Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Since I've been recommending this to everyone, I thought I'd listen to the audio version and see how it held up. Yep. Still (to me) the best!
What's my favorite Agatha Christie novel? Well, I'd have a hard time picking between Murder on the Orient Express and Sleeping Murder. But this one is more, um, realish? The idea that what happened in Murder on the Orient Express could actually happen...is pretty far-fetched. And, yesSleeping Murder is (by today's standards) kinda outlandish, too. BUT. Less outlandish than MotOE. <--MY OPINION
Plus, I love me some Miss Marple!
The main characters are newlyweds Gwenda & Giles, but Jane Marple is introduced early on as the elderly aunt of Giles's cousin (some of you will recognize Raymond West from other books!). And when Gwenda begins to think she's losing her mind due to some startling coincidences at her newly purchased house, and a frightening reaction to the line of a play... *rubs hands together* Well, naturally, Miss Marple sticks her nose (delicately) into Gwenda's troubles, and steps in to help her sort things out.
If you're a fan of Miss Marple mysteries, this is one that you definitely don't want to skip. I think it shows a different side to her intellect and personality by having her play as a secondary character. While the two main characters bumble around to the best of their ability, this little old lady is gently nudging them in the right direction. And, ultimately, she's also the one who steps in to save the day.
Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in October 1976.
Newlywed Gwenda Reed travels ahead of her husband to find a home for them on the south coast of England. In a short time, she finds and buys Hillside, a large old house that feels just like home.
She supervises workers in a renovation, staying in a one-time nursery room while the work progresses. She forms a definite idea for the little nursery. When the workmen open a long sealed door, she sees the very wallpaper that was in her mind. Further, a place that seems logical to her for a doorway between two rooms proves to have been one years earlier.
She goes to London for a visit with relatives, the author Raymond West, his wife, and his aunt, Miss Jane Marple. During the play, The Duchess of Malfi, when the line "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young" is spoken, Gwenda screams out; she saw an image of herself viewing a man saying those words strangling a blonde-haired woman named Helen.
Miss Marple appears scantily in this particular story. Here, the murder dominates the scene. I've noticed that the murders that Agatha Christie places in the relative past, that is prior to the current investigation, well these murders always have the bodies tumbled out of the cupboard. Books of Agatha Christie that use this device appeal to me, and also to many others, judging by the several mysteries where the author uses this trick.
It is a trick after all, a very solid gimmick that engenders macabre feelings like there was no tomorrow. I scarcely noticed that Miss Marple was not being her usual self, she didn't draw too much parallel with human psychology when explaining her thoughts at the end. In fact there's little proof that Miss Marple knew with certainty of the murderer's identity. There's no proof of the murderer's crime even. Thankfully it's not one of those stories where the frail Miss Marple derails the mind of a hardened serial killer, with cheap tricks, like in "A Murder Is Announced" for example.
So yeah I solved this case. However, the case was very deceiving and I was up against a palpable wall of fog. There was not much to latch onto. There is no slow start to this book, which was one of the reasons for the five stars I gave it. I was completely baffled by the events leading to the bewilderment of one Gwenda Reed. Along with the sense of evil there's a forbidding atmosphere and a hint of regret and a pining at the waste of life.
There were two things that put me on the right track. First the action of cutting that tennis net to shreds. Secondly, the murderer is mostly the one who is able to influence the case and distort facts to his advantage. I didn't pick on the wound that Helen got on her foot. I only knew that the culprit didn't have a brain teaser of an alibi.
I absolutely loved the quote from the Duchess of Malfi. The quote, which I can't paste because it's too much of a bother to go look for it in my ebook, defines the galling evilness of the crime. It also gave away the fact that the murderer was insane to a degree. I would have wanted for Miss Marple to rant against the wicked nature of the crime, but she was surprisingly passive in this book. If I remember correctly there was one moment where her eyes expressed anger but that was in the middle of the book and at that time she wasn't sure of the solution to the murder.
Another reason for liking this book so much is the vivid depiction of the characters. Among all the pure and innocent characters that Agatha Christie has thrust upon our readership, the young Reed couple was one the most believable. It's very difficult to make decent, innocent characters come to life. The author presents Gwenda and her husband in their non British simplicity. They are so pure that the finicky English countryside people warm up to them with no trouble. It's unclear whether the main protagonists had a New Zealand accent and how strong it was. But the Reed couple were life like and they hid the fact that they were cogs in the story which I enjoyed very much.
This is, I regret, already the last Marple book that was unread uptil now. The book called Nemesis had a similar strong presence of evil and a murder set in the past, with a close person as the murderer. Miss Marple books are as fine as Alice In Wonderland or Sherlock Holmes stories. They are the finest simple sustenance that the English literature can impart to the young and not so young. They are to be cherished.
Sleeping Murder, the last murder-mystery of the Miss Marple series, is, to me, the best one of the series. It is also one of the best murder mysteries by Agatha Christie. It has all the necessary features one expects from a novel of this genre, and more.
The plot of this murder mystery was cleverly done. And the story is well-written with a good even flow. The mystery was intriguing. It begins when Gwenda Reed experiences a vision of a dead body in her newly bought house. Was it a hallucination? Was the place haunted? Or was some unrested soul crying for justice? Gwenda is not sure. But she knows one thing. If this is an indication of a sleeping murder, she will not let it just lie. And despite Miss Marple's warning that she might be endangering herself, she, along with her husband, is determined to unravel the mystery behind this cold case.
The story wasn't fast-paced, and nor was it the nerve-wracking suspenseful type. Rather, it has a steady regular speed and the standard suspense expected of the genre. Yet, this is one of the finest in Agatha Christie's repertoire. Intrigue, suspense, mystery, and drama are regular features in an Agatha Christie novel, and they were all found here. In addition, a twinge of sadness was felt running as an undercurrent throughout the story. Melancholy is not something you couple with an Agatha Christie novel, but a time or two, I've experienced that emotion while reading her. Sleeping Murder was yet another instance I felt similarly. The sad plight of the victim really touched my heart and filled me with melancholy. I think that's what drove me through the edge and made me fiercely connect with the story.
Miss Marple's involvement was very little but her contribution to the investigation was indispensable. She even managed to avert another murder being committed! Ah, the clever dear old little pussy! :)
I truly enjoyed this bittersweet tale. My early guessing of the criminal (which proved correct) didn't hinder in any way my enjoying the story. And I'm really happy to part from Miss Marple, after journeying with her half a year, with quite a content heart. The series didn't begin well for me. But with time, I came to appreciate the talents of Miss Marple and became fond of her. Christie wrote some remarkable stories for this series. But Sleeping Murder will come clearly and dearly to my mind when I think of the Marple series.
You have reached the end of your story, and it is like so many stories that have come before: a story of a murder long-buried, now reaching out to haunt those who live today. As always, you read this story with care, and you read it with a warning to the young: do not believe what you are told - and do not open old graves! Alas, they never listen. You shall guide them on their journey, and in the end, you will come to their rescue. That was ever to be your fate and your role; you are a rescuer. But now it is time for you to sleep, old dear. All your missions have been accomplished.
I thought I had read this Miss Marple before, but maybe I hadn't. I would have thought the heroine (Gwenda) being both a New Zealander and having the same name as one of my childhood friends would have stuck in my mind if so.
Although this book stretches coincidence just about to breaking point and did lose momentum near the middle, I still enjoyed it. Some of Christie's earlier novels have a sly wit (in this book the scene with Miss Marple and her physician) and she evokes a long gone world of a quiet English seaside town. I felt like I really knew the victim by the end of the book. I guessed the murderer early on as for me one line made it obvious. But as nearly always, Christie plants her clues and red herrings with considerable skill.
As a child, I was troubled intermittently by a nightmare. I am walking around the compound of my maternal grandfather's ancestral home, when I reach a dilapidated building in a secluded corner. I open it and enter, even though my better sense counsels against it. Inside, it is a prayer room dedicated to evil gods. Their pictures are hung all over the walls, and their ugly idols leer up at me. Also, the place is full of the images of the tortured victims of these deities, their silent screams, mutilated bodies and blood.
I wake up in a cold sweat.
The mystery of this dream was solved later. It was only a poster of Naraka (the Indian hell) which I saw as a child, in that house, which left a lasting impression on me.
I will not dwell on the Freudian aspects of this incident: just point out the fact that childhood traumas, however trivial, have lasting impacts. I speak from personal experience.
Onward with the review.
***
What if one has witnessed a murder as a toddler? What if one's childhood psyche had repressed that incident, until it came back to haunt one as a distorted vision in one's beautiful new home which one suddenly realises is none other than the venue of that Sleeping Murder?
One would go mad...that is what nearly happened to Gwen. Fortunately, she had Miss Marple to help.
Gwenda and Giles Reed return to England from New Zealand. She has no memories; as far as she knows, she has never been in England. However, buying the dream home she had set her eyes on, Gwen begins to be troubled by memories, which she thinks are from another life. She runs away to London to escape. However, watching a performance of the Duchess of Malfi, and hearing the words “cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young” brings a terrifying image into her mind… the blue strangled face of a beautiful young girl, and she herself watching it through the bannisters… and the monkey’s paws…
Gwen is convinced that she is mad. But thankfully, she had chosen to stay with Raymond West, who most fortuitously had his Aunt Jane Marple on the premises. The old lady is not ready to go for a supernatural explanation. She has a much more prosaic one: Gwen has actually seen somebody murdered in the same house, where she has stayed as a child – a memory which has been suppressed.
The young lady and her husband soon find out that Miss Marple had hit the nail on the head. Gwen had stayed in the house as a little child, along with her father and her flighty stepmother Helen, who had disappeared, presumably run away with one of her many young men. However, Gwen’s father was convinced that he murdered her, and ultimately was committed and died in an asylum. But it is now possible that he may not have been mad – that Helen was actually murdered (though not by him). However, the tantalising question arises… if she was murdered, who is the killer?
Thus begins a murder investigation into the past by the young couple, against the counsel of Miss Marple to “leave sleeping murder lie”. Once she is convinced that they will not let go, Miss Marple agrees to join them, if only to keep them safe.
And thus begins a rollercoaster ride, one of Christie’s most suspenseful novels.
***
As a mystery, Sleeping Murder is rather predictable. There was no “aha!” moment at the end, because I already had a good idea who the murderer was. But I give the novel four stars for its structure and breakneck pace, rather like a Hitchcock movie… and also for the personal experience I quoted at the beginning. I could sympathise with Gwenda.
Novela encuadrada en la serie Miss Marple, que se publicó a título póstumo. Soy más fan de Poirot que de ella, pero esta en concreto creo que es de las mejores de la serie.
Dice la sinopsis: Gwenda Reed, una joven recién casada, llega a Londres precediendo a su marido con la intención de comprar una vivienda donde iniciar su vida conyugal. Compra por fin la casa, pero al poco tiempo empieza a experimentar en ella sensaciones extra?as. Primero cree conocer la casa como si ya hubiera vivido en ella. Más adelante, empieza a tener visiones: ve el cuerpo tendido en el suelo de una mujer muerta, su rostro azulado: La habían estrangulado.
Mis impresiones:
Parte de una premisa original. Gwenda Reed llega a Londres desde Australia. Está recién casada y busca una vivienda en Inglaterra. La encuentra al fin en una localidad costera. Desde el principio siente una extra?a afinidad con la casa hasta límites que incluso a ella le comienzan a inquietar. En una representación teatral en Londres, ante unos versos de un conocido poeta, tiene una extra?a visión en la que ve muerta a una mujer en el vestíbulo de la casa que ha comprado. ?Lo que ha visto ocurrió en realidad? ?Y de ser así quién era la mujer muerta y cuándo ocurrió? El misterio está servido.
La trama es ingeniosa. Pese a lo que parece en un principio, no contiene ningún toque paranormal. El misterio del porqué Gwenda ve lo que ve lo coloca Miss Marple en el terreno de la realidad en un abrir y cerrar de ojos. Aclarado ese punto empieza la búsqueda del culpable de "un caso frío", un crimen del pasado, que arruinó las vidas de personas que guardaban relación con la protagonista y un asesino que desde entonces no ha vuelto a matar. La madeja se irá despejando poco a poco hasta llegar a la resolución del lío. El único pero que le pongo es que vi venir desde muy pronto quién era el asesino. Decir en favor de la autora, que a pesar de que me fue inevitable intuir el quién, a menudo me hizo me hizo dudar y cambiar mis sospechas de uno a otro. Christie era una maestra en ese arte de hacer dudar al lector.
Como todas las novelas de esta mujer, consta de capítulos cortos, cada uno con su propio título, ritmo ágil y fáciles de leer.
Los personajes bien presentados y trazados. La época y las costumbres fielmente reflejadas son uno de los activos de las novelas de Agatha Christie.
El final, también a su estilo, cierra bien la trama.
En conclusión, una novela de la serie Miss Marple bien construida, que mantiene el interés del lector y se lee bien. Recomendable.
Although this is listed as the thirteenth Miss Marple novel, and was published in 1976, it was actually written during WWII and shows her as a fairly sprightly lady, compared to some books. According to the Agatha Christie website, it should sit between “The Moving Finger,” and “A Murder is Announced,” and that is where I have positioned it in my re-reading of these books.
Gwenda Reed has arrived from New Zealand, charged with buying a house for her, and her new husband, Giles; who is due to join her soon. She falls in love with a house in Dillmouth, called Hillside, and buys it. However, aside from a disconcerting feeling of fear when she stands at the top of the stairs, soon there are other familiar things that she should not know about. She senses a door should be leading from a room, and finds it has been closed up, she imagines a wallpaper and finds it in an old cupboard… Unnerved, she goes to stay with cousins of Giles, who just happen to be Raymond West, Miss Marple’s nephew, and his wife, Joan. Then an event brings back the memory of a dead body, lying at the bottom of the stairs in her house. Fearing she is going mad, she confides in Miss Marple, who not only believes her, but decides go and stay in Dillmouth to keep an eye on things.
Some years before, Gwenda discovered she had lived in the house, as a small child. Her step mother was rumoured to had run off with another man, but what if she hadn’t? Giles and Gwenda set out to investigate, but will raking up the past prove dangerous and can they really discover what happened so long ago? This is an enjoyable murder mystery, with Miss Marple heavily involved in events. There are a number of possible suspects and, although I actually guessed the correct one, it was still an interesting read, with good characters and Miss Marple really investigating the crime.
Bueno pues aquí finaliza la serie de Miss Marple, creo que el libro es uno de los mejores de la serie, no el mejor, pero si ha sido bastante interesante y eso que le cuesta un poco arrancar, pero el final ha estado muy bien, tenía un sospechoso, pero como en el 99% de las veces, he fracasado... Valoración: 7.5/10 Sinopsis: En el clásico de Agatha Christie, Un crimen dormido, la indomable Miss Marple se convierte en cazadora de fantasmas y descubre pruebas impactantes de un crimen perfecto.
Poco después de que Gwenda se mudara a su nuevo hogar, comenzaron a suceder cosas extra?as. A pesar de sus mejores esfuerzos por modernizar la casa, solo logró desenterrar su pasado. Peor aún, sentía una sensación irracional de terror cada vez que subía las escaleras.
Asustada, Gwenda se volvió hacia Miss Marple para exorcizar sus fantasmas. Entre los dos, debían resolver un crimen "perfecto" cometido muchos a?os antes.
Sleeping Murder is the last full-length novel in the Miss Marple Mysteries written by Agatha Christie. I've read the books and seen several film and television adaptations, but I decided to reread them in order again throughout the last year. I'm officially finished and will move on to Hercule Poirot during the summer. Christie always intrigues me, and I admit, I'd mostly forgotten the plot of this one. A lot of coincidences occur, which prompts some readers like me to wonder how much of life is controlled by memory. Perhaps scents or sights or tastes draw us back to places and situations we've been in previously. Gwennie finds herself purchasing a house that apparently she once lived in as a child. How did that happen? And who once inhabited the dead body she suddenly recalls seeing all those years ago? As the stories begin to unfold, each new character adds layers to the plot until it's thickened so much, there can only be one conclusion. Luckily, I was correct in identifying the killer, but it was sad to know the wrong man was imprisoned decades earlier. A fine example of Christie's talents and ability to capture a reader's attention with only the smallest of details.
I love Miss Marple; she is wise and knows human nature and knows that people can not be taken at face value, they lie. This is her last murder mystery in the series, which don't have to be read in order to enjoy them, but I prefer to see her more in the picture than in this story. She hovers in the background, helping the nice young couple afflicted by a ghostly vision from the past, but she's not really present in the story literally and figuratively.
Woohooo!! Does finding the murderer in the second last chapter count?
Any Agatha Christie fan would be able to able to find out ""Who" I guess. But what I did not find out was the "Why". Although, I must agree the clues were present all along. DAMN, I will pay more attention next time
This one does not have twist after twist after twist in the last chapter. There is a murder -> Investigation-> Answer. No non sense. Nothing like you-could-have-never-imagined-this stuff.
It is a structured murder mystery, where Miss Marple and her friends Gwenda and Giles investigate a murder that happened 18 years ago. They are not even sure if there was a murder or not in the first place. Pretty good premise to be honest. Over the years, many books have taken the same premise, for example "The girl with the dragon tattoo". But, what differentiates Christie is that, she uses realistic tools to unravel the truth.
This one was totally worth reading because the book has a fast pace throughout. Especially the beginning was something I did not expect. It took off like Horror. I loved the beginning and I was sure I am going to finish the book no matter what.
It is simple but still fun. Overall, Christie rocks. What else to say
3 Stars. Written in the 1940s, "Sleeping" was only released after Christie's death. Why? No idea. It's good, but not one of her Miss Marple greats. Some clues are not as well hidden as in "The Body in the Library" for example. Recently married in New Zealand, Gwenda Reed preceded her husband back to England where they plan to settle. While waiting, she bought a house for them in Dillmouth. It seemed vaguely familiar and they discover that she had lived there for a while in her youth before her father had a breakdown, and her step-mother Helen took-off with another man. Gwenda was sent to N.Z. to be raised with relatives. Then she recalls seeing a body in the hall. Does anyone believe her? With Miss Marple's aid, "Gwennie" and Giles set out to find Helen who is no longer in touch with her older brother, Dr. Kennedy. A second tragedy occurs. Miss Marple cautions the young couple about re-opening the matter. She says this may be "murder in retrospect;" that is, one only realized as such many years later, a murder that's asleep. But the question is whether a crime has actually been committed. Long ago, you and I learned never to ignore Miss Marple. (Jun2018/Ap2024)
4.5 stars - While, yes, I knew who probably dunnit from almost the jump in this one, I don't care. This gave me the CLASSIC first-read feels of a really good Christie. I'm not sure this one is actually as good as something like A POCKET FULL OF RYE, but the sheer joy this gave me throughout the experience bumps this up to me. A very fitting send off for good old Miss Jane Marple
I've got to admit, I'm way too proud of myself that I actually guessing the ending of this one. And come on, it's Agatha Christie, that never happens ? Normally figuring out a twist ruins a book for me, but it was not at all the case this time. The tension in this book is fab and I found myself genuinely scared at some points.
Agatha Christie's "Sleeping Murder" is an engaging and twisty mystery that dives into the human mind, looking at themes like identity, trauma, and the complicated nature of our past experiences.
The story is about Gwenda Reed, a young woman who moves to England with her husband. When Gwenda arrives at her new place, she starts to see disturbing things that make her believe a murder was committed in this house and the case was left unsolved.
The book really shines with its clever plotting and how the author builds suspense. Christie skillfully mixes in clues and distractions that keep you on your toes, making you wonder what’s going to happen right up to the last moment.
The pacing of the story can be a bit off at times, with some parts feeling slow or dragging on. Agatha Christie's mastery of mystery is evident in Sleeping Murder, where she crafts somehow well-developed plot. Despite a few missed opportunities for character development, Sleeping Murder remains an enjoyable read.
This is the 13th and final book in the Miss Marple series (keep in mind the order is messed up on 欧宝娱乐), and it's a great wrap-up for this legendary detective's story. It really highlights her amazing skills, sharp mind, and relentless drive to solve even the trickiest mysteries, no matter how hidden the truth is. Luckily, there are two more Marple books with short stories to enjoy after this one. I'm excited to read them soon!
Can a book about a murder be a comfort read? It can when it’s a Miss Marple mystery, I guess. This wasn’t published till the 70s but was written in the 40s. Miss Marple becomes involved when she meets a young woman from NZ who has recently purchased a house in England. She has a vision of seeing a woman strangled and it seems that she actually lived in the house 18 years previous as a young child. So it’s a ‘sleeping murder’, both Gwenda and her husband Giles decide to investigate. Miss Marple’s curiosity finds her investigating well. Its an easy read and it’s always fun trying to piece together the clues as the various characters put forward all their theories. Things become more eventful in the last 50 pages or so but it’s never fast paced or emotional. It’s the puzzle that matters and it all makes sense in the end.
Mi última lectura es también la última aparición de Miss Marple en la obra de Agatha Christie. Una vez más nos recuerda que, como dice Shakira, nosotras somos las de la intuición. Excelente historia sobre un caso sin resolver y sobre la familia.
The last of Miss Marple mysteries, Agatha had saved the best for the last. Of all Miss Marple's mysteries, this is the best. For a change we do not find Miss Marple relapsing into her past or comparing with other incidents from her village. Instead she is working as a full fledged sleuth. The plot is with its usual twist and turns with a brilliant end. The best of Miss Marple cases. Great read
One of the more enjoyable Christies I’ve read. Miss Marple is a wonderful character who is sometimes weirdly used or shoved into plots that are really too much. This one might have contrived her initial involvement, but it used her well and organically and that makes all the difference. It’s also aged rather well given that this is one of the few Christie mysteries I’ve read that isn’t shot through with at least some random moments of offhand racism. There’s also the fact that its haunted, evil suburban house theme with buried memories/a woman who has seen too much fits in pretty well with the current psychological domestic thriller/chick noir trend.
All done in a very mild, with the doilies and tea manners on sort of way, obviously.
The only thing I will say is that I guessed the murderer about halfway through just by the structure and content of the discussions. If you’ve ever read a mystery and know how they try to provide you with a surprise-not-surprise through the kind of info they give/withhold/choose to discuss/not discuss/have turn up at just the right moment, you might also. And you’ll obviously need to be up for a little “...but IS the house haunted...?!?!” sort of writing.
I clearly was and so finished it in a long, lazy afternoon. You’re likely to as well, I expect.
Well I found this one very interesting. I have had this book on my shelf for a while, just didn't get around to reading it. This is the last of the Miss Marple standalone novels. She doesn't quite go out with a bang, but seems content with helping a newly married couple.
"Sleeping Murder" follows a newly married young woman named Gwenda. Her husband Giles is still abroad and she has been told to find a home for the two of them to settle into. When Gwenda finally finds what she considers "their" house, she is astonished that she knows what the wallpapers in certain rooms should be, thinks about putting in a door (and finds one has been plastered in) and feels she is losing her mind. She eventually goes away to visit family of her husband. While there she meets Miss Jane Marple and after a night out where the script in a play scares her, tells Miss Marple everything. From there the book follows Gwenda, her husband Giles, and Miss Marple trying to get to the truth of an old memory of Gwenda's.
I liked Gwenda, she is reminiscent of some of Christie's other female characters. Not quite a Lucy Eyelesbarrow, but no slouch. When Gwenda realizes she may have witnessed a murder when she was a child, she decides to go ahead to find out who could have done it. She is very fast on her feet and has a way of making people talk to her too.
I found Giles to be a pain though. He constantly talked over both Gwenda and Miss Marple. I was happy when the one inspector sent him away, even he knew things would go easier if he wasn't in the room.
Miss Marple though I was slightly puzzled by, she knew pretty early on who was the one behind everything, why she didn't feel the need to tell Gwenda and Giles made no sense. One of the reasons why I gave this four stars.
There are also so many plot points that are never tied up to my satisfaction. For example, we hear about the one character Jackie, and Gwenda makes a comment that his wife is afraid of him, and then nothing. Same issue with the character of Walter Fane. There are just too many strange men moving about in this story.
Also I think I found an error in this book. Miss Marple talks to Colonel Bantry's wife and he is mentioned too. I could have sworn in "The Mirror Crack'd" he was dead. There is mention of Miss Marple solving "The Murder at the Vicarage" and "The Moving Finger."
The writing was typical Chrisite. I have to say though it was fairly easy to see who had done this murder if you took your time with if. Probably because nothing else made sense.
The flow started off pretty slow. Things really don't get moving until Gwenda goes off to London to visit Raymond West and his wife and meets Miss Marple.
Book 5 for the Miss Marple challenge. I was excited to read this one as this is the first of the books in the Miss Marple challenge that I had not read before. I also only discovered because of the challenge that though this book was published last, it was written much earlier and chronologically also falls early in the series. This one was in a way Miss Marple’s Five little Pigs, a murder that has happened years ago, without even clarity on whether it was a murder but based on a (then) child’s memory of events. Gwenda Reed arrives in England to find a house for herself and her husband and ends up finding the “perfect” house, only to have some mysterious things happen. It turns out that she has been there before, and lived as a child in that very house, but not only that she may have also witnessed a murder. Miss Marple urges Gwenda and Giles to leave matters be but the two set out to investigate, and she soon joins them using her “social network” (the kind there was before the days of Facebook and such) to get introduced to Dillmouth society. They identify and look up people from Gwenda’s family’s past, meet and interview them trying to pick up clues into what happened all those years ago and whether Gwenda’s memories were all real or mixed with fancy somehow.
The mystery/puzzle itself was very enjoyable and I would have been entirely surprised by whodunit (only I remembered suddenly from a TV adaptation that I’d seen some time ago) since for most of the book I was thinking on the wrong track. That did slightly spoil the surprise element for me but I nevertheless enjoyed the characters and how once again it is what people are “inside”—their true natures—that holds the key to how they act, irrespective of the facade they put on for us to see in everyday interactions.
Miss Marple in this one I found getting closer to the image of Miss Marple one has in one’s mind—using the same skills and still grey haired and rather frail but not as lacy and fluffy as in the earlier books. Also, she has a far more active part in this one, getting herself to Dillmouth, and participating in the investigation. Needless to say, I enjoyed it very much!
After a slow start, this novel picks up in an engaging way. Was there a murder? And how do you find out nearly 20 years later? Marple is present but rather in the background, as as guiding presence, with her down-to-earth, common sense logic. As always, I was fascinated how events can be interpreted in such different ways, and how by turning a little bit, the picture becomes totally different.
The wrong clothes clue really spoke to me and reminded me of Glaspell's where women were able to 'read' certain clues while the men just disregarded it. Very smart.
I am also in awe of Christie for writing this novel, as well as , during WWII, in case she didn’t make it. She wanted to make sure that her daughter and her husband would be taken care of. Little did she know that these would stay in a safe for 30 years.
Well I accidentally read this out of order, my own fault as I forgot what month I was in, doh ! Anyway that said, I don't think it mattered much. It's funny of all the Miss Marple books I've read so far for this challenge, this is the story I have remembered the most, and to such an extent that within about 50 pages I had remembered who was the guilty party. This didn't really detract much from my enjoyment as the book is well written and it's interesting to spectate as Agatha Christie sends you up the wrong path. I've given it 4 stars as I enjoyed it, was it is good as some of the other Miss Marple books so far, hmm, maybe, maybe not, but still a great escapist read.
Hier haben wir wieder eine interessante und sehr verzwickte Geschichte um einen alten Fall - einen Cold Case sozusagen - bei dem man lange nicht wei?, was tats?chlich dahintersteckt und das mitr?tseln viel Spa? gemacht hat!
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Gwenda Reed kommt aus Neuseeland in England an. Sie ist frisch verheiratet und m?chte für sich und ihren Mann ein H?uschen suchen, um sich an der Küste Südenglands niederzulassen. Recht schnell entdeckt sie "Hillside", ein schnuckeliges Anwesen direkt am Meer und fühlt sich dort direkt heimisch. Je mehr sie sich allerdings dort einrichtet, umso eindringlicher wird ein unbestimmtes Gefühl, ein unheimliches Empfinden, das sie sich nicht erkl?ren kann und sie sich in dem Haus gar nicht mehr wohlfühlt. Um dem zu entfliehen, nimmt sie die Einladung von Raymond West an, der Freund ihres Mannes und - wie wir wissen - der Neffe von Miss Marple, und lernt dort natürlich auch die rüstige alte Dame kennen. Obwohl Miss Marple Gwenda dazu r?t, die alten Geschichten um das Haus ruhen zu lassen, m?chte Gwenda dem Geheimnis auf die Spur kommen.
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Der Stil ist wie immer recht schn?rkellos und auf den Punkt. Auch wenn es hier tats?chlich 2-3 etwas unheimliche Szenen gibt, die ich wirklich stimmungsvoll fand. Obwohl die Autorin ja meist mit Gefühlen geizt - was vielleicht wirklich an den "kühlen Engl?ndern, die kein Gefühl zeigen wollen" liegt. Wer wei?? Wie immer interessant überhaupt der Einblick in die Gefühlswelten der damaligen Zeit, die Frauen und ihre Rolle in der Gesellschaft und auch wie es mit den Beziehungen zu M?nnern gehandhabt wurde. Und vor allem der Tratsch darüber ...
Jedenfalls tauchen wir hier in ein kniffliges R?tsel ein - und je mehr man entdeckt umso schwieriger scheint es zu l?sen sein! Es ist eine Suche in der Vergangenheit, eine Jagd nach Erinnerungen - und ein gef?hrliches Spiel mit dem Feuer. Miss Marple wird zwar von Gwenda als Protagonistin hier etwas im Hintergrund gehalten, spielt aber ihre Karten sehr gut aus. Die Neugier von alten Damen und das rege Getratsche kommt ihr sehr entgegen, so dass sie wie immer an Informationen kommt, die anderen verschlossen bleiben. Ich hatte schon bald eine Ahnung, wurde aber immer wieder auf verschiedene falsche F?hrten gelockt, so dass ich nicht wirklich sicher war, ob ich auf der richtigen Spur bin. Jedenfalls hat mir dieser Fall wieder sehr gut gefallen. Der alte Charme, die au?ergew?hnliche Idee und die dynamische Entwicklung hat mir super gefallen!
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So, damit schlie?e ich dann wohl die Kriminalromane mit Miss Marple ab! Die drei anderen Bücher, die ich in der Liste unten mit aufgeführt habe, sind nur noch Kurzgeschichten, wenn ich das richtig gesehen hab. Ein bisschen traurig bin ich schon, denn die Krimis sind mir wirklich sehr ans Herz gewachsen - aber es gibt ja noch eine andere kleine Reihe von A. Christie und noch einige Einzelb?nde bzw. Kurzgeschichten.