Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gulbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.
Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gulbrandsen’s visit.
MY THOUGHTS:
Miss Jane Marple is tipped off that something's fishy in the household of Carrie Louise, her old school chum from way back, who has a tendency to marry intense, idealistic men. Carrie Louise's current husband, the single-minded Lewis Serracold, operates Stonygates, a reformatory school for delinquent boys that emphasises nurturing and rehabilitation. A sign posted above the door announces, 'Recover hope, ye who enter here,' the reverse of 'abandon hope' from Dante's Inferno. The guy deserves credit for trying hard.
Miss Marple goes for a long visit, and trouble erupts when the young secretary, Edgar Lawson, tries to kill Serracold in a delusional frenzy. Lawson himself is an ex-reform school boy with a persecution complex and delusions of grandeur. No sooner is potential tragedy soothed than Christian Gulbrandsen, Carrie Louise's step-son from her first marriage, is found dead in his bedroom. He's been shot.
It's revealed that Christian was trying to uncover a plot against Carrie Louise. The culprit is presumably still intent on their first murderous mission. Why anyone would want to hurt gracious and cherished Carrie Louise is baffling, especially when the suspects are narrowed down to a small circle of her nearest and dearest.
There is her grumpy and frumpy widowed daughter, Mildred; two more step-sons from Carrie Louise's second marriage, Alex and Stephen Restarick, who revere her; and her vibrant and beautiful granddaughter, Gina, recently back from America with her disgruntled young husband, Walter, in her wake. He is everyone's main scapegoat since he's new on the scene, yet the police wonder if that should, in fact, rule Walter out. Overlooking everyone is the stern but devoted 'Jolly', Carrie Louise's elderly companion who adores her.
Miss Marple really plays on her slightly doddery and disarming front. She has a warm and sympathetic way of encouraging confidence, which reinforces to her how often people make assumptions about others. Every so often she expresses gratitude for her nephew, Raymond, who supports her financially. It's lucky for the world of crime that he does. She's one of my favourite sleuths.
I love the setting of Stonygate, the shabby, genteel old mansion that's gone to seed. It's a perfect backdrop for all the action. Its dodgy electrical wiring was installed by Dr Gulbrandsen 'when electrical light was a novelty.' Gee whiz, what a landmine, when mavericks could fiddle around with a building's wiring in an era long before safety switches.
Lewis' surprising goal stands out to me too. In his line of work, he believes that transportation saved many a potential criminal. Lewis Serracold believes, 'modern and civilised conditions are too complex for some simple and undeveloped natures,' so being shipped overseas to form new lives in simpler surroundings is the making of many. His big dream is to purchase something like a group of small islands to repeat the experiment with some of his boys. It's a topsy-turvy notion that's hard for an Aussie like me to wrap my head around, having been taught from the cradle that we were merely a harsh dumping ground for our convicts, supposed desperadoes, many of whom were simply destitute and starving.
The illusional nature of the title really impresses me. It's a great read, really hard to put down, clever and satisfying. My only gripe is that toward the end, the incidental death toll rises by a few more, which seem dramatic and unnecessary. It includes some of Carrie Louise's most beloved people, yet she doesn't seem overly distraught. I guess there's no place for genuine grief to be shown in a cosy murder mystery, so we've got to assume it happens off stage. (Perhaps that explains why I find the genre awesome, but rarely 5 star material.)
Whew, I'm glad my two favourite characters have nothing to do with it.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
No comments:
Post a Comment