They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha ChristieMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've always been a fan of Agatha Christie, ever since I watched the incomparable David Suchet don his little moustache and Belgian accent. I love Christie's style of writing and find it quite easy to follow. The language she uses is descriptive but not difficult to read and her characters spring right off the page.
They Do It With Mirrors is set in a home for juvenile delinquents. On the insistence of her friend, Miss Marple heads off to visit Carrie Louise, her old school chum. The house is a busy place and relationships are rather complicated. Lewis is Carrie Louise's third husband and runs the programme for young boys. With her first husband she adopted a daughter, called Pippa. Her daughter, Gina and her American husband Wally are two that are residing in the household. Carrie Louise's natural born daughter Mildred, recently widowed also lives with her mother. Carrie's second husband already had two sons and they regularly frequent the house as well, alongside Carrie's helper Jolly. The arrival of Christian, the son of Carrie's first husband is the trigger to the dark events that follow.
I always enjoy Miss Marple's deductions and Inspector Curry provides an impartial view of the family. As always, events are not what they seem and bit by bit the picture falls into place.
I only have two main criticisms. The first is the number of characters, there were far too many and trying to remember how they were all related was quite confusing and took a lot of effort. I was also disappointed by the ending. I know it's not Agatha Christie's fault, but I don't like to work out who the murderer is. I want to be shocked and surprised. Unfortunately I worked out not only who it was, but how they had done it. So, this isn't my favourite book of hers, but I look forward to exploring more of her work, maybe with a Tommy and Tuppence.
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