With the Lampreys is linked my cousin Johnnie Dacres-Mannings, the erstwhile gunner who, after a severe spell of tuberculosis which put an end to his term as a soldier, is now a most happily married papa and a successful figure in the world of finance in Australia and who, when I fly across the Tasman Sea to visit them, patiently tries to explain the, to me, totally inexplicable mysteries of high-powered banking. My understanding of money matters is on a par with Mr Micawber’s but less disastrous as I have a compensatory horror of spending more than I can earn. For the rest I am content to leave it all to experts, which seems to keep them pretty busy.
Johnnie’s eldest son, Nicholas, who is my godson, has just returned from England where he spent a year at Marlborough, rounding off his schooling. He was the same age as his father was when he first came down from the North Island to Christ’s College. I am delighted to hear that Nicholas became warmly attached to the Lampreys with whom he spent his holidays and whose far from Establishment on-goings and punctual crises he seems to have taken happily in his stride. He and his papa are visiting me in the New Year which will be a treat of treats.
And now I look further back almost to where those lines of perspective meet and there are the tents in the bush at Glentui. When I was in England I visited Aileen, the eldest and last of the Burtons. Now a widow and living at Berkhamsted, she described herself as ‘The Ancient of Days’. She got out an album of photographs with dry disintegrating fronds of New Zealand fern stuck between them. We turned the pages and, as old people will, became nostalgic, looked backwards over half a century and, for a moment or two saw ourselves as if it were yesterday. There we all were: the four Burton sisters, Sylvia, Mivvy, my parents, the two young parsons and the bearded boys. Back come the multiple voices of the river, of night-owls and of bellbirds at first light: the smells of woodsmoke, of sun-warmed canvas, frying bacon and cold, wet moss. ‘Lovely holidays,’ we said, ‘they were lovely holidays.’
A pinch of friable leaf-dust had lodged between the pages.
It might have fallen from a black beech tree that on a warm morning in the foothills of the Southern Alps sweated little globules of honeydew.
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Enter a Murderer, London, Bles, 1935.
The Nursing Home Murder, with Henry Jellett, London, Bles, 1935.
Death in Ecstasy, London, Bles, 1936.
Vintage Murder, London, Bles, 1937.
Artists in Crime, London, Bles, 1938.
Death in a White Tie, London, Bles, 1938.
Overture to Death, London, Collins, 1939.
Death at the Bar, London, Collins, 1940.
Surfeit of Lampreys, London, Collins, 1940; US title: Death of a Peer.
Death and the Dancing Footman, London, Collins, 1942.
Colour Scheme, London, Collins, 1943.
Died in the Wool, London, Collins, 1945.
Final Curtain, London, Collins, 1947.
Swing, Brother, Swing, London, Collins, 1949; US title: A Wreath for Riviera.
Opening Night, London, Collins, 1951; US title: Night of the Vulcan.
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Off With His Head, London, Collins, 1957; US title: Death of a Fool.
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When in Rome, London, Collins, 1970.
Tied up in Tinsel, London, Collins, 1972.
Black As He’s Painted, London, Collins, 1974.
Last Ditch, London, Collins, 1977.
Grave Mistake, London, Collins, 1978.
Photo-Finish, London, Collins, 1980.
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By the Same Author
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
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 Tainted
Last Ditch
Grave Mistake
Photo-Finish
Light Thickens
Black Beech and Honeydew (autobiography)
Copyright
HARPER
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2009
FIRST EDITION
Black Beech and Honeydew first published in Great Britain by Collins 1966; revised and enlarged edition published 1981
Ngaio Marsh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works
Copyright © Ngaio Marsh Ltd 1965, 1981
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