Despite the subtitle, this did not have much in it that made it seem like “the last Marple case” – she seemed her usual sprightly self! This cover is another first edition hardback cover.
This is a good one, very psychological and with a good mystery that’s not easy to pin down. It starts with a newly married couple settling in Devon’s sleepy (fictional) Dillmouth, buying a seaside villa called Hillside. But the wife, Gwenda, starts seeing eerie sights and wonders if there’s something oddly familiar about the house? Did she witness something terrible here or is her mind playing tricks on her?
The book is very satisfying in that there’s lots of interviews and puzzle pieces to put together. It is quite intelligent and I like the Duchess of Malfi references and the initial fear and anxiety surrounding Gwenda’s discovery. Is she going mad?
Unearthing a murder from over 20 years ago is a task that has Marple written all over it. Town gossip and distortion are no match for her sleuthing. There’s great vindication for maligned women in this story and some very clever murdering too.
Christie actually supervised the publication of both Poirot’s and Marple’s last case, but she died just before this one was published in the 70s. She’d actually written it in the 40s though, so it wasn’t one she’d written the latest chronologically and it had been locked away in the vault alongside Poirot’s last case. There’s a conjecture that she wrote both of these last novels during a very scary time during the Blitz in London when death seemed imminent.
One word: gratifying.
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