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rachelmanija May. 9th, 2023 01:36 pm)
rachelmanija May. 9th, 2023 01:36 pm)This one starts with a banger of an opening - an old lady traveling on a train sees a murder take place on a different train traveling on parallel tracks - and then turns into a delightful comedy-drama starring one of Christie's most memorable and likable characters, the housekeeper-entrepreneur Lucy Eyelesbarrow.
Miss Marple, who is friends with Mrs. McGillicuddy (the murder witness), needs someone to stay in a household that's near where she thinks the body was dumped and search for it, but she's gotten too old and frail to do the legwork herself. Enter Lucy, a brilliant businesswoman who has gotten rich and even somewhat famous by being England's greatest short-term housekeeper.
Lucy, who loves her work, is intrigued by this unusual assignment and gets herself hired on to do some housekeeping (officially) and search for the body (unofficially). She promptly gets entangled in the affairs of the household, where she receives proposals of extremely varying nature from literally every male person in it, from becoming the second wife of the crotchety and very elderly father to joining the business of the prim married son to running off to be a criminal with the no-good son, to, via the delightful young son of the boyish former fighter pilot, becoming his step-mother!
The actual mystery, after the excellent opening, becomes almost a subplot (and is not one of Christie's best), because the real meat of the story is following Lucy on a job that is both typical and very unusual. Lucy is marvelous and I wish Christie had made her a series regular; this is one of my very favorite Christies even though the mystery's solution isn't the most interesting.
A particularly fun element is that it's a peculiar sort of romcom with an absurd number of men for Lucy to choose from, but no guarantee that she'll choose any of them. Miss Marple points out very early that it would take a very special sort of man to match with Lucy, given her strong personality and that she's clearly not planning to stop working.
Lucy's suitors are a hilariously motley crew, but she has two (and a possible stealth third) who seem like real possibilities. One is Cedric, a cynical artist living in Spain, with whom Lucy enjoys bickering. The other is Bryan, the fighter pilot who never found anything to match his wartime adventures and whose emotional development was arrested at about age twelve. Neither of them seem good enough for Lucy - Cedric is too full of himself and Bryan needs a mommy, not a wife - though Bryan does have the benefit of a terrific young son. Who she chooses, if any of them, is left open at the end, but...
...I think she might actually go for Dermot Craddock, the police inspector, who doesn't want a mom, has his own job, and shares her taste for adventure.
Christie Scale: I don't recall anything offensive. Some characters express mild sexism, but it's clearly their opinions and not the author's.
Next up: The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side.
Miss Marple, who is friends with Mrs. McGillicuddy (the murder witness), needs someone to stay in a household that's near where she thinks the body was dumped and search for it, but she's gotten too old and frail to do the legwork herself. Enter Lucy, a brilliant businesswoman who has gotten rich and even somewhat famous by being England's greatest short-term housekeeper.
Lucy, who loves her work, is intrigued by this unusual assignment and gets herself hired on to do some housekeeping (officially) and search for the body (unofficially). She promptly gets entangled in the affairs of the household, where she receives proposals of extremely varying nature from literally every male person in it, from becoming the second wife of the crotchety and very elderly father to joining the business of the prim married son to running off to be a criminal with the no-good son, to, via the delightful young son of the boyish former fighter pilot, becoming his step-mother!
The actual mystery, after the excellent opening, becomes almost a subplot (and is not one of Christie's best), because the real meat of the story is following Lucy on a job that is both typical and very unusual. Lucy is marvelous and I wish Christie had made her a series regular; this is one of my very favorite Christies even though the mystery's solution isn't the most interesting.
A particularly fun element is that it's a peculiar sort of romcom with an absurd number of men for Lucy to choose from, but no guarantee that she'll choose any of them. Miss Marple points out very early that it would take a very special sort of man to match with Lucy, given her strong personality and that she's clearly not planning to stop working.
Lucy's suitors are a hilariously motley crew, but she has two (and a possible stealth third) who seem like real possibilities. One is Cedric, a cynical artist living in Spain, with whom Lucy enjoys bickering. The other is Bryan, the fighter pilot who never found anything to match his wartime adventures and whose emotional development was arrested at about age twelve. Neither of them seem good enough for Lucy - Cedric is too full of himself and Bryan needs a mommy, not a wife - though Bryan does have the benefit of a terrific young son. Who she chooses, if any of them, is left open at the end, but...
...I think she might actually go for Dermot Craddock, the police inspector, who doesn't want a mom, has his own job, and shares her taste for adventure.
Christie Scale: I don't recall anything offensive. Some characters express mild sexism, but it's clearly their opinions and not the author's.
Next up: The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side.
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(I'm kind of surprised that she isn't super used to marriage proposals by now, ngl. I can't believe that this family was the first to shower her with them. Well, maybe she isn't used to THAT density of them...)
I totally shipped Lucy and Dermot!! They were both well-adjusted and sensible and had senses of humor! But I actually thought that the book was implying she might choose Bryan because she liked his son. Maybe I misread that. I hope so, because I really wanted her to go for Dermot. (Didn't he say something about not liking women like Lucy? I'm hoping that was just because he was annoyed by the investigation at the time, and not his real sentiment.)
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The book ending is ambiguous but you can definitely take it as Miss Marple teasing Dermot over having no idea that he's the one Lucy will choose. I think the thing he says about Lucy is something like women like her scaring men off, and it's early on; I think he thinks that initially, then gets to know how great she is.
I hope she keeps in touch with Alexander, anyway.
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I didn't really like any of the Crackenthorpe men. For a while I was hoping Alice would be the murdering mastermind, but alas.
The resolution of the Martine plot was very satisfying.
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