Last book review of the day! Huzzah. This will also teach me to next time make sure my books are downloaded on my Kindle before going back to my hometown where WiFi is not a thing apparently. I was so mad at myself. Will get back to the other books I had planned to read for Halloween Bingo, but didn’t want to just not read anything to keep up with my planned reading schedule. Thank goodness I had so many King and Christie books already downloaded on my Kindle, even though I also have this and some of the others on my permanent book shelves. Quick note, I need to stop buying books before checking to see if they are already in my house somewhere. No idea how that Tremblay book was on my Kindle, I recall not even being able to finish that book my first time through, but I must have bought it and forgot about it.
I weirdly have some Miss Marple in paperback format and some that are not. I have no idea why. So realizing that I had this on my bookshelf, I decided to read it for Halloween Bingo.
This was done really well. Christie starts the book off with us following an Inspector Nettle to figure out who murdered Rex Fortescue and his second wife, Adele. Initially, it appears that Adele and the man who she is having an affair with are the perpetrators behind the crimes. When the maid is found strangled to death, Nettle is baffled by who is behind these crimes. Then enter, Miss Marple.
We find out that the maid, Gladys worked for Miss Marple, and once Miss Marple found out about her death, she arrives at home of the Fortescue’s (Yewtree Lodge).
This is Miss Marple at her best. She and Nettle work well together and even though Nettle is behind Miss Marple in figuring out who is the murderer and the reasons why, it was a fun book to read and try guess who did it and why. Without giving away the ending, I loved how Miss Marple fixates on the rightful murderer and the reasons why.
Christie does a great job of setting up all of the characters before Miss Marple shows up. Sometimes I find myself bored with Marple or Poirot books until they show up, this was not one of those times.
The setting of Yewtree Lodge is good and there are so many people who are viable suspects, Rex had two sons, a daughter, two daughters in laws and a general housekeeper that you are going to wonder if they are behind things or not.
The ending doesn’t give you a cut and dried solution though. Things are left at loose ends. You can guess what is going to happen next though.