First Sign of Murder #1: Death of a Peer

This is a new (weekly?) feature I'm trying out. 

I think quotes from a book's key moments often give you a better idea about whether you'll like the book than any summary could. For First Sign of Murder (title subject to change), I'll be sharing --- you guessed it --- the lines from mystery novels that first alert readers to the fact that a murder has occurred.

"She lit her cigarette and leant over the window sill. She became aware of a new sound. It came up through her conscious thoughts, gaining definition and edge. It was a thin blade of sound, sharp and insistent. It grew louder. It was inside the building, an intermittent, horridly shrill noise that came closer. A hand closed round Roberta's heart. Someone was screaming."

--- Death of a Peer, Ngaio Marsh, 1940

Connections to previous Wreckage: Death and the Dancing Footman (Rec. #37), Night at the Vulcan (Rec. #102), Colour Scheme (Rec. #190)