Other editions of book When in Rome: Inspector Roderick Alleyn #26

Murder, blackmail and drug dealing on the Tiber combine in one of Ngaio Marsh's liveliest and most evocative novels. When their guide disappears mysteriously in the depths of a Roman basilica, the members of Mr. Sebastian Mailer's tour group seem strangely unperturbed. But when a body is discovered in an Etruscan sarcophagus, Superintendent Alleyn, in Rome incognito on the trail of an international drug racket, is very much concerned....

In 1968 Ngaio Marsh took her own Roman holiday (in part to research Italian police procedures) and the change seems to have done her good: Both her British and U.S. agents believed When in Rome to be the finest novel in her “Inspector Alleyn” series. As is so often (and so satisfyingly) the case, the tale concerns a murder within a closed group – in this case, a group of tourists visiting what Marsh calls the “Basilica di San Tommaso,” who find themselves fumbling into a complex web of blackmail and drug-smuggling. Adding some irresistible color are depictions of both La Dolce Vita (of which Marsh took a jaundiced view) and the student radicals of the day, whom she seems to have found somewhat more persuasive. All in all, a brilliant example of classic Golden Age plotting melded with a decidedly Space Age cast.

In 1968 Ngaio Marsh took her own Roman holiday (in part to research Italian police procedures) and the change seems to have done her good: Both her British and U.S. agents believed When in Rome to be the finest novel in her "Inspector Alleyn" series. As is so often (and so satisfyingly) the case, the tale concerns a murder within a closed group—in this case, a group of tourists visiting what Marsh calls the "Basilica di San Tommaso," who find themselves fumbling into a complex web of blackmail and drug-smuggling. Adding some irresistible color are depictions of both La Dolce Vita (of which Marsh took a jaundiced view) and the student radicals of the day, whom she seems to have found somewhat more persuasive. All in all, a brilliant example of classic Golden Age plotting melded with a decidedly Space Age cast.

Murder takes a Roman holidayOn an exclusive guided tour of Rome's ancient ruins, a motley crew of tourists gets more than the price of admission. For amidst the serpentine passages of an underground crypt, the shady tour guide disappears, a mysterious murder occurs, and Inspector Roderick Alleyn-undercover on an international drug bust-must focus his keen eye on more than just Rome's breathtaking sights...

On a late Saturday in April, the venerable Roman church of San Tommaso in Pallaria became the site of a most curious assemblage. A superannuated jet-setter and her junkie nephew, a bad-tempered, ultra-British Major, a boisterous Baron and Baroness bearing an astonishing resemblance to one another, and an extremely reticent bestselling author were being gathered together for an exclusive tour of Rome's ancient ruins that was promised to be "most unconventional." Which, indeed, it would be. All sorts of new activities, plus some surprises. Like murder, blackmail, and drug-running. Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, brought to Italy by an international probe of drug smuggling, finds himself in the middle of the most baffling case of his career, an intricate web in which each and every one of his suspects could be a killer—or a victim. Or both.

Two full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Ngaio Marsh short stories. In Opening Night, a leading actor is found gassed in his dressing room. It looks like suicide, until it transpires that he was widely detested. Inspector Alleyn quickly realises that almost everyone in the theatre had a motive for his murder. Jeremy Clyde stars as Inspector Alleyn. When In Rome finds Inspector Alleyn joining a group of highly suspicious tourists on a visit to a Roman catacomb. The corpse he finds in an ancient sarcophagus has been very recently murdered...