Title: Murder With Mirrors.Author: Agatha Christie.
Genre: Classic, Mystery, Historical Fiction.
Plot: Spending an afternoon catching up with her old friend Ruth is always a wonderful experience. But this time, when the subject of Ruth's sweet sister Carrie Louise is brought up, Miss Jane Marple switches from old school friend to amateur detective in a flash. While Ruth had grown up, married two or three times, and eventually resettled in America, Carrie had stayed in England. Of course, she too had gone through two prior marriages that had ended badly, and her family tree was all a muddled mess with stepsons, adopted children, a lovely granddaughter, and one very deprived daughter who'd grown up in the shadow of her older adopted sister, long since passed on. But what really pricks Miss Marple's interest is Ruth's very strong yet very vague sense that something isn't right with Carrie Louise. And setting loyal Marple on the case might just be the best decision she ever made.
When Miss Marple arrives at Carrie's house, Stonygates, she begins to seek out what the trouble is. But she only ends up with a very cluttered confuse picture of the busy dysfunctional atmosphere. She encounters some very colorful characters that range from the widowed Mrs. Strete who is Carrie's blood daughter and still harbors a bitterness over all the attention her sister - and now her sister's daughter - receive from everyone. Then there's Gina, the half Italian seemingly happy granddaughter; she is married to a bored and very unhappy American named Walter while enjoying the affect she has on all the other young men around her, including two of Carrie's adopted stepsons, Alex and Stephen. And then there is, of course, Carrie's current husband, her companion/nurse Juliet Bellever, and that odd young man Edgar Lawson who seems to be fine one day and then completely insane the next.
With such a cluttered web weaving in, out and all through the house, it's no wonder that when murder strikes, nobody is prepared for it. Not even shrewd Miss Marple. But, working together with Inspector Curry, it is she who finally untangles the mystery and drags the culprit into the light. But will she solve this riddle in time before tragedy strikes again?
Likes/Dislikes: Of the half dozen Agatha Christie mysteries I've so far read, this is probably by far my favorite of the lot. It's so deliciously written, so cleverly woven and populated with wonderfully odd and real characters, and so much fun to read. I especially liked that Miss Marple took more of a central role in the story and that it had a lot told from her perspective that didn't necessarily have anything to do with the mystery itself, such as rambles about tea and fashion. So wonderful and beautifully written! I highly recommend this novel, especially to first-timers to Agatha Christie's world! Also goes by the title of They Do It With Mirrors.
Rating: PG-15 and up, mainly for reading level and content. It's a murder mystery after all.
Date Report Written: April 5th, 2013.
