Musings over Nothing: Book review: A Caribbean Mystery

What do you do when you are on a fully paid vacation at

the Caribbeans, especially if you are escaping the long, dreary, cold England weather? Swim a bit, enjoy the sun, meet the locales? Nah, if you are Miss Marple. You know Miss Marple don'tcha? She is the elderly sleuth the local busybody of St Meads, England who is sent on a Caribbean vacation by her well meaning nephew. She is surrounded by interesting group of people consisting of old tycoons, bird watchers, secretaries and even masseurs. But all could not be that swell, can they? It so seemed, until the old Major Palgrove dies out of an innocent heart attack.

Book Name: A Caribbean Mystery

Series: Miss Marple #10

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: Fiction Thriller

Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Major Palgrove, Mr Rafiel, Colonel Edward and Mrs Evelyn Hillingdon, Gregory and Mrs Lucky Dyson

Miss Marple finds his sudden death very suspicious because just the day before he died the Major was telling her about a murderer in their presence. But of course, why would anyone believe a sweet, old lady's imaginations? Things turn more ghastly when the body counts keep increasing and every one of the guests had something to hide from the other. Read more to find how Miss Marple solves the mystery, in her own style.

Very far from the bests of Agatha Christie, A Caribbean Mystery has a pleasant change of the ambiance from the cold England and the usual local bodies that Miss Marple talks about. Though it is a quick read and I normally like Christie's book, this one was too plain to my liking. I had to stop at different places, despite the colorful characters. I did not even bother to try to guess the murderer.

As usual I loved the repartee of Miss Marple with one of the characters, here Mr Rafiel, an old business tycoon, who is simply rude and too blunt for anyone. Quite a contrast to our Miss Marple, who is genteel and soft spoken. Well, that is the only part of the story that kept me going, and unfortunately it was not long enough.

Bottom-line: Worth a quick read, if you like Miss Marple series.

I am attempting to re-read as many Agatha Christie's as I can get my hands on. Read more here.