Written by Agatha Christie
SUMMARY:
First published in 1971, this 213-page paperback reprint was released by Signet via Penguin Putnam Inc. in 2000. In a sequel to 1964’s A Caribbean Mystery, it’s been over a year since eighty-ish Miss Jane Marple teamed with wealthy financier Jason Rafiel to thwart a killer in the West Indies.
In St. Mary Mead, Miss Marple casually learns of Rafiel’s passing through the obituaries, only to be contacted by his London attorneys. Per Rafiel’s written behest, Miss Marple accepts her most enigmatic challenge ever: to determine an unknown miscarriage of justice that impacted her late friend and find some way to finally right it.
As Rafiel has posthumously code-named her, Marple becomes his appointed ‘Nemesis’ to snare an unrepentant murderer. Taking a cross-country famed home-and-garden sight-seeing coach tour, the elderly amateur detective ponders if a fellow passenger is either a potential victim or culprit. An odd trio of middle-aged sisters that Rafiel has entrusted to host Marple’s stay also bear witness to this baffling case.
In the midst of a traveler’s ominous demise, Miss Marple probes two possibly connected disappearances from eight years before in a village the sight-seeing tour visits. As old emotional wounds reopen, Miss Marple may find herself the shadowy assailant’s next easy prey ensuring a grim secret remains forever hidden.
REVIEW:
From the outset, Christie pushes that Jane Marple’s advanced age is now a significant hindrance in her sleuthing. The first half of Nemesis, therefore, is akin to déjà vu monotony, as far too little is accomplished exploring the premise. Vague plot threads, as well as an unnecessary dose of ethnic prejudice, are simply left spinning around, if they’re stuck in a broken dryer unable to heat up. Conveyed through various characters, all readers get are Christie’s disdainful commentaries on modern society’s acceptance of diminished mental capacity – i.e. favoring criminals, loose female sexuality, and anarchistic hippies.
Once the suspense of Nemesis finally engages, insightful readers should sense the grisly misdirection that Christie intends long before the dreadful solution comes. Hence, one is expected to shrug off Marple’s knack for eliciting implausibly candid and lengthy answers from complete strangers hinting potential clues. There’s no reprieve come the climax, as the less said about Marple’s preposterous confrontation scene the better. Still, as fair warning, please be advised that inferences re: sexual grooming and deviant obsession are among the most sickening in Christie’s arsenal of culprit motives.
Far off her game, the disturbing Nemesis won’t be mistaken for one of Agatha Christie’s better works. In its ranking among Marple whodunnits, Nemesis makes a convincing argument that it’s the worst of the bunch.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
Besides the usual Christie-related ads, Penguin Putnam Inc. includes a full page of its Christie title inventory.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2 Stars
Note: The good news is that A Caribbean Mystery is a far better read.
