This is a favorite Agatha Christie mystery of mine. When a recovering wounded vet and his flighty sister rent a home in a village so that he can quietly recover from his injuries, they find that village life has a nasty undercurrent. Virulent poison pen letters are circulating and causing neighbor to suspect neighbor, putting the entire village on edge. When death ensues, it seems that one of those letters hit home and suicide resulted. Miss Marple is there visiting an old friend and the sharp old lady sees more in the letters than the police do...and as usual she is right. It takes a courageous young woman to bring the murderer in this town to justice. The heroine of this story is a frumpy, young woman who is overlooked and really forgotten by everyone including her own family until the young veteran sees something in her behind the facade of dowdiness and clumsiness and takes a hand in helping her to blossom. A charming love story and a nasty mystery.
An odd Miss Marple--a Miss Marple in which she only appears 3/4th of the way through, and then appears to be a minor character!
I enjoyed the plot. I enjoyed the setup. It's a Christie, and it was unique and interesting to try and figure out what was going on.
There were a couple jarring things that bothered me and kept dragging me out of the story. The utter lack of suspicion on Megan was incredibly hard to believe--since it was the authorities and the narrator carefully detailing her movements and timing. While the narrator could be excused for being blind (his developing relationship to her being one of the other parts of the book I had a problem with--Gah!), the cops were supposedly quite competent.
Worth reading for the plot, as most Christie's are. Her narrator in this one wasn't too bad. It's just Megan, who I admit was vital at the end, who caused jarring in multiple ways.
I enjoyed the plot. I enjoyed the setup. It's a Christie, and it was unique and interesting to try and figure out what was going on.
There were a couple jarring things that bothered me and kept dragging me out of the story. The utter lack of suspicion on Megan was incredibly hard to believe--since it was the authorities and the narrator carefully detailing her movements and timing. While the narrator could be excused for being blind (his developing relationship to her being one of the other parts of the book I had a problem with--Gah!), the cops were supposedly quite competent.
Worth reading for the plot, as most Christie's are. Her narrator in this one wasn't too bad. It's just Megan, who I admit was vital at the end, who caused jarring in multiple ways.
Another good one from Agatha Christie. Intrique in a small quiet village. Miss Marple called in to solve the mystery.
Classic Agatha Christie. Classic cozy.
"That's my expert," said Mrs. Dane Calthrop. "Jane Marple. Look at her well. I tell you, that woman knows more about the different kinds of human wickedness than anyone I've ever known."
"I don't think you should put it quite like that, dear, " murmured Miss Marple.
"But you do." (page 190)
"That's my expert," said Mrs. Dane Calthrop. "Jane Marple. Look at her well. I tell you, that woman knows more about the different kinds of human wickedness than anyone I've ever known."
"I don't think you should put it quite like that, dear, " murmured Miss Marple.
"But you do." (page 190)
If you are in the mood for a classic mystery without all of the modern blood and gore, try this one. Poison Pen letters are going around the sleepy town of Lymestock, and then people start turning up dead. Miss Marple puts the pieces together just in time to prevent another murder! The only reason I took of 1/2 a star is there is not nearly enough of Miss Marple in it!
Another classic murder mystery of the Grande Dame of mysteries, Agatha Christie. Origianlly published in 1942, this copy published 1984.
