From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

A Caribbean Mystery (Miss Marple, #9)

Agatha Christie

Start date: August 1, 2017

Finish date: August 31, 2017

Discussion: Group Challenges

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 166 topics — 7,784 comments total

Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 14 posts · 16 views

last updated Sep 02, 2025 12:08AM

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
By Susan · 4 posts · 12 views

last updated Sep 01, 2025 04:16PM

showing 3 of 3 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 19, 2018 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, rtd-2017-missmarple-challenge

Read multiple times, always enjoyable. I just try to leave some space between readings, so maybe I won't remember everything about it.

Miss Marple gets to go to an island, courtesy of nephew Raymond, and, of course, runs across multiple murders. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 17, 2018 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reread

I’m really enjoying rereading Miss Marple after maaaaaannnny years - she’s such a rare and interesting character, the way she listens and watches and applies her endless store of knowledge about human nature.

I’m catching so much more this time around - the dry British humor, indeed the old-fashioned British characters and “types” familiar to Miss Marple that help her spot the murderer - even in a new, Caribbean resort setting - definitely NOT St. Mary Mead. And yet, this fluffy, Victorian old la ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2010 Nancy Oakes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction-uk, crime-fiction, classic-mystery-fiction

"Like to see the picture of a murderer?"

Major Palgrave was the man with a million stories, and everyone vacationing at the lovely Golden Palm Hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Honoré tried to avoid him like the plague. Once he got started, he never stopped. His latest victim, so to speak, was Jane Marple, who had come to the Golden Palm to recuperate after a serious bout of pneumonia. Knitting bag in hand, Miss Marple was sitting, half listening and making polite replies once in a while, unti "Like to see the picture of a murderer?"

Major Palgrave was the man with a million stories, and everyone vacationing at the lovely Golden Palm Hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Honoré tried to avoid him like the plague. Once he got started, he never stopped. His latest victim, so to speak, was Jane Marple, who had come to the Golden Palm to recuperate after a serious bout of pneumonia. Knitting bag in hand, Miss Marple was sitting, half listening and making polite replies once in a while, until Major Palgrave started speaking about her favorite topic: murder. He begins to tell her a rather unusual story about a man who got away with murder more than once, and when Palgrave asks her if she wanted to see a picture of a murderer, the knitting stops and she's all eyes and ears. But after he fishes through his wallet for the photo, he suddenly stops and changes the subject rather abruptly and rather loudly. Taken aback, Miss Marple looks up to see why and sees several people nearby. Although curious, she goes right back to her knitting. The next day, when one of the maids finds Major Palgrave dead in his room, apparently from natural causes, Miss Marple can't help but wonder if all is as it seems. When she creates a clever story to retrieve the photograph Palgrave was about to show her, it's gone, and now she's interested.

Miss Marple is the perfect detective. When people look at her they see "all knitting wool and tittle-tattle," and she becomes more or less invisible that way, easily dismissed by most of the players. But one man, wealthy businessman Jason Rafiel, sees right through her. And since Jane is not in St. Mary Mead at the moment, with no help from the likes of Sir Henry Clithering, it is Rafiel to whom she turns in hopes of preventing more death.

A Caribbean Mystery is lighter in tone than some of her other Marple mysteries, slowly paced and there are spots where my interest definitely flagged. The mystery plotline was good, although a bit predictable. The ocean, the sand, the palms and the steel band music definitely brought the Caribbean to mind while reading, since I've been there a number of times. And although this isn't one of my favorites in the Marple series, I couldn't help but enjoy watching her brain at work.

My advice to potential Christie readers: put this one somewhere in the middle of your reading schedule and start with some of the other Marple stories. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2017 Nanosynergy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-espionage, series, british, fiction, 2017read, reviewed, fiction-1960s

To recover from being ill, Miss Marple's generous nephew has paid for her to take a holiday at the Golden Palm Resort on the Caribbean island of St Honore. She is not really enjoying her stay. Marple half listens as long-winded Major Palgrave tells her stories from his past that he tells anyone who will listen. But when he asks if she would like to see a snapshot of a murderer, Major Palgrave now has Marple's full attention. However, Palgrave suddenly hides this photo back in his wallet when som ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2018 Bronwyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery-detective-suspense, audiobook, european, title-a-i, author-a-i, 2018-reads, by-women, series

Oh that was good. I knew, owning a copy, that I must have seen the recent(-ish) PBS adaptation, but luckily I didn't really remember anything until right near the end. The set up, the characters, the solution are all brilliantly done. On to Nemesis. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2011 Carol Evans rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I adore Miss Marple. She seems like a sweet, gentle old lady, but she's bright and knows human nature. In A Caribbean Mystery, Miss Marple is on vacation, enjoying relaxing in the Caribbean son thanks to her nephew's generosity. There's only one problem- she's bored. It may be paradise, but nothing ever changes. But then Major Palgrave dies under suspicious circumstance, and Miss Marple takes it upon herself to figure out who the killer is.

Miss Marple is on center stage in this one, in a new set ...more

Like · see review

Mar 07, 2016 Tamara rated it liked it

A decent Agatha Christie pick. Not her best but definitely not her worst.

The mystery itself was interesting but not too difficult to figure out the gist of what had happened, who had done it and even why. The reveal did not have the same element of surprise that many Christie novels have. In addition, I was disappointed that Christie did not tie up all of the loose ends in her usual manner. Midway through the book another murder is mentioned but in the end, it is just a red herring and there is ...more

Like · see review

Mar 04, 2009 Laura Anne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, latin-america-and-caribbean

2024 Series Re-read: I was pleasantly surprised to find the book more crisp & entertaining than my (childhood-read) hazy recollections of characters, red-herrings, & love-triangles. I love the darkness of the story against the beautiful warm setting.

Like · see review