Stella Duffy
Author of Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
About the Author
Image credit: Courtesy of Serpent's Tail Press
Series
Works by Stella Duffy
Associated Works
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) — Introduction, some editions — 2,446 copies, 40 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1963
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- England (birth)
UK - Country (for map)
- UK
- Birthplace
- Woolwich, London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- New Zealand
Lambeth, London, England, UK - Education
- Victoria University of Wellington
- Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
playwright - Relationships
- Silas, Shelley (wife)
- Awards and honors
- CWA Short Story Award ('Martha Grace', 2002)
- Agent
- William Morris Agency
Members
Discussions
Chick lit, two couples, woman with it all loses it because of affair in Name that Book (March 2013)
Reviews
Money in the Morgue: 33 (Inspector Roderick Alleyn) by Ngaio Marsh
This is a continuation of an unfinished Marsh mystery. It has been on my radar since it was published in 2018 and I was wondering about why I didn’t feel a stronger desire to read it sooner. Was I influenced by my disappointment with the Dorothy L. Sayers continuation, Thrones, Dominations?
Because I can see now that with that book, I had high, and highly specific, expectations! I wanted more of two particular characters and more of their relationship, which isn’t a feature of all of Sayers’ other mysteries; I wanted a particular combination of intellectual complexity and emotion, which not all of Sayers’ mysteries contain either.
Marsh was arguably less brilliant than Sayers but much more consistent and more prolific too. I suspect that consequently her style is easier to mimic (and to sustain while also including a successful mystery plot), but even if her style isn’t, I think my expectations were more restrained.
Well. I wanted atmosphere and a clear sense of place. And I wanted Alleyn’s approach to detecting, which relies heavily on conversing with people and provides insight into their different personalities and concerns, whether or not those turn out to be connected to the mystery at hand. But Money in the Morgue delivered all of this!
It’s set in a New Zealand hospital during WWII. Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard happens to be on-site, secretly investigating something war-related, when a series of mysteries, beginning with missing money, are discovered. With the hospital cut off by road and phone due to a summer storm, Alleyn steps forward and reveals his true occupation (if not his mission).
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, which is also read by Stella Duffy, and I was impressed by her work as both novelist and narrator -- she’s an excellent Marsh imitator. I came away feeling motivated to track down the two remaining Marsh mysteries I haven’t read, and also curious about Duffy’s own fiction.
(One reason to be glad I didn’t read this in 2018 is that I wasn’t very familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream then, and so wouldn’t have appreciated Alleyn’s quoting and references in the same way.)
Because I can see now that with that book, I had high, and highly specific, expectations! I wanted more of two particular characters and more of their relationship, which isn’t a feature of all of Sayers’ other mysteries; I wanted a particular combination of intellectual complexity and emotion, which not all of Sayers’ mysteries contain either.
Marsh was arguably less brilliant than Sayers but much more consistent and more prolific too. I suspect that consequently her style is easier to mimic (and to sustain while also including a successful mystery plot), but even if her style isn’t, I think my expectations were more restrained.
Well. I wanted atmosphere and a clear sense of place. And I wanted Alleyn’s approach to detecting, which relies heavily on conversing with people and provides insight into their different personalities and concerns, whether or not those turn out to be connected to the mystery at hand. But Money in the Morgue delivered all of this!
It’s set in a New Zealand hospital during WWII. Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard happens to be on-site, secretly investigating something war-related, when a series of mysteries, beginning with missing money, are discovered. With the hospital cut off by road and phone due to a summer storm, Alleyn steps forward and reveals his true occupation (if not his mission).
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, which is also read by Stella Duffy, and I was impressed by her work as both novelist and narrator -- she’s an excellent Marsh imitator. I came away feeling motivated to track down the two remaining Marsh mysteries I haven’t read, and also curious about Duffy’s own fiction.
(One reason to be glad I didn’t read this in 2018 is that I wasn’t very familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream then, and so wouldn’t have appreciated Alleyn’s quoting and references in the same way.)
In the aftermath of twilight Sarah could just make out a black mass of buildings against the royal texture of the hills. Behind the hills, the main range, touched on its pinnacles with perpetual snow, awaited the night against a luminous sky. Although the sun was now below the horizon the cusp of Mount Seager was tinctured miraculously with clear rose. The windscreen of the bus framed a vast landscape quite free of human interest, unscarred by human occupation, moving because of its remoteness. [...] The mountains assumed an incredible depth of blue and the foothills turned more darkly purple. Their margins, folded together in a pattern of firm curves, were faintly haloed with light. The road ran forward into nothingness. The plains on either side of the road and stretching out behind them had taken on a bleached look, seeming to fade rather than to darken as night fell, turning the whole scene into an other-worldly monochrome. Sarah watched the road and her petrol gauge. With one layer of her mind she attended to her job, with another she saw that the landscape was quite beautiful, and yet with another she hunted for things to say to [her passengers.]… (more)
This is not a book for those who are easily offended by "bad" language - as a prostitute, there are words being used by Theodora and her circle of friends etc that aren't in use in polite society. That's not to say that it detracts from the story - some authors may have been prudish and refused to use them, thereby refusing to acknowledge some of the practicalities of how prostitutes and circus workers cope with their station in life.[return][return]The book gives a (probably fictional) account of Theordora's life, starting as a young child redued to performing in the Hippodrome, escaping into the desert, becoming a Christian, and returning to her home city and ending up marrying Justinian. [return][return]Enjoyable, easy read… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 25
- Also by
- 21
- Members
- 1,415
- Popularity
- #18,179
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 74
- ISBNs
- 114
- Languages
- 9
- Favorited
- 1
