''Death at the Dolphin'' is a

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Det ...

. It is the twenty-fourth novel to feature

Roderick Alleyn Roderick Alleyn (pronounced "Allen") is a fictional character who first appeared in 1934. He is the policeman hero of the 32 detective novels of Ngaio Marsh. Marsh and her gentleman detective belong firmly in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, ...

, and was first published in 1966 as ''Killer Dolphin'' in the United States. The plot centres on a glove once owned by

Hamnet Shakespeare Hamnet Shakespeare (baptised 2 February 1585 – buried 11 August 1596) was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare. He died at the age of 11. Some Shakespearean scholars spe ...

, on display at a newly renovated theatre called the Dolphin. Several characters from the novel return in Marsh's final book, ''

Light Thickens ''Light Thickens'' is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the thirty-second, and final, novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1982. The plot concerns the murder of the lead actor in a production of ''Macbeth'' in Londo ...

''.

Awards and nominations

The book was nominated for the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Novel of the Year in 1967, losing to

Nicholas Freeling Nicolas Freeling (born Nicolas Davidson; 3 March 1927 – 20 July 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the "Van der Valk" series of detective novels. A television series based on the character was produced for the Brit ...

's ''The King of the Rainy Country''.

Plot

On a whim, rising theatre director Peregrine Jay views a derelict Victorian playhouse, The Dolphin Theatre on London's South Bank, where he falls into a wartime bomb crater on the stage and is rescued from drowning by the theatre's owner, the enigmatic multi-millionaire Vassily Conducis, who listens to and finances the young theatre practitioner's vision of a restored Dolphin Theatre, which duly opens with the premiere of Jay's play 'The Glove", inspired by a cheverel glove Conducis owns and has shown to Jay, with faded documents suggesting it was made for Shakespeare's only son Hamnet, who died young. The glove is, of course, a public sensation and publicity coup for the new theatre and its opening production, which is a complete triumph, despite tensions among Jay's talented but fractious company. During the sold-out run, the glove is stolen and Harry Jobbins, the chirpy cockney nightwatchman is viciously battered to death by one of the two dolphin statues in the theatre foyer, commissioned by Conducis, while the obnoxiously precocious child actor playing Hamnet Shakespeare is attacked and all but killed. Inspector Roderick Alleyn, initially tasked with security arrangements for the glove, is assigned to investigate the murder and duly identifies the murderer, as well as the history of how Mr Conducis came to own the Shakespearian glove. The novel's murder plot is set against an engrossing account of how a historic London theatre is rescued from oblivion and a Shakespearian-themed modern play is produced, staged and launched into a solid West End triumph, with all the accompanying backstage dramas and tensions. Roderick Alleyn novels 1966 British novels Novels about actors Collins Crime Club books British detective novels British mystery novels Novels set in London {{1960s-crime-novel-stub