STORY SUMMARY
In the little English village of Chipping Cleghorn, the local newspaper has hundreds of personal ads and little tidbits about what is going on in the village and surrounding areas. One day, there is an announcement that states "A Murder is Announced...." and the ad goes on to give details as to date (29 October), time (6:30 pm) and place (Little Paddocks, the home of Letty Blacklock and Dora Bunner, with their maid Mitzi).
Several local people are most interested in finding out what this is all about. Most believe it is a fun evening out with a pretend murder and a who done it type of game. Little do they know that someone....a hotel servant named Rudy Sherz, from Switzerland, is the one to pose as the murderer. Yet...he is the one who ends up being killed by a revolver!!
Miss Marple happens to be staying at the local spa hotel when this "invitation" takes place. She herself does not attend the event but of course she is drawn into the mystery of who has killed this young man...and why....
She agrees to help Inspector Craddock, the local detective on the case along with his co-worker Fletcher.
As they begin to question all of the people who attended the Little Paddocks event, they discover that Rudy had recently asked Miss Letty Blacklock for money! She did not give it to him. They also discover that she is soon to come into a great fortune from the estate of financier Randell Geodler, who died many years ago but who is leaving his entire estate to Leticia if his wife Belle dies before her. Leticia has just found out that yes, Belle only has a few weeks to live. However, there is a catch: if Ms Blacklock (Leticia/Letty) dies first, then the money will go to Randell's niece and nephew (Emma and Pip). However, Craddock discovers, upon interviewing Belle in Scotland, where she lives and is kept pain-free by an in-house nurse, that Randall and his sister Sonia (the mother of the twins) were estranged for over 20 years because Randall did not approve of Sonia's husband Dmitri.
To add another twist: Craddock discovers that Letty Blacklock had a sister named Charlotte (Lotty) who died of flu complications many years ago. Letty had stopped working for Randall after their father (who didn't believe in goiter surgery which Charlotte needed for her goiter problem which made her a recluse) to take Lotty to Switzerland for the surgery and to take care of her. Sadly, after the surgery, Lotty became very ill with flu and died within a week. Letty moved back to England alone.
Meanwhile, Bunny, the wife of Chipping Cleghorn's vicar, has some information. Bunny tells Miss Marple, at tea, that she suspects Patrick and Julia the supposed cousins of Letty. They are about the ages of what Emma and Pip would be and what if they're posing as Letty's cousins when actually they might be Emma and Pip and want to kill Letty who was really the target of the murder event??
Several other village people give out various tidbits of information and now Craddock and Miss Marple have many things to sort out. Will they succeed in time before Letty is actually murdered??
MY THOUGHTS
This was my favorite Miss Marple book so far. I loved all of the characters and the plot was very fast-paced and rather hilarious.
I found that there were almost too many characters to keep track of.....especially because all of a sudden there were 2 more murders towards the end of the book.....
I did guess correctly this time, though, who the murderer actually ended up being. It's very well done.
The ending of the story is hilarious!! It's just a perfect comedic ending to a somewhat dark plot of greed, betrayal and murder.
There were actually two quotes that were superb and stuck out to me that the other Miss Marple books so far haven't had:
"I've had a lot of physical pain---but if you have pain, you know how to enjoy the exquisite pleasure of the times when pain stops." (pg 132, A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie, c.1950)
and this one:
" "I know what you mean, said Miss Marple. "One is alone when the last one who remembers is gone......." (pg 152)
If you like a good "who done it" mystery, you will enjoy this book by a classic mystery author.
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.
3 comments:
Another good review, Faith. That first quote is so appropriate for you and your headaches. I am going to listen to you MP now. I hope you have a good weekend. It is very cold and icy here with more snow coming later today. See you again soon!
I read many Agatha Christie books when I was younger and loved them all. Great review.
This does sound like a good one.
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