A review of Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh – 231213

Set in the Cornish coastal village of Portcarrow, the twenty-third book in Ngaio Marsh’s Roderick Alleyn series, originally published in 1963, is one of her better ones using humour and drama to good effect. It starts with a young boy, Wally Trehern, an epileptic, who is plagued with warts which magically disappear when following an appearance of the Green Lady he washes his hands in the Spring water of the local falls.

While most of the locals are sceptical about the healing properties of the spring, Elspeth Cost takes up its cause claiming that it cured her of asthma. Two years later, having out their initial scepticism to one side, Portcarrow has become a thriving tourist spot, visitors finding accommodation at the extended public house run by Major Barrimore and buying souvenirs from Elspeth’s shop.   

However, trouble is just round the corner when Emily Pride inherits the land on which the spring is situated. She is appalled at the commercial exploitation of the spring, luring sick people to take its supposed healing waters rather than seeking conventional medical treatment, her ire stoked by the death of a friend in similar circumstances. The announcement of her intention to close the spring to the public unleashes howls of protest and Emily soon finds herself the recipient of threatening letters. As Alleyn’s former French tutor she asks him to help.

When Emily visits Portcarrow, the animosity towards her and her plans intensifies. She receives anonymous phone calls, is subjected to stone throwing, has an effigy with the sign Death delivered to her room, and narrowly avoids a trip wire causing Alleyn to take a more hands on role in protecting her. Inevitably, a body of a woman is found in the spring, having been struck on the head with a stone and drowned, but the twist is that it is not Emily Pride.

As Alleyn investigates, he discovers that there is more going on under the surface of Portcarrow than meets the eye and that there are deeper reasons behind the murder. The denouement is thrilling as Alleyn wrestles with the culprit on a launch in the middle of a storm, making a satisfying ending to an entertaining story. It helps that Alleyn is more integral to the story than in many I have read.

Marsh takes great delight in imbuing the names she uses with symbolism. Dead water is the name the locals give to the period at low tide when the island on which the spring is situated is linked to the mainland, but it also refers to a corpse in the water. Emily Pride, one of the two strong female characters in the story, is full of pride, stubborn, utterly determined, sure of her own mind and knows what is best for everyone else. Elspeth Cost, on the other hand, is obsessed with maximising the commercial opportunities that the Green Lady and the healing spring provides. That they clash is an inevitability.

The book is lighter and more humorous than many of Marsh’s stories. The highlight for me was the Festival of the Green Lady, a marvellous farce, which ends with all the attendees fleeing a rainstorm. Wonderful stuff.

At times my enthusiasm for Marsh’s Alleyn series has flagged but this has made me keen to carry on. If you are looking to dip into the world of Roderick Alleyn this might be a good place to start.