Book Review: Murder, She Said - The Quotable Miss Marple by Agatha Christie

Murder, She Said
based on works by Agatha Christie (823 Chr)

This is a charming little collection of quotations of lines from the Miss Marple novels and short stories by Agatha Christie, a companion volume to the similar Little Grey Cells: The Quotable Poirot, which highlighted the character of Hercule Poirot, her other great detective. Though there are far fewer Marple novels and stories than Poirot, the editors of this collection still manage to assemble a surprisingly thought-provoking selection — broken down into a variety of categories addressing relationships, motive, and Marple’s views on herself. This should appeal to anyone who’s a Christie fan, or even just the casual mystery reader who wants some more insight into one of the most recognizable sleuths in this literary genre.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Little Grey Cells: The Quotable Poirot and Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories, both by Agatha Christie.]

[ official Murder She Said page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Agatha Christie: Murder in Four Acts: A Centenary Celebration of "The Queen of Crime" on Stage, Film, Radio and TV by Peter Haining

Agatha Christie: Murder in Four Acts: A Centenary Celebration of “The Queen of Crime” on Stage, Film, Radio & TV
by Peter Haining [823 qChrYh]

As part of preparing to give a special library presentation on “The Mystery of Agatha Christie” in both September and November at two different library locations, I dug through my own personal collection of Christie-related non-fiction books, and was pleased to discover that not only did I own a copy of this particular volume, but so do the libraries!

This is a marvelous “coffee table” book that came out in 1990, to celebrate Dame Agatha’s 100th birthday. As the title indicates, it is a in-depth look at all the variations on Christie’s works that have been done for Radio, Stage, TV and the movies. There are detailed explorations of all the actors and actresses that had played Christie’s signature characters (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy & Tuppence, etc.) up through 1990. This charming book features more behind-the-scenes photographs from various Christie adaptations than I’ve seen anywhere else, including online.

If you are an Agatha Christie afficionado, you won’t want to miss this one. The only drawback is that it came out 28 years ago, and therefore doesn’t includes much about the more recent Christie media adaptations. But, it does still include David Suchet as Poirot, as he had begun that iconic role shortly before the book was published.

[ official Agatha Christie web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 75-minute presentation at the Bennett Martin Public Library on the evening of, November 7th, 2018, 6:30-7:45 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. But first, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, not-so-coincidentally starring this very reviewer as Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse on October 19-21 and November 2-4 2018.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Mirror Crack'd (From Side to Side) by Agatha Christie

The Mirror Crack’d (From Side to Side)
by Agatha Christie

This is a Miss Marple novel featuring a movie star who recently moved into her village. The actress holds a party and a guest ends up dead after a drink. At first there is no clear motive so it seems it was an accident, but the poison in the drink was put there intentionally, so we have a mystery. The actress and her husband are not very forthcoming with information to aid the police; thankfully Miss Marple does her usual poking around and observing human nature to come to the truth. It took me a while to get into this one because revolves around the lives of the rich and famous along with the gossip and rumors that surround even fictitious ones, and this is not something I really pay attention to in real life. However, it was quite interesting the further into it I read and the solution to the mystery was quite believable, so I did enjoy it. I’d recommend this to British mystery readers and or those who enjoy the celebrity gossip scene as you may like it more than I did.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Hollow, a Hercule Poirot novel, also by Agatha Christie.]

[ official The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 75-minute presentation at the Bennett Martin Public Library on the evening of, November 7th, 2018, 6:30-7:45 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. But first, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, not-so-coincidentally starring this very reviewer as Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse on October 19-21 and November 2-4 2018.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Sleeping Murder: The Final Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha Christie

Sleeping Murder
by Agatha Christie

A young woman, newly married, moves to England from New Zealand to find a house while her husband finishes military duty. She finds one that instantly feels like home and after moving in experiences some strange recollections as though she’d lived there before. With the help of her husband and Miss Marple they discover that she had in fact lived in that very house as a toddler. More memories surface and more about the past comes to light the more they poke around. They find a murder took place in the home and while she’s advised to let sleeping murders lye, after a point, it’s too late to stop unearthing the truth. I really enjoyed this one and would say it’s one of my favorite in the Miss Marple series (and I only have one more to read). This one reminded me of another Christie novel, Five Little Pigs, which also involved delving into a young woman’s childhood for not so pleasant truths about a murder in the family. If you enjoy mysteries set in the past and or in Britain, or books about family secrets then I recommend this to you.

[Note: This is the final Miss Marple mystery, written in the 1940s and published in 1977 after Agatha Christie’s death.]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Five Little Pigs, also by Agatha Christie]

[ official Sleeping Murder page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 90-minute presentation at the Gere Branch Library tomorrow, Sunday, September 30th, 2018, 2:00-3:30 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. Then, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, starring Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in late October 2018.

If you’re a fan of the works of Agatha Christie, check out the Agatha Christie Reviews page on BookGuide!

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

They Do It With Mirrors
by Agatha Christie

A friend of Miss Marple’s convinces her to visit her sister, all of whom were friends in their younger days. This old friend lives at a sort of correctional school for troubled boys run by her husband with the aid of numerous other family members (both blood relations and not – which does pertain to the story). A rather eventful evening involving her husband and one of the students, gunshots, electricity outage, and another family member found dead in the house is the point at which the story to get into full swing. I found it enjoyable as most novels by this author, however there a few romance subplots to this one that I didn’t care for, so I didn’t like it as much as others. That said if you do like mystery stories with romance subplots and themes then this might be a good pick for you.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Hollow, also by Agatha Christie – another mystery/romance, but features Poirot, not Miss Marple.]

[ official They Do It With Mirrors page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 90-minute presentation at the Gere Branch Library on Sunday, September 30th, 2018, 2:00-3:30 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. Then, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, starring Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in late October 2018.

If you’re a fan of the works of Agatha Christie, check out the Agatha Christie Reviews page on BookGuide!

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

At Bertram’s Hotel
by Agatha Christie

Bertram’s Hotel is a pleasant old fashioned hotel that looks and feels just the same as it did decades ago. Miss Marple, who stayed there as a young girl, revisits it as a sort of London getaway. It has a dreamy quality to it that makes it seem too good to be true. At the beginning of the story there are a few disconnected points of view and strange occurrences surrounding the hotel. A famous woman and her daughter who doesn’t know her mother’s identity are both staying at the hotel, a forgetful hotel guest goes missing but then turns up unharmed, and racing car frequently parked outside changes it’s license plate number periodically. Having a lot of separate pieces come together was quite fun. I liked how the serene Bertram’s Hotel is revealed to be a bit more messy/complicated as the book progresses, however the ending bothered me a little because it’s not clear if the criminal gets away with it or not. Recommended for mystery readers who enjoy historical settings.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Big Four, also by Agatha Christie]

[ official At Bertram’s Hotel page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 90-minute presentation at the Gere Branch Library on Sunday, September 30th, 2018, 2:00-3:30 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. Then, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, starring Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in late October 2018.

If you’re a fan of the works of Agatha Christie, check out the specialized page of Christie reviews on BookGuide: Agatha Christie Reviews!

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

A Murder is Announced
by Agatha Christie

This book is in the Miss Marple series, which does not need to be read in order, in my opinion. It is set in small town England when Miss Marple is visiting a friend. The story begins a bit before she arrives however with an announcement in the local newspaper that there will be a murder at a certain house at a certain time. Quite a few people turn up out of curiosity and under the impression it’s one of those mystery who-done-it parties. They are all startled however when a death does actually occur (the intruder to the house and outsider to the village), but it looks like the hostess was the intended victim so she is under constant peril and police watch for the length of the book. With no enemies and no clear motive for the attempt on her life, the inspectors are puzzled. Enter Miss Marple to clear a few points up, basically by politely spying on folks and eventually the mystery is solved, but not without a rather deep dig into the past of multiple characters. I really liked this one and it may be one of my favorites in the series because of all the complexities involved. If you enjoy mysteries with deeply developed characters and or historical ones, then you’ll most likely be captivated by this one.

[NOTE: At the time of its original release, this was Agatha Christie’s 50th novel, and received a great deal of publicity for that fact.]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Caribbean Mystery, by Agatha Christie.]

[ A Murder is Announced page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie

4:50 From Paddington
by Agatha Christie

This is my favorite Miss Marple story so far. A friend of Miss Marple is on a train and as another train passes by she can see in through the windows to another cabin on this other train. What she sees terrifies her; there is a man strangling a woman. The trains travel on their own paths and she can no longer see into the other cabin, nor find out anything more. The officials don’t believe her when she tells her story, but Miss Marple does and proceeds to discover who the two people in the other cabin were. The truth is reached after a winding course of events; I very much liked this one would recommend it if you like mysteries. One last note: you don’t need to read the Miss Marple series in order, so feel free to start here or anywhere you choose.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Murder at the Vicarage or A Caribbean Mystery, both in the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie]

[ official The 4:50 From Paddington page on the official Agatha Christie web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!