Death and the Dancing Footman cover art

Death and the Dancing Footman

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Death and the Dancing Footman

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: James Saxon
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A winter weekend ends in snowbound disaster in a novel which remains a favourite among Marsh readers.

It began as an entertainment: eight people, many of them enemies, gathered for a winter weekend by a host with a love for theatre. They would be the characters in a drama that he would devise.

It ended in snowbound disaster. Everyone had an alibi - and most had motives as well. But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, when he finally arrived, knew it all hung on Thomas, the dancing footman....

©1942 Original Text of 1942 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio Cosy Crime Fiction Espionage Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Detective Crime Winter

Listeners also enjoyed...

 A Man Lay Dead cover art
Inspector Alan Grant: The Full Collection cover art
The Ngaio Marsh BBC Radio Collection cover art
The Crime at Black Dudley cover art
Death of an Author cover art
The Theft of the Iron Dogs cover art
The White Priory Murders cover art
The Wintringham Mystery cover art
The White Cottage Mystery cover art
These Names Make Clues cover art
Two-Way Murder cover art
Murder at Everham Hall cover art
Dashing Through the Snow cover art
A Mortal Bane cover art
A Test of Wills cover art
The Travelling Grave and Other Stories cover art

Critic reviews

"On the plane of art." ( Tatler)
"She is astoundingly good." ( Daily Express)
"The brilliant Ngaio Marsh ranks with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers." ( Times Literary Supplement)
All stars
Most relevant  
I first discovered Ms.Marsh's detective stories over half a century ago, was mesmerized by, and loved, them. Her characters spring to life, like watching them through a telecope, one which also allows for the conversations to be hrard, and her detailed accuracy of location, be it driving in a a snow and ice covered countryside to the interior of a house room bring the surrounding clearly into focus with minimum effort. Even though set in an earlier era - the isolated country house of seventy years ago - Death and the Dancing Doorman didn't even really feel dated. Despite the largely unpleasant characters within, the book was thoroughly enjoyable, a who-dun-it peppered with clues to allow the reader to get the solution before the reveal.

I have mixed feelings about the narrator, James Saxon, whose deep, rich timbre seemed very fitting for the time of original publication (1942), somewhat reminiscent of broadcasters of that era. Although giving a good performance, with fine upper class English accent except when a protagonist foreign accent was required,, and maintaining good verbal texture throuhout, a lighter timbre was needed to lift this story of the party arranged for drama deliberately gone horribly wrong.The

A very enjoyable read, overall, and recommended to all appreciating the closed house, who-dun-it detective novels, similar to, but arguably better than, Agatha Christie.

"I boggle at the cloak."

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Intricately plotted, vividly written and richly portrayed by the reader, the late James Saxon. Another absorbing taken on the Alleyne series.

Death and the Dancing Footman

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This Warlike Harry is the mother of all evil, midwife to oblivion, and a muse of fire accending the dreary drizzel spun up of the satanic Cow with with the "how you say, ze zychology of the village idiot"

Ngaio Assuming The Port Of Marsh.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story rambles on from the beginning as do other books in the series, introducing characters and muddying the waters. So far, so usual but Alleyn appears very late in the proceedings and plays, I think, a lesser part than previously. The story is still a good one and the confusions are not resolved until the last few minutes but I didn't feel it was quite as good as the earlier books.

Not much Alleyn in it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although some of Ngaio Marsh’s attitudes are dated, even cruel, she is a fantastic writer and creates some memorable characters. An excellent narrator makes all the difference

Wonderful character, wonderful narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An excellent Golden Era murder/mystery, written by one of the finest writers of the genre. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Fine Traditional Murder Mystery!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I much prefer Ngaio Marsh to Agatha Christie, and this is my favourite of her Inspector Alleyn books. Her story telling is wonderful and she creates a thoroughly authentic atmosphere. Although the culprit is perhaps the most obvious of her murderers, the story is so well told that it really doesn't matter. James Saxon is, as always, magnificent in his characterisations, and it really is easy to forget he is one man, rather than a whole cast.

A superb reading of an excellent story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not the advertised narrator. This is narrated by James Saxon. Audible appear unable to correct this despite repeated complaint.

Dissatisfaction incorrect narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've loved this series so far but for most of this novel we are stuck in the snow at a house party with some of the most tedious and unpleasant characters Marsh could imagine, who hold endless circuitous conversations about which one of them is attempting to kill someone. Finally, Alleyn appears two thirds of the way through. If I'd known, I'd have given this title a miss and progressed to the next in the series. A rare stumble for Saxon as the narrator as well - his languid and guttural delivery of the Austrian characters' speech added to the lack of urgency.

Interminable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Book one to book ten in this series are fabulous and easy to listen to but THIS one is not worth the effort, Started three times but could not pass chapter ten. It is overly complicated and painfully slow. I would like to return it, if I only KNEW how.

don't bother

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews