I always like a Jane Marple novel. Christie enjoyed travel, so she sends Miss M to a Caribbean destination for a break from the English winter. This gives the author the excuse to write about a new place, but the English people at the resort behave just like they did at home—drinks, dinner, dancing, time at the beach. Oh, and murder.
There are several memorable characters. Major Palgrave is a stock character, familiar to Christie readers, the old codger who spent time in the far flung empire doing colonial things and blabbers on about it whenever he gets an opportunity. These guys appear in so many of Christie's novels that she must have found them entertaining. Major Palgrave does us the favour of boring everyone with Important Information that will be necessary for Miss M to figure out what's going on.
Then there's Mr. Rafiel, the crotchety semi-invalid, who is old enough, rich enough, and disabled enough that people let him get away with all sorts of rudeness. Christie has created a number of this sort of character too. He gets the honour of being Miss M's sounding board, seeing as she is removed from her usual environment, where folks know her reputation. As she bluntly tells him, investigators here will only listen to a rich man, not an older lady.
We also get a little reminiscence on Jane's part about a young man she was tentatively interested in, until she got to know him and realized how deathly dull he was. A fortunate escape, as a woman with her skills shouldn't be tethered to an unintelligent spouse.
Not among the best Marple novels. She sparkles best when in her natural habitat of St. Mary Mead.
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