Scales of Justice

By: Ngaio Marsh

Narrated by: Philip Franks

The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in a beautiful stream which winds past their homes.

Then one of their small community is found brutally murdered; beside him is the freshly killed trout. Both died by violence - but Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's murder investigation seems to be much more interested in the fish....

Scales of Justice was first published in 1955.

©1955 Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Fishy

I sometimes imagine NM writing her novels, seizing plot twists out of the air Harry Potter style while parading her memories of England and NZ past her third eye. This satisfies my sense of the fitness of things but I think it is more true that she composed her novels in a sort of Golden Age-ish mystery 6th dimension bubble occupied by herself, Agatha, Dorothy, etc. The plots are always beyond believable yet at the same time fully credible within the conventions of the genre, and the characters are usually far too nice or too civilized for a modern reader to identify with. After being lulled into coziness it's always a jarring moment when she describes the wound or death blow in graphic Cornwellian detail. But it's never a disappointment and always a pleasure to follow her fine prose down another avenue of entertaining crime fiction. This tale of a large trout and its part in the lives of a troupe of amusing characters is very entertaining and deserving of a nibble.

Excellent story and performance!

A deep plot with detailed characters without one “f” word. Highly recommend if you are a fan of “whodunnits” looking for a clean read that’s not cheesy. Can’t wait to read the next!

classic Marsh murder in manor grounds

Well performed by Franks. Marsh gives us a murder by the manor trout stream, complete with red herrings right up until the end. Recommended

Delightful fish story

Another tightly woven tale with an array of characters whose relationships are initially impossible to comprehend. But of course Chief Inspector Alleyne understands everything almost instantly once he arrives on the scene and again Marsh compresses time such that Alleyne miraculously solves a crime almost overnight. This does not diminish the pleasure of solving it with him. Amazing that Marsh wrote these tales over so many decades and maintained her gift for it.

Top notch

Excellent mystery, wonderful characterisation and superbly narrated. Ngaio Marsh is, dare I say it… a cut above Agatha Christie.