No new ground but a fun read
Customer Rating: 
Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) wrote this one just ten years prior to her death. It's a formula cozy murder, much in the vein of her other Inspector Roderick Alleyn/Detective Fox series entries.
THE STORY here is that a rich aristocrat (Hilary Bill-Tasman) has re-purchased his noble family's run-down former estate and he's restoring the Manor House (Halberds Manor). Along with that he's bringing a young and beautiful wife into the home, a caveat of which not everyone approves. To add even more to the accoutrements Hilary has hired Inspector Alleyns' wife, the renowned Troy, to paint his portrait (a Marsh theme that we've seen before in Final Curtain, 1947).
To commemorate the event, Hilary has invited his close relatives to celebrate a community Christmas at his not-quite-finished home, where the locals and their children are provided with gifts and subsequently fed a nice supper. Instead of Santa, Hilary opts for an ancient folklore Druid character to deliver the gifts. Providing the domestic service at the event is Hilary's staff, comprised in part of five men who have previously been convicted of murder -- but they've all been rehabilitated... or have they?
In any case, Hilary's eccentric and aged Uncle F. Fleaton Forrester ("Uncle Flea") is supposed to play the Druid role but he falls ill and his personal manservant, Moult, has to take on the task at the last minute. Moult has been somewhat at odds with Hilary's unusual house staff members but it comes as a great surprise to all when Moult comes up missing just after the gifts are distributed.
Of course Inspector Alleyn, who has just arrived back in England, ends up on the scene at the snowed-in and isolated mansion and he reluctantly takes on the case -- but his ability to solve the case is hampered as the level of cooperation is not high from the distrustful house staff, all of whom are naturally distrustful of the police.
This mystery flows along nicely and one can read it over a couple of evenings -- the hardcover edition (Little, Brown and Company, 1972) runs for 222 pages. As usual, Marsh has crammed this cozy murder with lots of terrific wallpaper and atmosphere.
While this isn't a "must-read," Marsh fans will clearly enjoy this entry and I can recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good, fluid, British cozy murder.
Not for oncers
Customer Rating: The basic premise of a house staffed with one-time murderers (oncers) was certainly intriguing, and giving Troy, Alleyn's painter-wife, a larger part was refreshing IMHO, but the overall novel left me a bit unsatisfied for some reason. As in several Marsh books, there are numerous Britishisms, possibly some are also anachronisms--from the time of writing?), understandable but not (to a modern American) comprehensible. Still, one can generally ignore such things in order to enjoy the story itself. But the characterizations are too intricately woven into a good mystery novel to separate the two in one's general impression. This appears to me to be the case here because the characters seem more like caricatures. Were such people really like (and spoke like) this in Marsh's England? Maybe. I wasn't there then. But, it seems hard to believe. Furthermore, the ending left me wondering how Alleyn figured out all the details beforehand. I'm not speaking about who the murderer is, I'm referring to all the gory details. Don't get me wrong, it's Marsh's usual solid mystery, but not IMHO one of her best. I do like the very last paragraph very much though--it brought a smile to my lips. This novel is also included in multi-novel books such as: FIVE COMPLETE NOVELS SCALES OF JUSTICE DEATH OF A FOOL TIED UP IN TINSEL GRAVE MISTAKE PHOTO FINISH.
