Marsh, Ngaio - Swing, Brother, Swing (1949)

Review by Nick Fuller

4/5

One of Marsh’s good ones: stylish and sophisticated milieu (night-club scene), amusing characters (particularly the Pasterns), sharp dialogue — and a good ‘impossible’ crime, not too distantly related to Enter a Murderer. The murderer is not too difficult to spot, but the solution rings new changes on an old dodge: several Chestertonian flourishes (the baton, the piano-accordion). Dope smuggling and yellow journalism hover in the background, and there is a good time-table.