I’m going to put it out there…I’m not a fan of Miss Marple. I am truly baffled that Agatha Christie, who wrote the Hercule Poirot series and bestowed upon the world the greatest detective next to Sherlock Holmes, also gave us the worst amateur sleuth on the page. By worst, I mean that she doesn’t do anything but gossip, and then she is magically able to solve the whole thing before the police who do the actual investigative work. Ridiculous!

Synopsis

The Bantry household awake in shock to discover the body of a mysterious young woman dead on the floor in their library. No one in the household knows who the girl is or how she got there. While the Colonel calls the police, Mrs. Bantry calls Miss Marple.

As the police investigate this mysterious murder, they are called to the scene of a vehicle fire in which the charred remains of a young lady are discovered. Are these murders connected or has the village suddenly become more dangerous?

Impressions

I had the pleasure of reading this book in a read-a-long, which kept me from throwing the book across the room and never picking it up again. Our group reached the consensus that Miss Marple could never have solved this murder, and the police would never have pulled her into the investigation after she only solved one murder prior to this one. The police in this novel were incompetent, letting Marple have access to the crime scene, and filling her in on their investigation.

The problem I had with this book is that you have to suspend all disbelief to make it work out. The crime itself, with the victims and the suspects, were solid. It is Miss Marple that was all wrong. Also, if you are looking for a book that takes place in the library, this is not it.

The most enjoyable aspects of this book is Agatha Christie’s wit and charm which always come through in her writing. She is funny and engaging, and no one could argue that she can’t write a good mystery. She is the Queen of Mystery after all. I personally feel like she just phoned it in with Marple and she did her female protagonist dirty.

Modern readers should be aware that Agatha Christie’s writing reflects her time period, and therefore, her books have overarching themes of misogyny.

Content Information

Representation

• None

Diversity

• None

Violence

• Strangulation
• Drugging

Language

• Mild swearing

Misc.

• Victim blaming
• Slut shaming
• Abelism
• Misogyny