W.W.R.G.: When in Rome & Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh

I needed a bit of a break from all the "serious" books I've been reading lately — only some of which I posted about here — so the timing was perfect to get acquainted with the only "Queen of Crime" I had yet to meet, Dame Ngaio Marsh (the others being Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham).

When in Rome is just the kind of novel to take with you on holiday: the story is interesting without requiring great mental effort; the tone is agreeably old-fashioned; the characters are colourful and well defined; and the setting (Rome, of course) is suitably atmospheric.

A slimy blackmailer goes missing while leading a disparate group of tourists through ancient subterranean places of worship buried underneath San Tomasso basilica, his estranged wife turns up in a stone coffin, and disreputable establishments offer their wares, all while Chief Superintendent Alleyn of Scotland Yard attempts to dismantle a ring of drug traffickers. Though I may have had an inkling of the solution at one point, I chose to go with the flow and enjoy the thrill of the chase... and I was not disappointed.

Light Thickens takes readers behind the scenery of a small London theatre preparing to put on, ahem, The Scottish Play. Here again, Ngaio presents interesting characters in an unfamiliar environment.

Chief Superintendent Alleyn must solve a mystery that unfolded before his very eyes: how could Macbeth be decapitated backstage between the end of his duel with Macduff and the gruesome entrance of his all-too-real head (instead of the realistic fake one) impaled on Seyton's heavy claymore? I got completely engrossed in this novel, both because it afforded a glimpse of the inner workings of a theatre production and because it featured an apparently impossible crime.

(As an aside, if you've never seen the absolutely brilliant production of Macbeth (oops!) that was filmed for television and aired on PBS in 2010, watch it as soon as possible! Sir Patrick Stewart brings his immense talent to his role as you-know-who, Kate Fleetwood is a blood-chilling Lady M., and even after multiple viewings I'm still brought to tears by Michael Feast as Macduff.)