At last, another post

It's been a while ...

I have just finished reading Ngaio Marsh's Opening Night (I'm gradually working my way through the Alleyn novels in the Haprer omnibus editions). A great story, and with all the detection being done in a few hours after the murder. However, the thing I most enjoyed was the theatrical setting. It's been a long time since I last stage managed a production (it must have been 2001 - a semi-staged Dido and Aeneas in Oxford), but Marsh writes so evocatively of the theatre that I was immediately transported back. As ever, her characterisation is excellent and the build-up to the crime is as exciting and interesting as Alleyn's methodical detection.