The first of the Alleyn mysteries is a confused and not particularly impressive piece. Exotic daggers, secret societies, unnecessary torture scenes. Alleyn is also all over the place, closer to Campion than the ascetic grandee of later books. Stripped of extra encumbrances, the character of the killer is a satisfying one, but overall this is not a particularly compelling book.Nigel Bathgate features mainly in the first few of the Alleyn mysteries, evidently intended to be a Watson to Alleyn's Holmes, but then fades out, with the stolid Fox rising to take his place - a relief, since Bathgate appears to encourage Alleyn to be silly and out of true, and really is not that interesting a character.Not a _bad_ book, but readable more for completion of the series rather than great worth on its on.
