Old time Crime

I've been discovering the wonderful world of Ngaio Marsh.

After preaching the literary gospel of don't leave town till you've seen the country, I'm practicing what I preach by reading as much of her work as possible before I go to The Press Christchurch Writer's festival. There will be quite an accent on Ngaio Marsh, with the new autobiography by Joanne Drayton, so I'm looking forward to a wallow.

Last night in the midst of a I-can't-turn-my-brain-off insomniac session I finished reading A Man Lay Dead, and loved it. This was first published in 1934, and apart from a few unusual uses of words (they ejaculated a lot back then, in the verbal sense) it was a great read.

I've got her autobiography Black Beach & Honey Dew, lined up next and I'll try to read it before Christchurch. Her success as an international serial crime writer was amazing.

Pretty good for a kiwi gal.