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Death in Ecstasy

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Death in Ecstasy

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: James Saxon
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About this listen

The poison was cyanide, slipped into the sacred wine of ecstasy just before it was presented to Miss Cara Quayne at the House of the Sacred Flame.

The victim was a deeply religious initiate who had trained for a month for her last ceremony. She was also a very beautiful woman.... The suspects were the other initiates and the high priest. All claimed they were above earthly passions. But Cara Quayne had provoked lust, jealousy - and murder.

Roderick Alleyn suspected that more evil still lurked behind the Sign of the Sacred Flame....

©1936 Original Text of 1936 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio
Cosy Crime Thrillers Fiction Suspense Traditional Detectives Mystery Thriller Detective
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Critic reviews

"A novelist of glittering accomplishment." ( Sunday Times)
"She writes better than Christie!" ( New York Times)

What listeners say about Death in Ecstasy

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    4 out of 5 stars

The ingenuity of the author.

The story’s grip came about half way through, until then it was a candidate for stopping the recording. Pleased I persevered.

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  • Overall
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Spoiled by the strange voices used by the narrator

I enjoy the Alleyn stories but enjoyed this less through the irritating narration. It gave impression that the narrator was not taking it seriously. Too many characters were caricatures and several sounded more like Julian and Sandy from Round The Horne than real people.

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1 person found this helpful

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Enjoyable

I enjoy most of Ngaio Marsh's books, and as far as plot-lines go, this one doesn't disappoint. It's atmospheric, ingenious and well written. However - a warning: It does contain attitudes to homosexuality which are offensive but which were, alas, common to the times in which it was written.

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For Alleyn Fans ...

Alleyn is in nearly every scene - unlike some of the later books in the series. One of Ngaio Marsh's best so far. On a technical point: not sure if it was due to listening while unable to sleep but I had to tweak the listening speed down slightly in the latter part of the book - worked a treat.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Old-fashioned, light-hearted sleuthing

The kind of crime that we’re used to from old-fashioned Holmes and detectives who play their part. The characters are a little cartoon-like and the accents are way too stereotypical but so what? I enjoyed listening to it.

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Nice but a bit problematic

I found this book entertaining and catching, although a bit problematic here and there, with numerous homophobic remarks.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good plot ruined by an awful narrator

Good story ruined by an over-the-top narrator. He read the book like it was one long farce. I know that the author was not always politically correct, but I felt the narrator could have tempered this by his performance, but instead, I felt he was poking fun at the characters and, ergo, belittling the author's writing. It was really off-putting.

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Bored

I have always enjoyed reading Nagio Marsh previously. Found D in C thin and uninteresting. Maybe th effect of listening rather than reading!

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Excellent book, well read.

I have enjoyed reading Ngaio Marsh for many years. This is an excellent interpretation of yhe story.

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