A joke that had somehow gone wrong - that had proved dangerous, done by a person who never dreamt that it would be dangerous...
The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side
by Agatha Christie
Genre: Murder Mystery
About: A famous actress moves into Miss Marple's village and when she hosts a charitable fete the whole community show up, eager to take a glimpse at celebrity. However when one lifelong fan ends up dead, it appears they've been poisoned - but the poison seems to have been meant for another...
The Good
I enjoyed the mystery being cloaked in the glamour and scandal of a Hollywood actress's life. All the love affairs, secret children and dramatics on set I thought were well included into the intrigue. I also really loved the atmosphere of the pivotal moment: when actress Marina Briggs sees something that freezes her in place, and then moments later a guest is poisoned. There's a real element of horror to the moment and when we find out later that the poison was from her glass - that she was the intended victim, it really dramatizes it further. We're desperate to know who or what she was looking at.
The Bad
The pace is very cosy and slow, which is not necessarily a bad thing as it is enjoyable to read, it's just not gripping. I found a lot of the conversations, while realistic and adding to the charm of an old country life, were repetitive. Everyone says the same thing about what kind of person the victim was and most people's observations were similar in nature so you don't think you're learning anything particularly new.
The Somewhat Iffy
I loved the reveal of why Mrs Badcock died that day, but I'm very confused why the later victims did. They didn't seem to know anything and one of them appeared to be blackmailing the wrong person.
There was also conversations around the secretary being in love with Jason Rudd but before this is told to us I don't even remember them being in a scene together and even when they are later one, I tried to see what hints there were of any attraction and I still didn't see it.
What a massive and random coincidence that Mr Badcock was who he was.
Overall
A cosy murder mystery that has great atmosphere but is a bit slow paced and has a few unnecessary twists.
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