Overture to Death

Ngaio Marsh

Scandal in rural England - in the late 1930's a spinster is shot in front of a full audience as she begins to play the piano. Was she the intended victim? Or was the other town spinster the person who was supposed to die? Of the cast of the charity play that is ready to begin, who killed her? And how?

Miss Campanula and Miss Preston are both older, unmarried, gossips, meddlers, and in love with the widowed parson of the local church. Miss Campanula is wealthy in her own right. Miss Preston is the cousin of and runs the household of the local squire. These two act like best of friends. Yet at the same time, they are rivals who meddle in other townspeople's lives. They are the first to pass on gossip, to interfere with lives, and to judge others.

I like most of Marsh's Detective Alleyn mysteries. This one, unfortunately, is only ho-hum. I didn't care what was happening to the characters and was tempted to turn to the end, find out "who done it" and start another book. I didn't. But the book never quite pulled it together. The clues are there, the plot twists are there, the scandals are there - but my interest wasn't there. If you like Marsh you'll want to read this just because. If you haven't read any of her novels, don't start with this one.

A Man Lay Dead
Enter a Murderer
The Nursing Home Murder
Death in Ecstacy
Vintage Murder
Artists in Crime
Death in a White Tie
Overture to Death
Death at the Bar
Death of a Peer
Death and the Dancing Footman
Colour Scheme
Died in the Wool
Final Curtain
A Wreath for Rivera
Night at the Vulcan
Spinsters in Jeopardy
Scales of Justice
Death of a Fool
Singing in the Shrouds
False Scent
Hand in Glove
Dead Water
Killer Dolphin
Clutch of Constables
When in Rome
Tied Up in Tinsel
Black as He's Painted
Last Ditch
Grave Mistake
Photo Finish
Light Thickens