What do you think?
Rate this book
A Carribean Mystery
Unknown Binding
18 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,958 books76.7k followersAgatha 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)
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)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 2, 2025
There's always a murder, even when she's on vacation! lol
March 16, 2026
I adore Miss Marple and Agatha gives her some fabulous lines and memorable moments in this book
March 23, 2026
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."
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."
January 19, 2026
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.
February 16, 2026
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.
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.
March 6, 2026
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.
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.
March 22, 2026
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.
January 25, 2026
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!
Bah! This won't stop me from reading the 3 more Ms. Marple books I have on my shelf!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2026
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
March 16, 2026
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.
March 27, 2026
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.
December 30, 2025
audiobook
January 26, 2026
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.
Loved it, and now I'm gonna read all of her books.
January 30, 2026
Maybe a litle overboard on repeating Marple's characteristics but a good mystery that naturally I failed to predict.
February 1, 2026
3.5/5. I wasn't enjoying at first but by the end I was won over.
February 17, 2026
Nice easy holiday read. The clues are all there but the misdirection by Christie prolonged my realisation of the murder. Very enjoyable.
February 19, 2026
Cute and fitting!
March 8, 2026
Excellent novel with just enough plausible suspects to keep you thinking
March 10, 2026
A lovely mystery set on an island which resembles Barbados.
March 17, 2026
3.8/5 stars
a very welcome reread from the queen of misdirection
a very welcome reread from the queen of misdirection
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews