A Caribbean Mystery by
Agatha Christie
pbk out June 02
(HarperCollins)
at £5.99
Even when Jane Marple ventures on the holiday of a lifetime to the West Indies, she
cannot escape murder and mystery for very long. Sure enough, not long after an
elderly bore called Major Palgrave has been recounting a series of anecdotes to her,
including a tale about a murder, the old soldier suddenly dies. High blood pressure is
blamed, but naturally Miss Marple suspects something more sinister, and naturally
she is proved right. Evidently, the Major recognised someone at the Golden Palm
Hotel with a secret to hide.
Despite the exotic setting, this is an entirely comfortable, traditional Christie. Two of
the plot devices – a visual trick of misdirection, and a concealed relationship – are
variations upon themes which appear in earlier books; the closest comparison is with
'Evil Under the Sun'. But this novel is written with sufficient zest to rate as one of the
author's best works of the 60s.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
