At Bertram's Hotel: Agatha Christie

 

Description at Goodreads:

Miss Jane Marple has checked into Bertram's Hotel in London for a much-needed vacation. The last thing she expects is that this elegant establishment, known for its service and old-world charm, could be embroiled in scandal. But after a series of strange events—including the disappearance of a fellow guest, the arrival of a notorious celebrity bad boy, and finally, a shocking murder—she finds herself drawn into a multifaceted mystery.

This portion of the description at Goodreads is an accurate description, but later there is an implication that Miss Marple gets involved in the investigation, which is not accurate. Miss Marple observes useful pieces of information, and along the way she does reveal her thoughts to the reader on many of the events. The real investigator in this mystery is Chief Inspector Fred Davy, who has noted the connection of many of the guests at the hotel to various crimes in the area, and the story works more as a police procedural than is usual in a Miss Marple novel. All of that worked very well for me and I had no complaint. Fred Davy was a great character.

There are a lot of coincidences in this story; for example, Miss Marple runs into various guests at the hotel in the city of London who seem to be in questionable relationships. 

At Bertram's Hotel is a later book in the Miss Marple series and it didn't measure up to other books in that series for me. However, it was a fun read, with some humor.  I like books set in hotels and Bertram's Hotel was lovely. There were several interesting characters, so overall I liked it and I plan to finish the series. 

Short Story Wednesday: Stories by Agatha Christie

 

A few nights ago I decided to read some short stories from a collection of Hercule Poirot stories. I read the first two in the book: "The Affair at the Victory Ball" and "The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan," both first published in 1923.

The stories were very good. I enjoyed the descriptions of Poirot, his quirks, and the appearance of Inspector Japp. In these stories the narrator was Captain Hastings. Some of my favorite novels in that series were the ones that Hastings narrates. 

However there was one problem... I have seen all of the Poirot adaptations with Suchet recently and I remembered the stories, who did it, how it was solved. All of it. 

So I moved on to a book that has a few stories by various sleuths created by Agatha Christie. 13 for Luck has stories featuring Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, Harley Quin, Mr. Parker Pyne, Inspector Evans, and Tommy and Tuppence. I read three stories featuring Jane Marple. My favorite story was “Tape-Measure Murder,” from the collection Three Blind Mice (AKA The Mouse Trap).

“Tape-Measure Murder” by Agatha Christie

This story begins with a dressmaker, Miss Pollitt, waiting at the door of a house. She has brought a new dress for Mrs. Spenlow to the house because it is ready for fitting. But she has knocked and knocked and gotten no answer, although she had scheduled an appointment. After much discussion, Miss Pollitt and a neighbor, Miss Hartnell, look into the window of the front room and discover that Mrs. Spenlow is lying on the floor, dead.

As soon as the police start investigating, the husband is the main suspect. Miss Marple gets involved because Mr. Spenlow has used her as his alibi, in a sense. He got a call from Miss Marple to come by and consult with her at 3:30. When he showed up she was not at home. Miss Marple tells the police that she never called Mr. Spenlow, but that he did come by when she was out.

The solution to the mystery is complex and satisfying, and there is a very clever clue which should have given it away, but certainly did not alert this reader. Miss Marple figures it all out, of course.

The other two stories featuring Miss Marple were from The Tuesday Club Murders. The stories were good, but I did not like them as well as the "Tape-Measure Murder." Yet I think I will find a copy of that book, because the characters in the stories are a lot of fun.

I welcome suggestions for other short stories or collections by Agatha Christie, if you have any to recommend.