''Died in the Wool'' 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 De ...

; it is the thirteenth novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1945. The novel concerns the murder of a New Zealand parliamentarian on a remote sheep farm on the

Canterbury Region Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

of the South Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, said to be located in Mackenzie country near Aoraki/Mount Cook (which in the novel is referred to as the "Cloud-Piercer", the highest in a series of several peaks surrounding the high plateau where most of the action occurs). Like the previous novel in the series (''

Colour Scheme In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in various artistic and design contexts. For example, the "Achromatic" use of a white background with black text is an example of a basic and commonly default color scheme in web de ...

'') the story takes place during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

with Alleyn doing counter-espionage work. The format of the book is somewhat unusual, in that Alleyn does not arrive at the scene of the murder until fifteen months after it has taken place, and much of his detecting is founded upon stories told him by the chief witnesses in the case.

Television adaptation

''Died in the Wool'' was one of four Alleyn novels adapted for New Zealand television in 1977; Alleyn was played by George Baker in a series called the ''

Ngaio Marsh Theatre The Ngaio Marsh Theatre is a theatre at the University of Canterbury Students' Association in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Ngaio Marsh theatre was named in honour of Dame Ngaio Marsh, who was a director and patron of theatre, especially Shak ...

''. Roderick Alleyn novels 1945 British novels Novels set in New Zealand Novels set during World War II Collins Crime Club books Canterbury, New Zealand {{1940s-WWII-novel-stub