More Roderick Alleyn Novels by Plot Quiz

Answer: Artists in Crime

"Artists in Crime" marks the first appearance of famous painter Agatha Troy who would later become Inspector Alleyn's wife. Alleyn meets Troy aboard a cruise ship and the two do not initially get along and find each other's personalities unbearable. She is a perfectionist when it comes to her work and he won't stop talking to her while she is painting.

In England, Troy runs an art school for young artists. Most of her students are troublemakers and have bizarre creative interests. The nude model also causes issues by never being able to keep the correct pose for very long. It is the job of one student, Valmai Seacliffe, to push the model back into position. Only someone had hidden a knife in the model's couch and when Valmai pushes her back, the model is stabbed to death.

Answer: Photo Finish

Isabella Sommitta is an overdramatic opera diva who goes on tour in Australia and New Zealand to escape England and Strix, a photographer who stalks her and publishes embarrassing pictures of her in the newspaper. Strix, whose real identity is unknown, has followed La Sommitta to New Zealand.

The diva hires Alleyn for protection and Agatha Troy to paint her. But Alleyn fails to protect her when she is murdered in her bedroom with a photograph stabbed to her heart.

Answer: Surfeit of Lampreys

The Lampreys are a minor aristocratic family that never has any money and is always in debt. Their Uncle Gabriel (called Uncle G), however, is very wealthy. When he is stabbed through the eye in the Lampreys' elevator, his fortune passes on to them. That leaves Alleyn and Inspector Fox with plenty of suspects, but no one Lamprey is a more likely killer than another.

Answer: False Scent

Mary Bellamy is a stage actress with a quick temper and a love for drama. She refuses to acknowledge her true age of fifty, and is constantly picking petty fights. She is also obsessed with her expensive perfume that makes everyone else nauseous. During her birthday celebration, Mary sprays herself with her perfume, only to drop dead because someone has switched out the perfume with a deadly poison. Alleyn is able to narrow down the time of the murder to a very short window, but, with so many people having a motive to kill her, finding the actress' killer is easier said than done.

Answer: Final Curtain

Agatha Troy is commissioned by Sir Henry Ancred to paint his portrait. Sir Henry is an aging actor whose mind isn't as strong as it used to be. He has taken Sonia Orrincourt, a very young actress, as his lover, much to the chagrin of his family. During Troy's stay, she witnesses several practical jokes that anger Sir Henry. Sir Henry dies one night of apparent natural causes.

When his will is read, several members of his family are disinherited and others receive trifle sums. Alleyn begins to investigate Sir Henry's death when various family members discover clues that indicate he was murdered.

Answer: Death in Ecstasy

In "Death in Ecstasy", Alleyn and Fox investigate the death of Cara Quayne, a wealthy woman who recently joined the Church of the Sacred Flame. Cara died soon after drinking from a sacred chalice. She was clearly poisoned, but Alleyn is baffled as to how, since several other people also drank from the same chalice and did not die.

Answer: Black as He's Painted

"Black as He's Painted" features Alleyn and Fox try to protect "The Boomer", an old friend of Alleyn's and president of the fictional African country of Ng'ombwana. The Boomer, as he is referred to by Alleyn, has many political enemies both in Ng'ombwana and in Britain. The Boomer is stubborn and refuses protection, but Alleyn and Scotland Yard cover him anyway. During an embassy party, a failed assassination attempt on the Boomer results in the death of the Ng'ombwanan ambassador.

The title "Black as He's Painted" has three meanings. Agatha Troy painted the Boomer during his visit to England. It could also refer to the Boomer's skin color or it could mean the villain is black (meaning evil). There are a number of outdated, prejudicial and racist statements made by a number of characters in the novel, though never by Alleyn.

Answer: Opening Night

"Opening Night" is told largely from the perspective of Martyn Tarne, a young actress from New Zealand who recently arrived in England. Martyn is hired as a dresser for the leading lady, but also earns the understudy position for her boss, whom the rest of cast hates and who isn't any good in her role.

Clark Bennington, one of the actors, dies backstage during the opening night performance. It seems like he had committed suicide by inhaling gas from the gas pipe heater. However, his death closely resembles the murder of another actor in the same theater in the same room that was set up to look like suicide.

"Opening Night" was also published as "Night at the Vulcan". The case mentioned throughout the novel about the young actor who was murdered in a similar manner to Clark Bennington, is the case featured in the short story "I Can Find My Way Out", which Alleyn also solved.

Answer: Singing in the Shrouds

"Singing in the Shrouds" begins with a police constable finding the body of a woman, with flower petals scattered on her, on a dock from which a ship has just departed. This is the calling card of a serial killer that Alleyn has been tracking. He boards the cruise ship mid-journey and investigates each of the ship's seven passengers and her crew, knowing very well one of them is the killer.

Answer: Swing Brother Swing

"Swing Brother Swing" was also published in the USA as "A Wreath for Rivera". Alleyn is in the audience with his wife at a fancy restaurant during a band's elaborate performance. As part of the act, one the musicians named Rivera is supposed to be "shot" and pretend to fall down dead.

The only problem is that Rivera really does fall down dead. Alleyn and Fox investigate and soon learn that Rivera was hated by all.