Opening Night Audiobook By Ngaio Marsh cover art

Opening Night

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Opening Night

By: Ngaio Marsh
Narrated by: James Saxon
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.19

Buy for $24.19

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Dreams of stardom had lured Martyn Tarne from faraway New Zealand to make the dreary, soul-destroying round of West End agents and managers in search of work.

The Vulcan Theatre had been her last forlorn hope, and now, driven by sheer necessity, she was glad to accept the humble job of dresser to its leading lady. And then came the eagerly awaited opening night.

To Martyn the night brought a strange turn of the wheel of fortune - but to one distinguished member of the cast it was to bring sudden and unforeseen death....

©1951 Original Text of 1951 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio Cozy Crime Thrillers Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Crime Detective

Critic reviews

"Miss Marsh at her best...she is thoroughly at home in the wings with a pack of actors locked in the grip of rehearsals and jealous intrigue." ( New Statesman)
"Miss Marsh’s best yet." ( Observer)

People who viewed this also viewed...

A Man Lay Dead Audiobook By Ngaio Marsh cover art
A Man Lay Dead By: Ngaio Marsh
Memorable Moments • Interesting Characters • Theatrical Setting • Detailed Backstage Life • Real Voice Variety
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Ngaio Marsh is known for setting several of her Golden Age-era mysteries in the theatre, which she knew very well as a vocation and avocation. Just for fun, I have been revisiting those theatre-set stories.

Opening Night/Night at the Vulcan (pub. 1951) is fascinating. I like the characters -- most of them anyway. (As an aside, I have noticed that even though Marsh loves the theatre, she may not love all actors. Some of them are very unpleasant, even if innocent of murder.) The mystery was very good as well.

Unfortunately, this is one of those books where Alleyn does not appear until more than halfway into the story, but once he does enter the stage he dominates. Marsh kept me guessing until the end.

James Saxon narrated many -- perhaps all -- of Marsh's books, and I have found his performances to be oddly uneven. In this case, he was excellent.

Fun at the theatre

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great British period piece. If you are a theater lover you will enjoy this one particularly. Outstanding narrator.

One of Ngaio Marsh’s Best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Starting as a valentine to theater, Marsh develops the characters so well that I found myself rooting for my favorites. Beautifully performed by Saxon. Highly recommended.

classic Marsh

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You don't have to know all about theater to enjoy the wonderful recreation of backstage and onstage life created here by mystery master Ngaio Marsh, who was also immersed in theater herself. This little troupe finds itself in a crisis. We are drawn in wondering first who will be killed (because someone always is) and then who did it? Plenty of motives and clues, as usual, brilliant and unbelievably speedy detection by Alleyne, but we still don't know who did it until the very end. How nice is that!

Intensely written, performed and enjoyed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you consider the audio edition of Opening Night to be better than the print version?

I read the book years ago and remember really enjoying it for the characters and the theater setting. Listening to it again years later, I see why I enjoyed it. While dated by time, the characters are interesting (except for the purposely annoying ones) and the insider's view of the theater is interesting. The murder is really secondary to the characters and their relationships.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Opening Night?

The opening moments with literally "starving artist" and her serendipitous finding of a job and food captures both attention and sympathy.

What about James Saxon’s performance did you like?

Real variety of voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The kindness of Badger and Jacko to Martyn is poignant.

Characters trump plot

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the reader represents cast of actors beautifully with expression nuance and great differentiation of both male and female voices

fabulously read with amazing voices

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Where does Opening Night rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

All of is series are great. It ranks in the top 10.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters are richly described.

What does James Saxon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I am an auditory learner so these are wonderful.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

Please continue this series.

love this series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As usual Ngaio Marsh weaves a tale that brings the characters alive. Her knowledge of the theatre makes all the difference. As is often the case; the actual murder occurs rather late in the story but you become invested in the characters right away so it does not matter. And of course James Saxon is one of the best narrators.

Best writer for theatre murders

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved James Saxon and how he voices Allen and Fox. He’s the best and this is one of Marsh’s finest books.

Classic with best narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ngaio March loves the stage as a setting for murder as much as Agatha Christie loved the country house. I find the latter to be much more interesting. As for the book, it is certainly not a good sign when you get to the murder and you don't remember the victim being a character in the book. I decided to jump back a few hours and see what I had missed. It made me realize how often my mind wanders away from the story in a Marsh book. The book centers on a wanna be actress main character who is likeable enough. Alleyn does not appear until late and his solution is fairly standard. The reader did a decent job in this one, not his usual over acting.

Dull

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews