Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The year 1950 finds Miss Jane Marple, everyone’s favorite spinster, vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Murder soon follows. And why not? After all, Agatha Christie already took Miss Marple from the village of Much Benham to London and the Caribbean and staged mysterious deaths for her to solve. But Foley complicates this sequel in several ways that will leave Christie fans gaping. It’s hard to believe Miss Marple and her recently widowed friend Dolly Bantry, who memorably discovered the body in the library back in 1942, would seek pleasure on a chilly mountaintop, even if the destination were suggested by Diana Glass, Mrs. Bantry’s companion. In addition, Foley parcels out the story among four narrators: Catherine Narracott, the much younger wife of ambitious Tory Member of Parliament Anthony Narracott; Bruno Crane, Anthony’s wartime comrade in arms, who pops up out of nowhere bent on mischief; Hollywood star Sylvia Sinclair, who establishes her American credentials by calling everyone sweetheart, honey, or baby; and Diana herself. The rapid shifts among the leading suspects when Anthony Narracott is predictably killed, along with an accident that even more predictably cuts off the Grand Alpine Hotel from the authorities and the rest of the world, sadly upstage Miss Marple, who’d be the first to note she’s not one to take charge. Readers who persevere to the big reveal will discover that the mystery has been adroitly plotted and intricately clued, with a solution that will surprise many of them—providing compelling evidence against Raymond Chandler’s famous dictum that the ideal mystery is one you’d read even if the end were missing. The principal takeaway: It’s a lot harder to bring Miss Marple back to life than the higher-profile Hercule Poirot. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.