Marsh, Ngaio, << NY oh >> (1899-1982), was a famous New Zealand-born author of detective fiction. Marsh created the character Roderick Alleyn, an upper-class English police officer who works in Scotland Yard. She introduced Alleyn in A Man Lay Dead (1934). He appeared in 31 more novels.
Several Alleyn mysteries draw on the author’s background as a stage actress, producer, and director in New Zealand. These novels include Enter a Murderer (1935), Night at the Vulcan (1951), Killer Dolphin (1966), and Light Thickens (1982, the last Alleyn mystery). Even the novels that are not actually set in theaters usually describe murders during some kind of performance. Although most of Marsh’s books have a London background, she used her New Zealand homeland in the Alleyn novels Vintage Murder (1937), Colour Scheme (1943), Died in the Wool (1945), and Photo Finish (1980).
Edith Ngaio Marsh was born on April 23, 1899, in Fendalton, now part of Christchurch, New Zealand. Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966, and she became known as Dame Ngaio Marsh. She died on Feb. 18, 1982.
