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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I did like this book, it had an interesting premise.
A murder is announced in the local paper, the curious townsfolk come to nosy around, and what was supposed to be all fun and games turns to real-life blood and the murder of a young man that no one knows.
This should be a great read for me. It has all the hallmarks of a great cozy British murder mystery.
A fun quaint English village that sounds idicilic to live in set after WWII.
Check.
Filled with quirky and colorful characters.
Check.
A strong mystery out the gate.
Check.
It even has classic Agatha Christie tropes that I love.
Check.
It even has a possible lesbian couple with a heavily implied butch character. Though it is Christie, who knows what she meant them to be since they are always described as friends. But as a queer woman, I always saw them as lesbians sharing a life out in a sweet little village, where no one cared and was kind to them.
But a few grey clouds overshadowed the story, stopping me from loving the book like I thought I would. Which in turn was a disappointment. Because I thought this would be a new favorite of Christie and Marple.
1. Several of the old boy investigators in the police how they discuss women and how one of them keeps referring to women as pussies. I know this is a product of its time, but it did bother me.
2. How the two main foreign characters are portrayed in the book. The dead man Rudy (who technically was a bit of a naughty boy, but small time) is talked about disrespectfully like of course he was the wrong one, he's from Switzerland. Of course, he would play some strange game of holding up a room of people at gunpoint and then be stupid enough to accidentally shoot himself to death. Because of course, anyone foreign to England must be a crook and a criminal. Once again I know it's a product of its time, but still bothered me.
And then there is Mitzi, who is a refugee from Europe, a bundle of nerves and dramatic, Little Paddocks' domestic help who has lost her entire family in the war, including seeing one of them killed in front of her. Yet, almost everyone in the book, including her employers mocks her. They claim she lies, they are annoyed with her dramatic nerves and meltdowns, and they have unflattering impressions of her often. They tease her when she's upset and fearing for her life, which is not surprising since her entire family was wiped out in the war and she's now a refuge in a new country, scraping by as a servant. This woman's life has been trauma-filled and instead of kindness, most people treat her as an annoying, overdramatic, stupid pest. This made me a little angry.
3. The least annoying thing was the utter little two-wrapped-up big coincidence around Pip and Emma.
I still had a good time and enjoyed reading the physical book and the two different narrations I listened to interchanging. Joan Hickson and Rosemary Leach were both fine actresses and fine narrators.
Overall these were things that bothered me, but your mileage might vary. It's still a good and entertaining read.
A murder is announced in the local paper, the curious townsfolk come to nosy around, and what was supposed to be all fun and games turns to real-life blood and the murder of a young man that no one knows.
This should be a great read for me. It has all the hallmarks of a great cozy British murder mystery.
A fun quaint English village that sounds idicilic to live in set after WWII.
Check.
Filled with quirky and colorful characters.
Check.
A strong mystery out the gate.
Check.
It even has classic Agatha Christie tropes that I love.
Check.
It even has a possible lesbian couple with a heavily implied butch character. Though it is Christie, who knows what she meant them to be since they are always described as friends. But as a queer woman, I always saw them as lesbians sharing a life out in a sweet little village, where no one cared and was kind to them.
But a few grey clouds overshadowed the story, stopping me from loving the book like I thought I would. Which in turn was a disappointment. Because I thought this would be a new favorite of Christie and Marple.
1. Several of the old boy investigators in the police how they discuss women and how one of them keeps referring to women as pussies. I know this is a product of its time, but it did bother me.
2. How the two main foreign characters are portrayed in the book. The dead man Rudy (who technically was a bit of a naughty boy, but small time) is talked about disrespectfully like of course he was the wrong one, he's from Switzerland. Of course, he would play some strange game of holding up a room of people at gunpoint and then be stupid enough to accidentally shoot himself to death. Because of course, anyone foreign to England must be a crook and a criminal. Once again I know it's a product of its time, but still bothered me.
And then there is Mitzi, who is a refugee from Europe, a bundle of nerves and dramatic, Little Paddocks' domestic help who has lost her entire family in the war, including seeing one of them killed in front of her. Yet, almost everyone in the book, including her employers mocks her. They claim she lies, they are annoyed with her dramatic nerves and meltdowns, and they have unflattering impressions of her often. They tease her when she's upset and fearing for her life, which is not surprising since her entire family was wiped out in the war and she's now a refuge in a new country, scraping by as a servant. This woman's life has been trauma-filled and instead of kindness, most people treat her as an annoying, overdramatic, stupid pest. This made me a little angry.
3. The least annoying thing was the utter little two-wrapped-up big coincidence around Pip and Emma.
Spoiler
But I get it, it's a cozy murder mystery story, of course, two twin sisters who were split up Parent Trap Style. Haven't seen each other since they were three, and don't even know what the other looks like as adults. They also never met their uncle or were any part of his life, nor were either of their parents. Yet, somehow they both found out about Lettie being the sole benefit of their late uncle's fortune. They both traveled there around the same time to suck up to Lettie and ask for a handout under false names of sorts. It's just a hard pill to swallow that they had the same knowledge, the same plan, and were there at the same time. Also how Emma and Patrick meet and come to be is far-fetched.I still had a good time and enjoyed reading the physical book and the two different narrations I listened to interchanging. Joan Hickson and Rosemary Leach were both fine actresses and fine narrators.
Overall these were things that bothered me, but your mileage might vary. It's still a good and entertaining read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Why am I always surprised by how much fun Agatha Christie's books are? Miss Marple is so offhandedly brilliant, she's a delightful find for me (late to the party as usual).
Me pareció una buena lectura, me estoy aficionando poco a poco a las historias de Agatha Christie, debo decir que al principio, la historia me pareció algo lenta y no sentía que avanzara, en algún punto tuve a mi primera sospechosa pero en cuanto dieron un par de pistas sobre la sospechosa real mis puntos estaban en ambas. Está bien el como juega con la mente del lector para que sospeches de todos. Me faltó un poco de la entrañable Miss Marple en la que quería leer más de ella. Aun así seguiré leyendo más porque se que muchos son muy buenos y me quedan por leerlos.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No