Poisonings also happen more often than shootings.
I found my results intriguing, as it seems murder by shooting happens very infrequently and is as common as beheading, whilst Marsh’ preferred method seems to be blunt instruments (which may allow for more variety perhaps), followed by stabbings and methods of asphyxiation. Miscellany: Died in the Wool where the victim is compressed into a bale of wool and Clutch of Constables where pressure is put upon the victims’ carotid arteries.įake Accident: Last Ditch, where a horse riding accident, seems a lot less accidental.īeheading: Off With His Head and Light Thickens. I am also including Vintage Murder in this category as a jeroboam of champagne falling on top of someone counts as being struck by a kind of blunt instrument in my book. Poison: The Nursing Home Murder, which uses the poison hyoscine Death in Ecstasy where prussic acid is put into a ritual wine cup Death at the Bar, where potassium cyanide is employed Final Curtain which uses thallium poisoning and False Scent where poison is added to the victim’s perfume bottle.Īsphyxiation: Death in a White Tie, where the victim is suffocated Opening Night involves gassing I included Colour Scheme here, as I imagine that suffocation would be the ultimate cause of death for someone left to die in a boiling mud pool, though burns would also be a significant problem, Singing in the Shrouds has a strangler in it, as does When in Rome Dead Water, as its’ names implies involves a drowning and in Grave Mistake there is also another suffocation.īlunt Instrument: Death and the Dancing Footman, which utilises a weapon from New Zealand Scales of Justice also deploys a blunt instrument Hand in Glove where two instruments of sorts are used in a thumping/hitting manner Death at the Dolphin includes a statuette and in Tied up in Tinsel, the murderer also uses a blunt instrument. Shot: Enter a Murderer, where a theatre prop gun is switched and Overture to Death, where the pistol is concealed in a piano.
Stabbing: A Man Lay Dead, using an artefact, Artists in Crime, where the victim is pushed down onto a knife in a couch Surfeit of Lampreys involves a skewer and is thought to be a very grizzly murder Swing Brother Swing involves a stiletto, as does Photo Finishand Black as he’s Painted includes a spear. So to begin here are the overall results of the different murder methods Marsh used: I don’t think I am giving any spoilers away here, as these murder methods are usually revealed to the reader shortly after the body is discovered. Also, in some books there may be more than one killing, but to simplify things I have focused purely on the primary killings.
In this analysis I decided to exclude Spinsters in Jeopardy (1954), as I didn’t think there was a central death. This week for the Tuesday Night Bloggers I have decided to look at the murder methods Ngaio Marsh employs in her novels.
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