Even More Roderick Alleyn Novels by Plot Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. A wealthy spinster is murdered by a piano that someone had rigged with a gun that would shoot when the pedals were pressed.

Answer: Overture to Death

In "Overture to Death", Alleyn heads to a small country village to investigate the death of Miss Campanula who was shot by a piano. Miss Campanula filled in as the pianist for the church play at the very last moment and Alleyn must figure out if she was the intended target all along. But first, Alleyn and his partner Fox must sift through centuries of rural money, romance and lies.

2. A glove owned by Hamnet Shakespeare inspires a play, theft and murder.

Answer: Death at the Dolphin

In "Death at the Dolphin", the management of the newly restored Dolphin theater hire Alleyn to help them secure a valuable glove that once belonged to the son of William Shakespeare. Peregrine Jay has written and is producing a play inspired by the glove. The glove is very valuable so it comes as to no surprise to Alleyn that it was stolen. The management had disagreed with Alleyn's method of securing the glove safely. Now Alleyn must also look into the death of the theater's security guard who murdered during the theft.

This novel is also sometimes titled "Killer Dolphin".

3. A friend of Alleyn's is suffocated in a taxi cab after uncovering a blackmail scheme at a fancy party.

Answer: Death in a White Tie

Bunchy Gospell is an old friend of Inspector Alleyn's. Alleyn is investigating a blackmailing ring run by Dmitri, a caterer hired by London's elite. Gospell is aiding him in this adventure and attends a debutante party where Dmitri is catering. Gospell calls Alleyn on the telephone to inform him that Dmitri has a partner but is interrupted and does not name the person. Gospell is soon afterward suffocated in his taxi on his way to Scotland Yard.

4. A hated servant disappears from a mansion and turns up dead in the discarded Christmas tree.

Answer: Tied up in Tinsel

Alleyn's wife, Agatha Troy, is attending a Christmas house party thrown by the eccentric Hilary Bill-Tasman. Hilary's guests include his aunt and uncle and their servant Moult. Moult is hated by Hilary's servants, all of whom have criminal pasts. Moult disappears after playing Santa Claus for the children and later turns up dead in a pile of rubbish alongside the Christmas tree. Alleyn and company soon arrive and discover it was not just the other servants who had a reason to kill Moult.

5. A large fish, a WWII traitor and some memoirs feature heavily in the death of a colonel in a countryside village.

Answer: Scales of Justice

"Scales of Justice" takes place in the country village of Swevenings. When the elderly Harold Lacklander dies of natural causes, his memoirs are left in the hands of Colonel Cartarette. The colonel informs Harold's son George of some kind of secret in the memoirs that would be scandalous if published. Colonel Cartarette intends to publish the memoirs anyway. Soon afterward, the colonel is found dead near a stream after allegedly catching a giant fish all the men in the village sought. Alleyn comes to investigate and learns the quiet country village was not so quiet after all.

6. A wealthy man is murdered when construction scaffolding collapses on him while everyone else in town is at a party.

Answer: Hand in Glove

Harold Cartell is an obstinate middle-aged man who does not seem to realize his old-fashioned views are hurting the people around him. He has angered many people, including his servants, friends and family, over petty things. Mr. Cartell is not invited to his ex-wife's, Lady Bantling, lavish party.

While almost everyone else is participating in an elaborate scavenger hunt, Cartell is murdered when someone pushed the construction scaffolding near his house on top of him, crushing him to death.

7. A Conservative politician dies while recovering from appendectomy surgery.

Answer: The Nursing Home Murder

Sir Derek O'Callaghan is a powerful Conservative MP who suffers from a burst appendix. Unfortunately for him, his surgeon and several nurses are communistic anarchists who despise him. Nevertheless, the surgery is a success and his recovery proceeds nicely until he suddenly experiences a relapse and dies. Alleyn and Fox must figure out if his death was murder, health-related or some kind of accident.

8. A patriotic New Zealand MP disappears and later turns up dead and packed in a wool bundle.

Answer: Died in the Wool

During World War II, Alleyn did espionage work in New Zealand, during which time this story takes place. Flossie Rubrick was a rare female MP in New Zealand. She was also a wool rancher. She was known for being very jingoistic and patriotic. She suddenly disappeared while practicing a speech in the wool shed and turned up dead weeks later in a wool bundle.

Some time has passed and her murder has gone unsolved. Alleyn arrives and speaks to her family and guests to try to figure out what happened.

9. A hypochondriac dies mysteriously and her new will leaves her fortune to her quack doctor.

Answer: Grave Mistake

Sybil Foster is a middle-aged hypochondriac who frequently checks herself into clinics for "rest". One of her stays ends in her mysterious death. Even more mysteriously, Sybil has left almost her entire fortune to her quack doctor Basil Schramm, whom she has only known a short time.

Her new gardener, Bruce, whom she has also known a short time, also receives a substantial amount. Her daughter Prunella is basically disinherited unless she marries a man she absolutely hates. Alleyn and Fox investigate whether or not Sybil was murdered and if she was, whether it was by poison or suffocation.

10. While on "vacation" in Italy, Alleyn investigates a drug ring and one of the members of his tour disappears.

Answer: When in Rome

"When in Rome" features Alleyn abroad once again. This time he is in Rome hunting down a ring of drug smugglers. He joins a tour of ancient sites in Rome because knows any of the other tourists could be the smuggling ring leader. While in an ancient temple, one of the guests goes missing and it is assumed he fell down into a deep hole that is inaccessible. Meanwhile, Fox investigates the smugglers from London and periodically checks in with Alleyn.

Source: Author Joepetz

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Questions		Choices
1. A wealthy spinster is murdered by a piano that someone had rigged with a gun that would shoot when the pedals were pressed.		The Nursing Home Murder
2. A glove owned by Hamnet Shakespeare inspires a play, theft and murder.		Overture to Death
3. A friend of Alleyn's is suffocated in a taxi cab after uncovering a blackmail scheme at a fancy party.		Scales of Justice
4. A hated servant disappears from a mansion and turns up dead in the discarded Christmas tree.		When in Rome
5. A large fish, a WWII traitor and some memoirs feature heavily in the death of a colonel in a countryside village.		Death in a White Tie
6. A wealthy man is murdered when construction scaffolding collapses on him while everyone else in town is at a party.		Tied up in Tinsel
7. A Conservative politician dies while recovering from appendectomy surgery.		Death at the Dolphin
8. A patriotic New Zealand MP disappears and later turns up dead and packed in a wool bundle.		Hand in Glove
9. A hypochondriac dies mysteriously and her new will leaves her fortune to her quack doctor.		Died in the Wool
10. While on "vacation" in Italy, Alleyn investigates a drug ring and one of the members of his tour disappears.		Grave Mistake

Match the title of the book starring Ngaio Marsh's gentleman detective Roderick Alleyn to its basic plot description.