The novel was promoted on both sides of the Atlantic as Agatha Christie's 50th book and published in 1950 by William Collins.
MY THOUGHTS:
(Note: Coincidentally, today's date was Dame Agatha's birthday. So my mention further down of Dora Bunner's 'Delicious Death' chocolate birthday cake can serve as my tribute to the character and her author alike.)
This great mystery starts over breakfast in several households, with various townsfolk of Chipping Cleghorn discussing a strange announcement in the local Gazette.
'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th at Little Paddocks at 6.30pm. Friends, please accept this, the only intimation.'
They all guess it's probably a general invitation to a Murder in the Dark style event and make plans to show up. But the household at Little Paddocks turns out to be as mystified as everyone else. To their collective horror, a young intruder becomes the murder victim. Rudi Scherz is (or rather was) a receptionist at the Royal Spa Hotel who placed that ad in the paper himself for whatever reason. He's revealed to be a petty thief or 'picker up of unconsidered trinkets.' Whether his death was intended as a suicide stunt or is a genuine accident remains to be discovered.
The biggest question is why the heck choose Little Paddocks as the grisly venue? Scherz had nothing to do with the folk who live there, headed by sensible Miss Letitia Blacklock. Detective Inspector Dermot Craddock is a trifle irritated when senior sleuth Miss Jane Marple hobbles onto the scene, but grudgingly admits that he needs all the help he can get.
'I'm afraid I have no gift except a tendency to believe the worst of human nature,' she demurs. 'Not a nice trait but often so justified.'
It irks me how everyone refers to Swiss citizen Scherz as 'the foreigner' in such a snobbish, derogatory manner throughout the story. Miss Blacklock accuses the police of having an anti-foreigner complex, yet it's not just them. We get a picture of an insular village mindset where everyone knows each other and regards strangers with suspicion. It's also clear from the 1950 publication date of this novel that the aftermath of World War Two was still turning social structure topsy-turvy. People were anxious to cling to their snobbery-as-usual for comfort. It's a revealing read as a historical document as well as a murder mystery.
A decadent, homemade chocolate cake referred to as 'Delicious Death' is featured in this story. Mitzi, the uptight refugee cook, is coerced to concoct her specialty for Miss Dora Bunner's birthday. And in real life, Agatha Christie dedicates the book to her friends, Ralph and Anne Newman, 'at whose house I first tasted Delicious Death.' Hmm, I wonder if they left a recipe. It leaves the characters feeling a bit bloated with an unusually high sugar fix while rationing was still a thing. But they didn't care, and nor would I.
The ending rewarded me for a cosy afternoon reading, with all the Wows I could hope for! I'd noticed a few fishy details but the full picture is still a great a-ha moment. Another murderer who almost got away with a huge risk is brought to justice. And a couple of details I assumed were typos turn out to be integral to the plot. Okay, enough said.
I love Agatha Christie novels but don't usually give them 5 stars. This time I will, for the masterful twists and larger-than-life characters. It's a great prototype of all the surprises she does best. Christie gets all her ducks in a row here, creates understanding for the murderer, if not a sort of sympathy, but makes it clear that escaping justice would have been preposterous. (After all, we feel sorrier still for the victims.) And it establishes Miss Marple even more firmly as one of my favourite sleuths.
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