She studied painting at the Canterbury College (NZ) School of Art before joining the Allan Wilkie company as an actress in 1916 and touring New Zealand. Ngaio Marsh was educated at St Margaret's College in Christchurch, where she was one of the first pupils when the school was founded. Her mother's sister Ruth married the geologist, lecturer, and curator Robert Speight. She was the only child of Rose and bank clerk Henry Marsh, described by Marsh as 'have-nots'. Other sources say that it is the name of a native flowering tree.' Her father neglected to register her birth until 1900 and there is some uncertainty about the date. can mean either 'light on the water' or 'little tree bug' in the Maori language. that in New Zealand European children often receive native names, and Ngaio. Greene writes: 'Marsh explained to an interviewer. In the Introduction to The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh, Douglas G. Marsh was born in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where she also died.

Margaret's College school uniform, between 19 The Ngaio Marsh Award is awarded annually for the best New Zealand mystery, crime and thriller fiction writing. She is known primarily for her character Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a gentleman detective who works for the Metropolitan Police (London). Īs a crime writer during the ' Golden Age of Detective Fiction', Marsh is known as one of the 'Queens of Crime', along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh DBE ( / ˈ n aɪ oʊ/ 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director.

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh