Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel

From the Publisher:
From her first book in 1934 to her final volume just before her death in 1982, Ngaio Marsh's work has remained legendary, consistently compared to that of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers. During her celebrated fifty-year career, Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, won numerous prestigious awards and penned 32 mystery novels. So sit back, draw the curtains, lock the doors and put yourself in the hands of the Grande Dame of detective novels...

Holed up at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate for Christmas, Troy Alleyn is to paint the man's portrait and, while she's there, view the Druid Christmas pageant he hosts every year. Along with a pack of eccentric guests, Troy enjoys the festivities--until one of the pageant's players mysteriously disappears into the snowy night. Did the hired help--each a paroled murder from the nearby prison--have a deadly hand in this Christmas conundrum? Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to join his wife in finding the lost man--and unraveling the glaring truth from the glittering tinsel.

Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel. St. Martin's Press; ISBN: 0312971958 (November, 1999); 288 p., $5.99