Ngaio Marsh was a brilliant writer and her detective stories would make a great TV series. Unfortunately this wasn't it. Patrick Malahide is a gifted actor, an Irishman who can infiltrate any layer of the English class system. But he's miscast as Roderick Alleyn, the series detective, who's not meant to be a stereotype toff. In the books he's more of a mirror for other characters. Troy, his wife, is turned from an individualist with her own career as a painter into the typical cop show whingeing wife ("You never have time for me!"). Adaptations are plodding and period detail ladled on. An opportunity missed. Read the books.
Review of Alleyn Mysteries
