Review: Final Curtain

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am very excited to have discovered this author--she is wonderful and has written a lot of books.

This novel was different from other mysteries I have read in that the whole first half of the book takes place in the family where the crime happens, and we are there for the crime itself. Our narrator is the wife of the Chief Inspector who will be called in later to solve the crime who happens to have gotten mixed up with the family but isn't really connected. I thought the plot device was very effective as it gave the reader two very distinct views of the suspects but didn't give too much away early on. I did not figure out the murderer, right up to the arrest I thought it was someone else, but it made sense once it was revealed.I did figure out how it was done though.

The book had quite a few bits I found funny, mostly observations of human behavior, and the plot was excellently done.