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Grave Mistake

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Grave Mistake

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: Jane Asher
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About this listen

A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday.... A bit snobbish and a trifle high strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener.

In fact she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide.

Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second. And Inspector Roderick Alleyn, CID, digging about Upper Quintern, may unearth still a third...deeply buried motive for murder.

©1978 Original Text of 1978 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio Cosy Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Detective Thriller

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Critic reviews

"The brilliant Ngaio Marsh ranks with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers." ( Times Literary Supplement)
"It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." ( New York Magazine)
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I love other female narrators for Ngaio Marsh's work (Nadia May for example) but Jane Asher's delivery was ponderous and dull and she mispronounces Alleyn throughout. Even if the reader is unaware that it is 'Allen' and not 'Allain', the publisher should be. A bit slapdash and shoddy. A shame, because the story is a corker.

Disappointing narrator

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This doesn't stray from the genres norm in that person/people murdered tend not to be the nicest characters,that coincidence runs rampant & usually 'The Yard' gets it's 'man' on flimsy circumstantial evidence, leading to a dramatic last minute confession.
As interesting/bonkers as the stories may be, there are rich pickings on the social mores from background descriptions,e.g. unsympathetic descriptions of mental health,frequent kicking dogs,the class system,the necessary cigarette in every sentence.
Jane Asher does read it well,maintaining characterisation throughout,however her portrait of the elegant Chief Inspector Alleyn is sadly very stilted. Still for me an enjoyable listen.

As with many 'Golden Age' detection stories,you must adopt a more credulous state of mind before chapter one.

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Well narrated, loved the "voices" and we'll developed story! A great escape from reality! Great story telling, characters suit, easy listening.

Brilliant Story

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The storyline was ingenious but I would have expected more from the narrator. Her attempt at the accents was very poor and she just sounded too “ladylike”. Other narrators have done much better with the Ngaio Marsh books

Good story

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I found the narrator’s voice for both Alleyn and Fox jarring, unfortunately, as got in the way of what, for other characters, was fine

Solid Ngaio Marsh story, narration sometimes jarring

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This is typically deft Marsh -- a wry dissection of the English class system masquerading as a murder mystery. Her pithy descriptions always make me smile. Jane Asher is an irritating narrator, however. To portray Allen, she raises her voice to a grating pitch, one which is totally at odds with his considered, courteous personality. And that's before we get to the mispronunciation of his surname.

Enjoyed Marsh, not Asher

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like the old fashioned detective novels. like them brought to life by the reader. unfortunately Jane asher is not good at alleyn. made him sound remote, snobby and pompous. if it wasn't for the story I would have switched off. could barely wait for it to finish due to the way alleyn sounded.

great storyline as usual

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I love Jane Asher as a reader, she lends an air of mystery to the reading. I agree that Alleyn's voice is a bit high, she has done this with other male roles, but after a bit you get used to it!

The story has lots of twists and kept me wanted to listen all the way through.

Well read, intriguing story

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While l worked out the killer and the denouement, this never reduces the brilliance of Marsh's "cosy" crime thrillers. Alleyn is one of the greatest fictional detectives in the genre's firmament, and the storytelling is never less than compelling. While Jane Asher was good at the narration, l much prefer John Saxon.

Brilliant as ever.

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I listened at speed 85 and found this very much improved the reading. I loved the various voices although the Chief Inspector was rather more aloof than I'd have preferred. Like in the case of one or two other readers of Marsh's novels, his name was mispronounced which was an unnecessary minor irritation.

Sounds best at a lower speed

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