Roderick Alleyn

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Author Ngaio Marsh in the 1940s. Roderick alone is the protagonist in 32 of her novels

Roderick Alleyn is the protagonist of 32 detective novels by the New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh . The first detective novel in which he solves a case was published in 1934. Both Marsh and her protagonist Alleyn are indisputably part of the so-called " Golden Age of Detective Fiction ", a form of crime novel dominated by predominantly British authors that follow a typical plot pattern. Novels that are included in this phase appeared mainly in the years from 1920 to around 1940. In contrast to this, Marsh's last novel with Roderick Alleyn as the protagonist was not published until 1984.

Roderick Alleyn is a "gentleman detective" characteristic of this form of crime novel, who investigates predominantly in Great Britain. A few novels in the series are set in British overseas colonies. Lord Peter Wimsey , Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot , among others, are counted to the same type as Roderick Alleyn . Unlike them, Alleyn is not an amateur, but belongs to the Metropolitan Police Service despite his origins from the gentry . His older brother is a baronet .

Characteristics

Various references in the crime novels Marshs suggest family background, educational background and professional development of Roderick Alleyn. Alleyn was born between 1892 and 1894 and graduated from the University of Oxford around 1915. During the First World War he was a member of the British military for three years. Between 1919 and 1920 he worked for a year in the British diplomatic service. In 1920 or 1921 he successfully applied to the Metropolitan Police Service. Marsh's 32 novels are structured chronologically. In the first novel "Das Todesspiel" ( A Man lay dead , 1934) he is Chief Inspector . In the course of the novels, Alleyn marries, has a son and is ultimately promoted to Chief Superintendent.

The "gentleman detective" as an artifice in crime literature

From the first detective novels in the second half of the 19th century until well into the 20th century, authors were confronted with the fact that members of the police tended to belong to the lower class or the lower middle class. Neither in the United States nor in Great Britain was it realistically conceivable that this origin would not show up in the investigative work if the murder occurred in the upper class. In the United States, the social limit marked the material prosperity, in Great Britain belonging to the aristocratic class. At the same time, however, in particular crime novels with a plot met with a particular interest in reading among members of the upper classes. The American author Anna Katharine Green introduced a solution to this problem for the first time with her detective novel That Affair Next Door (published 1897), which later detective authors took up in various variations. Green put another figure at the side of the investigating police inspector who belongs to the upper class. Ngaio Marsh found a different solution with her protagonist Roderick Alleyn: Her gentry character joins the police not for reasons of a living, but out of an interest in detective work. This basic premise of the character is already established in the first novel, Das Todesspiel , when one of the murder suspects comments on the investigating inspector with the words:

“… He's a bit unorthodox. He must be a gent with private means who sleuths for sleuthing's sake. "

“... he's a little unorthodox. He seems to be a wealthy gentleman who investigates for the sake of investigating. "

The setting of the novel Das Todesspiel is a sprawling country house in which various members of the upper and upper middle classes have gathered to spend a weekend together. Another murder suspect states elsewhere that Alleyn cannot be compared to other police figures, but belongs to a shift that makes up the guests at such a weekend party.

Detective novels with Roderick Alleyn as the protagonist

  • The death game ("A Man Lay Dead"). 3rd edition Goldmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-442-04990-3 .
  • A shot in the theater ("Enter a Murderer"). Goldmann, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-442-11589-2 .
  • Murder in the clinic. Detective novel ("The Nursing-Home Murder"). Goldmann, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-442-05040-8 and ISBN 3-442-05040-5 .
  • Death in ecstasy. Detective novel ("Death in Ecstasy"). Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-05016-2 .
  • The champagne murder. Detective novel ("Vintage Murder"). 3rd edition Goldmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-442-04917-2 .
  • Murder in the studio. Detective novel ("Artists in Crime"). 5th edition Goldmann, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-442-05000-6 .
  • Death in tails. Detective novel ("Death in a White Tie"). 3rd edition Goldmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-442-04908-3 .
  • Overture to Death. Detective novel ("Overture to Death"). Goldmann, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-442-11589-2 .
  • Death in the pub. Detective novel ("Death at the Bar"). 2nd edition Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-04904-0 .
  • Death in the elevator. Detective novel ("Surfeit of Lampreys"). Goldmann, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-442-04980-6 (formerly the title of the Lamprey family ).
  • Death and the dancing servant. Detective novel ("Death and the Dancing Footman"). Goldmann, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-442-04974-1 .
  • Red in case of danger. Detective novel ("Color Scheme"). Goldmann, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-442-04968-7 .
  • Died in the wool. A mystery . New edition St. Martin's Press, New York 1998, ISBN 0-312-96604-0 .
  • Final applause. Detective novel ("Final Curtain"). Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-05008-1 .
  • My lord does not kill ("Swing, Brother, Swing"). 4th edition Goldmann, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-442-04910-5 .
  • Thursday premiere ("Opening Night"). 3rd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-502-50932-8 .
  • The castle of Mr. Oberon ("Spinsters in Jeopardy"). 3rd edition Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-04954-7 .
  • Mute witnesses. Detective novel ("Scales of Justice"). Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-05028-6 .
  • The fool's death. Detective novel ("Off With His Head Death of a Fool"). Goldmann, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-442-04946-6 .
  • The hyacinth killer. Detective novel ("Singing in the Shrouds"). Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-05036-7 .
  • Miss Bellamy dies ("False Scent"). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-502-51154-3 .
  • If it falls into the ditch, it falls into the swamp. Detective novel ("Hand in Glove"). 3rd edition Goldmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-442-04912-1 .
  • Behind the dead waters. Detective novel ("Dead Water"). Goldmann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-442-05033-2 .
  • The glove. An Inspektor Alleyn novel ("Death at the Dolphin"). Goldmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-442-04934-2 .
  • Death on the river. Detective novel ("Clutch of Constables"). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-502-50814-3 (former title The portrait is missing in the profile ).
  • Dying included (“When in Rome”). 2nd edition. Scherz Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-502-50814-3 (former title The price includes death ).
  • The death of a snowman ("Tied up in Tinsel"). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-502-50829-1 .
  • Black as the night ("Black as He's Painted"). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-502-50851-8 .
  • A keen ear for false tones (“Last Ditch”). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-502-50973-5 .
  • Between the coffin and the pit (“Grave Mistake”). 2nd edition Scherz Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-502-51008-3 .
  • Applause at the bitter end (“Photo Finish”). Scherz Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-502-50898-4 .
  • Murder in front of a full house. Detective novel ("Light Thickens"). 2nd edition Goldmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-442-04994-6 .

Film adaptations

  • Sarah Pia Anderson (Director): A man lay dead . 1993 (based on the novel Das Todesspiel ).
  • Martyn Friend (Director): Final curtain . 1993 (based on the novel Last Applause ).
  • Martyn Friend (Director): Hand in glove . 1994 (based on the novel If he falls in the ditch, he falls in the swamp ).
  • Silvio Narizzano (Director): Artists in Crime . 1990 (based on the novel Murder in the Atelier ).
  • Silvio Narizzano (Director): The nursing-home murder . 1993 (based on the novel Murder in the Clinic ).
  • Michael Winterbottom (Director): Death at the bar . 1993 (based on the novel Death in the Pub ).
  • John Woods (Director): Death in a white tie . 1993 (based on the novel Death in Tails ).

literature

  • Martha Hailey Dubose: Women of Mystery - The Lives and Works of Notable Women Crime Novelists . Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-312-27655-3 .

Single receipts

  1. ^ Martha Hailey Dubose: Women of Mystery. P. 9.
  2. ↑ Ngaio Marsh: A Man lay dead. Harper Collins Publishers, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-00-732869-7 , p. 145.
  3. ↑ Ngaio Marsh: A Man lay dead. Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN 978-0-00-732869-7 , p. 50. The original quote is: “ … he looked like one of her Uccle Hubert's friends, the sort that they knew would 'do' for house parties . ”