"Enter A Murderer"

"Enter A Murderer" is why, in my opinion, Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn mysteries continue to enjoy ongoing popularity.  This is #2 in the series but I somehow overlooked it and had skipped on to #3 before discovering my error and returning to read this one.

Alleyn's journalist friend, Nigel Bathgate, has tickets to see a play and, since his fiancee is out of town, he invites his friend, Roderick Alleyn, to attend with him after warning him it is a play that might hit him a little too close to home as it is much like his real life work.  However, Alleyn is delighted to accept and sets off to the theater with Nigel.  They are invited backstage prior to the start of the play since one of Nigel's friends, Felix Gardener, has a leading role.  They also have the pleasure of meeting several of the cast before the play begins.

The play ends with a bang when one of the cast is shot - for real - and not with the dummy bullets that were supposed to be in the gun.  The wheels are set in motion for Alleyn to put on his Inspector hat and, with the help of his team, solve a murder.  I have yet to deduce who the murderer is in any of the Roderick Alleyn mysteries I have read so far and this was no exception but, when I was two or three chapters from the end of the book, I began to get an idea of who might have done it.  pazt