“A Caribbean Mystery” by Agatha Christie – A Murder Fit for a Vacation

Jane Marple may very well have one of the sharpest minds in the universe, but the fact remains that she is still subjected to the toll taken by old age and cannot escape its wrath.

Just like everyone else, miss Marple is in need of a vacation, and in A Caribbean Mystery that is just what the doctor prescribed... literally. Jane finds herself sent to a paradise vacation island by her nephew Raymond, and everything is so still and perfect that she finds herself bored to death.

Of course, knowing the kind of murderous curse following Marple, it doesn't take very long for a body to be found, that of the rather unexpectedly dead retired Major Palgrave who Miss Marple overheard saying that he believes there to be a murderer on the island.

Seizing the chance to undertake the best possible therapy for herself, Jane jumps into the fray (metaphorically, her jumping abilities ought to be doubted) and finally in her own element, proceeds to unravel the web of events.

Agatha Christie certainly had some works of literature that were darker and heavier in terms of their themes, but she also had lighter ones, and this one is certainly it. The story put together by Miss Marple is certainly entertaining in its own right with a couple of interesting twists, but you'll notice that for Christie, it tends to lean a bit to the transparent side.

The thick, heavy shroud of mystery that surrounds many of her other novels isn't to be found here, and I do believe that most readers, especially ones who take to detective fiction, will be able to figure out who the murderer is well before the ending.

Still, that doesn't make it bad at all... rather, it makes it feel easier than usual, going rather well in line with the idea of taking a vacation.

Nevertheless, despite being a bit sub-standard for what we are used to from the author, the story still remains all the expected staples of the classic whodunit mystery, with a fixed group of suspects, a closed location, a somewhat unassuming sleuth to follow, as well as a clear and logical chain of events that explains it all at the end.

 In the end, it remains a very solid piece of work that can actually give many other works a run for their money.

The characters are as interesting as they always are in Christie novels, first of all in the sense that the protagonist, in this case Miss Marple, is as shy, sweet, cunning and endearing as ever, making it virtually impossible to dislike her.

Second of all, there is a relatively large cast of supporting characters, just enough of them to give the desired variety to the story and create multiple types of dynamics between characters.

Though they aren't exactly developed in great depth through backstories or anything of the sort, but their actions and dialogs give you more than enough to have a good picture of who is who, with everyone having some unique identifying traits and being separate from the herd.

With all things taken into consideration, those of you who are searching for Agatha Christie's world-renowned brain twisters and incredibly complex plots will end up being somewhat disappointed with this book.

It seems that with Jane Marple on vacation, she deserves an easier case fit for the circumstances, and that's exactly what we get with a murder mystery that is lighter in its nature but still very much capable of entertaining its reader.

On the other hand, if you are a novice to the genre and want to explore a solid and classic whodunit murder mystery, I'd definitely recommend this book as a good start; it engages and makes you think without being too challenging.

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Agatha Christie (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) Personal site Agatha Christie is thought of by many as being the grandmother of murder mysteries. Throughout her novels, which include the classics And Then There Were None and Death on the Nile, Christie developed many groundbreaking techniques for her time, most of which are being used in one way or another by modern murder mystery writers.