Appointment With Agatha discussion

Miss Marple is back.

Yay! I ❤ Miss Marple!

Love Miss Marple too!

I really enjoyed this! When I watched the tv adaptation I wasn't too keen on it but the book is way better. I didn't like Gina though. What! a spoilt brat!! She treated people very badly.

Enjoyable! I was side-eyeing someone else - was glad to see that relationship was actually intact.

So happy to visit Miss Marple again!

This one was a lot better on reread than I remembered. Agatha used misdirection so well and I really liked the stage set idea. I could just picture how it would have worked.

(view spoiler)[a similar double-bluff to the one she used in Death on the Nile, actually! (hide spoiler)]

I think that this is one of the earliest books where she starts exploring "motherhood," through the lens of both biology and adoption. When I read these later Christies I sometimes feel like she was deeply ambivalent about both being a mother and having a mother.

I couldn't warm up to any of the characters in this one, but I'm glad the murderer wasn't the prime suspect, because I liked him more than the others.

Rosemarie wrote: "I couldn't warm up to any of the characters in this one, but I'm glad the murderer wasn't the prime suspect, because I liked him more than the others."

Wally is the only one of the entire bunch who was worth a damn. The rest of them were basically just feigning being alive; not a bit of substance to the lot. Which is interesting, considering that they were (theoretically) invested in philanthropy. But it all felt so self-aggrandizing and shallow.

Not my favorite Miss Marple but still an enjoyable read. Lots of characters to keep track of, which Christie used to her advantage to keep me guessing. The sheer number of them, from the delinquent young men to the dysfunctional family members, provided plenty of suspects.

I agree, not my favorite Miss Marple. Maybe the best is yet to come. I have never finished the series. But I did really like The Murder at the Vicarage. There's nothing like the first one in a series!

There were not a lot of likeable characters in They Do It With Mirrors. Carrie Louise really bugged me at the end. Looking back I can see the last chapter was only a few pages but I remember wishing for her to just shut up.

Carrie Louise was such a ditz, to put it bluntly. And Gina was so clueless about her husband's feelings. The final chapter did not ring true.

I thought Wally was a bit toothless to let Gina treat him like she did!!!

Carrie Louise - ugh. I cannot stand the oh-so-frail damsel-in-distress. I have no patience with that IRL or in fiction. (view spoiler)[I was hoping she was the murderer, just so she’d have shown some mettle. Lol. (hide spoiler)]

Teresa wrote: "I thought Wally was a bit toothless to let Gina treat him like she did!!!"

He was, although he did finally buck up and get some backbone at the end.

Christine PNW wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I thought Wally was a bit toothless to let Gina treat him like she did!!!"

He was, although he did finally buck up and get some backbone at the end."

Yes, I rather enjoyed that part!

I got my reserved copy (at last!) on Saturday; I love Miss Marple—but is she old enough to require coddling? Inspector Curry says, “Ah, but perhaps—Miss Marple’s an old lady, isn’t she? I’ll just have a word with her first and then she can go off to bed.”
What age do we reckon Jane Marple to be?

I think that bit about her being an old lady was meant to be humorous. I always saw her as being in her late 70s, maybe 80. My grandmother is 91 and will stay up past midnight just to watch Perry Mason so I don't think age has very much to do with what time you go to bed!

Delightful to hear about your grandmother, Jessica!
Yes, late 70s or a bit more seems just right! Since folks often (at first) underestimate Miss Marple, comments about her age support others mischaracterizing her, sometimes to their later chagrin!
I’ve just reached the point where Inspector Curry has acknowledged her experience and elicits Miss Marple’s observations.

I'm late with this but I've finally written a review for 'They Do It With Mirrors'.

https://mikefinnsfiction.com/2024/05/...

Great comparison between Marple and Poirot, Mike. Since joining this reading group, I have come to appreciate Marple's qualities because of insights such as yours.

Brilliant review Mike! I agree with you about Emilia Fox. I listened to her version too. I started off with Joan Hickson and couldn't get on with it.

Mary wrote: "Great comparison between Marple and Poirot, Mike. Since joining this reading group, I have come to appreciate Marple's qualities because of insights such as yours."

Hi Mary,

I hope you enjoy 'A Pocket Full Of Rye'. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jane Marple deals with this rather unpleasant family.

Teresa wrote: "Brilliant review Mike! I agree with you about Emilia Fox. I listened to her version too. I started off with Joan Hickson and couldn't get on with it."

Thank you. I liked Joan Hickson in the TV series but she's not a good narrator.