Off With His Head

I am in the midst of a job change, therefore, not feeling up to reading anything heavy. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a few mysteries (the old-fashioned English ones where the murder takes place at a country mansion and everyone including the police treat it as a sort of intellectual puzzle, ra......more

In this 19th book in the 'Roderick Alleyn' series, the British detective investigates the death of a folk dancer. The book can be read as a standalone. ***** In the English village of South Mardian the winter solstice is marked by a complex ritual dance performed solely by men. This year, not long aft......more

An entertaining read. Morris dancing with a twist! Annually in the depths of winter in a remote English village the Dance of the five sons is performed on Sword Wednesday during the Winter Solstice. It has been performed for hundreds of years. The key characters in the dance are "The Fool", "The Hobb......more

My favourite Ngaio Marsh story is the one that does not involve the theatre or New Zealand. Death of a Fool is set in a snowy English village holding out against the 20th century. It could easily be silly, but Ngaio Marsh is far too good a writer to slip into that error. The story has a village smit......more

Set just after World War II, Marsh represents a rural village in England that still hangs on to the ways of the past....the long ago past. For centuries the village of South Maridan has celebrated the winter solstice with a Wednesday Sword Dance. Outsiders are not generally welcomed to the festiviti......more