Dame Ngaio Marsh DBE (/?na?.o?/; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982), born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.Internationally Marsh is known primarily for her creation Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a gentleman detective who works for the Metropolitan Police (London). Thus she is one of the "Queens of Crime" alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham.
She was actually born on April 23, 1895, according to reliable reference sources; but her father gave her birth year as 1899, thus starting her life with a mystery; no wonder that she became one of the most popular mystery writers of the 20th century. Her mystery novels are intellectual and are influenced by S.S. Van Dine.