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spencesational 's review for:
At Bertram's Hotel
by Agatha Christie
Believe it or not, this is the first Agatha Christie novel I have read. I haven't even seen any of the series; not Poirot, not Miss Marple, nothing. I have seen little snippets of these programs but not in full nor to their conclusion. I'm not bragging (or should I be ashamed?), I'm just stating a fact. However, I went on Gumtree (a buying and selling website) and coincidentally found twenty hardback Agatha Christie novels, in 'near new' condition (a little bit of foxing on the pages), for £10, and as the seller lived only ten miles from me, I couldn't resist. In buying them, without having read AC before, it was either going to be a blessing or a curse. So far, I have been blessed.
I enjoyed At Bertram's Hotel. It didn't immediately grab me and the old-fashioned writing style took a while to get used to (even though I have read books from the 1930s before); including a paragraph where a car sped away on two wheels, which I didn't know whether to take as literal or metaphorical. I put this down to my inexperience with Miss Christie's writing and only time will tell, after reading other novels, how I should indeed take it. Nevertheless, I found it a nice, relaxing read on a Friday evening with a rare few hours to kill.
The main thing that did surprise me about this novel, however, was the very minor part Miss Marple played. As this was billed as a Miss Marple novel I fair expected her to play a more significant role but the lead was taken mainly by the Chief Inspector, nicknamed Father. Don't get me wrong, he played the part well but I did expect MM to have a more significant role. This was only a minor glitch though and it didn't bother me too much.
Overall, a good introduction, for me, to Ms Christie and I look forward to getting to know her better in future reads.
I enjoyed At Bertram's Hotel. It didn't immediately grab me and the old-fashioned writing style took a while to get used to (even though I have read books from the 1930s before); including a paragraph where a car sped away on two wheels, which I didn't know whether to take as literal or metaphorical. I put this down to my inexperience with Miss Christie's writing and only time will tell, after reading other novels, how I should indeed take it. Nevertheless, I found it a nice, relaxing read on a Friday evening with a rare few hours to kill.
The main thing that did surprise me about this novel, however, was the very minor part Miss Marple played. As this was billed as a Miss Marple novel I fair expected her to play a more significant role but the lead was taken mainly by the Chief Inspector, nicknamed Father. Don't get me wrong, he played the part well but I did expect MM to have a more significant role. This was only a minor glitch though and it didn't bother me too much.
Overall, a good introduction, for me, to Ms Christie and I look forward to getting to know her better in future reads.