Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Accompanied by his friend Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, journalist Nigel Bathgate attends a performance of “The Rat and the Beaver” at the Unicorn Theatre. The lead role of the Rat is played by Felix Gardener, a friend of Nigel’s, captivating the audience with his performance. As the play reaches its climax, the Rat’s dramatic entrance is marred by an unforeseen tragedy: Arthur Surbonadier, portraying the Beaver, is shot and killed onstage. Shock ripples through the theater as it becomes evident that Surbonadier’s death is not scripted; the prop bullets in Gardener’s gun were swapped with real ones.

Taking charge of the investigation, Alleyn delves into the tangled web of motives surrounding Surbonadier’s murder. He discovers a trail of animosity directed towards the victim, particularly from Gardener, with whom Surbonadier had clashed over actress Stephanie Vaughn. The prop bullets, crucial evidence in the crime, were tampered with during a brief blackout before the performance, implicating someone with backstage access. Despite numerous alibis, Alleyn’s attention is drawn to the enigmatic figure of Props, the prop manager, who seems to be withholding crucial information.

With the assistance of Bathgate and Inspector Fox, Alleyn shifts his focus to Surbonadier’s personal life. The actor’s uncle, Jacob Saint, the theater’s owner, had been targeted in a slanderous accusation involving drug smuggling, allegedly orchestrated by Surbonadier himself. Evidence uncovered in Surbonadier’s flat, including a forged signature resembling that of journalist Edward Wakeford, strengthens Alleyn’s suspicions. He arrests Saint, although the specifics of the charges remain undisclosed.

Seeking to reconstruct the events leading up to Surbonadier’s death, Alleyn orchestrates a backstage reenactment. However, the night before the recreation, a suspect is discovered dead at the Unicorn, initially appearing to be suicide. Alleyn, recognizing the death as murder, scrutinizes the reactions of those involved, using them to unravel the truth behind the tangled web of deceit and betrayal.

The Review

Enter a Murderer draws on Ngaio Marsh’s industry knowledge of the theatre superbly, and I am a little bit sorry that I, too, cannot see “The Rat and The Beaver,” but the scenes drama of the play is entertaining enough. Suppose you have spent any time doing a theatrical production. In that case, these characters will speak to you- they are somehow so real, consumed by petty jealousy, ego, and unruled passions that they could in lesser hands have been caricatures, but they are almost painfully too human. These human vices and squabbles spawn such a preventable tragedy.

The leading men, Surbonadier and Gardener, practically burst off the page; every painful interaction is a fresh wound. Surbonadier and Gardener are so alike in every way, secretive, scheming, passionate, and slavishly devoted to Stephanie Vaughan, that when they discover she has played both of their affections, there is an epic catastrophe.

Somehow despite a book that could be overshadowed by Surbonadier, Gardener, and to a lesser extent, Vaughan, each memeber of the theatre troupe is vividly catalogued during the crime. Money scheming managers, voluble old grand dames, and a whole cast of personalities round out the book, which makes Alleyn’s overaching prescence in the story even more admirable,

If Alleyn was a lesser character, he could have been quickly overshadowed by all of the eccentric theatrical personages he is investigating. Still, he’s even more witty, urbane, and straight-talking than in A Man Lay Dead, which is quite a feat. There’s a sense of refinement in the evolution of his character, almost like his qualities have to be sharpened on the whetstone of the people surrounding him in the book.

I also love how his friendship with Bathgate is carried over from A Man Lay Dead and is played in sharp contrast with the rivalries between the play’s cast members. I also immensely enjoyed the introduction of Inspector Fox and their budding double act that will carry through later books. The introduction of Fox provided a natural evolution to the series. It made it so Alleyn could work with Nigel Bathgate if the situation arose, but the books were not wholly dependent on needing a journalistic element to work in Bathgate. It opened the door to a realm of possible cases that do not depend on Alleyn’s friendship with Bathgate for future books.

The closed-circle nature of this mystery is exceptionally well done, and it was such great fun working out everyone’s alibis and where everyone was on and off stage. The number of characters felt just right and provided a sense of movement and fluidity to the setting even though, technically, it all took place on stage.

I had such a great time with Enter a Murderer that it will be difficult not to rush ahead and read another Ngaio Marsh mystery.

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