What can I say about Miss Marple that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. Never ignore the little old lady with the knitting needles. After getting suckered punched in the gut recently by the Electoral College, my husband and I were looking for something soothing to watch on TV. Since we are all caught up on the Great British Baking Show, we went for Murder She Wrote. There is a lot going on in that show, more than I can unpack in this review. […]
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) […]
Yup, more Marple
This is the third novel to feature Miss Marple (the 2nd, The Body in the Library, I reviewed in a previous Cannonball). She doesn’t show up for a bit, though. The story starts with Jerry and Joanna Burton, cosmopolitan London siblings, taking a house in the country so Jerry can recover from a plane crash. They’re settling in, meeting the neighbors, and then they get an anonymous letter accusing them of not being brother and sister (if you know what I mean). Turns out a […]