• Death in Ecstasy

  • By: Ngaio Marsh
  • Narrated by: James Saxon
  • Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (204 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
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 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Death in Ecstasy  By  cover art

Death in Ecstasy

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

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.52

Buy for $14.52

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

Publisher's summary

The poison was cyanide, slipped into the sacred wine of ecstasy just before it was presented to Miss Cara Quayne at the House of the Sacred Flame.

The victim was a deeply religious initiate who had trained for a month for her last ceremony. She was also a very beautiful woman.... The suspects were the other initiates and the high priest. All claimed they were above earthly passions. But Cara Quayne had provoked lust, jealousy - and murder.

Roderick Alleyn suspected that more evil still lurked behind the Sign of the Sacred Flame....

©1936 Original Text of 1936 by Ngaio Marsh (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A novelist of glittering accomplishment." ( Sunday Times)
"She writes better than Christie!" ( New York Times)

Love Books? You'll Love Audible.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Transform your day

Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Listen everywhere

Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Carry your entire Library

Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Listen and learn

Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Reach your reading goals

You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Find your niche

WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.

Try for $0.00 $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

What listeners say about Death in Ecstasy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    105
  • 4 Stars
    60
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    111
  • 4 Stars
    47
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    97
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dated but enjoyable

Not the best in the series but full of amusing touches. Characters are more than usually stereotypical. Unfortunate homophobia creeps in that is offensive even for the time the book was written. Excellent narration.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gotta Love Inspector Allen!

Interesting take on a made up religion and the poor souls mixed up in it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fine and amusing story.

In this novel NM let’s her sense of humor shine thru. The usual mix of suspects and highly engrossing back stories but lots of laugh moments. It’s also time to ‘out’ Rattisbone the ever recurring solicitor. He appears without fanfare or comment in many books but in this novel a character asks Alleyn “do you know this person?” And Alleyn replies “slightly” - of course they have shared many a story and Rattisbone deserves much better of his creator. Loved the story as usual.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mystery Maven

Another great entry. These stories are set in a time long gone but the relevance of this installment is right on. Different narrator who did well. On to the next.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Would recommend listening to this story. Keeps your interest. Was not able to solve the mystery.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another Gem by Ngaio Marsh

When it comes to gentlemen detective stories Ngaio Marsh writes her mysteries with the right amount of dark undertones and humour. James Saxon narrated Marsh's characters to life and was just delightful overall to listen to.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Golden Age mystery

Ngaio Marsh had a gift for characters; sometimes they were too talky which slowed down the story; but for the most part the talking was where the clues were. James Saxon is hands down the best Marsh narrator (with Philip Franks a close second).

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Tedious narrator

I know this gentleman is hired quite often to read in this series.....
However,... Someone needs to tell him to swallow his saliva regularly and more often... He waits until he's almost drowning in it , then gulps it away...
Ugh... Shudder... Most distressing..

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring book

This book was so boring that I couldn't finish it. The characters were stereotypes of little interest and the plot nonexistent.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful