, superstition rarely goes away so easily.
The trouble starts when Martyn is given the job of understudy to Gay: it is not long before Dr John notices the resemblance to Poole and wants her to be given the role. However, Bennington would have none of it, and she is secretly relieved. But Gay goes to pieces and throws hysterics just before the start, and Martyn is forced to make her first stage appearance in inauspicious circumstances.
The play is a hit: however, just before the curtain call, Bennington commits suicide by inhaling gas exactly like the previous murder. The only problem is, Chief Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard knows it's murder...
***
This novel about a play is actually structured like a classic play: the setting is confined, the time frame compressed and the characters, limited. The action rises from the beginning up to the point of the murder, which is the first climax - then there is the resolution, ending with the second climax of the unmasking of the murderer. It is a very fast read.
Also, Dame Ngaio has succeeded in that particular sleight of hand where the readers are misdirected at the crucial moment from the actual clues. It is not as breathtaking as Agatha Christie does (IMO, at least) but pretty impressive all the same. And when you review it after the cat is out of the bag, it all holds up well.
April 5, 2024
A couple of week ago I read a Roderick Alleyn mystery by Ngaio Marsh which I had not read before and didn't enjoy it at all. I used to read that series years ago and thought they were great. So I decided to try another one which I had read before to ascertain if Marsh just dropped the ball on that particular story. I guess my tastes have changed since I didn't like this one either.
The story is convoluted (not in a good way) and the characters just talk and talk and talk ad nauseum. The plot moves very slowly and I didn't like any of the character (even the ones that I assume the reader was supposed to like). It takes place in a theater on opening night and, of course, someone dies. DCI Alleyn and his underlings are called in even though the death looks like a suicide. With Allyn on the scene, we know it is murder. I will give the author credit for hiding the identity of the killer but by that time, I really didn't care.
I am a devoted fan of Golden Age mysteries but may have to strike Marsh off my list. How disappointing.
The story is convoluted (not in a good way) and the characters just talk and talk and talk ad nauseum. The plot moves very slowly and I didn't like any of the character (even the ones that I assume the reader was supposed to like). It takes place in a theater on opening night and, of course, someone dies. DCI Alleyn and his underlings are called in even though the death looks like a suicide. With Allyn on the scene, we know it is murder. I will give the author credit for hiding the identity of the killer but by that time, I really didn't care.
I am a devoted fan of Golden Age mysteries but may have to strike Marsh off my list. How disappointing.
June 20, 2019
This is my first read of a mystery written by Ngaio Marsh. The New Zealand author has a distinctive writing style, which I grew to like. She postpones the murder and its subsequent investigation until late in her narrative. Again, it works successfully. The setting for this
mystery is a theater and its colorful players, some of whom don't like each other. Lots of details about the occupation are included. All in all, I enjoyed my reading experience and would tackle another title by her.
mystery is a theater and its colorful players, some of whom don't like each other. Lots of details about the occupation are included. All in all, I enjoyed my reading experience and would tackle another title by her.
March 22, 2019
This is the sixteenth Inspector Alleyn book and was first published in 1951. This instalment in the series, shows Ngaio Marsh turning to a world she knew extremely well – that of the theatre.
Martyn Tarne is nineteen, and has come from New Zealand to try her luck as an actress. Unfortunately, she had her money stolen on board ship and, when we meet her, she is tramping sadly from theatre, to theatre, attempting to find work. Exhausted, and hungry, she happens to be resting in the Vulcan theatre, when she hears that the leading lady, Helena Hamilton, needs a dresser. Although this is not the job she wanted, she jumps at the chance and suddenly finds herself ensconced is the comfortable world of the theatre.
However, of course, things cannot settle so comfortably. The play the cast are rehearsing, requires a character, played by Gay Gainsford, to resemble leading man, Adam Poole; who turns out to be a distant cousin of Martyn. Gay Gainsford is hopelessly out of her depth, but her uncle, Clark Bennington, who happens to be Helena Hamilton’s husband, has helped her get the part and she struggles along, her nerves in tatters, and unable to accept the sudden appearance of Martyn – who could, so easily, play the role herself.
There are a good cast of characters and motives for the murder that follows, but Alleyn and Fox manage to untangle the various threads easily. The theatre has seen an earlier murder and this appears in a short story, “I Can Find My Way Out,” which is included in the short story collection, “Death On Air and Other Stories.” This mystery also sees the reappearance of Michael Lamprey, was in, “A Surfeit of Lampreys.”
I really enjoyed this straightforward mystery – no Troy, no romance, no dysfunctional family, which seem to have appeared in the previous few books. This was assured, with a good setting and characters and worked really well. I look forward to reading more Ngaio Marsh and continuing the series.
Martyn Tarne is nineteen, and has come from New Zealand to try her luck as an actress. Unfortunately, she had her money stolen on board ship and, when we meet her, she is tramping sadly from theatre, to theatre, attempting to find work. Exhausted, and hungry, she happens to be resting in the Vulcan theatre, when she hears that the leading lady, Helena Hamilton, needs a dresser. Although this is not the job she wanted, she jumps at the chance and suddenly finds herself ensconced is the comfortable world of the theatre.
However, of course, things cannot settle so comfortably. The play the cast are rehearsing, requires a character, played by Gay Gainsford, to resemble leading man, Adam Poole; who turns out to be a distant cousin of Martyn. Gay Gainsford is hopelessly out of her depth, but her uncle, Clark Bennington, who happens to be Helena Hamilton’s husband, has helped her get the part and she struggles along, her nerves in tatters, and unable to accept the sudden appearance of Martyn – who could, so easily, play the role herself.
There are a good cast of characters and motives for the murder that follows, but Alleyn and Fox manage to untangle the various threads easily. The theatre has seen an earlier murder and this appears in a short story, “I Can Find My Way Out,” which is included in the short story collection, “Death On Air and Other Stories.” This mystery also sees the reappearance of Michael Lamprey, was in, “A Surfeit of Lampreys.”
I really enjoyed this straightforward mystery – no Troy, no romance, no dysfunctional family, which seem to have appeared in the previous few books. This was assured, with a good setting and characters and worked really well. I look forward to reading more Ngaio Marsh and continuing the series.
December 21, 2023
Love Marsh. She's up there with Christie as a great mystery writer.
Back to the theater world, a young girl, newly arrived from New Zealand, is desperately in need of food and lodging--and a job, hopefully in the theater.
I think that's all I can really say without giving spoilers.
Suffice it to say that this was, so far, one of my favorite in the Alleyn series. And I've enjoyed all the ones I've read so far.
Now: I'm going back to my audio version of A Surfeit of Lampreys. Getting toward the end and am impatient to find out "whodunit"!
Back to the theater world, a young girl, newly arrived from New Zealand, is desperately in need of food and lodging--and a job, hopefully in the theater.
I think that's all I can really say without giving spoilers.
Suffice it to say that this was, so far, one of my favorite in the Alleyn series. And I've enjoyed all the ones I've read so far.
Now: I'm going back to my audio version of A Surfeit of Lampreys. Getting toward the end and am impatient to find out "whodunit"!
May 5, 2021
One is not always glad to change the familiar shadow for the strange reality.
November 15, 2008
I like detectives. Not all of them by any means, but I like them. Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Lord Peter Wimsey, Inspector Grant, and most recently, Inspector Alleyn. Any new-to-me Alleyn mystery is a cause for rejoicing, the donning of a smoking jacket and the putting up of an 'occupied' sign on my (non-existent) study door. Lord Peter is perhaps my favorite but Alleyn comes close.
I'm not sure how many Alleyns I've read so far; my wild guess is about ten. They have, at this point, started to get a bit formulaic, although the characters are always a delight. Night at the Vulcan was interesting partly because it varied the formula a bit and also because Alleyn managed to solve the mystery in a single night.
The story starts out with a young woman named Martyn Tarne who intended to audition for a small part in a play but arrives too late. She obviously has no money and is at the end of her rope. She manages to wing a job as the leading lady's dresser. They very quickly notice Martyn's strong resemblance to the leading man, Adam Poole. A complicated situation results. Of course there is a murder--someone no one likes or will miss very much. Alleyn arrives on the scene accompanied by Fox and Mike Lamprey, from A Surfeit of Lampreys. And of course the murderer is caught, although not quite in the usual way.
Night at the Vulcan is one of Marsh's more clever mysteries. The cast of characters is not as appealing as they often are, but the two main characters remain sympathetic. All in all, it was an enjoyable book and satisfying book.
I'm not sure how many Alleyns I've read so far; my wild guess is about ten. They have, at this point, started to get a bit formulaic, although the characters are always a delight. Night at the Vulcan was interesting partly because it varied the formula a bit and also because Alleyn managed to solve the mystery in a single night.
The story starts out with a young woman named Martyn Tarne who intended to audition for a small part in a play but arrives too late. She obviously has no money and is at the end of her rope. She manages to wing a job as the leading lady's dresser. They very quickly notice Martyn's strong resemblance to the leading man, Adam Poole. A complicated situation results. Of course there is a murder--someone no one likes or will miss very much. Alleyn arrives on the scene accompanied by Fox and Mike Lamprey, from A Surfeit of Lampreys. And of course the murderer is caught, although not quite in the usual way.
Night at the Vulcan is one of Marsh's more clever mysteries. The cast of characters is not as appealing as they often are, but the two main characters remain sympathetic. All in all, it was an enjoyable book and satisfying book.
May 9, 2022
Ngaio Marsh is always a favorite because her characters are so interesting. The murder plot is average as far as plots go, but I must confess, I have not found many plots by any author that were all that earth shattering. However, if the characters are interesting, I'm good.
It's almost a hundred pages into the story before we get to the murder, but by then we know all the characters well enough to see them as more than just stage props.
My only quibble is the unlikely romance between two distantly related people who llok enough alike that everyone knows they're related. That's a big "ew." That and the generous age gap between them, not to mention that they just met, made that sub plot unlikely and not really justified.
Other than that, I thought it was a fun read.
It's almost a hundred pages into the story before we get to the murder, but by then we know all the characters well enough to see them as more than just stage props.
My only quibble is the unlikely romance between two distantly related people who llok enough alike that everyone knows they're related. That's a big "ew." That and the generous age gap between them, not to mention that they just met, made that sub plot unlikely and not really justified.
Other than that, I thought it was a fun read.
March 21, 2020
Second Read
Now that I'm reading Marsh's books systematically in order, I find this one to be one of her best. She is at her strongest when dealing with people and situations of the theater, as she does in this novel. The mystery was fairly transparent but it didn't really matter. To me, the story was the inter-relations between all of the characters involved; all of a type. Marsh is not so great at giving us details of romance, which frustrates me, as I think she would be so good at it. She hinted that Troy was pregnant in the last novel, but we hear nothing about that in this one. The romances she outlines here are May-December things that are not fleshed out and scarcely believable.
Her overly-emotional characters have some great lines, like "I'm just boxing on in a private hell of my own." I think I shall adopt that one. It would make a great tweet.
I do enjoy when characters from past books show up, though I didn't make the connection in this one until several pages after the character was introduced, so I had to go back and read it all again once I knew who he was so that I could enjoy it a little more.
First Read
Another Marsh cozy. This one takes place in only three days and the murder doesn't happen until the half-way mark. A fine sketch of a theater company production in post-war London. The murder almost seems unnecessary, in a way, though I do enjoy the high-falutin' Inspector Alleyn and was pleased when someone finally died so that he could enter, stage right.
Now that I'm reading Marsh's books systematically in order, I find this one to be one of her best. She is at her strongest when dealing with people and situations of the theater, as she does in this novel. The mystery was fairly transparent but it didn't really matter. To me, the story was the inter-relations between all of the characters involved; all of a type. Marsh is not so great at giving us details of romance, which frustrates me, as I think she would be so good at it. She hinted that Troy was pregnant in the last novel, but we hear nothing about that in this one. The romances she outlines here are May-December things that are not fleshed out and scarcely believable.
Her overly-emotional characters have some great lines, like "I'm just boxing on in a private hell of my own." I think I shall adopt that one. It would make a great tweet.
I do enjoy when characters from past books show up, though I didn't make the connection in this one until several pages after the character was introduced, so I had to go back and read it all again once I knew who he was so that I could enjoy it a little more.
First Read
Another Marsh cozy. This one takes place in only three days and the murder doesn't happen until the half-way mark. A fine sketch of a theater company production in post-war London. The murder almost seems unnecessary, in a way, though I do enjoy the high-falutin' Inspector Alleyn and was pleased when someone finally died so that he could enter, stage right.
September 10, 2009
Pleasantly surprised at how entertaining "Night at the Vulcan" was. I was previously thoroughly underwelmed by "Light Thickens", my first of the Alleyn novels, but found myself quite enjoying this one.
Vulcan's strength partly lies in its protagonist, Martyn Tarne, who is interesting and sweet of nature, and therefore quite easy to like. It helps considerably when you can like and follow what the protagonist is saying and doing. The secondary characters, as well, are all very well fleshed out and painted vividly. Adam Poole and Jacko are particularly delightful.
The set-up to the murder is well done; the reader becomes thoroughly absorbed in the different personalities on stage, as well as the goings-on of the play. It is to Marsh's credit that we become so involved in the characters' lives that when the murder does happen, it becomes just one small part of the story that made up the whole. The theatre material was even more interesting than the detecting, in a way. The light splash of romance was a pleasant surprise, as well.
The way Alleyn solved the mystery and caught the murderer was rather unusual. The identity of the murderer, as well, came as a minor shock; the old cliché that the crime was committed by the person you'd least suspect held true here. Quite a satisfying read.
Vulcan's strength partly lies in its protagonist, Martyn Tarne, who is interesting and sweet of nature, and therefore quite easy to like. It helps considerably when you can like and follow what the protagonist is saying and doing. The secondary characters, as well, are all very well fleshed out and painted vividly. Adam Poole and Jacko are particularly delightful.
The set-up to the murder is well done; the reader becomes thoroughly absorbed in the different personalities on stage, as well as the goings-on of the play. It is to Marsh's credit that we become so involved in the characters' lives that when the murder does happen, it becomes just one small part of the story that made up the whole. The theatre material was even more interesting than the detecting, in a way. The light splash of romance was a pleasant surprise, as well.
The way Alleyn solved the mystery and caught the murderer was rather unusual. The identity of the murderer, as well, came as a minor shock; the old cliché that the crime was committed by the person you'd least suspect held true here. Quite a satisfying read.
October 6, 2020
Martyn Tarne an aspiring young kiwi actress comes to London and is robbed. Down to her last pennies she finds a job as a dresser at the Vulcan theatre. Opening night is days away and there are tensions in the cast. Not helped by Dr Rutherford the play writer putting his two cents in. Bennington an actor is hated by everyone including Helena his wife and one of the stars.
The murder and entrance by Inspector Alleyn does not occur till over halfway through the book. The characterizations by Marsh are excellent as are the stage directions. The murderer for me became obvious 15 pages from the end. The motive though for the murder I thought was weak and left me dissatisfied. Blackmail really needs to be stronger than what Bennington had and what was stopping Otto Brud from revealing who wrote the play? Why murder Bennington?
The murder and entrance by Inspector Alleyn does not occur till over halfway through the book. The characterizations by Marsh are excellent as are the stage directions. The murderer for me became obvious 15 pages from the end. The motive though for the murder I thought was weak and left me dissatisfied. Blackmail really needs to be stronger than what Bennington had and what was stopping Otto Brud from revealing who wrote the play? Why murder Bennington?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2023
I know that I keep repeating this, but I get so involved with the characters who become the suspects for Alleyn that I am in no hurry for the murder to occur, and for him to appear on the scene! That was very much the case here, and there is also the pleasure of the appearance of Mike Lamprey, youngest of than delightful family, now all grown up and a police constable!
It is also worth noting that there are several homophobic slurs used by a character. These are wholly in period for the time and place. There is also a scene which implies rape, but is written very subtly. Which makes it all the more unnerving.
It is also worth noting that there are several homophobic slurs used by a character. These are wholly in period for the time and place. There is also a scene which implies rape, but is written very subtly. Which makes it all the more unnerving.
September 20, 2020
Marsh had a masterly skill of writing a whodunnit where the murder didn’t occur until at least halfway through, as is the case here. You’d think that would making the pacing slow, but the build up really makes you invest in the characters.
I enjoyed this book a lot - another theatre based mystery, but certainly not a repeat of her past work. By the 40s and 50s Marsh really was at her best!
I enjoyed this book a lot - another theatre based mystery, but certainly not a repeat of her past work. By the 40s and 50s Marsh really was at her best!
April 22, 2024
Martyn Tarne has had a rough couple of weeks since arriving in London. The little money she had was stolen, and finding work as an actress has not borne fruit. Starving and desperate, she visits the fourth-rate Vulcan Theatre where a chance encounter ends with Martyn working as a dresser for the leading lady in a new play. Her opportunity for advancement grows but is soured when opening night ends in death.
The charm of this book is not the mystery; most readers will find the solution or suspect it at one point during Inspector Alleyn's investigation. The appeal is the cast. The book jacket notes that Ngaio Marsh spent a lot of time working in the theater, and she expertly brings to life the various personalities she encountered there: the vain, the envious, the friendly, the desperate and the arrogant. It is not hard to imagine that working on a play of any scale would see a sampling of the personality types Marsh sets out in her story.
Very entertaining.
The charm of this book is not the mystery; most readers will find the solution or suspect it at one point during Inspector Alleyn's investigation. The appeal is the cast. The book jacket notes that Ngaio Marsh spent a lot of time working in the theater, and she expertly brings to life the various personalities she encountered there: the vain, the envious, the friendly, the desperate and the arrogant. It is not hard to imagine that working on a play of any scale would see a sampling of the personality types Marsh sets out in her story.
Very entertaining.
May 28, 2023
This was a delightful combination of Agatha Christie and Kerry Greenwood. I will definitely be reading as many of these as possible. I'm so excited to have found this wonderful new author.
September 3, 2016
First Ngaio Marsh book for me! Very well written, interesting murder story... I wonder if all her stories are set up like this. The story is 180 pages odd long, and the murder didn't happen till just past the 100 page mark. So it's as much a general fiction story that happens to have a murder in it as anything else.
Set in London in the 40s or 50s (I'm guessing), we see little New Zealander Martyn Tarne newly in London struggling to find acting work and getting really down on her luck. Desperate for any work, she ends up at the Vulcan Theatre, which she has been avoiding (we find out later why) and kind of falls into a dresser's job for glamourous actress Helena Hamilton. Helena's husband, Bennington, is a drunken has-been who most people can't stand. He got his niece into a roll in the play that everyone can see isn't suited for the part. As they go through dress rehearsals this becomes more and more apparent, whilst at the same time that Martyn would be perfect. The niece, Gay, gets hysterical about this (she is tiresome) and there's all kinds of trouble, which culminate on opening night when there is a murder!!! The police turn up, interview everyone and solve it there and then before sending people home. So we don't get much time to wonder over the murder, how or why it was done before everything's neatly tied up. The ending seems particularly random, a proposal after three days, and just... why did that need throwing in? Other than that it seems to be typical of whodunnit murder mysteries from this time that we have to end on a happy and irrelevant engagement.
The theatre world seems to be a tiring mix of egos, politics, bitching and back stabbing. I couldn't be doing with it. From what little I know, Marsh knew a lot about this world. Are all her books set in this? I don't know how many I would want to read. Of course, it's a very detailed and realistic feeling theatre world she creates.Worth a look.
Set in London in the 40s or 50s (I'm guessing), we see little New Zealander Martyn Tarne newly in London struggling to find acting work and getting really down on her luck. Desperate for any work, she ends up at the Vulcan Theatre, which she has been avoiding (we find out later why) and kind of falls into a dresser's job for glamourous actress Helena Hamilton. Helena's husband, Bennington, is a drunken has-been who most people can't stand. He got his niece into a roll in the play that everyone can see isn't suited for the part. As they go through dress rehearsals this becomes more and more apparent, whilst at the same time that Martyn would be perfect. The niece, Gay, gets hysterical about this (she is tiresome) and there's all kinds of trouble, which culminate on opening night when there is a murder!!! The police turn up, interview everyone and solve it there and then before sending people home. So we don't get much time to wonder over the murder, how or why it was done before everything's neatly tied up. The ending seems particularly random, a proposal after three days, and just... why did that need throwing in? Other than that it seems to be typical of whodunnit murder mysteries from this time that we have to end on a happy and irrelevant engagement.
The theatre world seems to be a tiring mix of egos, politics, bitching and back stabbing. I couldn't be doing with it. From what little I know, Marsh knew a lot about this world. Are all her books set in this? I don't know how many I would want to read. Of course, it's a very detailed and realistic feeling theatre world she creates.Worth a look.
September 1, 2020
I enjoyed the first third or so, but after that it was too similar to Swing, Brother, Swing, with everyone being held in the theatre for about 48 hrs, the women lying in armchairs and men sleeping hither and yon. We have of curse the obligatory ro-mance(s); I always wonder how long they would last after the pressure is off. Knowing actors, not very long!
There are many misused question marks in the text, which may be due to reading the ebook edition, but opened several sentences to varying interpretations. Marsh continues to write some very strange English, such as "A table had been brought in to carry the flowers." Tables don't carry anything, on account of they ain't got no arms, and they don't move around. They stand there and hold things, maybe. The Leading Man says at one point, "I can't believe it! It's quite incredulous!" instead of "incredible." A situation doesn't go around believing or disbelieving things, which is what incredulous means. We are back to Marsh's obsession with hands, when LM says to the Young Ingenue, "Your hands are anxious."
I do enjoy Marsh's theatrical thrillers more than the merely painting ones. You can tell she knew her stuff, though I searched fruitlessly to find out what the "bunches" are backstage that one of the stage hands warns the actors against disturbing.
There are many misused question marks in the text, which may be due to reading the ebook edition, but opened several sentences to varying interpretations. Marsh continues to write some very strange English, such as "A table had been brought in to carry the flowers." Tables don't carry anything, on account of they ain't got no arms, and they don't move around. They stand there and hold things, maybe. The Leading Man says at one point, "I can't believe it! It's quite incredulous!" instead of "incredible." A situation doesn't go around believing or disbelieving things, which is what incredulous means. We are back to Marsh's obsession with hands, when LM says to the Young Ingenue, "Your hands are anxious."
I do enjoy Marsh's theatrical thrillers more than the merely painting ones. You can tell she knew her stuff, though I searched fruitlessly to find out what the "bunches" are backstage that one of the stage hands warns the actors against disturbing.
May 29, 2020
I read other books from Ngaio Marsh and I liked them but this one... I can't seem to find anything to like.
It is too slow-paced, it doesn't really seem like a mystery. I find a large part of the story to be quite boring and useless to the essence of the murder.
It is too slow-paced, it doesn't really seem like a mystery. I find a large part of the story to be quite boring and useless to the essence of the murder.
August 16, 2019
Great story. Excellent writing. One of her best work.
December 1, 2021
Review of the audiobook narrated by James Saxon
Ngaio Marsh is known for setting several of her Golden Age-era mysteries in the theatre, which she knew very well as a vocation and avocation. Just for fun, I have been revisiting those theatre-set stories.
Opening Night/Night at the Vulcan (pub. 1951) is fascinating. I like the characters -- most of them anyway. (As an aside, I have noticed that even though Marsh loves the theatre, she may not love all actors. Some of them are very unpleasant, even if innocent of murder.) The mystery was very good as well.
Unfortunately, this is one of those books where Alleyn does not appear until more than halfway into the story, but once he does enter the stage he dominates. Marsh kept me guessing until the end.
James Saxon narrated many -- perhaps all -- of Marsh's books, and I have found his performances to be oddly uneven. In this case, he was excellent.
Ngaio Marsh is known for setting several of her Golden Age-era mysteries in the theatre, which she knew very well as a vocation and avocation. Just for fun, I have been revisiting those theatre-set stories.
Opening Night/Night at the Vulcan (pub. 1951) is fascinating. I like the characters -- most of them anyway. (As an aside, I have noticed that even though Marsh loves the theatre, she may not love all actors. Some of them are very unpleasant, even if innocent of murder.) The mystery was very good as well.
Unfortunately, this is one of those books where Alleyn does not appear until more than halfway into the story, but once he does enter the stage he dominates. Marsh kept me guessing until the end.
James Saxon narrated many -- perhaps all -- of Marsh's books, and I have found his performances to be oddly uneven. In this case, he was excellent.
September 15, 2020
B+:
Pretty much perfect for 160 pages, up until the murder is committed. Marsh is far more concerned about telling a thoroughly engaging story about a young aspiring actress thrust into the limelight than she is about forging an intricate whodunit and, in this case, I'm absolutely fine with that.
Pretty much perfect for 160 pages, up until the murder is committed. Marsh is far more concerned about telling a thoroughly engaging story about a young aspiring actress thrust into the limelight than she is about forging an intricate whodunit and, in this case, I'm absolutely fine with that.
December 17, 2023
Marsh really said "I'm going to do a problematic age-gap love-at-first-sight cousin romance"... the 14yos of Tumblr are cancelling her AS WE SPEAK and I for one am not riding to her defence.
February 14, 2023
Read by James Saxon.
Performance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 10, 2019
Opening Night (aka Night at the Vulcan; 1951) finds Ngaio Marsh returning to the world of theatre--comfortable home turf for an author who claimed the theatre as her first passion. This time Marsh focuses on the back-stage antics going on as the players at the Vulcan Theater prepare for the opening of a new play by a brilliant, but difficult playwright. We see everything through the vantage point of Martyn Tarne, a young actress-in-waiting who has recently arrived from New Zealand with the hopes of landing a part on a London stage. After making a discouraging round of the theater casting calls, she comes to the Vulcan just a tad too late to audition for a part. She's down to the last bit of her money and has no idea what do when she overhears Bob Grantley, the business manager, frantically calling round for a replacement dresser for Helen Hamilton--the play's leading lady.
Helen's dresser has been rushed to the hospital and Grantley needs a substitute quick. Martyn needs a job--at this point any job will do and she offers herself as dresser. She immediately finds herself in a seething cauldron of backstage emotions and interactions. Helen Hamilton is married to the leading man, Clark Bennington. Bennington is an aging, alcoholic actor who is thoroughly disliked by just about everyone...including his wife. Helen has been having an affair with Adam Poole, the Vulcan's actor-manager. Bennington's niece, Gay Gainsford, has been cast in a rather important role--as a blood relation to Pool's character who (supposedly) looks remarkably like him and is a somewhat depraved version of himself. She's been making a rather bad showing in the part (not helped by the fact that she really looks nothing like Poole) and is having a case of the nerves. Dr. John James Rutherford, the playwright and another thoroughly unpleasant man, is having fits over Gay's inability to play the part, making himself generally disagreeable to all and sundry, and is quoting Shakespeare at everyone. J. G. Darcy and Parry Percival, the remaining actors, add their nerves and emotional outbursts to the mix.
Martyn's arrival doesn't help matters. Because you see, she does look like Poole (they wind up being second cousins or some such) and could absolutely play the part. To Gay's dismay, Martyn is made her understudy in addition to the dresser's role and on opening night, Gay has a fit of hysterics and is unable to go on. Martyn, of course, steps in to save the day and winds up being a sensation. She barely has time to take in her good fortune (and all the applause) when Clark Bennington doesn't show up for his curtain calls and is discovered dead in his dressing room. To the actors, it has every appearance of suicide. But when Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives from the Yard, he is not convinced. And, of course, he and Inspector Fox will find all the clues and discover the culprit.
There were several things that I enjoyed about this one: The opening scenes with Martyn--learning of her journey round the theaters and her bad luck at the auditions; her interactions with the fellow-hard luck actress outside the Vulcan; and her conversations with Fred Badger, the nightwatchman. In fact, I liked Fred Badger so much that I kind of hoped that we'd see more of him. But, alas. Jacko, Adam Poole's right-hand man and jack of all trades is also an interesting character--again, particularly in his interactions with Martyn. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed the characters' interactions with each other--barring a few jarring exceptions (Gay Gainsford gets on my last nerve, for instance). I really do think Marsh was in her element when writing about the theatre and the people of that world. She creates interesting and realistic characters and it's evident that she's writing from experience.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Helen's dresser has been rushed to the hospital and Grantley needs a substitute quick. Martyn needs a job--at this point any job will do and she offers herself as dresser. She immediately finds herself in a seething cauldron of backstage emotions and interactions. Helen Hamilton is married to the leading man, Clark Bennington. Bennington is an aging, alcoholic actor who is thoroughly disliked by just about everyone...including his wife. Helen has been having an affair with Adam Poole, the Vulcan's actor-manager. Bennington's niece, Gay Gainsford, has been cast in a rather important role--as a blood relation to Pool's character who (supposedly) looks remarkably like him and is a somewhat depraved version of himself. She's been making a rather bad showing in the part (not helped by the fact that she really looks nothing like Poole) and is having a case of the nerves. Dr. John James Rutherford, the playwright and another thoroughly unpleasant man, is having fits over Gay's inability to play the part, making himself generally disagreeable to all and sundry, and is quoting Shakespeare at everyone. J. G. Darcy and Parry Percival, the remaining actors, add their nerves and emotional outbursts to the mix.
Martyn's arrival doesn't help matters. Because you see, she does look like Poole (they wind up being second cousins or some such) and could absolutely play the part. To Gay's dismay, Martyn is made her understudy in addition to the dresser's role and on opening night, Gay has a fit of hysterics and is unable to go on. Martyn, of course, steps in to save the day and winds up being a sensation. She barely has time to take in her good fortune (and all the applause) when Clark Bennington doesn't show up for his curtain calls and is discovered dead in his dressing room. To the actors, it has every appearance of suicide. But when Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives from the Yard, he is not convinced. And, of course, he and Inspector Fox will find all the clues and discover the culprit.
There were several things that I enjoyed about this one: The opening scenes with Martyn--learning of her journey round the theaters and her bad luck at the auditions; her interactions with the fellow-hard luck actress outside the Vulcan; and her conversations with Fred Badger, the nightwatchman. In fact, I liked Fred Badger so much that I kind of hoped that we'd see more of him. But, alas. Jacko, Adam Poole's right-hand man and jack of all trades is also an interesting character--again, particularly in his interactions with Martyn. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed the characters' interactions with each other--barring a few jarring exceptions (Gay Gainsford gets on my last nerve, for instance). I really do think Marsh was in her element when writing about the theatre and the people of that world. She creates interesting and realistic characters and it's evident that she's writing from experience.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
May 1, 2019
After the disappointing Swing, Brother, Swing (or A wreath for Rivera), Marsh returns to the world of theatre. A world which she knew very well and it shows:
‘An encounter with a person hitherto only seen and heard on the cinema screen is often disconcerting.’
‘There was a kind of voluptuousness in Martyn’s fatigue. Only the chair she sat on and the desk that propped her arms and head prevented her, she felt, from slipping to the floor. Into this defencelessness Poole’s suggestions entered like those of a mesmerist, and that perfection of duality for which actors pray and which they are so rarely granted now fully invested her. She was herself and she was the girl in the play. She guided the girl and was aware of her and she governed the possession of the girl by the obverse of the man in the play.’
‘There is perhaps nothing that gives one so strong a sense of theatre from the inside as the sound of invisible players in action.’
The murder does not occur till one-third of the book is over, but Marsh is able to make the set up interesting enough that one does not mind the wait.
As always, the murder is investigated by Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn who is an obvious aristocrat but is acceptable because he had ‘a spare and scholarly face with a monkish look about it.’ And again as always, Alleyn is supported by the earthier Inspector Fox. Others are also stock characters with some portrayed negatively in a manner typical of that era (1951). But the mystery and the writing are good enough to hold one’s interest, and then some.
‘An encounter with a person hitherto only seen and heard on the cinema screen is often disconcerting.’
‘There was a kind of voluptuousness in Martyn’s fatigue. Only the chair she sat on and the desk that propped her arms and head prevented her, she felt, from slipping to the floor. Into this defencelessness Poole’s suggestions entered like those of a mesmerist, and that perfection of duality for which actors pray and which they are so rarely granted now fully invested her. She was herself and she was the girl in the play. She guided the girl and was aware of her and she governed the possession of the girl by the obverse of the man in the play.’
‘There is perhaps nothing that gives one so strong a sense of theatre from the inside as the sound of invisible players in action.’
The murder does not occur till one-third of the book is over, but Marsh is able to make the set up interesting enough that one does not mind the wait.
As always, the murder is investigated by Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn who is an obvious aristocrat but is acceptable because he had ‘a spare and scholarly face with a monkish look about it.’ And again as always, Alleyn is supported by the earthier Inspector Fox. Others are also stock characters with some portrayed negatively in a manner typical of that era (1951). But the mystery and the writing are good enough to hold one’s interest, and then some.
March 20, 2018
You can always tell which character you're supposed to like, and for me, it spoils it when I don't like them. Martyn was supposed to be this down to earth girl who trips into riches, and usually that's am enjoyable story line for me. But this one... no. I really didn't like any of them, including the other half of the young lovers who really isn't quite so young (and also a relations, and also instalove, and also huge age difference = it's a no from me), and while the rest of the cast might not be likeable, at least they're not out right offensive....
Except for Gayle. Gayle can just go dive off a cliff. She honestly was the most irritating, whining, terrible character involved. And she just highlighted for me how much I didn't like Martyn, because I should have felt bad for Martyn for having to deal with her, but the way she crumpled, unlike what I would expect from a sensible young girl, just... urgh. Not impressed.
Oh and btw, this is a mystery. It's bog standard, and you can tell who it is in the first hundred pages because it's the character who is innocuous enough to seem innocent and dislikeable enough that when they're proved to be the murderer, you don't feel so bad for them. The motive was a giant pointing arrow. The only really positive thing I can say about it is that it was quick, thank god - pacing was decently snappy, if you can get pass the sob.
Except for Gayle. Gayle can just go dive off a cliff. She honestly was the most irritating, whining, terrible character involved. And she just highlighted for me how much I didn't like Martyn, because I should have felt bad for Martyn for having to deal with her, but the way she crumpled, unlike what I would expect from a sensible young girl, just... urgh. Not impressed.
Oh and btw, this is a mystery. It's bog standard, and you can tell who it is in the first hundred pages because it's the character who is innocuous enough to seem innocent and dislikeable enough that when they're proved to be the murderer, you don't feel so bad for them. The motive was a giant pointing arrow. The only really positive thing I can say about it is that it was quick, thank god - pacing was decently snappy, if you can get pass the sob.
June 27, 2017
I rather miss the age of actually describing things in books. Halfway through I had to check to see if it was a mystery, but it was an engaging enough book to keep my interest. By the time the murder had happened, I was engaged with the characters and wanted to know what would happen to them. We simply don't get that type of set-up anymore. Typically we get a murder that's orbited by the characters, but Marsh wrote it as characters who are eventually orbited by a murder. Frankly, it's something of a relief. Granted, the characters are over the top, but I've met some actors, and they ALMOST talk like that. I aspire to be as well-spoken off-the-cuff as the characters in this book.
I think I would have enjoyed it more had I NOT known it was a murder mystery, there would have been a lot less "Isn't there supposed to be a dead person?" in my mind. However, as a book well written, I certainly recommend it.
As an aside, I found it in my library's give-away shelf with a bunch of other Ngaio Marsh books. I'll catch up with them eventually. She is a better writer than Agatha, in my tremendously uneducated opine...
I think I would have enjoyed it more had I NOT known it was a murder mystery, there would have been a lot less "Isn't there supposed to be a dead person?" in my mind. However, as a book well written, I certainly recommend it.
As an aside, I found it in my library's give-away shelf with a bunch of other Ngaio Marsh books. I'll catch up with them eventually. She is a better writer than Agatha, in my tremendously uneducated opine...
September 28, 2022
Sixteenth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series involving a Scotland Yard detective and his team. The focus is on Martyn Tarne's ambitions.
My Take
The subject play, Revisit, is a play about ideas and requires Gay's character to be a reflection of Adam's character, who represents "the struggle of the human being in the detestable situation in which . . . he has found himself".
It's a fairytale as a wanna-be actress achieves her goal. She never expected, however, to get it this way. It's a good bit of luck for Martyn, falling into this situation at the Vulcan, as it opens a wealth of possibilities, including Jacko, who is also a dab at cooking.
It has to be third person global subjective point-of-view, although the perspectives are not evenly distributed. Martyn's is the most prominent with Alleyn's second.
The stories in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn series have primarily been a study of police procedures, and yes, Night at the Vulcan does make good use of procedures, but it's more forensics in this mystery. I do like that a previous character in the series is popping up in Night at the Vulcan!
I'm not quite sure what Badger's intentions are toward Martyn that first night, but he's so creepy! As for Gay Gainsford, I sometimes feel sorry for her. On the other hand, she should show some backbone! And then again, even though Gay doesn't want the role, she doesn't want Martyn to have it. She doesn't want Martyn to even be anywhere in the theatre. And Gay does enjoy focusing attention on herself. Oy.
There is a lot of pissing and moaning backstage with actors and staff whining about each other, about Rutherford, about Gay in her role. No one thinks she's any good but are, mostly, too afraid to say so. Even her real-life uncle thinks she's terrible but refuses to admit it out loud.
Rumor is running amuck that Martyn is something more than she'll admit. There are also rumblings about the unfortunate theatre's past. For certain sure, Marsh's description of the heating perils of the 1940s makes me appreciate today's HVAC.
Hmm, Alleyn absently notes that Troy once commented that Fox "was a cross between a bear and a baby and exhibited the most pleasing traits of both". I'm trying to imagine this.
The "love" affairs are . . . . hmmm . . . flexible. I guess they're a good example of romance behind the scenes. Poole certainly analyzes Helena's various affairs as well as his with her. His next "affair" is sweet, but not believable.
It's a mystery in which most of the characters want to do and be good, although, they are affiliated with acting.
The Story
Down to a few pence, Martyn Tarne is desperate for any kind of work. Her dreams of being an actress are taking second place to food and a place to sleep. She'll, she'll even accept a position at a distant relation's theatre.
Best of all, she can hide in the theatre and sleep there. Until she's discovered in more ways than one.
It's more than just Poole family history, but the curse of the theatre that reveals a body. But is it suicide or murder?
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn has settled into being at Scotland Yard after brief forays into the military and the diplomatic corps. Agatha Troy, the famous painter, is his wife.
Scotland Yard
His team includes Detective-Inspector Fox; Detective Sergeant (DS) Bailey, whose specialty is fingerprints; DS Thompson, the photography specialist; DS Gibson; Dr Curtis is the police surgeon; and, Police Constable Lord Mike Lamprey (from Surfeit of Lampreys , 10; as a young boy, his family had had a place in New Zealand on Mount Silver).
The Vulcan Theatre comes with . . .
. . . an old past (five years ago) with a new facade now owned by Adam Poole. Bob Grantley is the business manager. Clem Smith is the stage-manager's assistant/stage director. Alf is a stage-hand. Fred Badger is the night-watchman. Revisit is a new play by the dictatorial Dr John James Rutherford.
Martyn "Kate" Tarne, a New Zealander, has dreams of becoming an actress, on her own merit. Now she'll be Helena's stand-in dresser. She was named for her father, the son and grandson of a high-country sheep farmer. Her mother, Paula Poole Passington, is from the same area.
Adam Poole is the male star and manager — and in love with Helena. A cousin of his father's married a Passington and then disappeared. Bob Cringle is Poole's dresser.
Jacques "Jacko" Doré, a.k.a. Poole's Luck, is French-Canadian and the man-of-all-trades, designer, artist, responsible for all the décor and dressing for all of Poole's productions — and technically assistant to Poole.
Helena Hamilton, Auntie Ella, is the star turn performing as the cousin's wife; her dresser, Tansey, is ill. Clark Bennington, Helena's husband who used to prep using the Stanislavsky method and is an ugly drunk these days, plays Poole's brilliant, unstable cousin. J.G. (George) Darcey plays Poole's great-uncle. The selfish Gay Gainsford, Bennington's niece, is miserable in her role as the vicious, freakish daughter of Poole's and who is engaged to a nonentity. In her misery, she latches onto J.G. Parry Percival is Ben's character's butt.
The Garnet Marks' Agency sends people out on auditions. Trixie O'Sullivan sent Martyn off on the wrong track. Florian's is a flower shop. Bennington mentions an "Uncle Tito". Otto Brod from Prague had written a play. The Jupiter was pre-Vulcan. Ellen Terry. Eileen? Greenacres? appears to be part of an employment agency.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, pink, and orange. The upper third uses a gradation of dark red on the top and sides to a brighter red in the center bottom, forming a background for the title, which uses a subtle gradation of pale, pale pink to pink. In the middle is Marsh's signature stretched-out banner with the author's name in its art deco font using deep burgundy, white, and dark red scratchings against a pink background. in the bottom third of the cover is the series signature one-sided scalloped lines in pale pinkish white raying out from the bottom to the sides. In between these rays is a gradation of deep red to red. In the center of the rays are a pair of golden velvet drapes pulled to the side with a spotlight focusing a circle on the green floor with a deep brown background. The series arch uses the pink background and a much paler pink for the series info text.
The title is straightforward, for it is a Night at the Vulcan.
My Take
The subject play, Revisit, is a play about ideas and requires Gay's character to be a reflection of Adam's character, who represents "the struggle of the human being in the detestable situation in which . . . he has found himself".
It's a fairytale as a wanna-be actress achieves her goal. She never expected, however, to get it this way. It's a good bit of luck for Martyn, falling into this situation at the Vulcan, as it opens a wealth of possibilities, including Jacko, who is also a dab at cooking.
It has to be third person global subjective point-of-view, although the perspectives are not evenly distributed. Martyn's is the most prominent with Alleyn's second.
The stories in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn series have primarily been a study of police procedures, and yes, Night at the Vulcan does make good use of procedures, but it's more forensics in this mystery. I do like that a previous character in the series is popping up in Night at the Vulcan!
I'm not quite sure what Badger's intentions are toward Martyn that first night, but he's so creepy! As for Gay Gainsford, I sometimes feel sorry for her. On the other hand, she should show some backbone! And then again, even though Gay doesn't want the role, she doesn't want Martyn to have it. She doesn't want Martyn to even be anywhere in the theatre. And Gay does enjoy focusing attention on herself. Oy.
There is a lot of pissing and moaning backstage with actors and staff whining about each other, about Rutherford, about Gay in her role. No one thinks she's any good but are, mostly, too afraid to say so. Even her real-life uncle thinks she's terrible but refuses to admit it out loud.
Rumor is running amuck that Martyn is something more than she'll admit. There are also rumblings about the unfortunate theatre's past. For certain sure, Marsh's description of the heating perils of the 1940s makes me appreciate today's HVAC.
Hmm, Alleyn absently notes that Troy once commented that Fox "was a cross between a bear and a baby and exhibited the most pleasing traits of both". I'm trying to imagine this.
The "love" affairs are . . . . hmmm . . . flexible. I guess they're a good example of romance behind the scenes. Poole certainly analyzes Helena's various affairs as well as his with her. His next "affair" is sweet, but not believable.
It's a mystery in which most of the characters want to do and be good, although, they are affiliated with acting.
The Story
Down to a few pence, Martyn Tarne is desperate for any kind of work. Her dreams of being an actress are taking second place to food and a place to sleep. She'll, she'll even accept a position at a distant relation's theatre.
Best of all, she can hide in the theatre and sleep there. Until she's discovered in more ways than one.
It's more than just Poole family history, but the curse of the theatre that reveals a body. But is it suicide or murder?
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn has settled into being at Scotland Yard after brief forays into the military and the diplomatic corps. Agatha Troy, the famous painter, is his wife.
Scotland Yard
His team includes Detective-Inspector Fox; Detective Sergeant (DS) Bailey, whose specialty is fingerprints; DS Thompson, the photography specialist; DS Gibson; Dr Curtis is the police surgeon; and, Police Constable Lord Mike Lamprey (from Surfeit of Lampreys , 10; as a young boy, his family had had a place in New Zealand on Mount Silver).
The Vulcan Theatre comes with . . .
. . . an old past (five years ago) with a new facade now owned by Adam Poole. Bob Grantley is the business manager. Clem Smith is the stage-manager's assistant/stage director. Alf is a stage-hand. Fred Badger is the night-watchman. Revisit is a new play by the dictatorial Dr John James Rutherford.
Martyn "Kate" Tarne, a New Zealander, has dreams of becoming an actress, on her own merit. Now she'll be Helena's stand-in dresser. She was named for her father, the son and grandson of a high-country sheep farmer. Her mother, Paula Poole Passington, is from the same area.
Adam Poole is the male star and manager — and in love with Helena. A cousin of his father's married a Passington and then disappeared. Bob Cringle is Poole's dresser.
Jacques "Jacko" Doré, a.k.a. Poole's Luck, is French-Canadian and the man-of-all-trades, designer, artist, responsible for all the décor and dressing for all of Poole's productions — and technically assistant to Poole.
Helena Hamilton, Auntie Ella, is the star turn performing as the cousin's wife; her dresser, Tansey, is ill. Clark Bennington, Helena's husband who used to prep using the Stanislavsky method and is an ugly drunk these days, plays Poole's brilliant, unstable cousin. J.G. (George) Darcey plays Poole's great-uncle. The selfish Gay Gainsford, Bennington's niece, is miserable in her role as the vicious, freakish daughter of Poole's and who is engaged to a nonentity. In her misery, she latches onto J.G. Parry Percival is Ben's character's butt.
The Garnet Marks' Agency sends people out on auditions. Trixie O'Sullivan sent Martyn off on the wrong track. Florian's is a flower shop. Bennington mentions an "Uncle Tito". Otto Brod from Prague had written a play. The Jupiter was pre-Vulcan. Ellen Terry. Eileen? Greenacres? appears to be part of an employment agency.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, pink, and orange. The upper third uses a gradation of dark red on the top and sides to a brighter red in the center bottom, forming a background for the title, which uses a subtle gradation of pale, pale pink to pink. In the middle is Marsh's signature stretched-out banner with the author's name in its art deco font using deep burgundy, white, and dark red scratchings against a pink background. in the bottom third of the cover is the series signature one-sided scalloped lines in pale pinkish white raying out from the bottom to the sides. In between these rays is a gradation of deep red to red. In the center of the rays are a pair of golden velvet drapes pulled to the side with a spotlight focusing a circle on the green floor with a deep brown background. The series arch uses the pink background and a much paler pink for the series info text.
The title is straightforward, for it is a Night at the Vulcan.
March 30, 2019
Excellent entry in the series with an interesting and sympathetic cast of characters. Marsh is at her best when she uses theatre settings. This book heavy references an earlier short story, 'I Can Find My Way Out', and I recommend reading that first if convenient.
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