It’s not something that I’d normally say but I think this book would have been improved with more Miss Marple. It doesn’t come together in the way that Chrisite novels normally do. It’s all a bit messy and the ending doesn’t really bring it to a very satisfactory conclusion. There’s a missing priest, a train robbery and then a murder that just feels as though it’s been stuck on last-minute. I’d also say that there are just too many things going on at once. There is a lot of build-up to the mysteries. The problem is, the big stuff doesn’t happen until just before the end.
Something that Jane picks up on pretty quickly because of course she does. Of course, behind the decadent facade, something is lurking. It really captures a specific time and place. That old hotel that is trying to cling to the old ways after so many places had been rebuilt because of the war. The way that Bertram’s Hotel is described is brilliant and she really sets the scene. I do think that Christie really captures the setting of this story. It’s not that it isn’t fun to be there but I can’t help but think it should have been a shorter story. At Bertram’s Hotel is one of those books that just take a long time to do very little. It’s just that the stories starring the septuagenarian tend to be a bit more sedate. Of course, that’s not to say that Poirot books are full of action and excitement. I think Miss Marple stories tend to be a bit slower and the plot sort of ambles along to its conclusion. Going back to some of the stories that I haven’t read in a while, I’m starting to realise just how much help the adaptations have had. There have been plenty of great portrayals of the character that made her seem much so wonderful.
Or, at least, the women who have played her. I always used to think that I preferred Miss Marple stories but I think this is because of the adaptations.
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