Perhaps it is advisable, on grounds of credibility, not to make too much of the number of times coincidence mixes Troy up in her husband’s cases: a situation that he embraces with mixed feelings. She is a reticent character and as sensitive as a sea-urchin, but she learns to assume and even feel a certain detachment.

“After all,” she has said to herself, “I married him and I would be a very boring wife if I spent half my time wincing and showing sensitive.”

I like Troy. When I am writing about her, I can see her with her shortish dark hair, thin face and hands. She’s absent-minded, shy and funny, and she can paint like nobody’s business. I’m always glad when other people like her, too.

THE CASES OF RODERICK ALLEYN

A Man Lay Dead. 1934.

Enter a Murderer. 1935.

The Nursing-Home Murder. 1935.

Death in Ecstasy. 1936.

Vintage Murder. 1937.

Artists in Crime. 1938.

Death in a White Tie. 1938.

Overture to Death. 1939.

Death at the Bar. 1940.

Death of a Peer. (British title, Surfeit of Lampreys). 1940.

Death and the Dancing Footman. 1941.

Colour Scheme. 1943.

Died in the Wool. 1945.

Final Curtain. 1947.

A Wreath for Rivera. (British title, Swing, Brother, Swing). 1949.

Night at the Vulcan. (British title, Opening Night). 1951.

Spinsters in Jeopardy. 1953.

Scales of Justice. 1955.