A Carribean Mystery

by Agatha Christie

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Audiobook

Unknown Binding

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Meg Gavilanez-Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's always a murder, even when she's on vacation! lol

[Lucinda Race · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version and it was well done- it's funny to hear stories from this era and realize not much has changed with human behavior. Things to ponder

[˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Miss Marple's nephew. He's always sending her to some wonderful place for a rest or vacation.

For this small hotel in an exotic location there are a number of characters with a shady past, whose partners have suddenly and mysteriously died and there are enough red herrings for the reader to wonder who the murderer is and by association who the intended victim is.

Not one of my favorites because the plot is a bit far-fetched and the end is definitely hard to believe. It is a fast read and Christie's writing is always pleasant and Miss Marple is so wise...

"Life is more worth living, more full of interest, when you are likely to lose it. When you're young, and strong, and healthy, and life stretches ahead of you, living isn't really important at all. It's young people who commit suicide easily, out of despair from love, sometimes from sheer anxiety and worry. But old people know how valuable life is, and how interesting."

"The things you imagine always seem perfectly plausible."

"Murderers always find it difficult to keep things simple. They can’t keep themselves from elaborating."

[Rachel Rooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Miss Marple and Agatha gives her some fabulous lines and memorable moments in this book

[Saralyn McMorris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the Caribbean setting. Agatha Christie does mysteries well. Loved Miss Marple in this book and I was glad she got a little vacation.

[Aiden Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by Agatha Christie. A very fast read and quite fun to be honest, I enjoyed it to be a refresher between my heavy novels. The mystery was well done, I couldn’t guess the killer till the end lol

[Paula Vince · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Marple is far from home. Her nephew, Raymond, has sent her on a holiday to the West Indies to help her recuperate from a bout of pneumonia. The setting is an earthly paradise, the Golden Palms Hotel on the Island of St Honorė. There is plenty of sunshine, sea, and coral reefs. There is also music from a steel band, which Miss Marple resolves to try and appreciate although she finds it cacophonous.

When another elderly guest dies suddenly, Miss Marple can't help suspecting foul play. The talkative Major Palgrave had been on the point of extracting 'a photograph of a murderer' out of his wallet to show her. But then he was shocked by the appearance of somebody approaching along the beach behind Miss Marple's shoulder and changed his mind. Now he's dead.

Miss Marple understandably feels too uneasy to dismiss this hearty, garrulous old man's death as a case of high blood pressure and old age. She begins to look into the case using her only weapon - conversation. However, she knows this can be a landmine, and tries to guard against her human tendency to automatically place words in people's mouths, filling in gaps and making leaps of supposed logic about what she thought they'd inferred, or been about to say.

Jane Marple's own spiritual convictions get stirred in this story. She feels almost like a humble deputy of the Almighty, quietly responding, 'Here I am,' in response to the question of, 'Who will go for me? Who shall I send?' At one point she reads a few lines of Thomas ȧ Kempis before bed and says a prayer, 'for one can't do everything oneself.' Agatha Christie could hardly make it clearer that Miss Marple is willing to consider herself an agent of divine retribution, somebody's nemesis.

Miss Marple's views on how elderly people may appreciate the value of life more than anyone else are interesting to ponder.

'Life is more worth living, more full of interest, when you are likely to lose it. When you're young, and strong, and healthy, and life stretches ahead of you, living isn't really important at all. It's young people who commit suicide easily, out of despair from love, sometimes from sheer anxiety and worry. But old people know how valuable life is, and how interesting.'

This 1964 publication reveals some thankfully dated twentieth century personalities and attitudes. The resort is run by a young couple named Tim and Molly Kendal, and Molly feels she must politely brush off the sleazy pick-up lines of Gregory Dyson, because 'you can't offend guests.' Even her husband agrees with her logic unequivocally. And Miss Marple refers to this middle-aged creep as merely, 'someone who has a very gallant manner with the ladies.' Come on dudes, this is sexual harassment! She shouldn't be expected to put up with this behavior.

As for Major Palgrave, the victim, perhaps one less old blowhard wreaking mass destruction on the world's precious population of elephants and tigers, bringing them to the brink of extinction, isn't such a bad thing.

[Lemony Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have half a mind that I’ve read this one before, but perhaps it’s that Christie novels have a certain shape to them. Well, this one has all the expected characters and intrigue and a romance connections graph that looks like a spider web.

Miss Marple is on a Caribbean island for the winter, and rather than fleeing from her aura of death and mayhem like anyone sensible should, the cast remains, a quarter of them die, and intrigue ensues.

It’s good. It’s Christie, she (generally) wrote good books.

[Captain Basil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not read a Miss Marple novel in decades. I'm more of a Hercule Poirot fan. Well, the joke was on me, because this was a great read and perhaps a perfect Vacation Book. I was not on vacation, but if you're going to the beach, bring this one with you . It had everything: an exotic locale, a bunch of devious, unpleasant people, all at an emotionally charged and brooding hotel. Good stuff.

[Sylvie JS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best Ms. Marple. Entertaining, but the plot is a bit far-fetched, and the end is definitely hard to believe (spoiler: the husband kills a guest thinking it's his wife he's killing...).
Bah! This won't stop me from reading the 3 more Ms. Marple books I have on my shelf!

[Judy F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book setting Miss Marple outside England, although the characters were mostly English. The characterizations, to me, showed an unfortunate tendency towards the fantastic rather than the believable.

[Steven Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed revisiting this Miss Marple mystery. Engaging plot with lots of options and clues that pointed at several different people. Of course, in her own way, Miss Marple figures it out in the end. Good diversion.

[zafirah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love a classic whodunit, this time set in a tropical location, though the large cast made it hard to follow at times- especially since many of them didn’t feel essential to the plot. Some of casual racism tho?? yikes

Will give ‘And Then There Were None’ a go and see how it compares📝

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t like this book as much as other Agatha Christie books I’ve read. I had a hard time staying focused on it. The characters were good especially Mr. Ravel and the Major and of course Ms. Marple. I will still read her books just this one wasn’t my favorite.

[StephenWoolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

audiobook

[Jyotsna Nag · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Agatha Christie mystery and I had NO complaints. Couldn't guess the killer till the end!

Loved it, and now I'm gonna read all of her books.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe a litle overboard on repeating Marple's characteristics but a good mystery that naturally I failed to predict.

[Umayeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. I wasn't enjoying at first but by the end I was won over.

[Gaby Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy holiday read. The clues are all there but the misdirection by Christie prolonged my realisation of the murder. Very enjoyable.

[alice greenbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fitting!

[Laurie Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novel with just enough plausible suspects to keep you thinking

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely mystery set on an island which resembles Barbados.

[Laur · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8/5 stars

a very welcome reread from the queen of misdirection

[Krista ⟡ Ever Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another enjoyable entry in Christie’s beloved Miss Marple series. As always, she delivers vivid personalities, memorable settings, and twists that keep you guessing.

[Vedanth Baliga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read and a great setting. Loved the characters and they are always memorable like other Marple books. It felt like a drag in the middle but the ending was perfect and unexpected!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took a break from reading the Miss Marple mysteries, but I’m back to it, ready to finish all of them!

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Marple on the road:

https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...