Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982)
Author of A Man Lay Dead
About the Author
Ngaio Marsh was born on April 23, 1895 in Christchurch, New Zealand. She attended St. Mary's College and Canterbury University. She worked in the theater acting, producing, and even painting scenery. She was a partner in an interior decorating business in England from 1928 to 1932. She later show more returned to New Zealand and produced plays for a Shakespearean repertory company. She also worked with the Drama Department of Canterbury University. During World War II, she served in the New Zealand Red Cross Transport Unit. She traveled to England frequently and founded the British Commonwealth Theatre Company in 1949. Her first novel, A Man Lay Dead, was published in 1934. She wrote more than 40 books including the Roderick Alleyn Mysteries series and Black Beech and Honeydew. She also wrote theatrical and television plays. She was named to the Order of the British Empire in 1949 and was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. The Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in 1977. She died on February 18, 1982 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Ngaio Marsh
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 01: A Man Lay Dead / Enter a Murderer / The Nursing Home Murder (2009) 139 copies
Scales of Justice / Death of a Fool / Tied Up in Tinsel / Grave Mistake / Photo Finish (1983) 76 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 03: Death in a White Tie / Overture to Death / Death at the Bar (2009) 64 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 04: A Surfeit of Lampreys / Death and the Dancing Footman / Colour Scheme (2009) 56 copies
Curtain Calls: Three Great Mysteries..Enter a Murderer..Night At the Vulcan...Killer Dolphin (1966) 55 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 05: Died in the Wool / Final Curtain / Swing, Brother, Swing (1998) 50 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 09: Clutch of Constables / When in Rome / Tied Up in Tinsel (2010) 45 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 07: Off With His Head / Singing in the Shrouds / False Scent (2009) 44 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 11: Photo-Finish / Light Thickens / Black Beech and Honeydew (1782) 35 copies
The Ngaio Marsh Collection 06: Opening Night / Spinsters in Jeopardy / Scales of Justice (2009) 35 copies
Three-act special; 3 complete mystery novels: A wreath for Rivera. Spinsters in jeopardy. Night at the Vulcan (1960) 24 copies
The Roderick Alleyn Mysteries: The Nursing Home Murder; Death in a White Tie; Final Curtain (1993) 24 copies
Ngaio Marsh 2 copies
Singing in the Shrouds (abridged) 2 copies
The Roderick Alleyn Mysteries: Surfeit of Lampreys, Death and the Dancing Footman, and Colour Scheme 2 copies
Enter A Murderer; A Man Lay Dead; Death At The Bar; Death And The Dancing Footman; Overture To Death, [in 5 volumes] (1941) 2 copies
Death In a White Tie, Death Of A Peer, Hand in Glove, Death And The Dancing Footwoman, Death At The Bar (1982) 1 copy
Ngaio Marsh DEATH OF A PEER 1940 The Book League of America, NY Early Reprint [Hardcover] unknown 1 copy
Opening Night | When in Rome 1 copy
The Christmas tree 1 copy
Death in the garden 1 copy
Associated Works
Grande Dames of Detection: Two Centuries of Sleuthing Stories by the Gentle Sex (1973) — Contributor — 32 copies
In Deadly Earnest: A Collection of Fiction by New Zealand Women 1870s–1980s (1989) — Contributor — 7 copies
Detective Omnibus — Contributor — 6 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Marsh, Dame Edith Ngaio
- Birthdate
- 1895-04-23
- Date of death
- 1982-02-18
- Burial location
- Church of the Holy Innocents Churchyard Peel Forest, Timaru District, Canterbury, New Zealand
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- New Zealand
- Birthplace
- Christchurch, New Zealand
- Place of death
- Christchurch, New Zealand
- Places of residence
- England, UK
Christchurch, New Zealand - Education
- St. Margaret's College (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Canterbury College (School of Art) - Occupations
- theatrical producer
interior decorator
novelist
actor
painter
detective novelist - Organizations
- Detection Club
- Awards and honors
- Order of the British Empire (Dame Commander, 1966)
MWA Grand Master (1978) - Short biography
- Ngaio Marsh was the pen name of Edith Ngaio Marsh, born in Christchurch, New Zealand to English immigrants. Her name, pronounced "ny-o," was a Maori word meaning "reflections on the water." She attended the private St. Margaret’s College, where she showed an aptitude for acting and writing, producing poetry, prose and plays.
In 1913 she entered Canterbury College School of Art and left in 1919 in order to become a professional painter. The opportunity to tour with the Allan Wilkie Shakespeare Company delayed her plans until later in the 1920s. In 1928, Marsh made her first visit to England, where she worked in the theatre, interior design, and travel writing. She began writing novels and soon embarked on a prolific crime-writing career. In 1934, she published A Man Lay Dead, featuring the very English Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. During World War II, she served in a New Zealand Red Cross Transport Unit, driving repatriated soldiers in a hospital bus. By the 1950s, Marsh was considered a “Queen of Crime” along with Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers.
Marsh was passionately attached to her native country and returned to live in New Zealand but made frequent trips to England and other countries. She became a leader of the New Zealand theatre, mounting numerous Shakespeare plays. In her career, Ngaio Marsh wrote 32 novels and an autobiography, Black Beech and Honeydew (1965). She never married. Margaret Lewis wrote an authorized biography, Ngaio Marsh, A Life in 1991. New Zealand art historian Joanne Drayton's biography, Ngaio Marsh: Her Life in Crime, was published in 2008.
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Statistics
- Works
- 107
- Also by
- 47
- Members
- 28,559
- Popularity
- #705
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 589
- ISBNs
- 1,257
- Languages
- 14
- Favorited
- 69