A Caribbean Mystery, by Agatha Christie
Review of the novel A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie.
Published by Collins Crime Club on 16th November 1964 (UK)
Cost: 25p (UK) 1971
ISBN: (Paperback Edition - 158 pages – *starts on page 7)
Dedication: To my old friend John Cruikshank Ross with happy memories of my visit to the West Indies
This is a very short story for a major novel, with only 151 pages to set the scene, introduce a murderer and solve the crime. As it opens we learn that Miss Marple is in the West Indies on holiday, courtesy of her nephew the writer Raymond West. Missing St Mary Mead she finds herself listening to tales told by another older guest staying at the hotel. Recall events they have experienced travelling around the world.
In writing this story Christie uses a plot that occurs in five other major novels and in a few of her short stories and it is captured in a brief description just inside the front cover of my edition.
Miss Marple is on holiday at the Golden Palm Hotel in the island of St Honoré. She is enjoying herself, yet there is something lacking. At home in St Mary Mead there was always something going on, something one could get one's teeth into.
Miss Marple listens politely to Major Palgrave's boring stories of his early life in Kenya. She is not paying all that much attention when he starts telling her about a murderer he has known; and when he reaches in his wallet to show Miss Marple a snapshot of that murderer, he is suddenly interrupted. Murder Follows.
The idea of a character looking over the shoulder of another character and seeing something quite significant that will possibly result in their death, is the basis for the troubled holiday in which Miss Marple finds herself. This is the ninth story in which Miss Marple appears and we would expect to learn more about the character and the character's in St Mary Mead, but it's not the case in this novel. But there is one interesting point we learn. Raymond West's wife has provided Miss Marple funds to spend of suitable clothing for the Caribbean climate, but Miss Marple considers that her attire is just right: 'This evening she was attired in the best traditions of the provincial gentlewoman of England – grey lace.'
It's not clear how many guests are staying at the Golden Palm Hotel, but the owners, Tim ('lean and dark in his thirties') and Molly Kendal, ('an ingenious blonde of twenty odd'), are kept busy entertaining the guests and seeing that their every need is satisfied. The story focuses on their movements around the hotel, and we discover that they are involved in everything, which appears to be influencing Molly's behaviour, she is forgetting things – which is crucial to the story.
There is a quote from Miss Marple that I found very amusing, but it's actually true. After the death of Major Palgrave, she tricks the local doctor to look for the snapshot that belonged to the Major:
'How wonderful science is nowadays,' said Miss Marple. 'Doctors can do so much can't they?'
'We all have one great competitor,' said Dr Graham. 'Nature, you know. And some of the good old-fashioned home remedies come back from time to time,
'Like putting cobwebs on a cut?' said Miss Marple. 'We always used to do that when I was a child.'
Soon after Major Palgrave's murder - two more follow - Miss Marple believes she knows who the murderer is. She decides to team up with the abrupt and argumentative Mr Rafiel, a wealthy invalid, to try and stop any further murders. As they discuss the events taking place at the hotel, Mr Rafiel sums up Miss Marple's character;
'You've got a nerve!' he said. 'Not quite the gentle fluffy old lady you look, are you? So, you really think I'm a murderer?'
'No,' said Miss Marple. 'I do not.'
'And why?'
'Well, really, I think just because you have got brains. Having brains, you can get most things you want without having recourse to murder. Murder is stupid.'
…
'Conversations with you might be dangerous,' he said.
'Conversations are always dangerous, if you have something to hide,' said Miss Marple.
Just in time, Miss Marple is able to stop the murder of Molly Kendal and the killer is exposed. There is no gathering of likely suspects or pointing of fingers, Miss Marple accuses her suspect and their romantic partner reveals their existence and the missing link to the murders is solved. There is no incompetent policeman to try and solve the murders, it's just Miss Marple aided by individual's that do her bidding.
For me the story is a little slow, a lot happens very quickly followed by a lot of padding to the story and as it's just gossip and here say. It is only Miss Marple who can unravel the things that she hears and sees. In this story, Christie uses her knowledge of poisons to aid the murderer as they try to suggest a reason why Major Palgrave died rather suddenly. She introduces a drug she calls Serenite, it's a made-up name for a drug taken to reduce high blood pressure but kills if taken by the wrong person. The murderer also uses drugs to give his intended victim dreams and hallucinations, which has a great bearing on the story. A Caribbean Mystery is perhaps one of the last real whodunits that Agatha Christie wrote and at this stage in her career she was not at her peak in providing a rip-roaring thriller to entertain her readers, however, this story was written just after she had returned from own holiday to the West Indies and perhaps she felt she could entertain her readers with her new-found experience of the Caribbean. Rating: 3 stars.
Dr Sheppard
18 August 2017
