STORY SUMMARY
One morning, one of the Bantry's maids discovers a body in the house library. She runs upstairs to awaken Dolly Bantry, who is married to Arthur. They are a very prominent family in the village of St Mary Mead. The name of their home is Gossington Hall. The police are called and the body inspected. It's a young woman who is wearing a shabby old evening gown, platinum blonde hair and a lot of makeup. She doesn't look like the type of girl who would frequent Gossington Hall. Who is this young girl?? And how did she end up in the Bantry library??
Meanwhile, another young girl is found dead in a burned out car. The car's owner is a guest at the Majestic Hotel where the dead girl from the library was known to have danced. The girl in the car is only 16 years old and is presumed to be the missing girl from the Girls Guide rally.
Mrs Bantry calls her old friend Miss Marple, who is known to be good at solving things. Particularly crimes. Colonel Melchett and Detective Slack are the two main investigators for both cases. The clues lead them to Conway Jefferson, an old man whose legs were amputated after a fatal car accident left him a widower. Also to die in that crash was his daughter Rosamund who left behind her husband Mark Gaskell, and his son who left behind his wife Adelaide and her son from a previous marriage. That son is Peter and he has an interest in anything to do with criminology.
Conway actually calls the police to report that a young dancer from the Majestic Hotel, named Ruby Keene, is missing. Ruby is the body found in the library! She is only 18 years old and Conway has taken an interest in her. In fact, he was planning on legally adopting her! Josie Turner, a professional dancer and hostess at the Majestic, happens to be a cousin of Ruby's and happens to be the one who recommended her for a job at the Majestic. She has to identify the body in the library.
There are many clues to this case that no one but Miss Marple seems to be picking up on. There is a long list of suspects and several people have motives.
Are these two cases of dead girls related? If so, how?
Who is behind the murder of Ruby Keene?
MY THOUGHTS
This is a fun, light mystery. It's a fast paced book with a lot of characters.
I love that the edition I read has a list of characters and their description in the front of the book because there are a lot of people to keep track of in this story.
It's a typical detective story but this time, Miss Marple doesn't make an appearance in regards to trying to solve the mystery, until about half -way through the book. There are several other investigators first. One review I read said there are as many detectives as there are suspects!
Christie is quoted as saying that this book is a "cliche of detective fiction". She wanted the library to be a conventional one but the body to be highly sensational and improbable.
The twist at the end regarding the bodies is brilliant. I don't want to reveal anything in case you want to read this gem of a mystery.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 12 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
2 comments:
Good for you for reading the Agatha Christie books. I haven't read any of her books, even though they are considered "classics." Charly read one years ago and didn't like it much, but I will look for this book and give Agatha a try. Thanks for the review. Have a good week.
I haven't read any of these. They sound like fun mysteries.
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