[HarryT]

"Surfeit of Lampreys" (published as "Death of a Peer" in the US) is the 10th book in Ngaio Marsh's "Inspector Alleyn" series, and she's in fine form here. The Lampreys are a large, upper-class, rather eccentric family with expensive tastes and no income. They invite their rich Uncle, Lord Wutherwood, to visit them, in an attempt to borrow money from him, but he is murdered in their house, and there seems little doubt that it was a member of the household who committed the murder. Chief Inspector Alleyn and Inspector Fox investigate the mystery.

I enjoyed this book very much indeed. The murder is, in a sense, almost secondary to the book; the real reason for reading it is the wonderful characterisation of the eccentric but enormously likeable Lamprey family.

Thoroughly recommended.