Black As He’s Painted - Softcover

‘A splendid, eccentric detective story in classic style.’
Evening Standard

‘She writes as beautifully as ever.’
Sunday Times

‘An elegant, disciplined writer, Marsh deserves to be read and re-read not just for her plots but for her characterisation, for her painter’s eye view and for her outsider’s insights into the heart of a vanished social world.’
Susan Howatch

‘The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an Empress.’
The Sun

THE ALLEYN MYSTERIES

When the President of Ng'ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief Superintendent Alleyn is called in to try to persuade him otherwise.

Alleyn performs his mission so successfully that on the night of the Ng'ombwanan Embassy's reception the house and grounds are stiff with police. However, an assassin does strike, and Alleyn discovers a wealth of suspects in a coterie of ex-colonials residing in the very shadow of the Embassy...

"A splendid, eccentric detective story in classic style"
EVENING STANDARD

"She writes as beautifully as ever"
SUNDAY TIMES

"The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an express."
THE SUN