"Even when the rainbow seems to pass right by me....I'm still finding Gold in the clouds....."

10 October 2024

2024 Book Review #41: At Bertram's Hotel

 

This is the 11th book in the Miss Marple series. My oldest daughter challenged me to read all of the Miss Marple books (there are 12) in order by the end of summer 2024.  This challenge became in Summer 2023.  It's now Autumn and I have one book left but....there have been so many good books at the town library that I didn't just read Agatha Christie all summer! 

STORY SUMMARY

Miss Jane Marple is in London up from her country home in St Mary Meade for a little vacation. She wants to re-visit Bertram's Hotel where she used to go when she was a little girl. She finds everything she's looking for at Bertram's: it has traditional decor, excellent service and an unmistakeable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished premises. 

But even Miss Marple cannot foresee the violent chain of events that are set in motion when an eccentric guest...a clergyman....makes his way to a local airport on the wrong day. 

What happens to him??  And how does Miss Marple solve yet another mystery? 

MY THOUGHTS

This was one of the better ones I've read. I really liked it.  A Caribbean Mystery  still stands as my favorite, though, with A Pocketful of Rye a very close second. This one makes my top 3. 

The characters are varied and well developed although there are a lot of them.  But it's easy to keep track of them if you're reading carefully. 

I liked that the person getting shot wasn't meant to be killed....that the target was another, younger  character (Elvira Blake the daughter of the famous wealthy woman Bess Sedgwick).

I really liked that there was a subplot of organized crime going on in this story and that the author connected the happenings at Bertram's with the organized crime. 

There's so much I could say about the plot but that would totally ruin the book for you.  Let's just say some bigamy was involved, and that the murderer who confesses is not really the murderer. It's a brilliant mystery. 

In my opinion, this book is  appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9. 




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