Book Note: Ngaio Marsh, Dead Water

This is book 23 of the "Roderick Alleyn" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

A funny backwater island in the England, with a spring that is starting to be promoted as a "healing" spring. The new owner objects. Many of the residents are making more money than before (not really a lot) on it. Some of them are more sane than others :-).

That owner, by the way, owns the whole island. This seems really strange since there's a town there already. I believe nobody there owns the property they live or work in.

The person who turns up dead is not the new owner; it's one of the more obnoxious promoters.

The new owner is the old French tutor of Inspector Alleyn. He's called back from vacation to try to protect her, since he can't talk her out of going there and trying to shut down the quackery around the spring.

There's one of the typical side romance stories, too.

The outcome is kinda bittersweet (and involves a nice storm; remember they're on an island, off the coast of England).

I still find the convention of having us present for important events and not telling us about them is cheating.