At Bertram's Hotel - SPOILER Thread

[Susan]

Well, Miss Marple does always see the worst in people (so much wickedness in the world, as she says), so I guess she would be pragmatic about most things.

[Carolien]

Finally finished this one. I enjoyed the glimpses into Miss Maple's younger days. This one seems to be a bit of a cross-over into the thriller genre with the international crime syndicate involved. I enjoyed it, but not my favourite of the year.

[Susan]

A lot of GA books seem to include these international criminal gangs, don't they? I recall a few in the Wimsey stories cropping up.

[Judy]

Yes, and these fiendish gangs are also popular with both Margery Allingham and Patricia Wentworth.

[Lady Clementina]

Judy wrote: "Yes, and these fiendish gangs are also popular with both Margery Allingham and Patricia Wentworth."

The Miss Silver we read as well- Grey Mask, wasn't it?

[Susan]

London was a very dangerous place then, obviously!

[Robin]

I resisted buying this book as my recall was that it was so poor. I borrowed it from a friend who confirmed my view when she said , do not bother to return it!

However, upon re-reading, I saw a little more in it than previously. I was interested in the gang idea as with this, and Halloween Party which I am just reading, it is clear that Christie did her best to move with the times. it could well be that if we did some research we could find that indeed gangs were a feature of the times, or at least given prominence in the media. Another matter that interested me was the lack of recognition of a former husband. Is this Christie just using the ploy which is an integral part of some murder mysteries, that one does not notice the cleaner/post man/ door man etc? This is also a recognition that such failure to recognise a person in a 'menial' task is a failure on the part of the person who does not recognise, rather then the person undertaking a meaningful and necessary task. So, in the end, bringing a different set of requirements to my reading, I quite enjoyed At Bertram's Hotel and am glad my friend told me to keep it.

[Lady Clementina]

Robin wrote: "I resisted buying this book as my recall was that it was so poor. I borrowed it from a friend who confirmed my view when she said , do not bother to return it!

However, upon re-reading, I saw a li..."

I did think the non-recognition was based on exactly that- people just not looking at the cleaner/doorman, etc. It was a little more believable than the other Marple we read where something similar happens but there again, there was a character trait in the one who didn't recognise the other, that might have explained it.

[Annabel]

My view on Christie (and others') use of organised crime is that it nearly always doesn't work, because while these writers can exercise their imagination beautifully about poisoning your grandmother, they know nothing about organised crime and can't make it sound plausible. However, it's tempting because it furnishes the writer with an immediate motive and you can have plenty of potential villains and indeed that useful thing when you're struggling with alibis, henchmen.

Domestic crime, while preferred by the purist, can be a headache in terms of providing sufficient motives for an array of suspects. Unless you furnish every character with a separate motive (as in Death On The Nile), which really taxes the invention and the reader's belief, the best plots for multiple suspects are blackmail and inheritance, which if you arrange them correctly mean everyone in the vicinity can be a suspect.

An exception to the 'organised crime = bad' rule - I don't think it's a spoiler if I say The Pale Horse. I love this story - beautiful characterisation and a fast, fun pace.

[Lady Clementina]

Annabel wrote: "My view on Christie (and others') use of organised crime is that it nearly always doesn't work, because while these writers can exercise their imagination beautifully about poisoning your grandmoth..."

I agree- anything with gangs or even an international espionage theme doesn't come across well-even when she writes about big businesses or business people (their influence etc.,) it isn't as convincing as her stories that rely on people themselves and their character traits.

That said, I like Pale Horse as well- also Chimneys which has a bit of that espionage theme.

[Sandy]

I just finished this book a few days ago and rather liked the organized crime twist added to it. It made it a bit different then the other Christie books I have read, though I have not read that many yet.