When a local woman dies after drinking a cocktail at a famous actress's party, Miss Marple suspects the poison was meant for someone else
A glass meant for someone else
Gossington Hall, where Dolly Bantry once lived, has been bought by the film star Marina Gregg and her husband. At a charity party there, a cheerful local woman named Heather Badcock chats with the actress, sips her cocktail and dies within minutes. The police believe the poison was meant for Marina. But an ageing Miss Marple, frustrated by her doctor's orders and a fussy companion, starts to think about what Marina's face looked like at that exact moment.
Who will enjoy it
Christie fans, readers who like mysteries driven by character and psychology, and anyone curious about how St Mary Mead changed with the times.
What you will get
A Miss Marple mystery set in a changing English village, where a death at a celebrity's party hides a motive rooted in an old, painful moment.
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Mystery & Thriller · Miss Marple · Film star · Village fete
Length
288 pages · ≈ 8 h
More about this book
This is often ranked among the best of the later Marple novels, and with good reason. Christie spends time on how St Mary Mead has changed: a new housing estate, new shops, new people. Miss Marple herself is older and frailer, chafing against a companion who treats her like a child, and her quiet rebellion gives the book an unexpected warmth and humour.
The solution turns on a single, striking moment, and once revealed it is both clever and sad. Christie plays fair, placing every clue in plain sight, and the final explanation reframes the whole story. Marina Gregg, the fragile film star, is one of her most memorable characters, and the Hollywood setting is handled with a sharp eye.
The middle section has several interviews that slow the pace, and some period attitudes show their age. The emotional core, however, gives the book unusual depth for a puzzle mystery, and the closing pages linger. Dolly Bantry's return is a pleasure for longtime readers, and her friendship with Miss Marple adds lightness to a sad story. About 288 pages in the William Morrow paperback; some printings run shorter.
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