Vintage Murder

Good book, good narration, one audio error

I was confused as to why the audio book had poor ratings, but soon figured it out once I got to the end of Chapter 7. The chapter cuts off abruptly about a page before the actual end of the chapter and skips to chapter 8. That being said, it is the ONLY audio error in the entire audiobook and even if you don’t find the book online for a low cost of nada to make up the missing page, you’re not missing anything significant. As far as narration, my one complaint is that it is hard to tell the male members of the acting company apart sometimes. I suspect this has as much to do with the writing as it has to do with the narration.

Other than that, I very much enjoyed this book. Dr. Te Pokiha is an astonishingly fascinating, complex, and frank character for the time. There are definitely a few cringey moments that would have been edited out nowadays, but considering Ngaio Marsh is the 4th golden age “Queen of Mystery” I’m working my way through the whole bibliography of, she’s getting points for being more humanizing and sympathetic towards non-white (and even non-upper/middle class) characters than any of the others. I particularly found the bit where Dr. Te Pokiha talks about white settlers naming their kids after Māori words a good commentary, considering Ngaio Marsh’s parents were guilty of this. I also really enjoyed the discussion of pre-white-settlement cultural norms and hygiene practices and modern (in the book’s time) health issues facing the Māori population due to the societal and sociological pressures of white settlers. It felt realistic and interesting without turning Dr. Te Pokiha into a mouthpiece for the author’s understanding of Māori issues. I ended the book hoping he shows up somehow in future novels. The murder mystery was also really interesting and had an ingenious solution. Highly recommend looking past the average rating and giving this audiobook a shot