Australian spy thriller

enjoyed the story and the setting. characters are the usual marsh bunch but the setting provided a neat twist. the narration was patchy and even changed during the characters span making it difficult to follow in parts. dramatic but a little dated. however worth a go .

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Alleyn in NZ

One of the stories during WW2 which sees Roderick Alleyn across the world and away from his usual team and his wife Troy.. He patiently unravels the tortuous strands of the details of the last days of Flossie Rubrick MP whose decomposing body is found in a bale of wool from her homestead. He also seeks out the traitorous agent who is betraying his Country and the Scientific Advance which may help Britain and her Empire defeat the Axis Powers.. Love triangles and adolescent stubbornness threaten to hinder the investigation until at last the culprit is exposed. An enjoyable yarn.

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Dipping into a mystery from the Golden Age

One of Ngaio Marsh's strongest whodunits set in New Zealand on a sheep ranch. A truly gruesome account of the hiding of the victim's body and a fantastic evocation of NZ in the forties.

James Saxon is the perfect narrator for the series.

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1 person found this helpful

Slow burner; worth sticking with

Found this a fascinating listen - I appreciate the way Ngaio Marsh plays around with the conventions of the detective novel, with this starting out as a series of psychodramatic confessions from the central characters & then developing into gripping showdown - I stayed awake listening to the final two hours. I particularly loved the evocation of the NZ 'high country'& the thoughtful portrayal of character - brought impressively to life by James Saxon's narration - his NZ accents impeccable & the rendition of the taciturn Ben Wilson is a particular tour de force.

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Hard-going, weak plot

Not my favourite Ngaio Marsh. I found it hard to distinguish between the voices of the male characters as spoken in a thick New Zealand accent. The first couple of hours or more felt like a play since no action but non-stop talk as the characters gave their impression of the character of the deceased. I also found it very hard to imagine the layout of the wool shed as it was alien to me and the description didn't help. I had suspected the identity of the murderer from the start but even if it had been someone else, I would not have cared. The narrator did a very good job considering the characters were wooden, unconvincing and unlikeable - even Alleyn - and the plot unbelievable and tedious.

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Not the best

This book was okay. I found the characters incredibly grating but the story was okay. Not my favourite & I won’t listen to it again. Really loved the narrator though...thought he was excellent & got me through the book.

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Ruined by the narration

What did you like best about Died in the Wool? What did you like least?

The story is classic Ngaio Marsh, but I find the narration highly irritating. I assume this is a very old recording that Audible has reused. I think this Ngaio Marsh series needs an update. I love her books, but find these performances excruciating to listen to.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Every female character sounds like a parody pantomime dame and most of the men sound like Kenneth Williams doing high camp. It's a pity because I found James Saxon a very watchable actor on TV, but he seems to have been directed to make these narrations as "thespy" as possible and it is too cringeworthy to listen to and enjoy.

Any additional comments?

Please update the Ngaio Marsh books with a different narrator.

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3 people found this helpful