Clutch of Constables


Marsh, Ngaio - Clutch of Constables (1968)

 

 

Review by Nick Fuller

5/5

An original and attractive plot combines a cruise of Constable country with Mrs. Alleyn trapped amongst the picturesque grotesques aboard the MV Zodiac, the disposal of a Soho art-dealer, a stupid, exasperating and pitiful spinster, and an American criminal, and the hunt for the master-criminal Foljambe, masterminding an ingeniously detailed plot for drug-smuggling and art forgery. Tension grows with a masterly management of small incidents, and is sustained until the final extraordinary discovery in the fog. Equally commendable are the workmanlike detection of Superintendent Alleyn, embracing footprints and post-mortem marks, and the attack on racialism.