Roderick Alleyn Books in Order
Roderick Alleyn is the gentleman-detective of Scotland Yard at the heart of Ngaio Marsh's classic Golden Age mystery series. Across 32 novels published between 1934 and 1982, the urbane Inspector (later Chief Superintendent) Alleyn unravels murders among the theatre, the arts, and the English upper classes, often aided by his colleague Inspector Fox and his painter wife Agatha Troy.
Publication order
In the order the books were originally released.
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Buy on Amazon1934 · Ngaio Marsh
This 1934 novel by Ngaio Marsh, Roderick Alleyn's first case, follows a game of Murder that turns deadly when it ends in a real killing at the…
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Buy on AmazonEnter a Murderer (Roderick Alleyn #2)
1935 · Ngaio Marsh
A 1935 novel by Ngaio Marsh in which the Unicorn Theatre's new play uncannily echoes a real quarrel in the star's dressing room. The stage drama…
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Buy on Amazon1935 · Ngaio Marsh
A 1935 novel by Ngaio Marsh follows a politician who dies shortly after an operation for what was thought to be appendicitis. The Home Secretary's…
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1936 · Ngaio Marsh
Death in Ecstasy is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1936. It is the fourth novel to feature her series detective, Chief…
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Buy on Amazon1937 · Ngaio Marsh
"Death Served Well-Chilled" is a 1937 mystery novel by Ngaio Marsh. A beautiful leading lady in a theater company touring New Zealand marries the…
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Buy on Amazon1938 · Ngaio Marsh
Artists in Crime is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, published in 1938. It is the sixth book in the Roderick Alleyn series. The story centers on the…
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Buy on Amazon1938 · Ngaio Marsh
A body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery in this 1938 novel by Ngaio Marsh, perhaps the finest of Marsh's 1930s novels.…
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Buy on Amazon1939 · Ngaio Marsh
Overture to Death is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, the eighth in the series featuring Roderick Alleyn. It was first published in 1939. The story…
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1940 · Ngaio Marsh
Death at the Bar is a crime novel by Ngaio Marsh, the ninth to feature her series detective, Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland…
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Buy on Amazon1941 · Ngaio Marsh
The eccentric, perpetually broke Lamprey family becomes embroiled in scandal when their wealthy, unpleasant uncle is found stabbed in the lift of…
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1941 · Ngaio Marsh
Surfeit of Lampreys is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, the tenth in the series featuring Roderick Alleyn. It was first published in 1941. The novel…
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Buy on Amazon1942 · Ngaio Marsh
A 1942 novel by Ngaio Marsh. A bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party to bring together his bitterest enemies for his own amusement; as…
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Buy on Amazon1943 · Ngaio Marsh
Ngaio Marsh's 1943 detective novel is set on New Zealand's North Island and is often considered her most interesting work. The story begins with the…
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Buy on Amazon1945 · Ngaio Marsh
In this 1945 novel by Ngaio Marsh, Flossie Rubrick goes to her husband's wool shed one summer evening in 1942 to rehearse a patriotic speech and…
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Buy on Amazon1947 · Ngaio Marsh
In 1947, Ngaio Marsh wrote a mystery novel in which famed Shakespearean actor Sir Henry dies after a lethal birthday dinner featuring champagne and…
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Buy on Amazon1949 · Ngaio Marsh
At a fashionable London restaurant, a swing band performs a comic number in which the leader pretends to be shot. Instead, the accordionist dies,…
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1949 · Ngaio Marsh
Swing, Brother, Swing is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, the fifteenth in the Roderick Alleyn series. It was first published in 1949 in the UK. In…
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Buy on Amazon1951 · Ngaio Marsh
Opening Night is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, the sixteenth in the Roderick Alleyn series. It was first published in 1951. The novel was also…
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1954 · Ngaio Marsh
Spinsters in Jeopardy is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1953 (with a 1954 edition also noted). It is the seventeenth novel to…
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Buy on Amazon1955 · Ngaio Marsh
Scales of Justice is a 1955 novel by Ngaio Marsh. The village of Swevenings is pretty as a picture but its secrets are ugly, and its gentry dread the…
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Buy on Amazon1957 · Ngaio Marsh
During an ancient ritual folk dance performed in a frozen village on a winter's night, the old man playing a key role is decapitated in front of the…
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1957 · Ngaio Marsh
Off with His Head is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, the nineteenth in the series featuring Roderick Alleyn. It was first published in the USA in…
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Buy on Amazon1959 · Ngaio Marsh
On a cold February night, police find a third corpse on a London quayside, her body covered with flower petals and pearls, and the killer walks away…
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Buy on Amazon1960 · Ngaio Marsh
In a 1960 novel by Ngaio Marsh, British actress Mary Bellamy is killed at her birthday party by a poisonous mist from a bottle of "Slaypest," an…
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Buy on Amazon1962 · Ngaio Marsh
An April Fool's Day prank turns fatal for Mr Cartell, who ends up dead in a ditch. Other threads include a letter of condolence from Mr Percival Pyke…
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Buy on AmazonDead Water (A Roderick Alleyn Mystery)
1964 · Ngaio Marsh
Octogenarian Emily Pride inherits an island with the healing spring 'Pixie Falls' and is shocked by the vulgar commercialization around it, wanting…
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Buy on Amazon1967 · Ngaio Marsh
The 24th Alleyn detective novel, in which a mysterious wealthy patron gives a young man a bombed-out theater along with a glove said to have belonged…
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Buy on Amazon1968 · Ngaio Marsh
Five Days Out of Time is a 1968 novel by Ngaio Marsh. It follows Inspector Alleyn as he investigates a murder aboard a cruise on a misted English…
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Buy on Amazon1970 · Ngaio Marsh
Inspector Roderick Alleyn is on vacation in Rome when a member of his tour group is murdered. Shortly after, the tour guide disappears under…
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Buy on Amazon1989 · Ngaio Marsh
A Christmas pageant turns unholy when Troy Alleyn is invited to paint a portrait at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate. Along with other eccentric…
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Buy on Amazon1974 · Ngaio Marsh
Chief Superintendent Alleyn is asked to advise against the increased security risks when the president of Ng'ombwana visits London. Despite…
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Buy on Amazon1977 · Ngaio Marsh
Visiting his son Ricky in a small island community, Alleyn finds the young man entangled with locals while a drug-smuggling operation simmers nearby.…
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Buy on Amazon1978 · Ngaio Marsh
Grave Mistake is a 1978 novel by Ngaio Marsh. Sybil Foster, snobbish and high-strung, prides herself on her Upper Quintern estate and asparagus beds;…
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Buy on Amazon1980 · Ngaio Marsh
A persistent paparazzi has pushed operatic soprano Isabella Sommita to her limits, leading her millionaire boyfriend to take her to a New Zealand…
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Buy on Amazon1982 · Ngaio Marsh
A 1982 novel by Ngaio Marsh. A new London production of Macbeth promises to be a smash until gruesome pranks plague rehearsals, and when the last act…
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Companion & related books
Short-story collections and companion titles in this series.
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Buy on AmazonDeath on the Air (Travelman Crime)
Year unknown · Ngaio Marsh
This collection gathers short detective fiction by Ngaio Marsh, including the title story in which Roderick Alleyn investigates a Christmas-morning…
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Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Roderick Alleyn books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with “A Man Lay Dead”. Start with “A Man Lay Dead.”
How many books are in the Roderick Alleyn series?
We list 36 books by Ngaio Marsh , published between 1934–1989.
Where can I buy the Roderick Alleyn books?
Each title above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.