The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by
Agatha Christie
hbk out June 02
Published by HarperCollins
at £16.99
Change in rural Britain is nothing new. At the start of this novel, first published in
1962, Jane Marple reflects on the changes that time has wrought on her home village
of St Mary Mead. A new development has been built, and her friend's old home,
Gossington Hall, has been sold to a famous actress, Marina Gregg, and her husband
Jason Rudd. The celebrity newcomers throw a party in aid of charity, but a tragedy
occurs. A local woman, Heather Badcock, who has always been one of the star's fans,
is poisoned. When it becomes apparent that her death was no accident, police have no
luck in trying to establish a motive, for Heather was a decent and kindly, if some what
interfering, middle-aged woman with no known enemies. But was she really the
intended victim – or was the killer trying to target Marina herself? More deaths occur
before Miss Marple manages to unravel the mystery. This is an enjoyable book; not
one of the author's best, but entertaining nonetheless.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
