After my recent Alex Cross-athon, I felt I needed a palate cleanser. And what better, than to re-read some old favorites, by the grande dame of mystery herself, Agatha Christie? I first discovered Christie when I was about 10 or 11, prowling through my mother’s bookcases for something to read. I guess I had exhausted whatever I had taken home from the Bookmobile – probably Louisa May Alcott’s Eight Cousins or a collection of folktales. The first Christie I read was The Moving Finger. I still have my mom’s paperback, with its lurid […]
The Last of the Marples
Cannonball! And, oof. I should have been done with this months ago, but I’m such a lazy reviewer. I put things off, because I want each review to be brilliant, but then all that happens is that I get behind, and everything I write is crap. And Agatha Christie deserves better than that. I thought I had reviewed this 11th book in the Marple series before I started the Marple-a-thon, but apparently I was wrong. So this is a good way to end the 2015 […]
They Call Her Nemesis
In between her trip to the Caribbean and this story, Miss Marple stayed At Bertram’s Hotel in London, and solved a lovely little murder there, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already reviewed that one. Which brings us to Nemesis. Yes, Nemesis. That’s what Miss Marple called herself in the Caribbean when she was bringing a murderer to justice. If you recall, her compatriot in A Caribbean Mystery was a Mr. Reifel, a very rich invalid. He pops back up again in this story. Well, after […]
Miss Marple Goes Abroad
Miss Marple’s lovely (and wealthy) nephew has sent her to an island in the Caribbean for a nice holiday. Except there’s no such thing as a “nice holiday” if you’re in an Agatha Christie novel. There’s quite a cast of characters at the Golden Palm Hotel. Miss Marple meets Major Palgrave, who loves telling stories about his past – many of which may not be true. He offers to show her a picture of a murderer (not knowing about her history with the murdery stuff). […]
Nasty Things in St. Mary Mead
“The mirror crack’d from side to side, ‘The curse has come upon me cried the Lady of Shalott.’” Much has changed in St. Mary Mead since we first met Miss Marple. The village is expanding, and there is a bunch of new development. In fact, the new neighborhoods that are being added are collectively called “The Development” by the original locals. Miss Marple goes for a walk there one day, and takes a spill in front of the Badcock’s house. Heather Badcock helps Miss Marple, […]
Murder Solved by Nursery Rhyme
Wealthy mogul Rex Forsythe dies at work of poisoning from an obscure toxin found in the berries of the yew tree. There’s some grain in his coat pocket, which turns out to be rye. The Scotland Yard detective is intrigued by this. Rex had two sons and a daughter, and a younger second wife (don’t they all?), all of whom would benefit from his death. He was also kind of a jerk that no one would really miss. Also in the Forsythe house (Yewtree Lodge) […]