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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Took me a while to finish. The book was nice enough, but not extremely exciting. Two books down and I wonder if I will manage to really read all of Christie's books. Time will tell, I guess. The next one will not be one of hers, though.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
A classic Ms. Marple mystery with the murderer being very much a surprise.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
When an elderly lady becomes an unwilling witness to a murder in a train that runs beside hers, nobody takes her statement to have any value - nobody, except her friend Miss Marple. The old lady seems to believe in her statement, since Mrs. McGillicuddy does not have any imagination. The two women report the murder to the police. However, strangely, no body is found.
This leads Miss Marple to hunt down the body. She draws her own conjectures on what happened to the lady who got murdered, and realizes that it comes down to the involvement of a family that lives in an estate lying at a curve of the railway tracks. She employs the resourceful and intelligent Lucy Eyelesbarrow to find the body, and then enlists the help of Inspector Craddock of Scotland Yard. The body is found, but the murdered eludes everyone.
In the meanwhile, members of the family staying at the estate start dying of arsenic poisoning. When the solution to the murders seems unattainable, Miss Marple comes to the rescue. She enacts the scene from the first murder in front of her friend Mrs. McGillicuddy, and thus exposes the murderer.
This is the eighth book of Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie. The story, like every other Agatha Christie story, grips the reader till the end. It exposes the darker aspects of the human nature. It shows that innocence is not what we see from outside. It is possible that the person you least expect would commit a crime is the one who actually does commit it. Again, if you are into the game of whodunit while reading this book, you might as well give it up. You would never guess the perpetrator of the crimes.
All in all, although this book does not reach the level of one of my favourites by the author, it still is a thrilling read, and I waited with bated breath for the murderer to be revealed. I love Miss Marple stories, as they mix romance with detective fiction, and this book lives up to those promises. A nice short read for the lovers of detective stories.
This leads Miss Marple to hunt down the body. She draws her own conjectures on what happened to the lady who got murdered, and realizes that it comes down to the involvement of a family that lives in an estate lying at a curve of the railway tracks. She employs the resourceful and intelligent Lucy Eyelesbarrow to find the body, and then enlists the help of Inspector Craddock of Scotland Yard. The body is found, but the murdered eludes everyone.
In the meanwhile, members of the family staying at the estate start dying of arsenic poisoning. When the solution to the murders seems unattainable, Miss Marple comes to the rescue. She enacts the scene from the first murder in front of her friend Mrs. McGillicuddy, and thus exposes the murderer.
This is the eighth book of Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie. The story, like every other Agatha Christie story, grips the reader till the end. It exposes the darker aspects of the human nature. It shows that innocence is not what we see from outside. It is possible that the person you least expect would commit a crime is the one who actually does commit it. Again, if you are into the game of whodunit while reading this book, you might as well give it up. You would never guess the perpetrator of the crimes.
All in all, although this book does not reach the level of one of my favourites by the author, it still is a thrilling read, and I waited with bated breath for the murderer to be revealed. I love Miss Marple stories, as they mix romance with detective fiction, and this book lives up to those promises. A nice short read for the lovers of detective stories.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A delightful ramble, with Marple along from the beginning, and although figuring out the culprit is prety straightforward, Marple's revelations are pretty drab. After a few deft moves in the first few chapters, she doesn't really impress with any of her little hints. The supporting cast, especially Lucy, is charming enough to make up for it, but not quite to the snap of a truly top tier Christie.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder