They Do It With Mirrors, by Agatha Christie
Modesty forbade Miss Marple to reply that she was, by now, quite at home with murder.
An old friend of Miss Marple is worried about her younger sister, who has married a man who runs a home/reform school for juvenile delinquents, and wants Miss Marple to investigate. The friend rather nervously suggests asking her sister to invite Miss Marple for a visit as she's poor, proud, and needs a rest; to her relief, Miss Marple is completely fine with both being thought a charity case and going under false pretenses, if a friend thinks it's necessary.
This book combines an intricate family saga with the juvenile delinquent home setting to pleasing effect. It's not one of my very favorites but it's a great setting and a very fair mystery with a satisfying solution. This one is clearly set post-WW2, when the country was just starting to economically recover. One of the characters is an American pilot who married a young English/Italian woman whose Italian side of the family got in trouble for being fascists.
The mirrors are not literal, but refer to the idea of a stage magician tricking the audience. Amateur and professional theatrics play a minor role, and misdirection by murderer plays a major one.
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Christie scale: MEDIUM-HIGH levels of ableism (mental illness) and attitudes about juvenile delinquents, but surprisingly less endorsed by the author than I'd initially assumed; different characters have different opinions, and the juvenile delinquents we meet are fairly sympathetic and likable.
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An old friend of Miss Marple is worried about her younger sister, who has married a man who runs a home/reform school for juvenile delinquents, and wants Miss Marple to investigate. The friend rather nervously suggests asking her sister to invite Miss Marple for a visit as she's poor, proud, and needs a rest; to her relief, Miss Marple is completely fine with both being thought a charity case and going under false pretenses, if a friend thinks it's necessary.
This book combines an intricate family saga with the juvenile delinquent home setting to pleasing effect. It's not one of my very favorites but it's a great setting and a very fair mystery with a satisfying solution. This one is clearly set post-WW2, when the country was just starting to economically recover. One of the characters is an American pilot who married a young English/Italian woman whose Italian side of the family got in trouble for being fascists.
The mirrors are not literal, but refer to the idea of a stage magician tricking the audience. Amateur and professional theatrics play a minor role, and misdirection by murderer plays a major one.
( Read more... )
Christie scale: MEDIUM-HIGH levels of ableism (mental illness) and attitudes about juvenile delinquents, but surprisingly less endorsed by the author than I'd initially assumed; different characters have different opinions, and the juvenile delinquents we meet are fairly sympathetic and likable.
[image error] [image error]
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