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Lucy Foley’s Miss Marple Mystery Delivers Suspense, but Lacks Christie
Lucy Foley wrote a new mystery featuring Agatha Christie’s detective Miss Marple.
The story takes place at a fancy hotel in the Swiss Alps in 1950.
A guest is found dead during a gondola ride.
A train accident and bad weather stop everyone from leaving.
This means the murderer may still be inside the hotel.
Different characters tell parts of the story, so readers see many points of view.
The review says the book is exciting and has a clever setting.
However, it also says Miss Marple is not in the story enough and some details do not fit the time period.
Overall, the reviewer found it entertaining but more like a Foley novel than a Christie novel.
Lucy Foley’s novel brings Miss Marple, Mrs Bantry and Diana Glass to a Swiss Alpine hotel in 1950.
A guest’s murder traps the hotel’s residents after a train accident and extreme weather block their escape.
Multiple narrators and rising body counts create a suspenseful locked-room mystery with numerous suspects.
The review praises Foley’s vivid settings and fast pace but criticizes plot holes and historical inaccuracies.
The book is described as an engaging page-turner that feels more like Foley than Agatha Christie.
- Who
- Lucy Foley’s characters, including Miss Marple, Mrs Bantry, Diana Glass and other hotel guests.
- What
- A murder mystery in which guests are trapped with a killer while trying to solve the crime.
- Where
- A luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps.
- When
- The story is set in 1950.
- Why
- A train accident and extreme weather prevent the guests from leaving after a murder.
Foley’s Modern Mystery Approach
Traditional Christie Expectations
Pacing and structure
Foley’s Modern Mystery Approach
The novel’s vivid, fast-paced storytelling and multiple viewpoints keep the suspense high.
Traditional Christie Expectations
The many subplots and narrators make the story meander and differ from Christie’s more leisurely approach.
Miss Marple’s role
Foley’s Modern Mystery Approach
Foley places Miss Marple in a new locked-room mystery alongside a broad cast of characters.
Traditional Christie Expectations
Classic Christie readers may feel that Miss Marple is absent from too much of the story.
Period authenticity
Foley’s Modern Mystery Approach
The 1950s setting and richly constructed Alpine landscape create an atmosphere of beauty and unease.
Traditional Christie Expectations
The review identifies questionable details, including references to Marilyn Monroe, paracetamol and a photograph taken in moonlight.
Key facts
- Author
- Lucy Foley
- Featured detective
- Miss Marple
- Setting
- A luxury Swiss Alpine hotel in 1950
- Central mystery
- A hotel guest is murdered during a gondola ride
- Locked-room element
- A train accident and extreme weather trap the guests
- Narrative style
- Each chapter is narrated by a different character
- Review assessment
- A gripping page-turner that feels more like Foley than Christie
Quotes
Sylvia Sinclair
A glamorous actress and hotel guest whose perspective narrates one of the chapters
“And then the stall to the toilet opens, and she steps out. Catherine Narracott. I can tell she’s been crying, but on her there’s no make-up to streak, and it only looks picturesque, in the way that young women look picturesque when they cry.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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