Death in Ecstasy (Roderick Alleyn #4) 2Stars

 

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Title: Death in Ecstasy
Series: Roderick Alleyn #4
Author: Ngaio Marsh
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 209
Words: 73K

Whereas Rex Stout wrote about an oversexed man with a love cave, in Too Many Clients, and whereas Rex Stout wrote it in such a way as not to be prurient, I am forced to compare yesterday’s book with this one.

Mrs Marsh writes about a love cult that deals in drugs and sex. Mrs Marsh writes pruriently even while not being graphic at all. Mrs Marsh writes about the subject in such a sordid manner that it disgusted me.

There are the two comparisons. I didn’t read or review that way on purpose, it just happened. But I am glad it did. Because it has brought to light just how vile Mrs Marsh is in her writings. There has been something “off” in every book and the comparison brought what it was to light for me. Mrs Marsh seems to delight in writing about evil, almost gleefully and clapping her hands about it, while making sure no one could point to any one particular scene and say “This is graphically vile, you should be ashamed of writing that.”

After four books of things feeling “off” and making this conclusion, I think I am done with the Inspector Alleyn series and with Ngaio Marsh as an author. Not how I wanted things to go, but I refuse to read things that make me feel like these books do.

★★☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

Journalist Nigel Bathgate lets curiosity get the better of him when he decides to attend services at The Temple of the Sacred Flame. He sneaks in and witnesses the ceremony. One of the initiates, Cara Quayne, has been chosen to be the Chosen Vessel. As part of the ritual, Miss Quayne drinks from a goblet of wine, seemingly enters ecstasy and falls down dead.

Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn is called in to investigate. Nigel relays everything he witnessed. All of the initiates drank from the goblet with Cara Quayne having done so last. Father Garnette blessed the goblet then passed it to the initiates who drank from it with their eyes closed. A partially dissolved scrap of paper is discovered in the goblet, leading Alleyn to believe one of the initiates dropped the cyanide into the goblet in that manner. Moreover, Alleyn finds an old book in Garnette's quarters that opens up to a page on how to make cyanide at home. The book belongs to Samuel Ogden who claims it went missing some days or weeks earlier.

Alleyn's questioning reveals very little. Several initiates have a god complex for Garnette and many are clearly jealous over the attention the wealthy Cara Quayne received from the priest. Miss Ernestine Wade claims she overheard Miss Quayne arguing with someone the afternoon of the murder where Quayne threatened to expose someone. Alleyn suspects this is about some missing bonds Miss Quayne donated to the church but were stolen from the priest's safe.

Alleyn's attention moves toward Maurice Pringle, an initiate who is addicted to drugs. Maurice is in love with fellow initiate Janey Jenkins who befriends Nigel and tells him about Maurice's addiction. She believes Father Garnette is the one responsible. Alleyn begins investigating the finances of the church and learns Ogden has a very large financial stake in the church because he provided most of the founding capital. Garnette receives a certain percentage of the income and M. Raoul de Ravigne receives a much smaller percentage. Cara Quayne's will leaves much of her vast fortune to the Church of the Sacred Flame.

Alleyn arrests Garnette for drug smuggling and Samuel Ogden for murder. Ogden is a well-known figure wanted for drug smuggling and murder in Australia. He has also partaken in a number of schemes such as the Church of the Sacred Flame. He murdered Cara Quayne because she knew he stole the bonds from the priest's safe and also because he would receive the bulk of her estate through his own stake in the church. Ogden was the last person to drink from the goblet during the ceremony, which gave him the most advantageous position to slip the poison into the wine.