Died in the Wool

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A little disappointing

This was a reread for me, but from a long time ago.

The main thing that surprised me was how little this murder mystery evoked New Zealand for me, in spite of the setting on a South Island sheep farm. This was because the majority of the main characters were either British or had strong British links, so this felt like any other early Marsh with people fond of melodramatic utterances. The exceptions were the murder victim herself, who really seemed so much like a female NZ MP. A remarkable characterisation, especially NZ only got their first female MP in 1933 & this title was first published in 1945. & the other was a minor character, the laconic Jack Merrywether. The Kiwi touches in the last third really improved though.

I guessed the murderer quite easily & also the one red herring.

The Reading the Detectives Group is reading Marsh in the order they were written. I’ll rejoin them for Death at the Dolphin at the end of the year.

A little Marsh goes a long way with me.



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