About the Book

One live performance, one very real bullet, and a killer hiding in plain sight.

On opening night of the hit play The Rat and the Beaver, the cast and audience are stunned when a prop gun fires a fatal shot—except this time, the death isn’t scripted. Inspector Roderick Alleyn, already in attendance, finds himself thrust backstage into a world of rivalries, jealousies, and secrets thick as stage fog.

As Alleyn sifts through actors’ theatrics, stagehands’ whispers, and egos as sharp as any murder weapon, it becomes clear that everyone has something to hide. In this classic Golden Age mystery, Ngaio Marsh blends theatrical glamour with a locked-room-style puzzle, delivering a stylish, tightly choreographed whodunit where every clue is a cue—and every false step could bring down the curtain on the truth. Join us to untangle motives, misdirection, and the dramatic art of the perfect crime.

About the Author

Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982) was one of the great Queens of Crime of the Golden Age, celebrated alongside Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers. A New Zealand–born novelist, actress, and director, Marsh brought her deep love of the theatre into many of her mysteries, giving them a distinctive flair for performance and atmosphere.

Her long-running series featuring the urbane Inspector Roderick Alleyn spans more than thirty novels and is renowned for elegant prose, ingenious plotting, and richly drawn settings. Marsh was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to literature and theatre, and her legacy endures as one of the most sophisticated voices in classic detective fiction.