Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Photo-Finish

  • By: Ngaio Marsh
  • Narrated by: James Saxon
  • Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (80 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

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.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Photo-Finish

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: James Saxon
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
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.

Summary

The luxury mansion on New Zealand's Lake Waihoe was the ideal place for the world-famous soprano to rest after her triumphant tour. Chief Superintendent Alleyn and his wife were among the houseguests - but theirs was not a social visit.

When tragedy struck, the peace of the island was shattered. With a houseful of suspects now isolated by one of the lake's sudden storms, Alleyn was to face one of his trickiest cases....

©1980 Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Man Lay Dead cover art
Death of an Author cover art
The Crime at Black Dudley cover art
Inspector Alan Grant: The Full Collection cover art
The Ngaio Marsh BBC Radio Collection cover art
The Theft of the Iron Dogs cover art
These Names Make Clues cover art
Footsteps in the Dark cover art
The White Priory Murders cover art
The Secret of Chimneys cover art
Death Among the Diamonds cover art
Crossed Skis cover art
The Affair of the Mutilated Mink cover art
The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy cover art
The White Cottage Mystery cover art
Miss Pym Disposes cover art

What listeners say about Photo-Finish

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    51
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    53
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Really enjoyed this book Nagio Marsh delivers every time. Narration was excellent. Story was good from first to last page.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Kiwi Christie

A highly enjoyable murder mystery told with flair by James Saxon, who adopts a number of comic accents that really adds to the wit of the story. Marsh writes with similar lively character observation to Agatha Christie. So if you've read all of Christie's books, I highly recommend trying these by Marsh.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely performance, entertaining mystery

James Saxon is my favourite Marsh narrator. He gives each character a really distinctive voice and paces his narration well to give the listener time to absorb details. Marsh has a satirical, humourous style and Saxon captures the larger-than-life, rather comic characters so well. The story is clever, with a vivid atmosphere and sense of place and it’s easy to picture the scene.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Troy and Allen disappointment

Disliked this performance so very much spoilt the book for me hated every moment - sorry should have returned it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing. Spoilt by the narrator

What disappointed you about Photo-Finish?

Unfortunately I downloaded several Ngaio Marsh titles for a long flight and each time I found James Saxon's narration extremely annoying. In this one there is the added irritation where he suddenly says "End of side 7", which confirmed my suspicions that this is a very old recording made for CD (or audio cassette?) and it seems extremely dated, not in a good way, and is not easy to listen to. My mind kept wandering as I was so bored by the narration, not the story but the way it was told.

What didn’t you like about James Saxon’s performance?

I think he must have been directed to ham it up. His performance is very stylised and each of the characters sounds unlikeable. Never have I found the character of Troy Alleyn so intensely irritating as in this book - and yet I liked her when I read it. He makes her so mealy mouthed. A big pity. His New Zealand accents all sound like parodies.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The story is good, it just needs updating with a new narrator. It sounds like it was recorded in the 1980s.

Any additional comments?

Ngaio Marsh deserves an update with a good narrator who can do proper New Zealand accents.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful