Off With His Head

Off With His Head is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the nineteenth novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1957. The plot concerns a village festival in the English countryside, and features Morris dancing among other folkloric elements. The novel was published as Death of a Fool in the United States, a reference to the fact that the murder victim is playing a Fool in the festival.

The novel is classed as a locked room mystery.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn
Creator
  • Ngaio Marsh
Novels
(chronological)
  • A Man Lay Dead
  • Enter a Murderer
  • The Nursing Home Murder
  • Death in Ecstasy
  • Vintage Murder
  • Artists in Crime
  • Death in a White Tie
  • Overture to Death
  • Death at the Bar
  • Surfeit of Lampreys
  • Death and the Dancing Footman
  • Colour Scheme
  • Died in the Wool
  • Final Curtain
  • Swing Brother Swing
  • Opening Night
  • Spinsters in Jeopardy
  • Scales of Justice
  • Off With His Head
  • Singing in the Shrouds
  • False Scent
  • Hand in Glove
  • Dead Water
  • Death at the Dolphin
  • Clutch of Constables
  • When in Rome
  • Tied Up in Tinsel
  • Black As He's Painted
  • Last Ditch
  • Grave Mistake
  • Photo Finish
  • Light Thickens
See also
  • Death on the Air and Other Stories (1995)
  • Gentleman detective
  • The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (BBC television)
  • Patrick Malahide (actor)


Famous quotes containing the word head:

    “A man whose mind feels that it is captive would prefer to blind himself to the fact. But if he hates falsehood, he will not do so; and in that case he will have to suffer a lot. He will beat his head against the wall until he faints. He will come to again and look with terror at the wall, until one day he begins afresh to beat his head against it; and once again he will faint. And so on endlessly and without hope. One day he will wake up on the other side of the wall.”
    —Simone Weil (1909–1943)