Marsh’s next outing combines her knowledge of New Zealand and the theater
as Alleyn visits New Zealand to do counter-espionage work during the
early days of World War II. The action takes place at a seedy hotsprings
resort in a rural area of New Zealand, the temporary home of a diverse
cast: the vague retired colonel, owner of the resort; his foolish wife;
their mousy daughter; her uncle, an irascible doctor who sees Japanese
spies under every bush; a sharp businessman with his eye on the
hotsprings–and on the colonel’s daughter; a justly famous Shakespearean
actor, and his entourage; assorted layabouts; and an entire Maori village.

This is one of the first of Marsh’s books that I ever read, and it’s
different than I remembered it. I found the beginning exceedingly
tedious, but that might simply be because I had my head deeply into a
programming project, and found it difficult to concentrate on anything
else.

Overall, not a bad read, but not my favorite either.