Overture to Death

A Roderick Alleyn Mystery

By: Ngaio Marsh

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

Who in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people—among them her fellow cast members from a troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others’ lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman—and may soon stage a repeat performance.

Investigate another case with Roderick Alleyn.©1956 Ngaio Marsh (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A classic Ngaio Marsh convoluted mystery!

I loved the story as a fan of Marsh’s mysteries. I found the articulate voice of the narrator too high pitched for rendering male voices. I suggest using sound engineering to lower her pitch when representing male voices in the future.

Excellent Narration

Ngaio Marsh is a favorite of mine - her writing is amusing, and clever, and descriptive. This story is all of those things, and introduces delightful and irritating characters quite amusing to meet.
Wanda McCaddon's narration is clear, animated, and at a good speed. I will look for more of her performances simply for the enjoyment of hearing her voice.

Amazing, extremely talented narrator

The story was good, but the narrator was the best I've heard. She had a different voice for every character, and there were MANY. I look forward to listening to more of her work.

Reader was great! Story felt like the old Hitchcock Hour♥️

Highly recommend for those who love the nostalgic ideal that the bad guys always get their comeuppance, & who love good “old-fashioned” writing. (And for those who have an open mind when it comes to discovering something “new”.)
Hope you enjoy this amazing author!

This particular book by Ngaio isn’t as mysterious as her others, you’ll figure out the culprit pretty early. You might start with “A Man Lay Dead” if you’re strictly looking for a whodunnit. (Also, this era of writing is great for showing how to be assertive with the abusers in life—that direct, immediate calling people out on their bull & refusal to go along with it! If everyone in the story had applied that, it wouldn’t have escalated to murder mystery!)

Excellent all around.

Have always liked Ngaio Marsh's books. Yes, they are dated, but look at when they were written for heaven's sake. The narrator, Wanda McCaddon, did a wonderful job. Very entertaining.