Miss Marple goes on holiday to posh and traditional Bertram’s Hotel. She has fond memories of the place, but now nothing is as it seems. A murder takes place, a priest disappears and there is a major robbery. Bertram’s seems to be in the center of it all and Miss Marple is asked to help the police with their investigation.
I listened to the audio CD edition of At Bertram’s Hotel (Miss Marple #11) and it is one of the shorter stories. Listening time is only 2 hours and 20 minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed the pre WWII vibe I get from stories about Miss Marple. I am a great and longtime fan of Agatha Christie’s characters and have read, listened to or watched TV adaptations of a number of her works. I particularly enjoyed the little music bits throughout, which were unique to the experience of this story.
At Bertram’s Hotel (Miss Marple #11) continues Agatha Christie’s stories about Miss Marple. The police investigate the disappearance of the forgetful and absent minded Canon Pennyfather. Turning up again with a concussion and memory loss, he is very little help to the police when they try to question him about his whereabouts at the time when other criminal activity takes place in the area.
With the combination of investigative skills and eavesdropping, Miss Marple shares with the police details of what she has seen and heard during her stay at the hotel. In this story I am very pleased to see she is actually taken seriously and her contributions prove valuable to the solution of the case. Miss Marple feels there is something wrong with Bertram’s Hotel and that ends up being true on so many levels.
Main character Miss Marple is her usual gossipy, sleuthing self in this story. I find her very funny as she is actually making eavesdropping into an art form. I find her clever and entertaining as well as a person to be reckoned with, which makes her my favorite character of this story.
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Secondary character Lady Bess Sedgewick is the eccentric famous, danger seeking guest with a forceful and domineering personality. Her business interests are shady and she has dangerous secrets. I find her demanding and pushy personality unsympathetic, which makes her my least favorite character of this story, but she is memorable and adds drama to the plot.
The audio CD edition of At Bertram’s Hotel (Miss Marple #11) is a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. It is the exciting and entertaining story of Miss Marple as she is re-visiting Bertram’s Hotel. This is one of many stories I have read, watched or listened to, which is expertly crafted by The Queen of Crime.
There are numerous books starring Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, and I would recommend any one of them to fans of Agatha Christie as well as anyone who enjoy crime fiction. Trust me, it would be time well spent. Similar works to explore might be the Sherlock Holmes Series by Arthur Conan Doyle.
All opinions in this review are completely my own.
My rating: 5 stars / 5
Main reasons: Expertly crafted characters, exiting plot, addition of music throughout
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