Written by Agatha Christie
SUMMARY:
First published in 1952 (aka its British title: Murder With Mirrors), this 202-page paperback reprint was released by Harper PaperBacks forty years later. The wealthy Ruth Van Rydock urges former classmate, Miss Jane Marple, to discreetly check up on Ruth’s sister and Miss Marple’s old friend: Carrie Louise.
Carrie Louise is the aging matriarch at Stonygates — an English country estate/campus busily reforming two hundred juvenile delinquents. The program’s director is her idealistic third husband: Lewis Serracold.
On site are: Carrie Louise’s middle-aged daughter: Mildred Strete; two step-sons: Stephen & Alex Restarick; a granddaughter: Gina, and her sulking, blue-collar American husband: Wally Hudd; and a staff of psychiatrists, instructors, etc. Among the aberrant youths are the paranoid Edgar Lawson and lockpick Ernie Gregg.
Amidst a locked room stand-off between Lewis and a deranged pupil, Carrie Louise’s step-son and family trustee, Christian Gulbrandsen, is found murdered. It comes to light that someone else’s life is also threatened. Aiding a perplexed Inspector Curry’s investigation, Miss Marple must distinguish some cold reality from illusion before a desperate culprit strikes again in a bid to claim her friend’s considerable fortune.
REVIEW:
If this ho-hum mystery had actually pitted Miss Marple against a nefarious stage magician, then They Do It With Mirrors might have fulfilled its intriguing title. Inexplicably, Agatha Christie concedes far too much re: a suspect from the get-go, leaving minimal suspense as to who this whodunnit’s culprit really is. Despite sprinkling some decent clues, her contrived finale relies on Marple unfairly divulging vital inferences that readers couldn’t have known. Christie’s dubious plotting further conveys the story’s most critical sequence as an excerpt from a letter versus actively depicting as it happens.
Some sub-plots (i.e. the fate of Gina’s rocky marriage) are tidily resolved, but this narrative abruptly jumps from Point ‘A’ to Point ‘C,’ making the epilogue not nearly as satisfying as it should be. The book’s disappointing ambiance is worsened by the casual inclusion of ethnic prejudices (i.e. an usage of the n-word). Beyond exploiting mid-20th Century bigotry, this tasteless element adds nothing to a less-than-scintillating murder-mystery.
Aside from one saucy exchange between Gina and a would-be suitor late in the game, this Marple novel is devoid of Christie’s customary sparkle … or even an ounce of ‘a-ha!’ shock value. They Do It With Mirrors isn’t great reading, but perhaps one of its film adaptations might be fair game. In large part, any future film version ought to refrain from Christie’s middling text telegraphing a foregone conclusion.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
The first page is a brief Agatha Christie biography. A diagram of Stonygates’ interior first floor is included for reference.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
