Editing Ngaio Marsh

{{Short description|New Zealand crime writer and theatre director (1895–1982)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = [[Dame]]
| name             = Ngaio Marsh
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DBE|size=100%}}
| image            = Ngaio Marsh crime writer January 1949.jpg
| image_size       = 220px
| alt              = Ngaio Marsh, 1940s
| caption          = Ngaio Marsh, Sydney, 14 January 1949
| birth_name       = Edith Ngaio Marsh
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1895|4|23}}
| birth_place      = [[Christchurch]], New Zealand
| death_date       = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|df=yes|1982|2|18|1895|4|23}}}}
| death_place      = Christchurch, New Zealand
| language         = English
| nationality      = <!-- 2012-05-31 replaced New Zealand with identical birth and death place, per the manual -->
| occupation       = Writing
| genre            = [[Crime fiction]]
| movement         = [[Golden Age of Detective Fiction]] <!--
| notableworks= Roderick Alleyn series -->
| spouse           = <!-- none -->
| relations        = [[Robert Speight]] (uncle)
| education        = [[St Margaret's College, Christchurch]]
| alma_mater       = [[University of Canterbury]]
| influences       = 
| influenced       = 
}}
'''Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DBE|size=85%}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|aɪ|oʊ}} {{respell|NY|oh}};<ref>{{Accents of English|610|hide1=y|hide2=y}}</ref> 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand [[mystery writer|writer]]. 

As a crime writer during the "[[Golden Age of Detective Fiction]]", Marsh is known as one of the [[Detective fiction#Golden Age detective novels|"Queens of Crime"]], along with [[Agatha Christie]], [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], and [[Margery Allingham]]. She is known primarily for her character Inspector [[Roderick Alleyn]], a [[gentleman detective]] who works for the [[Metropolitan Police]] (London).

The [[Ngaio Marsh Awards]] are awarded annually for the best New Zealand mystery, crime and thriller fiction writing.<ref name="CR">{{cite web |last1=Nyren |first1=Neil |date=14 November 2018 |title=Ngaio Marsh: A Crime Reader's Guide to the Classics: Diving into the Life and Work of New Zealand's Queen of Crime |url=https://crimereads.com/ngaio-marsh-a-crime-readers-guide-to-the-classics/ |access-date=2 December 2018 |website=CrimeReads |publisher=CrimeReads.com}}</ref>

==Youth==
[[File:Ngaio Marsh, ca 1905.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ngaio Marsh with her two dolls {{circa}} 1905]]
[[File:Ngaio Marsh, between 1910 and 1914.jpg|thumb|upright|Ngaio Marsh (school prefect) in her [[St Margaret's College, Christchurch|St. Margaret's College]] school uniform, between 1910 and 1914]]

Marsh was born in the city of [[Christchurch]], New Zealand, where she also died. In the Introduction to ''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh'', Douglas G. Greene writes:  "Marsh explained to an interviewer... that in New Zealand European children often receive native names, and Ngaio... can mean either 'light on the water' or '[[Anagotus stephenensis|little tree bug]]' in the Māori language.  Other sources say that it is the [[Myoporum laetum|name of a native flowering tree]]."<ref name="ReferenceB">''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh'' ed. by Douglas G. Green, International Polygonnics, Ltd., 1989</ref> Her father neglected to register her birth until 1900 and there is some uncertainty about the date.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Ngaio Marsh (New Zealand author) | encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/366493/Ngaio-Marsh  | access-date=2 January 2012}}</ref> She was the only child of Rose and bank clerk Henry Marsh, described by Marsh as "have-nots".<ref name="nzherald1">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10528865 |title=The mystery of the crime writer – Entertainment – NZ Herald News |publisher=Nzherald.co.nz |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> Her mother's sister Ruth married the geologist, lecturer, and curator [[Robert Speight]].<ref>{{DNZB|last=Gage|first=Maxwell|id=3s30|title=Robert Speight|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref>

Ngaio Marsh was educated at [[St Margaret's College, Christchurch|St Margaret's College]] in Christchurch, where she was one of the first pupils when the school was founded. She studied [[painting]] at the [[University of Canterbury|Canterbury College]] (NZ) School of Art before joining the [[Allan Wilkie]] company as an actress in 1916 and touring New Zealand.<ref name="CR"/> For a short time in 1921 she was a member of the Rosemary Rees English Comedy Company, a touring company formed by actor-manager [[Rosemary Frances Rees|Rosemary Rees]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/theatre-companies-and-producers/page-2|title=Theatre Companies and Producers. Ngaio Marsh|last=Derby|first=Mark|date=22 October 2014|website=Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref>

In 1928 Marsh went to London with friends (on whom she would base the Lamprey family [''[[Surfeit of Lampreys]]'']).<ref name="ReferenceB"/>  From then on she divided her time between living in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.<ref name="DNZB Marsh">{{DNZB|last=Stafford|first=Jane|id=4M42|title=Marsh, Edith Ngaio|access-date=10 July 2011}}</ref> In London she began writing syndicated articles, which were published in New Zealand.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> In addition she and one of the friends with whom she had come to London opened Touch and Go, a handicraft shop that sold items such as decorated trays, bowls and lampshades.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> From 1928 to 1932 she ran the shop in Knightsbridge, London.<ref name="ReferenceA">Book and Magazine Collector No.263 2005 Ngaio Marsh biography and bibliography pp.90–92</ref> During that time she wrote her first book, ''[[A Man Lay Dead]]''.  She wrote about the process of writing her first book in an essay, "Roderick Alleyn".<ref>''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh'' ed. by Douglas G. Green, International Polygonnics, Ltd, 1989</ref>

Marsh was a member of [[The Group (New Zealand art)|The Group]], an art association based in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand. She exhibited with them in 1927, 1928, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1940 and 1947.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/heritage/publications/art/thegroup/bibliography/|title=The Group 1927 – 1977: an annotated bibliography – Heritage – Christchurch City Libraries|website=christchurchcitylibraries.com|language=en|access-date=6 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/about/library/the-group|title=Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu|website=christchurchartgallery.org.nz|access-date=6 October 2017}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Ngaio Marsh, 1940s.jpg|thumb|Ngaio Marsh, 1940s]]
Internationally she is best known for her 32 [[Detective fiction|detective novels]] published between 1934 and 1982. Along with Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham and Agatha Christie, she has been classed as one of the four original "Queens of Crime" —female writers who dominated the genre of crime fiction in the [[Golden Age of Detective Fiction|Golden Age]] of the 1920s and 1930s.<ref name="CR"/> Agatha Christie held that both [[Muriel Spark]] and Ngaio Marsh wrote ''a very good detective story''.<ref> {{cite book |last= Cook |first= Cathy |title= The Agatha Christie Miscellany |accessdate=  |edition=  |orig-date= |year= 2013 |publisher= The History Press |location= Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK |isbn= 978-0-7524-7960-6  |oclc=  |page= 64 }}</ref>

All her novels feature British [[Criminal Investigation Department|CID]] detective [[Roderick Alleyn]]. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the [[theatre]] and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (''Enter a Murderer'', ''Vintage Murder'', ''Overture to Death'', ''Opening Night'', ''Death at the Dolphin'', and ''Light Thickens''), and three others are about actors off stage (''Colour Scheme'', ''False Scent'' and ''Final Curtain''). Her [[short story]] "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in ''Opening Night''; the short story won third prize in 1946 in the inaugural short story contest of ''[[Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Bruce |title=Ngaio Marsh: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-6032-8 |page=16 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ngaio-marsh/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (''Artists in Crime''), and who features in three later novels.<ref name="CR"/>

Most of the novels are set in England, but four are set in New Zealand,{{sfn|Bargainnier|1981|p=95}} with Alleyn either on secondment to the New Zealand police (''Colour Scheme'' and ''Died in the Wool'') or on holiday (''Vintage Murder'' and ''Photo Finish''); ''Surfeit of Lampreys'' begins in New Zealand but continues in London.

Notably, ''Colour Scheme'' includes [[Māori people]] among its cast of characters, unusual for novels of the British mystery genre.<ref name="Colour scheme">{{cite journal |last1=Allmendinger |first1=Blake |title=Colour blindness, race, and (post)colonial detective fiction Ngaio Marsh's 'colour scheme' |journal=Journal of New Zealand Literature |date=2019 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=69–90 |jstor=26816899 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26816899}}</ref> This novel is said to further subvert the genre by incorporating elements of spy fiction and providing a veiled critique of the British Empire.<ref name="Colour scheme" />

In 2018, HarperCollins Publishers released ''Money in the Morgue'' by Ngaio Marsh and [[Stella Duffy]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.harpercollins.co.nz/9780008207113/money-in-the-morgue/|title=Money in the Morgue – Stella Duffy – Paperback|work=Harper Collins New Zealand|access-date=23 April 2018}}</ref> The book was started by Marsh during World War II but abandoned. Working with just the book's title, first three chapters and some notes –but no idea of the plot or motive of the villain– Duffy completed the novel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/23/money-morgue-ngaio-marsh-stella-duffy-roderick-alleyn-detective-review|title=Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy review – Inspector Alleyn returns|last=Hannah|first=Sophie|date=23 March 2018|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=23 April 2018}}</ref>

==Theatre==
[[File:Ashburton Repertory Society production of The Last Hour. 04.2003.0035 (cropped).jpg|thumb|1940 [[Ashburton, New Zealand|Ashburton]] Repertory Society production of ''[[The Last Hour (play)|The Last Hour]]'' by [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]], produced by Ngaio Marsh (third from left)]]
Marsh's great passion was the theatre.<ref name="CR"/> In 1942 she produced a modern-dress ''[[Hamlet]]'' for the [[Canterbury University College Drama Society]] (now University of Canterbury Dramatic Society Incorporated or Dramasoc<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/Dramasoc |title=Dramasoc – Christchurch, New Zealand – Company |publisher=Facebook.com |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>), the first of many Shakespearean productions with the society until 1969. In 1944, ''Hamlet'' and a production of ''[[Othello]]'' toured a theatre-starved New Zealand to rapturous acclaim. In 1949, assisted by entrepreneur Dan O'Connor, her student players toured Australia with a new version of ''Othello'' and [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello's]] ''[[Six Characters in Search of an Author]]''. In the 1950s she was involved with the [[New Zealand Players]], a relatively short-lived national professional touring repertory company. In 1972 she was invited by the Christchurch City Council to direct Shakespeare's ''Henry V'', the inaugural production for the opening of the newly constructed James Hay Theatre in Christchurch; she made the unusual choice of casting two male leads, who alternated on different nights.

She lived to see New Zealand develop a viable professional theatre industry having realistic [[Arts Council of Great Britain|Arts Council]] support, with many of her protégés to the forefront. The 430-seat [[Ngaio Marsh Theatre]] at the [[University of Canterbury]] is named in her honour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucsa.org.nz/commercial-services/ngaio-marsh-theatre/ |title=Ngaio Marsh Theatre |website=www.ucsa.org.nz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927015111/http://www.ucsa.org.nz/commercial-services/ngaio-marsh-theatre/ |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

==Museum==
[[Image:Ngaio_Marsh_House_2021_2.jpg|thumb|right|Dame Ngaio Marsh's Home]]
Her home, now known as [[Ngaio Marsh House]], in [[Cashmere, New Zealand|Cashmere]], a suburb of Christchurch on the northern slopes of the [[Port Hills]], is preserved as a museum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ngaio-marsh.org.nz/ |title=Home |publisher=Ngaio-marsh.org.nz |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
* 1948 – Appointed an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]], for services in connexion with drama and literature in New Zealand, in the [[1948 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1948 King's Birthday Honours]]<ref name="trust">{{cite web|title=Dame Ngaio Marsh|url=http://www.ngaio-marsh.org.nz/index-ngaio.html|website=Ngaio Marsh House & Heritage Trust|access-date=31 January 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38312 |date=10 June 1948 |supp=2 |page=3398}}</ref>
* 1962 – Conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Canterbury<ref name="trust"/><ref name="Teara">{{cite web|last1=Taonga|first1=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|title=Marsh, Edith Ngaio|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4m42/marsh-edith-ngaio|website=www.teara.govt.nz|access-date=31 January 2017|language=en}}</ref>
* 1966 – Appointed a [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]], for services in the arts, especially writing and theatre production, in the [[1966 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1966 Queen's Birthday Honours]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=44006 |date=11 June 1966 |page=6572 |supp=3}}</ref>
* 1974 – Inducted into the [[Detection Club]]
* 1978 – Received the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement as a detective novelist from the Mystery Writers of America<ref name="CR"/><ref name="Doodle">{{cite web|title=Google Doodle Honours Detective Novelist Ngaio Marsh – Arts, News, Writers – NZEDGE|url=http://www.nzedge.com/news/crime-writer-dame-ngaio-marsh-google-doodled/|website=The global life of New Zealanders| date=28 April 2015 |access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref>
* 1989 – Honoured with a stamp by New Zealand Post as part of a New Zealand authors<ref>{{cite journal |title=New Zealand Authors Stamp Issue |url=https://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1989/new-zealand-authors-stamp-issue |website=New Zealand Post |access-date=15 July 2020 |pages=64 |doi=10.2307/2484536 |date=1 March 1989|jstor=2484536 }}</ref> series
* 2015 – Honoured on 23 April 2015 with a [[Google Doodle]]<ref name="Doodle"/>

==Personal life==
Marsh was unofficially engaged to Edward Bristed, who died in action in December 1917.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Bruce |title=Ngaio Marsh: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-6032-8 |page=13 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ngaio-marsh/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> She never married and had no children.<ref name="CR"/> She enjoyed close companionships with women, including her lifelong friend Sylvia Fox, but denied being lesbian, according to biographer [[Joanne Drayton]].<ref name="nzherald1"/>
"I think Ngaio Marsh wanted the freedom of being who she was in a world, especially in a New Zealand that was still very conformist in its judgments of what constituted 'decent jokers, good Sheilas, and 'weirdos'", Roy Vaughan wrote after meeting her on a P&O Liner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kiwicrime.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/memories-of-dame-encounter-with-ngaio.html |title=Crime Watch: Memories of a Dame: An encounter with Ngaio Marsh (guest post by author Roy Vaughan) |publisher=Kiwicrime.blogspot.co.uk |date=14 August 2010 |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> A detective novel,"Blue Blood" (1997),<ref>{{cite book |last=Eldred-Grigg |first=Stevan |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Blue Blood |url= |location=Christchurch |publisher=Penguin |page= |isbn=}}</ref> by [[Stevan Eldred-Grigg]] in a pastiche of her style, portrays her in a lesbian relationship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/eldred-grigg-stevan |quote=Blue Blood (1997) takes one of Canterbury's most famous daughters, Ngaio Marsh, in 1929, at the outset of her career and places her in a sordid pastiche detective story that exaggeratedly resembles her own later fictions. |title=Stevan Eldred Grigg, Canterbury - Waitaha |date=2024 |work=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura Writers File |access-date=27 March 2024 }}</ref>

In 1965, she published an autobiography, ''Black Beech and Honeydew''. British author and publisher Margaret Lewis wrote an authorized biography, ''Ngaio Marsh, A Life'' in 1991. New Zealand art historian Joanne Drayton's biography, ''Ngaio Marsh: Her Life in Crime'' was published in 2008. Towards the end of her life she systematically destroyed many of her papers, letters, documents and handwritten manuscripts.<ref name="CR"/>

Marsh died in Christchurch and was buried at the Church of the Holy Innocents, Mount Peel.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Bibliography==
===Detective novels===
All 33 novels, including one finished after Marsh's death, feature [[Roderick Alleyn|Chief Inspector Alleyn]] (later Chief Superintendent) of the [[Criminal Investigation Department]], Metropolitan Police (London). The series is chronological: published and probably written in order of the fictional history.<ref name="GibbsWilliams1990">{{cite book|last1=Gibbs|first1=Rowan|author2=Richard Williams|title=Ngaio Marsh: a bibliography of English language publications in hardback and paperback with a guide to the value of the first editions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWAhAQAAIAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Dragonby Press|isbn=9781871122077}}</ref>  List (with the exception of ''Money in the Morgue'') is from a list in ''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh'' ed. Douglas G. Greene (see below under Short Fiction).

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# ''[[A Man Lay Dead]]'' (1934)
# ''[[Enter a Murderer]]'' (1935)
# ''[[The Nursing Home Murder]]'' (1935)
# ''[[Death in Ecstasy]]'' (1936)
# ''[[Vintage Murder]]'' (1937). Marsh's working title was ''The Case of the Greenstone Tiki'' (Otago Daily Times, 13 March 1937)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19370313.2.13.1?end_date=13-03-1937&query=Marsh&snippet=true&start_date=13-03-1937&title=ODT |title= Recent Mystery Fiction |publisher= Otago Daily Times in Papers Past |date=13 March 1937 }}</ref>
# ''[[Artists in Crime]]'' (1938)
# ''[[Death in a White Tie]]'' (1938)
# ''[[Overture to Death]]'' (1939)
# ''[[Death at the Bar]]'' (1940)
# ''[[Surfeit of Lampreys]]'' (1941); ''Death of a Peer'' in the U.S.
# ''[[Death and the Dancing Footman]]'' (1941)
# ''[[Colour Scheme]]'' (1943)
# ''[[Died in the Wool]]'' (1945). Serialised: Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser (1946)
# ''[[Final Curtain (novel)|Final Curtain]]'' (1947)
# ''[[Swing Brother Swing]]'' (1949); ''A Wreath for Rivera'' in the U.S.. Serialised: Home Magazine (1949)
# ''[[Opening Night (novel)|Opening Night]]'' (1951); ''Night at the Vulcan'' in the U.S. Serialised in the US, Woman's Day (1951). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, March to May 1951
# ''[[Spinsters in Jeopardy]]'' (1953); abridged later in the U.S. as ''The Bride of Death'' (1955). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, October 1953 to January 1954
# ''[[Scales of Justice (novel)|Scales of Justice]]'' (1955). Serialised: Australian Women's Weekly (1956). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, May to August 1955
# ''[[Off With His Head]]'' (1956); ''Death of a Fool'' in the U.S.
# ''[[Singing in the Shrouds]]'' (1958). Serialised: Australian Women's Weekly (1959). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, June to September 1958
# ''[[False Scent]]'' (1959). Serialised: Australian Women's Weekly (1960). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, February to May 1960
# ''[[Hand in Glove (novel)|Hand in Glove]]'' (1962). Serialised in abridged form in the UK, Woman's Journal, April to July 1962
# ''[[Dead Water (novel)|Dead Water]]'' (1963)
# ''[[Death at the Dolphin]]'' (1966); ''Killer Dolphin'' in the U.S.
# ''[[Clutch of Constables]]'' (1968)
# ''[[When in Rome (novel)|When in Rome]]'' (1970)
# ''[[Tied Up in Tinsel]]'' (1972)
# ''[[Black As He's Painted]]'' (1974)
# ''[[Last Ditch]]'' (1977)
# ''[[Grave Mistake]]'' (1978)
# ''[[Photo Finish (novel)|Photo Finish]]'' (1980)
# ''[[Light Thickens]]'' (1982)
{{div col end}}

Posthumously Published:
# ''Money in the Morgue'' (2018) (unfinished – completed by [[Stella Duffy]])

===Short fiction===
*''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh'', ed. [[Douglas G. Greene]], 1989 and 1991 editions (UK title ''Death on the Air and Other Stories'', 1995).  Includes:
**Two essays:
***"Roderick Alleyn"
***"Portrait of Troy"
**Three short stories featuring Alleyn:
***''Death on the Air''. The Grand Magazine, February 1937. Co-authored with A Drummond Sharpe. (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''I Can Find My Way Out'' (1946—USA). (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''Chapter and Verse: The Little Copplestone Mystery'' (1974—USA). Republished 1936—NZ, 2009).<ref>''The Ngaio Marsh Collection,'' volume 1 (A Man Lay Dead/ Enter a Murderer/ The Nursing Home Murder & Moonshine), Harper, 2009</ref> (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions). Marsh's original title was 'Chapter and Verse'
**Other short stories:
***''The Hand in the Sand''. [[American Weekly]], 15 March 1953. (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''The Cupid Mirror'' (1972). (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''A Fool about Money'' (1973—USA). Australian Women's Weekly, 19 February 1975. (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''Morepork'' (1979—USA). (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions)
***''The Figure Quoted''. [[(Christchurch) Sun]], Christmas 1927. Reprinted [[New Zealand Short Stories]] (1930, l ed. O N Gillespie). (only in the 1991 edition)
**A television script:
***''Evil Liver,'' with an ending to be supplied by a jury chosen from the audience; Greene suggests 5 possible solutions.

====Uncollected short stories====
*''Moonshine''. [[(Christchurch) Sun]], date unknown. Reprinted ''[[Yours and Mine: Stories by Young New Zealanders]]'' (1936: ed. Warwick Lawrence<ref>pp21-29</ref>)
*''My Poor Boy'' (1959)

===Stage plays===
*''Noel''. First performed at St Margaret's College (1912)
*''The Moon Princess''. First performed at St Michael's Day School (1913)
*''Mrs 'obson''. First performed at St Michael's Day School (1914)
*''So Much for Nothing''. First performed at the Military Sanatorium (1921)
*''Little House Bound''. First performed at Leeston Town Hall (1924)
*''The Wyvern and the Unicorn'' (play), ''A Unicorn for Christmas'' (opera) libretto, music by David Farquhar, first performed by the [[New Zealand Opera Company]], 1962<ref>{{cite web | url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/music/41897/a-unicorn-for-christmas | title=A unicorn for Christmas }}</ref>

===Letters===
*''Speech of New Zealanders''. Press, 1 July 1939

===Reviews===
*''Marie Tempest'' by Hector Bolitho. Press, 9 January 1937

===Adapted works===
*''Exit Sir Derek'' by [[Henry Jellett (gynaecologist)|Henry Jellett]], adapted from ''[[The Nursing Home Murder]]'', unpublished at the time. First performed at the Little Theatre, Canterbury (1935)

===Songs===
*''Columbine and Pantaloon''. First performed at Choral Hall, Christchurch (1919)
*''The Hawthorn Gate''. First performed at Choral Hall, Christchurch (1920)
*''The Gift''. First performed at Choral Hall, Christchurch (1920)

===Television plays===
*''Slipknot'' (1967) (Alleyn). Anthologised under Marsh's original title, 'A Knotty Problem', in ''Bodies from the Library: Volume 3'', ed. Tony Medawar (HarperCollins, 2020)
*''Evil Liver'' (script of an episode of the series ''[[Crown Court (TV series)|Crown Court]]'' by Granada Television Ltd; recorded in England in 1975). Broadcast [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], 23 August 1975. Collected in ''The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh''

=== Non-fiction books===
* ''New Zealand'' (1942). Coauthored with RM Burdon
* ''A Play Toward'' (1946)
* ''Black Beech and Honeydew'' (1965, autobiography; revised 1981)
* ''Singing Land'' (1974)

===Short non-fiction articles===
* ''The Night Train from Grey<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kowhai |first1=pseud of Marsh, Ngaio |title=The Night Train from Grey |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNCH19190607.2.76 |access-date=15 July 2020 |work=The Sun |issue=6: 1658 |date=7 June 1919}}</ref>'' (published under the pseudonym Kowhai). Sun, 7 June 1919.
* ''The Novelist's Problem''. Press, 22 December 1934
* ''Theatre: A Note on the Status Quo''. Landfall, March 1947
* ''A National Theatre''. Landfall, March 1949 (Co-authored with George Swan and Arnold F Goodwin)
* ''An Author's Defence of the Hackneyed Classics''. ABC Weekly, 2 April 1949
* ''The Development of the Arts in New Zealand''. Journal of the Royal Society of the Arts, 9 February 1951
* ''Theatre in a Young Country''. [[Sydney Morning Herald]], 29 April 1951
* ''New Zealand: Welfare Paradise''. Holiday, November 1960
* ''The Quick Forge''. Article within ''Shakespeare's Quatercentenary''. Landfall, March 1964 (Coauthored with James Bertram, DF McKenzie, and [[Frank Sargeson]])
* ''Stratford-upon-Avon''. Atlantic Monthly, February 1967

==Adaptations==
Two novels were adapted as television episodes in the 1960s; ''[[Death in Ecstasy]]'' in 1964 with [[Geoffrey Keen]] as Alleyn,<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0558785|title=Death in Ecstasy}}</ref> and ''[[Artists in Crime]]'' in 1968 with [[Michael Allinson]] as Alleyn.<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0558781|title=Artists in Crime}}</ref>

Four of the Alleyn novels were [[film adaptation|adapted for television]] in New Zealand and aired there in 1977 under the title ''[[Ngaio Marsh Theatre (TV series)|Ngaio Marsh Theatre]]'', with [[George Baker (British actor)|George Baker]] as Alleyn.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ngaio-marsh-theatre-1978/series |title=NZ On Screen |publisher=Nzonscreen.com |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> Marsh appears in a cameo in the episode "Vintage Murder".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Bruce |title=Ngaio Marsh: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-6032-8 |page=113 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ngaio-marsh/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>

Nine were adapted as ''[[The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries]]'' and aired by the [[BBC]] in 1993 and 1994 (the pilot originally in 1990), with [[Simon Williams (actor)|Simon Williams]] (pilot) and then [[Patrick Malahide]] as Alleyn.<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0106084|title=Alleyn Mysteries}}</ref>

In the 1990s the BBC made radio adaptations of ''Surfeit of Lampreys'', ''A Man Lay Dead'', ''Opening Night'', and ''When in Rome'' starring [[Jeremy Clyde]] as Inspector Alleyn, and in 2010 ''Death and the Dancing Footman'' featuring Nigel Graham.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dp0q/episodes/guide | title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries - Episode guide }}</ref>

Ngaio Marsh co-wrote the 1951 episode ''Night at the Vulcan'' of the Philco Television Playhouse;<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0674328|title=Night at the Vulcan}}</ref> and appeared as herself in the sixth episode ''The Central Problem''<ref>{{IMDb title|id=1298316|title=The Central Problem}}</ref> in a television series of the unfinished [[Charles Dickens]] mystery novel ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]''.<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0499397|title=The Mystery of Edwin Drood}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|viaf=52951839 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bargainnier |first=Earl F. |year=1981 |editor-last=Bargainnier |editor-first=Earl F. |title=10 Women of Mystery |location=[[Bowling Green, OH]] |url=https://archive.org/details/10womenofmystery0000barg |url-access=registration |publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press |pages=81–105 |chapter=Ngaio Marsh|isbn=0-87972-173-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Drayton|first=Joanne|title=Ngaio Marsh: Her Life in Crime|year=2008|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Ltd|isbn=978-0007328680}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Harding |first=Bruce |year=2007 |title=Ngaio Marsh, 1895–1982 |journal=Kōtare: New Zealand Notes & Queries |volume=7 |issue=Special Issue |doi=10.26686/knznq.v7i1.778 |url=http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi071Kota-t1-g1-t10.html |access-date=15 April 2008|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Bruce |title=Ngaio Marsh: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-6032-8 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ngaio-marsh/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}
* Kirker, Anne (1986). ''New Zealand Women Artists: A Survey of 150 Years''. Craftsman House. {{ISBN|976-8097-30-2}}.
* {{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Margaret|title=Ngaio Marsh: A Life|year=1991|publisher=Chatto & Windus|isbn=0-7012-0985-2}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Wolfe
 | first = Graham
 | title = Theatre-Fiction in Britain from Henry James to Doris Lessing: Writing in the Wings
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jQedDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2
 | publisher = Routledge
 | year = 2019
 | isbn = 9781000124361}}
*Ian Patterson, 'The Body in the Library is Never Our Own". London Review of Books, 5 Nov 2020, pp 37–40.

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{cite web|url= https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi071Kota-t1-g1-t10.html |title= "Ngaio Marsh" by Bruce Harding (2007 article from "Kotare") |publisher= NZETC |date= 2007 }}
* {{IMDb name|0550635|Ngaio Marsh}}
* [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/ObjectDetails.aspx?oid=438470 Image of Ngaio Marsh as Hamlet]
* [http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Photos/Topics/People/MarshNgaio/ Images of Ngaio Marsh]
* [http://www.ngaiomarsh.org/ Dame Ngaio Marsh's Christchurch Home, open to visit]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080310091444/http://www.soundarchives.co.nz/search/Search-Details.asp?currentpage=1&id=1471&more=ad Ngaio Marsh at Timaru (from NZBC Sound Archives)]
* {{cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19350517.2.4.6.2?end_date=30-12-1935&phrase=1&query=Ngaio+Johnsonvile&start_date=01-01-1935&type=ILLUSTRATION |title= Ngaio Marsh (silhouette) |work=[[The Press]] |via=Papers Past  |date=17 May 1935 }}

{{Roderick Alleyn}}
{{The Group NZ}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Ngaio}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century British women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand women writers]]
[[Category:Edgar Award winners]]
[[Category:Members of the Detection Club]]
[[Category:New Zealand autobiographers]]
[[Category:New Zealand crime fiction writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:New Zealand mystery writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand theatre directors]]
[[Category:New Zealand women theatre directors]]
[[Category:New Zealand women novelists]]
[[Category:People educated at St Margaret's College]]
[[Category:People from Christchurch]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury alumni]]
[[Category:Women autobiographers]]
[[Category:Women mystery writers]]
[[Category:Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction]]
[[Category:People associated with The Group (New Zealand art)]]