Book 12 of the 2024 Read Your Hoard Challenge
I do love Jane Marple! She doesn't enter this story until the action is well underway and Christie uses a rather unlikely excuse to get her ensconced at Yewtree Lodge. But her mission—to avenge the murder and disrespectful treatment of Gladys Martin's body—is a righteous one. Gladys is the plain and none too bright girl that Miss Marple has trained. Gladys' credulous nature has left her vulnerable to a clever criminal who kills her to cover his tracks, after which she is discarded like she was nothing. No wonder Jane Marple is incensed.
Christie writes unlikable characters with great gusto. Rex Fortescue is a swindler and a bully, his wife Adele is an unfaithful gold-digger, his son Percival is an underhanded ferret, and the other son Lance flaunts his bad-boy status. Adele’s lover, Vivian Dubois, is a weasel too. As a reader, I felt quite okay with any or all of them coming to grief. But Christie can do charming characters too, like Lance's wife Pat, the housekeeper Mary Dove, and to some extent Jennifer Fortescue. Christie has a certain affection for her criminals, often making them attractive and competent. I bet that the villains are the most fun to write!
Detective Inspector Neele is a fabulous creation. An intelligent man who can think in the convoluted way necessary to pursue a complicated murder inquiry, he has the wit to seize the assistance that Miss Marple offers. Between the two of them, they figure out the smartie pants killer who thinks they will escape unscathed. I was leaning in the right direction, but Christie provided a last minute red herring that distracted me away from the correct solution. I could wish that Neele had been given more books to star in.
I will be pleased to add this novel to my permanent collection.
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