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 Always A Pleasure August 9, 2008
It's always a pleasure to share in one of Jane Marple's adventures. She's possibly the best-loved sleuth in the entire world of fiction after Sherlock Holmes, and deservedly so. She's as unlikely a crime-solver as you could imagine and a fascinating personality, and Dame Agatha featured her in some excellent mysteries.
In NEMESIS, Miss Marple is faced with perhaps her most challenging case. An old acquaintance, Jason Rafiel from A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY, has died and left her a problem to solve. The catch is that she doesn't know what the problem is, who it involves, where it took place, or when. As usual, this is a cleverly plotted tale full of dark secrets and lurking danger. In addition, this story has a palpable atmosphere that is felt more than is typical of a Christie tale.
When the dust has settled, however, NEMESIS is not my favorite Miss Marple case. For me, part of the enjoyment of reading a good whodunit is trying to figure it out. Following the plot and separating the important clues from the red herrings, attempting to determine the who, what, how, and/or why, is part of the fun. There are few things more fun than being thoroughly puzzled by an author (without having a rabbit pulled out of a hat, that is). Christie always plays fair, but NEMESIS doesn't give the reader much to work with. A substantial part of the story goes by with few clues and no idea where it's going. You just have to follow along and wait for things to show up.
NEMESIS is a clever, wickedly-plotted mystery, but it's not one of my favorite Miss Marple outings. It's still better than average, though. A little less satisfying, maybe, than I'd hoped for, but well worth reading. Four stars in my opinion, but a strong four stars. It's still Miss Marple, after all.
 WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK? May 29, 2008
What "improvements" have been made for the Signet edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further additions still in the Bantam, Berkley, and Black Dog & Leventhal editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.
 "One of My Names is Nemesis!" January 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
By the end of the book I was in a frenzy trying to figure out who did it and how Miss Marple was going to escape with her life! And this was me having read the fool thing many times back in the 1970s, you'd think I'd remember who committed the murders. Well, I did remember, but at one point Miss Marple rules my prime suspect out in so no uncertain terms. The trick is in trying to figure out how then, once suspect #1 has apparently been exonerated, how that person will eventually be implicated in the crime.
As it goes along, the book gets more and more surefooted and that irksome vagueness which so plagues the final Christies dissipates a bit. But I challenge you to tell me why Jason Rafiel made it so difficult to tell Miss Marple what exactly he wanted her to do, and also why, why, why the final murder had to happen? How did the killer know that the final victim had to be silenced, and what did the victim know that was so dangerous? If you missed the whole first half of the book you could still catch on pretty good, because every ten pages or so Miss Marple meets another authority figure and launches into the same exact story all over again about how she met Mr. Rafiel in the Caribbean with Esther Walters and how he cied and how he went her on a Coach Tour of English Homes and Gardens. You get the same account over and over again, adding to the feeling that a simple little novelette has been padded up the wazoo.
Lots of bitter reflections from Miss Marple on the real life cases that must have electrified Britain in the 1960s, the monsters Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and on the other extreme the case of Mary Bell. Though Christie doesn't give the names of the killers, it's clear she's referring to these causes celebres, both involving children in diverse ways, odd for a book which is not ostensibly about children at all. I loved all the people on the coach tour and oh, how I wanted to be there among them, now that's living!
Christie is not at the top of her game, but still Marple is a marvel May 13, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I hate to say anything negative about this book because on many levels it's so enjoyable. The premise is tantalizing: Miss Marple is asked by a dead man to solve a mystery and then is given almost no information about it. She must simply follow some very general instructions and see what comes up. What follows are two of my favorite mystery settings: an English coach tour full of quirky tourists visiting tourist sites, and a decrepit old manor house full of what we call atmosphere. Needless to say, there are perplexing clues, sudden death, and a maddening stew of suspects. It's a format I enjoy: an investigator must piece together an old story told in bits and pieces from various people. She must find the needle in the haystack from long, long ago, such as an overlooked clue or some later evidence that has come to light and that now changes the conclusions drawn in the past.
The book does fall short, however. Early on, I was able to guess without much trouble what would come later, and that's always disappointing in a mystery novel. Certain basic questions were never asked or answered, so some things didn't add up at the end of the day. Christie was getting on when she wrote this, so maybe she wasn't at the top of her game. In spite of that, I'd still recommend it as a very enjoyable read.
one of the best! April 3, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
if your interested in mystery novels you should read this or any other Agatha Christie novels especially before 1960s. highly recommended!
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