“A Murder is Announced” by Agatha Christie

A small village just after the Second World War – very cosy, very English and apparently the safest place in the world. When a weird announcement appears in the most popular local newspaper stating that there is going to be a murder in one of the houses and inviting friends to take part, most people assume it’s just about a murder game – and many of them arrive just in time, rather impatient.

The lights go out… they hear shots – and then it turns out that the murder is very real, after all. Though at first it looks more like a suicide or, perhaps, an accident.

When it comes to inventing a mystery that can’t be solved just like this, Agatha Christie is unrivalled. “A Murder is Announced” is, perhaps, one of her best ever books. It’s a Miss Marple mystery, and I happened to see it filmed before the book came my way. I regret it now: knowing the solution has spoiled the pleasure of reading it for me. I envy those who will read it without having any clue about the identity of the murderer.

For Detective Inspector Craddock it was his first experience of working with the one and only Miss Marple. He didn’t believe in her abilities at first, but she won him on her side quite soon. So, when it came to setting a trap for the murderer, he accepted her plan and played his arranged part in it quite willingly and with a skill of an actor. The murderer bites the bait, gets caught… confesses.

“A Murder is Announced” is one of the first Agatha Christie’s novels I ever read – about 14 years ago. It was a gift from an Italian friend – in those days we could hardly hope to buy anything good locally. I kept returning to it and re-reading it many times through the years, which I do only with the books I love best. There is something very neat and very precise about the way the book is written – the mystery, the characters, the background and the psychological explanations of the motives behind each murder (there were three altogether). And Miss Marple is, of course, a sweety, as usual – she alone might make it worth reading. I’d love to meet her likeness in real life.