"The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical
puzzle whodunit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an
Empress.Sun

When the President of Ngombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security
arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief Superintendent
Alleyn, is called in to try to persuade him otherwise.

Alleyn performs his mission so successfully that on the night of the Ngombwanan
Embassys reception, the house and grounds are stiff with police. However, an
assassin does strike, and Alleyn discovers a wealth of suspects in a coterie of
ex-colonials residing in the very shadow of the embassy. . . .

Ngaio Marsh, a native New Zealander whose name means "flowering tree" in Maori, was a detective story writer and theatrical producer. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her classic mysteries. The continuing popularity of her hero, Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn, has assured her a lasting place among the world's top mystery authors.

Nadia May has been nominated as an AudioFile Golden Voice five years running and is a winner of thirteen AudioFile Earphones Awards. She is the co-founder of TheatreFirst, a theater company in the San Francisco Bay Area where she currently lives.