At Bertram's Hotel (1965)

This one was quite nice. I loved the description of the hotel -- it's really really vivid: I could imagine it perfectly. It was a bit slow to kick off, in terms of action, though, and Miss Marple wasn't terribly central. I wasn't sure what the real point was going to be; it didn't seem as neatly tied together as I would like. I did enjoy it, though, and the last few pages were really rather good. ( )

Note: possibly very slight spoiler at the beginning of paragraph 2, although perhaps no more than you'd get from the book jacket

Bertram's Hotel, in one of the more fashionable districts of London, is a blast from the past, harkening back to the Edwardian era while still boasting the mod. cons. that present-day travellers expect. Miss Marple is staying at the hotel for a couple of weeks and is amazed at how impeccably everything is restored. But is this time warp perhaps too perfect?

The setting in this book is great. Bertram's sounds like a lovely place for a high tea. Pity about the whole "hotel being a front for a major crime syndicate" thing. Thank goodness for Miss Marple, who has spent a lifetime suspecting the worst of things and has usually been vindicated when she suspects something is wrong. In this story she plays just enough of a role to justify it being a Marple story, but not so much that it seems unrealistic for someone of her position to be solving the case. The pacing was good, too, keeping my attention throughout. Some of the language was a bit dated (one word used to refer to elderly ladies is most certainly not used to describe them today!), but that is a very minor quibble. Overall a highly satisfactory Christie novel. ( )

Miss Jane Marple takes a two week holiday at Bertram’s Hotel, of which she has fond childhood memories. So! At Bertram's Hotel, Agatha ChristieIt’s 1965 and Bertram’s hasn’t changed since King Edward V’s time. And that, dear reader, is part of the mystery. Although the hotel seems charming at first, it takes on a sinister face. There’s a great cast of vintage Christie characters, but Jane Marple plays only a peripheral part in the whole investigation.

Read this if: you’d like to see Christie acknowledge the modern world encroaching on her country-house-cozy formula that was successful and more or less unchanged for decades. 3 stars ( )

Dans une rue calme, du côté de Park Lane, se dresse l'hôtel « Bertram » où la vie semble s'être arrêtée au temps de la reine Victoria. Ce monument de la respectabilité, ce temple de la tradition est-il aussi hors du temps qu'il le voudrait paraître ? Miss Marple en doute. Pendant de courtes vacances londoniennes, elle rencontre le crime et la violence, et son séjour se terminera de bien sinistre façon.

Not my favorite Miss Marple - probably because she is hardly in the book. It seems like Agatha Christie had a great idea for a murder mystery and added Miss Marple as an afterthought. ( )