Ngaio Marsh

Murder gets into the act in Ngaio Marsh's wittiest and most readable novel—and a Shakespearean actor takes his final bow.

Beautiful Troy Alleyn, artist wife of Inspector Alleyn, had been warned about the famed old Shakespearean actor Sir Henry and his eccentric household. But she was not prepared for the acts of malice and mischief that would ensue at his birthday party.

Now Sir Henry is dead, after a large and lethal birthday

...

Inspector Roderick Alleyn faces a difficult case in which the two chief murder suspects are his oldest friend and the victim.