“At Bertram’s Hotel” by Agatha Christie

Foreign Reader — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 11:33:25 +0000

“At Bertram’s Hotel” is one of the latest works by Agatha Christie and, like some of her other late works, tends to be less exciting, but more contemplative. Most of the book is dedicated to the description of Bertram’s Hotel, which imitates old England in the second half of the twentieth century to cater to the desires of the older folk to see the world as if it hadn’t changed.

Old English ladies who receive large discounts just so they could create “an atmosphere”, rich American business people, retired military officers and a few priests – such is the mix of people who stay at Bertram’s enjoying traditional English food they can’t any longer find anywhere else and splendid service. But the arrival of Bess Sedgwick, an illustrous and famous adventure-lover seems a bit weird: she doesn’t quite “fit”. Later, her daughter Elvira, whith whom the mother chooses not to communicate to avoid bad influence on the girl, appears in the same hotel too.

Both arrivals are noticed by the omnipresent Miss Marple, almost as antient as the hotel itself, but still curious and shrewd.

The central part of the book is dedicated mainly to the mysterious disappearance of Canon Pennyfather after he unhappily got his dates wrong and missed the Congress in Lucerne. But the good canon is later found safe. The actual murder happens only in the last quarter of the book.

Our attention is driven mainly to the strange doing of a mysterios gang of robbers who disguise themselves to look like someone else – and to the connection between this gang and the expensive, respectable hotel that looks so decent on the surface. Certain actions of the young Elvira also look a little odd: what is the girl up to? But all answers will be given at the end. Both Chief Inspector Davy (nicknamed Father) and Miss Marple guess who the murderer is, but neither of them knows how to prove it, though Father is determined to do his best… in the film it was changed to make the ending more satisfactory.

The book is definitely good – this author never wrote anything but good books – but most of her other works are, in my opinion, better. I enjoyed turning the pages and proceeding from one episode to another, but now I am considering donating it to the library, since it’s very unlikely that I will ever want to read it again. I may reconsider yet…

“A Murder is Announced” by Agatha Christie

Foreign Reader — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:11:09 +0000

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.

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“At Bertram’s Hotel” by Agatha Christie

“A Murder is Announced” by Agatha Christie