Nemesis

Sleeping Murder was the last published Miss Marple novel but was written some 30 years earlier. That makes Nemesis the final Miss Marple novel that she wrote. And, it is a fine coda to the old sleuth.

After learning of the death of Mr. Rafiel, whom she had met during “A Caribbean Mystery,” Miss Marple receives a summons to a lawyer. Mr. Rafiel has left instructions, and a potential financial reward, for Jane to take on her role of Nemesis once again and find justice. The only problem is that Mr. Rafiel has left no information about the case – at all. She doesn’t know who needs justice, or was denied justice. She assumes it has to do with a murder, since it was a murder that brought her into Rafiel’s circle. So, a good portion show more of the opening has Miss Marple blindly searching for direction. It isn’t until she is contacted to take an all-expense paid tour, arranged by Rafiel, that the suspects are introduced, and the mystery begins to unfold.

The book is relatively long (compared to other Marple books), and I was initially afraid it would be a meandering, boring mess like “At Betram’s Hotel”. The first third was very slow, but it picked up significantly in the second half. I liked the mystery: a young man in prison for murder, the deaths of two young girls years ago, and a fellow passenger now. And, it made sense why Rafiel kept Jane in the dark – he wanted her to investigate without any preconceived ideas. The mystery was very good, but I enjoyed much more that Miss Marple was actively engaged throughout. There is no police inspector taking the lead; no frequent switching between character POVs. It’s all Jane – and that makes the story better than it would have been otherwise. Plus, Jane is quite old by now and the danger more acute when the killer begins to see her as a threat.

Overall, while not Christie’s best Miss Marple mystery, I loved that Nemesis focuses almost exclusively on Miss Marple and that it tied to a previous book. The resolution was well supported, if a trifle predictable, and the final showdown was more exciting than one would expect from an elderly sleuth. show less

I thought ‘Nemesis’ was one of the best Jane Marple novels. It was an intriguing, unconventional mystery. I liked that Jane Marple is set a task by a dead man, who gives her nothing much to go on except his assessment of her ability to recognise evil. This made the story as much about Jane as it was about the mystery that she'd been tasked with solving. From the start, it put Jane in a reflective mood, making her consider what she has to offer and what her abilities say about her.

I liked that Jane Marple was credibly portrayed as being very old. Agatha Christie was eight-one when 'Nemesis' was published, so she understood both the physical limitations and discomforts that old age brings and what it's like to live a life that you show more know is approaching it's end but is not yet over. This investigation adds some vitality and interest to Jane Marple's life. At a point where she can no longer tend to her own garden and when a good deal of her time is spent looking backwards, it provides her with a purpose, a mission to focus on that, in the opinion of the dead man who gave it to her, she is uniquely qualified to carry out.

I enjoyed watching Jane Marple think. I liked that she was doing more than solving a puzzle. She was assessing and reassessing herself and each person that she meets,, so that she can be sure she’s seeing them clearly. Jane Marple understands that she has always had the ability to see the worst in people; to imagine the evil that they might do and why they might do it. She's also never hesitated to try and hold those people to account. In this case though, when she uncovers evil, she also uncovers a great deal of grief and suffering. Even so, she does what needs to be done to hold the person to account.

It seemed to me that this was a story in which the women were much more important and imagined in more depth than the men. The men, for the most part, are instruments of authority or generators of misogyny and malice. The women and of passion A passion for truth or love or family or justice. Their motives are layered and sometimes muddled but their actions are manifestations of their passions, not their egos. They see each other more clearly than the men in their lives see them or themselves.

The attitudes of authority figures to rape and sexual assault accurately reflect the misogyny of the 1970s with victim-blaming, a tendency to minimise the seriousness of the offence and to be willing to show leniency so a young man should not have his life ruined merely because he raped a woman.

Some people may find this shocking and or anachronistic. I don't. It seems to me that nothing much has changed in England. ONS figures for 2024 show that only 16% of rapes are reported to the police and only 2.6% of the reported cases result in a charge or prosecution.

I thought 'Nemesis' was very well written. The premise was novel. The characters were well-drawn. The conversations felt real. The plot kept me guessing and the pacing worked This was the writing of an author at the peak of her power. I think it puts paid to the arguments that are sometimes made, based in part on the rather awful 'Passenger To Frankfurt', that Christie was in cognitive decline.

I listened to the audiobook version of 'Nemsis'. I thought Emilla Fox did a good job of bringing Jane Marple to life. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5wrWqbpBb0 show less

‘She’s going to take it on, is she? Sporting old bean,’ he said. Then he added, ‘I suppose she knows something of what it’s all about, does she?’ ‘Apparently not,’ said Mr Broadribb.

I would have reviewed this one a while ago, right after I read the book, in fact, but I really didn't want to be reminded about much of the book.

I have really grown to dislike Miss Marple and this book is a fine example of everything that bugs me about her character.

From her innate xenophobia:

"The fourth chair was occupied by Mr Caspar whom Miss Marple considered as not sufficiently conversant with the English language to matter."
....
"Miss Marple had never quite succeeded in abandoning her Victorian view of foreigners. One never knew show more with foreigners. Quite absurd, of course, to feel like that – she had many friends from various foreign countries. All the same . . . ?"

to her being a judgmental old busy-body:

"One of them was very definitely the complaining type, one who would want to have seats at the front of the coach or else would make a point of having them at the back of the coach. Would wish to sit on the sunny side or could only bear to sit on the shady side. Who would want more fresh air, or less fresh air."

and a little bit deluded - though it was weird to even read about this potential love interest:

"Poor Mr Rafiel. The ship that had passed in the night had been an interesting ship. Once you got used to his being rude, he might have been quite an agreeable man? No! She shook her head. Mr Rafiel could never have been an agreeable man. Well, she must put Mr Rafiel out of her head. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness."

I have not read The Caribbean Mystery, yet, but I somehow doubt there was such a thing in it as a blossoming romance between old Marple and Mr. Rafiel.
Just as I know there is a disconnect between this utterance...

"Miss Marple packed a suitcase bag, went to London, booked a room at a modest hotel – (‘Ah, Bertram’s Hotel,’ she thought in her mind, ‘what a wonderful hotel that was!"

...and the fact that Marple disapproved of Bertram's Hotel by the end of the book (At Bertram's Hotel) written six years before Nemesis. So, having paid a little attention, I found this book to be containing more "continuity errors" than I can put up with.

Anyway, I won't give anything away about the somewhat far-fetched plot but Marple is not the only bone of contention with this book. As others have also summarised, there are also concerns with the book with respect to the issue of victim shaming and the trivialisation of rape.

I don't know if the poor quality of the story is down to Dame Agatha loosing touch with readers in her later work or what, but Nemesis pretty much made the decision for me that Miss Marple is not all she's cracked up to be.


"She looked round the church in which she was sitting. It looked so peaceful. The reality of Evil was hard to believe in. A flair for Evil – that was what Mr Rafiel had attributed to her."

Yeah, I think I'm with Mr. Rafiel on this one. show less

Azért ez mekkora genyóság már. Képzeld el, hogy egy szegény, jóravaló gyilkos vagy, aki hosszú-hosszú évekkel ezelőtt eltett láb alól valakit - nyilván respektálható okokból -, és akkor egy nap kopognak. Törékeny, cukimuki öreglány van az ajtóban, jaj de meleg van, sóhajtja, leülhetne-e Önnél? Te meg ugye jóravaló gyilkos vagy, szóval megkínálod egy pohár vízzel, aztán cseverésztek erről-arról, és egyszer csak azon kapod magad, hogy csattan csuklódon a bilincs. Mert átvert az öreglány! Becsapott! Azt hitted, valami random Erzsike néni, holott ő Miss Marple!!!


(Én Miss Marple-t mindig Joan Hickson arcával képzelem el. Ez már így marad.)

Alighanem ez a Marple-regények titka, a kontraszt a show more törékeny test és a mögötte rejlő eleven szellem között, ami, ha szagot fog, kikutatja a gazságot, ha hat láb mélyre temették is. Nem csoda, ha Mr. Rafiel (akivel találkoztunk már a Rejtély az Antillákon-ban) csak benne bízik, őt kéri meg a halálon túlról visszanyúlva, hogy bogozzon ki egy csúnya rejtvényt, egy elfeledett gyilkosságot, amit már mindenki ad acta tett. Színtiszta lehetetlen küldetés ez, a logika összes szabálya szerint, de hát Miss Marple-nek nincs lehetetlen. (Mivel Agatha Christie úgy írta meg, hogy ne legyen neki lehetetlen.) Úgyhogy cidrizzetek, gyilkosok, mert a Nemezis egy tündéri, vidékies aggleány képében már felétek csoszog.

(Megj.: picit sokalltam a regényben a "régenmindenjobbvót" ízű mondatokat. Hogy a fiatalok ilyenek meg olyanok. A mai lányok meg még ilyenebbek és olyanabbak. De végül függetleníteni tudtam magam az ezzel kapcsolatos halovány ellenérzéseimtől.) show less

I understand this is the last Marple novel. Written in the 70s. I liked this one, there's a creepy goth vibe to the prceedings, and the climax is sinister in an almost Lynchian way. Alas the epilogue, where Ms M explains how she figured it out, is unecessary and redundant. AC has a tendency to bang you over the head with allusions often. Still, an engaging, creepy, occasionally unsettling read.
Oh, it's fun to read Ms M her pass herself off as a scatterbrained, senile oldie to put people off their guard and get them to tell her just about anything. Got a big kick out of that.
Important things - AC's writing in general has many archaic concepts about women. She was a richie, so there's always an obnoxious whiff of classism floatiing show more about her fiction. She puts a high premium on physical attractiveneass. These could be deal breakers for some readers.
On a final note: there's an underlying sadness to a great deal of the work I've read by her, which I'm finding interesting and unexpected from a reading of popular mystery fiction. show less

“Our code word, Miss Marple, is Nemesis.”

Miss Marple receives a letter from an old acquaintance of hers, Jason Rafiel. The only thing is, he’s dead. His death is not unexpected—he was not in good health when they met—but his reason for writing is. Describing her as having a flair for evil, he asks her to investigate a crime and restore justice. There’s a financial incentive in it for her, but it’s the mystery that provides the bigger motivation. What could a coach tour of famous homes and gardens possibly have to do with a miscarriage of justice?

I find the Miss Marple books so much more resonant personally now that I myself am older and have a grandmother who resembles Marple somewhat (although she doesn’t solve show more mysteries, at least not to my knowledge). It is reassuring to read about an elderly lady who lives at home still, with some home help, and sufficient physical and mental stimulation to get her through the days.

This particular case of Marple’s is not bad. I would probably have rated it 3.5, but I docked half a star for Professor Wanstead’s (among others) appalling remarks on “girls these days” who are thought to be falsely reporting rape after regretting a sexual experience. One interjection of this nature, I would have rolled my eyes at and not mentioned in this review, but it comes up multiple times and is totally overdone. show less

I do love that Miss Marple ages both gracefully and convincingly - she's not some sort of spunky anomaly but a real old lady, with real weaknesses and no particular desire to fight against them. She takes naps. She doesn't mind being mistaken for someone much more baffled than she actually is. In fact at times that's exactly the persona she shoots for.

This was not my favorite Miss Marple - rather slow-going with a plot that feels less than consequential. Nevertheless I love her enough that I'm already looking forward to one day returning to [b:Murder at the Vicarage|16331|Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388386575l/16331._SX50_.jpg|2589654].