MYSTERY WRITERS.INFO

Ngaio Marsh
Awards
Praises 

Edith Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) is a native of New Zealand whose name means "flowering tree" in Maori, the native language. She was born in Fendalton, now part of Christchurch, New Zealand. She created one of the most popular detective, Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a upper class English police officer of the Scotland Yard who first appeared in her novel A Man Lay Dead (1934). He appeared in 31 more novels. 
            Light Thickens (1982) was the last novel in which Inspector Roderick Alleyn appeared. Most of her novels are set in London but Vintage Murder (1937), Colour Scheme (1943), Died in the Wool (1945), and Photo Finish (1980) had her homeland, New Zealand as the background. 

Awards:

She was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1966 for her ever surprising and engrossing mysteries. 

Her novel Death of a Peer is listed in the Top 100 Mystery Books and Stories compiled by the English critic H.R.F Keating. Click here to see this list

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Praises:

"She writes better than Christie."
                                              - The New York Times Book Review
"She has the gift....."
                          - Erle Stanley Gardner

"It's time to compare Christie to Marsh instead of the other way round."
                                                                                                                - Dilys Winn, New York Magazine

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