From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

They Do It With Mirrors (Miss Marple, #5)

Agatha Christie

Start date: December 1, 2025

Finish date: December 31, 2025

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The last book in our 2025 challenge
[close] The last book in our 2025 challenge

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Group Challenges

* 2026 Challenge
By Susan · 24 posts · 26 views

last updated Oct 17, 2025 02:23AM

* Oct 25: A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 16 posts · 16 views

last updated Oct 16, 2025 07:31AM

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What Members Thought

Sep 20, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Although I was certain that I had read all of the Miss Marple novels, I really cannot recall having read this before. This novel sees Miss Marple meeting up with an old friend. Ruth Van Rydock and her sister, Carrie Louise, knew Jane Marple as a young girl, when they were visiting Florence. Now Ruth is returning to America, but she confesses that she is concerned about her sister. Carrie Louise, like Ruth, has been married several times. Her latest husband is Lewis Serrocold, an idealist who run ...more

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Jul 13, 2013 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore rated it really liked it

Book 11 for the Miss Marple challenge. Miss Marple finds herself in a very different setting, a juvenile delinquents home/college when she is asked by old friend Ruth Van Rydock to look into the situation of her sister Carrie Louise. Carrie Louise, also Miss Marple’s friend from her school days in Italy, lives in an old Victorian mansion and her husband Lewis Serrocold runs a centre for juveniles focusing on rehabilitation. Carrie Louise has been married twice before and her relations, children, Book 11 for the Miss Marple challenge. Miss Marple finds herself in a very different setting, a juvenile delinquents home/college when she is asked by old friend Ruth Van Rydock to look into the situation of her sister Carrie Louise. Carrie Louise, also Miss Marple’s friend from her school days in Italy, lives in an old Victorian mansion and her husband Lewis Serrocold runs a centre for juveniles focusing on rehabilitation. Carrie Louise has been married twice before and her relations, children, stepchildren from her previous marriages also live in the house or are regular visitors. There are a lot of tensions in the house, not everyone agreeing with Lewis and Carrie Lousie’s idealism or at least not wanting that to be practiced so close home. Ruth has sensed something wrong but can’t point her finger at it, and Miss Marple too when she first arrives there can’t quite make it out. But soon, there is a heated scene between one of the juvenile inmates and Lewis and alongside an actual murder, the motive for which no one can guess. Inspector Curry, in charge of the investigation finds Miss Marple sharp and on looking into her learns of her “record” and skills and begins to rely on her help solving things. Once again we find, however “modern” or different the setting, human beings are just the same everywhere.

Agatha Christie yet again showed in this one that she knows people and human nature, and its complexities. Some of the ideas of how people ought to be reminded me of the same in Enid Blyton’s books (a “weak” or “sappy” character being seen as less than ideal), though these were of course the characters’ thoughts and probably prevalent thoughts at the time. This time around Miss Marple seems to have some trouble with finding parallels to some of the people she meets immediately and it is a change in perspective (from one of the characters) that points her in the right direction. While I did remember whodunit some way into the book (or at least caught on to it but because I had read it before), I enjoyed my revisit―how she drew out and treated the characters (likeable or otherwise) in particular.
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May 25, 2018 Kavita rated it liked it

Shelves: uk, mystery

This is one of my least favourite Marples. An old school friend of Miss Marple (Ruth) shows up on one of her flying trips from the US and asks our detective to see what's wrong with her sister's family. The three of them had grown up together and were quite close. Ruth was able to detect something was wrong but could not put her finger on it. She obviously had more faith in her old friend to get things sorted. Miss Marple agreed to help out and planned a visit to her other old friend, Carrie Lou ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 ShanDizzy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

How did I miss reading this interesting gem?! I really liked the mix of characters and their quirky personalities and of course the redoubtable Miss Marple is always a treat.

"You should see Lewis Serrocold's eyes sparkle behind those thick glasses of his....One of those men with enormous willpower who like living on a banana and a piece of toast and put all their energies into a cause. And Carrie Louise eats it up - just as she always did. But I don't like it, Jane....It's a training establishm ...more

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Oct 14, 2017 Ellie Oberth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Always enjoyable. Great mystery, great clues spread throughout. It's no surprise she's the Queen of Mysteries. ...more

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Mar 20, 2020 Vanessa rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, cozy, 1950s

I probably overrated this a smidge, but I really enjoyed getting more from Miss Marple's perspective. I really liked those sections. The ending of this is too abrupt, and the mystery and characters aren't my favorites in this series. Christie can get kind of judge-y in a way that doesn't always age well, and that's definitely the case with this one. Here, I think it helps balance it out that most of these characters aren't quite unlikable, but we're definitely supposed to see them as very flawed ...more

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Feb 20, 2017 michelle+8 rated it liked it

Shelves: 2017

Immediately after a murder is discovered, this happens:

"Suddenly the front door opened and a rush of cold air, together with a man in a big overcoat, came in. The heartiness of his greeting seemed incredibly shocking. 'Hullo, everybody, what’s going on tonight? A lot of fog on the road. I had to go dead slow.'"

And my first thought was, "OMG, it's the Doctor!"

Aside from that, I'm really pleased with myself that I figured out the culprit almost immediately. I'm not one who guesses easily, so I'm n ...more

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Mar 25, 2018 Pranit rated it liked it

Shelves: miss-marple

Miss Marple falls in a scene where something strange is going but she isn’t able to pinpoint how it can lead to the murder of her childhood friend. However, when someone unexpected dies, things start to unfold. This was my 5th Miss Marple novel. I wasn’t surprised as much & could predict the killer halfway through the story. However, it is worth a read for AC fans!

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