Having her own series of British countryside crimes to solve, she often finds herself thrust deep into the middle of deceptively complicated and morbid affairs, as is the case in one of her most well-known books, A Murder is Announced.
The premise is rather simple: a personal ad in the newspaper of a small village declares that a murder will take place on Friday, at 6:30 PM, at Little Paddocks.
Needless to say, the blunt and honest nature of the message leads all to suspect a practical joke about to be played, but those familiar with the vicious nature of English villages know better.
As the reader would expect, an actual murder does end up taking place, and the crime seems perfect in every regard... that is until the old sleuth takes matters into her own hands and begins to unravel an affair that appears increasingly complex with every twist and turn taken.
Despite presenting us with an already rather familiar setting and premise, Agatha Christie, of course, still manages to make this novel feel new and exciting, deprived of various cliches and tired plot devices.
Rather, she once again crafts an intriguing storyline where few things are as they really appear to be, and gives the reader as much of a chance at solving the mystery as Miss Marple herself (perhaps even a better one, considering the reader's broader perspective).
It's all fair game, but don't expect it to be easy; making your way to the solution is akin to plodding through a labyrinth, and that's without taking into account all the red herrings Christie bombards us with.
Of course, despite all the chaos and confusion in that regard, the story wraps up very nicely and completely, leaving you with a satisfied feeling of closure, and probably stunned from the realization that you couldn't solve something which, in hindsight, appears painfully obvious.
Christie does take some detours from some recurring elements found throughout her books, as many a review has taken pleasure in pointing out. To begin with, there is a distinct absence of people with high-class titles, with the story majorly revolving around the simpler, working-class folk, giving us a much welcome break from the overly-sanitized and polished world of British aristocracy.
In addition, the characters of focus seem to be almost exclusively women this time around with there being three interesting main relationships that take interesting turns and pave the way for surprisingly-deep character development, at least given some of their weaker-minded natures.
As for the other characters, Christie ensures that we get a chance to get properly acquainted with each and every one of them, makes it easy for us to follow them around through the novel, and of course, spares no expense to keep us suspicious of every single one of them.
It's still as exciting and challenging to read as when it was published (of course, this is an assumption, as it was published in 1950) and I highly recommend it to all murder mystery fans out there.
 | Agatha Christie |
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