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Miss Marple #11
Nemesis
In utter disbelief, Jane Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr Rafiel - an acquaintance she had met briefly while on vacation in St. Honore, as recounted in "A Caribbean Mystery."
Rafiel had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing. Soon she is faced with a new crime - the ultimate crime - murder. It seems someone is adamant that past evils remain buried.
Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "Nemesis." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."
Rafiel had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing. Soon she is faced with a new crime - the ultimate crime - murder. It seems someone is adamant that past evils remain buried.
Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "Nemesis." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."
213 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
1437 people are currently reading
18855 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,368?books72.2k?followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (n¨¦e Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
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§¡§Ô§Ñ§ä§Ñ §¬§â?§ã§ä? (Ukrainian)
¦¡¦Ã¦Ê?¦È¦Á ¦ª¦Ñ?¦Ò¦Ó¦É (Greek)
¥¢¥¬¥µ ¥¯¥ê¥¹¥Æ¥£ (Japanese)
°¢¼Îɯ¡¤¿ËÀòË¿µÙ (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (n¨¦e Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
§¡§Ô§Ñ§ä§Ñ §¬§â§Ú§ã§ä§Ú (Russian)
§¡§Ô§Ñ§ä§Ñ §¬§â?§ã§ä? (Ukrainian)
¦¡¦Ã¦Ê?¦È¦Á ¦ª¦Ñ?¦Ò¦Ó¦É (Greek)
¥¢¥¬¥µ ¥¯¥ê¥¹¥Æ¥£ (Japanese)
°¢¼Îɯ¡¤¿ËÀòË¿µÙ (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,814 reviews
December 3, 2017
With the year winding down, I find myself tying up loose ends or trying to find one or two more quality novels to read. Yet, when the reading detectives group selected to read Miss Marple's final case, , this month, I could not resist joining in the group read. I have long viewed mysteries as my palette cleaners, my bridge in between denser reads. No author does this trick better for me than the queen of crime, Dame Agatha Christie. With a new version of out in theaters, more people are reading Christie than ever before, many for the first time. While I have long enjoyed reading cases featuring Hercule Poirot, this year through the detectives group, I have grown to enjoy Miss Marple as well. As the year comes to a close, I found myself closing out Miss Marple's career as well.
Now in her eighties, Miss Marple finds that her stamina, memory, sight, and hearing are not what they used to be. She scans the obituaries to see if she recognizes names and is aided at home by Miss Cherry and her husband. Rather than spending hours visiting her neighbors in St. Mary Mead, she has found that most of her close friends have moved away to warmer climates or passed on. Never one to spend extravagantly, Miss Marple resigns herself to the fact that she will live out her days in the sleepy village that she has always called home. This changes one day, however, when she notices the name of Mr. Rafiel in her daily scan of the obituaries. Having met him on her trip to the West Indies and collaborating with him on one of her cases, Miss Marple always thought fondly of Mr. Rafiel. When a letter arrives from him begging for her assistance in wrapping up the loose ends of his life, she is intrigued to oblige.
Mr. Rafiel has gifted Miss Marple a spot on a motor coach tour of England's glorious homes and gardens. Knowing that Miss Marple enjoys her gardening as much as anyway, Mr. Rafiel had an inkling that she would be thrilled to go on this trip that she could otherwise not afford. Yet, the cast of characters on this trip are not who they seem at first glance, and while Miss Marple rests at the Old Manor House run by three weird sisters, a woman on the tour is murdered, alarming all the participates aboard the coach and halting its progress. It is up to Miss Marple to solve this crime while also bringing to justice the case assigned to her by Mr. Rafiel. Even though her other faculties may be diminishing at her age, Miss Marple's mind is as sharp as ever, and she is all too happy to take on each murder case thrown at her.
As with the other Miss Marple cases I have read this year, Christie has shown that just because someone is older, does not mean that she is enfeebled in any or every form. The fact that age is just a number has been a recurring theme in my reading this year, and Miss Marple has epitomized this more so than other characters because her role has recurred many times. While Scotland Yard and local law enforcement officials are baffled by case after case, Miss Marple pieces together clues from her own form of deduction and is able to solve each mystery that stumps all those around her. In this case, two murdered young women from ten years ago and linked to a murdered victim on the motor coach tour. Miss Marple finds this as well as the three sisters and the clues given her by Mr. Rafiel to be intriguing and uses the information given to her to shape together the motive, crime, perpetrator, and victims. As with her other cases, she is undoubtedly correct, and leaves more experienced police shaking their heads and calling her names from queer to strange.
As I read my first Miss Marple cases earlier this year, I thought her to be a quirky older woman. Yet, the more cases I have read, the more I have enjoyed my time with Miss Marple. She has shown that anyone can solve a crime case by using a common form of deduction. The way she pieces together her cases makes sense that it makes me wonder why I had not thought of the same conclusion all along. I enjoyed rediscovering Agatha Christie this year, and each Miss Marple has was more enlightening than the last. Nemesis was a lovely conclusion to this series, and I hope to revisit Miss Marple more in the years to come.
4 stars
Now in her eighties, Miss Marple finds that her stamina, memory, sight, and hearing are not what they used to be. She scans the obituaries to see if she recognizes names and is aided at home by Miss Cherry and her husband. Rather than spending hours visiting her neighbors in St. Mary Mead, she has found that most of her close friends have moved away to warmer climates or passed on. Never one to spend extravagantly, Miss Marple resigns herself to the fact that she will live out her days in the sleepy village that she has always called home. This changes one day, however, when she notices the name of Mr. Rafiel in her daily scan of the obituaries. Having met him on her trip to the West Indies and collaborating with him on one of her cases, Miss Marple always thought fondly of Mr. Rafiel. When a letter arrives from him begging for her assistance in wrapping up the loose ends of his life, she is intrigued to oblige.
Mr. Rafiel has gifted Miss Marple a spot on a motor coach tour of England's glorious homes and gardens. Knowing that Miss Marple enjoys her gardening as much as anyway, Mr. Rafiel had an inkling that she would be thrilled to go on this trip that she could otherwise not afford. Yet, the cast of characters on this trip are not who they seem at first glance, and while Miss Marple rests at the Old Manor House run by three weird sisters, a woman on the tour is murdered, alarming all the participates aboard the coach and halting its progress. It is up to Miss Marple to solve this crime while also bringing to justice the case assigned to her by Mr. Rafiel. Even though her other faculties may be diminishing at her age, Miss Marple's mind is as sharp as ever, and she is all too happy to take on each murder case thrown at her.
As with the other Miss Marple cases I have read this year, Christie has shown that just because someone is older, does not mean that she is enfeebled in any or every form. The fact that age is just a number has been a recurring theme in my reading this year, and Miss Marple has epitomized this more so than other characters because her role has recurred many times. While Scotland Yard and local law enforcement officials are baffled by case after case, Miss Marple pieces together clues from her own form of deduction and is able to solve each mystery that stumps all those around her. In this case, two murdered young women from ten years ago and linked to a murdered victim on the motor coach tour. Miss Marple finds this as well as the three sisters and the clues given her by Mr. Rafiel to be intriguing and uses the information given to her to shape together the motive, crime, perpetrator, and victims. As with her other cases, she is undoubtedly correct, and leaves more experienced police shaking their heads and calling her names from queer to strange.
As I read my first Miss Marple cases earlier this year, I thought her to be a quirky older woman. Yet, the more cases I have read, the more I have enjoyed my time with Miss Marple. She has shown that anyone can solve a crime case by using a common form of deduction. The way she pieces together her cases makes sense that it makes me wonder why I had not thought of the same conclusion all along. I enjoyed rediscovering Agatha Christie this year, and each Miss Marple has was more enlightening than the last. Nemesis was a lovely conclusion to this series, and I hope to revisit Miss Marple more in the years to come.
4 stars
May 28, 2024
Miss Jane Marple the lovable, old amateur crime fighter (murders only please, how much time does she have left? ) is back in action again, reading the obituaries in the newspapers something the ancients can't stop from doing, all their friends and the people they know are dropping like flies. Miss Jane discovers that Mr. Jason Rafiel, who worked with her in a previous case ( A Caribbean Mystery) has passed away he was a rich, retired army major a wizard at finances. She had met him on a Caribbean vacation in a hotel, in the West Indies about a year and a half ago. Not exactly a friend but Jane enjoyed the company of the rough, yet somehow likable major in very ill health. Receiving a letter from unknown solicitors, ( lawyers) as they're called in England inside is a message from Jason Rafiel , the dead man who makes a proposition to Miss Marple, written shortly before his unfortunate demise . Offering 20,000 pounds for solving a perplexing mystery and achieving justice maybe, also the old lady could use the money, who couldn't? Leaving the quiet village of St. Mary Mead meeting with the reticent lawyers, Mr. Broadribb and Mr.Schuster in their London offices , they can give little information nevertheless arrange for Jane, to take a tour of Famous Houses and Gardens around the lovely countryside, all paid by the late generous Mr. Rafiel. This is connected to the conundrum whatever that is. Seventeen men and women are on the big bus directed by Mrs. Sandbourne, are these passengers suspects in the case? They look quite ordinary yet people will surprise you, as Miss Marple through experience knows much too well. Nemesis the funny name Rafiel gave her, soon learns about several killing at one of the small, quaint villages she stops at . Strange messages from the late Mr. Rafiel, continue to be sent to the uneasy Jane and he even plans for her to spend a few nights with three peculiar sisters in their sadly rundown mansion. Miss Marple feels evil all around the premises a girl who lived with the three ladies disappeared ten years ago, she was found dead and a boy connected to Rafiel was convicted and sent to prison, another missing girl never located. An accident happens to one of the passengers on the bus tour, was it really one ? Or an attempted murder , Miss Jane Marple will need to work hard to earn her money. Another brilliant mystery novel by the always entertaining Agatha Christie, her stories may seem tame by today's low standards yet her talent shows, there is only one Agatha...and readers appreciate that fact.
February 10, 2017
Alfred! Don't read this!
Everybody else:
Nemesis. For such an ominous title, Christie presents a rather philosophically reserved and sedentary work. Miss Marple, of the pink fluffy wool and knitting needles, has been left a bequest by Mr. Rafiel, the debilitated rich man she met during A Caribbean Mystery. The bequest is conditional; she must investigate and elucidate a certain happening within a year. No more information is provided. The premise intrigues her and she accepts the challenge. She takes some small steps on her own, although she also receives a brief post-mortem letter from him, containing little more detail except that he would like to send her on a particular coach countryside tour.
It's a mildly-intriguing set-up where the reader and Miss Marple are in similar straights, waiting to discover what the mystery is. Unfortunately, it is very slow going, and because Miss Marple is unsure of her task, much of her conversations are fishing for information, but what sort of catch? It is a very internally-based story, relying on Miss Marple's internal dialogue, and the sharing of long stories with various characters. It occurs to me that it is about the exact opposite of another recent read, Dark Matter, which had frantic pacing and a staccato narrative. Take, for instance, the first part of this paragraph from Miss Marple:
"Mr. Rafiel had made arrangements. Arrangements, to begin with, with his lawyers. They had done their part. At the right interval of time they had forwarded to her his letter. It had been, she thought, a well-considered and well-thought-out letter. It would have been simpler, certainly, to tell her exactly what he wanted her to do and why he wanted it done. She was surprised in a way that he had not, before his death, sent for her, probably in a somewhat peremptory way and more or less lying on what he would have assured her was his deathbed, and would then have bullied her until she consented to do what he was asking her. But no, that would not really have been Mr. Rafiel's way, she thought. He could bully people, none better, but this was not a case for bullying, and he did not with either, she was sure, to appeal to her, to beg her to do him a favour, to urge her to redress a wrong. No. That again would not have been Mr. Rafiel's way. He wanted, she thought, as he had probably wanted all his life, to pay for what he required. He wanted to pay her and therefore he wanted to interest her enough to really enjoy doing certain work."
It goes on this way for another ten to twelve sentences, as she mentally works her way through interpretations of Mr. Rafiel's motivations and plans. But you can see this is rather sleepy stuff, that we are mostly inside Miss Marple's head as she speculates and dissects the situation. It picks up a little bit when she's invited to a house part-way through the trip, but the dialogue gives only some respite, as many times she employs her nattering, ditzy elderly persona to elicit more information. She talks to a man with the Home Office and another man with the Church and listens to their stories as well as their views on the psychology of the crime and the psychology of the criminal.
The setting was nicely developed; I certainly felt like I was on a rather dull coach tour with a bunch of tourists. The gardens, the surface conversations between strangers, the options for the hardy and the elderly all captured that bus tour feeling. Eventually there is a mild atmosphere of oppression, much like the air outside before a mild storm, but nothing quite suffocating. Nothing worth of the 'nemesis' label. The denouement is a bit... anti-climactic, and to make it worse, it is a trick used by Miss M. before.
It occurs to me that despite the inner dialogue, I don't remember very much about Miss M. personally, which is a shame. Still, it was mildly interesting putting the pieces together, even if I did have the tendency to nod off from time to time. I'm totally sure it was me. Mostly. Partly. But I always enjoy a little bit of Miss M. from time to time--after all, after Nancy Drew, she is the female investigator I've known the longest.
Two and a half sleepy stars
Alfred's insightful review on the emotion of the story.
Everybody else:
Nemesis. For such an ominous title, Christie presents a rather philosophically reserved and sedentary work. Miss Marple, of the pink fluffy wool and knitting needles, has been left a bequest by Mr. Rafiel, the debilitated rich man she met during A Caribbean Mystery. The bequest is conditional; she must investigate and elucidate a certain happening within a year. No more information is provided. The premise intrigues her and she accepts the challenge. She takes some small steps on her own, although she also receives a brief post-mortem letter from him, containing little more detail except that he would like to send her on a particular coach countryside tour.
It's a mildly-intriguing set-up where the reader and Miss Marple are in similar straights, waiting to discover what the mystery is. Unfortunately, it is very slow going, and because Miss Marple is unsure of her task, much of her conversations are fishing for information, but what sort of catch? It is a very internally-based story, relying on Miss Marple's internal dialogue, and the sharing of long stories with various characters. It occurs to me that it is about the exact opposite of another recent read, Dark Matter, which had frantic pacing and a staccato narrative. Take, for instance, the first part of this paragraph from Miss Marple:
"Mr. Rafiel had made arrangements. Arrangements, to begin with, with his lawyers. They had done their part. At the right interval of time they had forwarded to her his letter. It had been, she thought, a well-considered and well-thought-out letter. It would have been simpler, certainly, to tell her exactly what he wanted her to do and why he wanted it done. She was surprised in a way that he had not, before his death, sent for her, probably in a somewhat peremptory way and more or less lying on what he would have assured her was his deathbed, and would then have bullied her until she consented to do what he was asking her. But no, that would not really have been Mr. Rafiel's way, she thought. He could bully people, none better, but this was not a case for bullying, and he did not with either, she was sure, to appeal to her, to beg her to do him a favour, to urge her to redress a wrong. No. That again would not have been Mr. Rafiel's way. He wanted, she thought, as he had probably wanted all his life, to pay for what he required. He wanted to pay her and therefore he wanted to interest her enough to really enjoy doing certain work."
It goes on this way for another ten to twelve sentences, as she mentally works her way through interpretations of Mr. Rafiel's motivations and plans. But you can see this is rather sleepy stuff, that we are mostly inside Miss Marple's head as she speculates and dissects the situation. It picks up a little bit when she's invited to a house part-way through the trip, but the dialogue gives only some respite, as many times she employs her nattering, ditzy elderly persona to elicit more information. She talks to a man with the Home Office and another man with the Church and listens to their stories as well as their views on the psychology of the crime and the psychology of the criminal.
The setting was nicely developed; I certainly felt like I was on a rather dull coach tour with a bunch of tourists. The gardens, the surface conversations between strangers, the options for the hardy and the elderly all captured that bus tour feeling. Eventually there is a mild atmosphere of oppression, much like the air outside before a mild storm, but nothing quite suffocating. Nothing worth of the 'nemesis' label. The denouement is a bit... anti-climactic, and to make it worse, it is a trick used by Miss M. before.
It occurs to me that despite the inner dialogue, I don't remember very much about Miss M. personally, which is a shame. Still, it was mildly interesting putting the pieces together, even if I did have the tendency to nod off from time to time. I'm totally sure it was me. Mostly. Partly. But I always enjoy a little bit of Miss M. from time to time--after all, after Nancy Drew, she is the female investigator I've known the longest.
Two and a half sleepy stars
Alfred's insightful review on the emotion of the story.
August 12, 2012
In which I mostly skirt around my incredibly long and ever-expanding views on societal victim-shaming because who has days to type that up and people just want to know about the wacky British people, for godssake
Nemesis starts very intriguingly, with Mr. Rafiel, introduced in A Caribbean Mystery leaving Miss Marple in his will twenty-thousand pounds, given she solve a mystery for him. Old hat for Miss Marple, right? Except she won't be told the who, the what, the where, or the when of the crime, only the code word "Nemesis".
I feel a little guilty giving this a lower rating than A Caribbean Mystery, as it does feature a much more involving mystery, full of messed-up psycho-sexual dimensions to which Agatha Christie gives much more body than Caribbean trifle. But it is also in need of a judicious amount of editing: it takes a far bit to get moving, the same clues and recaps of events are repeated incessantly, and Christie's style heavily leans on dialogue where a little narration would be a lot more efficient. This undermines the solid core of the story Christie is weaving, but more problematic is her shockingly regressive views, which arise in several contexts, but most specifically as those that shame how young women of "today"(1971 is the publication date) act too "loosely".
This is most egregious in some victim-shaming that occurs, which crops up not once but multiple times by several different characters. I chose one example to discuss, just because it's the most elaborated, but the other examples are much the same. **MILD SPOILERS, if you don't want to know anything about what the case is** The following are words from a crime/police-psychologist, who thinks the man in question does not have the personality of someone capable of the murder of a girlfriend for which he's been convicted. Said convict is a known compulsive liar, thief, gangster, delinquent baby daddy, and who was involved in a previous assault case with another girlfriend: (excuse the length, but I wanted to give you the fullest context necessary)
I'm not demonizing Agatha Christie. I haven't read enough of her to characterize her work as a whole or to really disseminate her worldview. But I do think it's very telling looking at the publication dates of her most popular works, that most of them were from the 30s and 40s and none of them were from the 60s or the 70s. As a character, Miss Marple represents to me a subversive celebration of qualities that are normally derided in Western culture as being stereotypical-elderly-people traits-- and so it's incredibly disappointing to have her instead be a figurehead of stereotypical qualities are just plain ugly. Rating: 2 stars
Note: Nemesis is the basis of one of my favorite Agatha Christie's Marple episodes (2007), staring Geraldine McEwan. It's a little camp and a lot of fun, and it irons out most of the unfortunate implications. I recommend the series in general. It's nice slight viewing that has a great sense of humor about itself.
Nemesis starts very intriguingly, with Mr. Rafiel, introduced in A Caribbean Mystery leaving Miss Marple in his will twenty-thousand pounds, given she solve a mystery for him. Old hat for Miss Marple, right? Except she won't be told the who, the what, the where, or the when of the crime, only the code word "Nemesis".
I feel a little guilty giving this a lower rating than A Caribbean Mystery, as it does feature a much more involving mystery, full of messed-up psycho-sexual dimensions to which Agatha Christie gives much more body than Caribbean trifle. But it is also in need of a judicious amount of editing: it takes a far bit to get moving, the same clues and recaps of events are repeated incessantly, and Christie's style heavily leans on dialogue where a little narration would be a lot more efficient. This undermines the solid core of the story Christie is weaving, but more problematic is her shockingly regressive views, which arise in several contexts, but most specifically as those that shame how young women of "today"(1971 is the publication date) act too "loosely".
This is most egregious in some victim-shaming that occurs, which crops up not once but multiple times by several different characters. I chose one example to discuss, just because it's the most elaborated, but the other examples are much the same. **MILD SPOILERS, if you don't want to know anything about what the case is** The following are words from a crime/police-psychologist, who thinks the man in question does not have the personality of someone capable of the murder of a girlfriend for which he's been convicted. Said convict is a known compulsive liar, thief, gangster, delinquent baby daddy, and who was involved in a previous assault case with another girlfriend: (excuse the length, but I wanted to give you the fullest context necessary)
"That [earlier case] told against him, of course. Not in the jury's mind, because of course they did not hear about that until after the judge's summing up, but certainly in the judge's mind [...] I made a few inquiries myself afterwards. He had assaulted a girl. He had conceivably raped her, but he had not attempted to strangle her and in my opinion--I have seen a great many cases which come before the assizes--it seemed to me highly unlikely that there was a very definite case case of rape. Girls, you must remember, are far more ready to be raped nowadays than they used to be. Their mothers insists, very often, that they should call it rape. The girl in question had had several boy friends who had gone further than friendship. I did not think it counted very greatly as evidence against him. The actual murder case--yes, that was undoubtedly murder--but I continued to feel by all the tests [...] none of them accorded with this particular crime."Yes, a man who fits many of the dimensions by which we define sociopathy, and who has a history of violence towards a girlfriend, is totally incapable of committing a murder (of which he was convicted even without the details of the assault-case being heard at trial, a trial where he had the best defense money could buy). He beat her, but he didn't strangle her, so he's clearly he's a nonviolent soul. Women who have had several boyfriends cannot be raped. She's lying. These later two implications are particularly horrible and hurtful, because besides being ugly and ignorant and false, are also much more prevalent even today than they should be in any right-minded society.**end spoilers**
I'm not demonizing Agatha Christie. I haven't read enough of her to characterize her work as a whole or to really disseminate her worldview. But I do think it's very telling looking at the publication dates of her most popular works, that most of them were from the 30s and 40s and none of them were from the 60s or the 70s. As a character, Miss Marple represents to me a subversive celebration of qualities that are normally derided in Western culture as being stereotypical-elderly-people traits-- and so it's incredibly disappointing to have her instead be a figurehead of stereotypical qualities are just plain ugly. Rating: 2 stars
Note: Nemesis is the basis of one of my favorite Agatha Christie's Marple episodes (2007), staring Geraldine McEwan. It's a little camp and a lot of fun, and it irons out most of the unfortunate implications. I recommend the series in general. It's nice slight viewing that has a great sense of humor about itself.
November 5, 2024
Lunchtime Listen Oct-Nov 2024
To help us get through the last two months after the non- move from Hell my wife and watched all the Agatha Christie, Miss Marple TV episodes; played by Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie. Obviously that included two different versions of Nemesis.
So when we came to listen to it (read by the wonderful Emilia Fox), and despite reading the novel 7 years ago I was really surprised at how different it was to the TV versions.
I really enjoyed this and would certainly recommend to any Agatha Christie fan who has never read it !!
Series Read 2017
Phew, just finished and you know, I don't think I've ever read this. I knew the story, probably through the TV version, but this was even better.
The plot was excellent and it was probably the Miss Marple book with her the most visible, which truly made it enjoyable. A wonderful cast of characters, in a fantastic setting and an unknown mystery to solve with Miss Marple in the middle of it, what more could you want.
And now that being the last novel, and only the final short stories to go in this challenge, I'm wondering what I'm going to do next year.
To help us get through the last two months after the non- move from Hell my wife and watched all the Agatha Christie, Miss Marple TV episodes; played by Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie. Obviously that included two different versions of Nemesis.
So when we came to listen to it (read by the wonderful Emilia Fox), and despite reading the novel 7 years ago I was really surprised at how different it was to the TV versions.
I really enjoyed this and would certainly recommend to any Agatha Christie fan who has never read it !!
Series Read 2017
Phew, just finished and you know, I don't think I've ever read this. I knew the story, probably through the TV version, but this was even better.
The plot was excellent and it was probably the Miss Marple book with her the most visible, which truly made it enjoyable. A wonderful cast of characters, in a fantastic setting and an unknown mystery to solve with Miss Marple in the middle of it, what more could you want.
And now that being the last novel, and only the final short stories to go in this challenge, I'm wondering what I'm going to do next year.
June 24, 2020
Miss Marple had met Mr.Rafiel,a wealthy old man,in a previous book,A Caribbean Mystery.Now,she receives a letter from Mr.Rafiel after his death.
She is asked to investigate a crime,so that justice can be done.But the instructions are very vague indeed,leaving Miss Marple to wonder what she is supposed to be looking for.
This is the final Miss Marple book.
It was published just a few years before Agatha Christie died,but in her old age,just like Miss Marple,Christie was still very sharp.This is a multiple murder mystery in which Miss Marple finds her life in great danger.A fitting finale to the Miss Marple series.
All good things must come to an end.
She is asked to investigate a crime,so that justice can be done.But the instructions are very vague indeed,leaving Miss Marple to wonder what she is supposed to be looking for.
This is the final Miss Marple book.
It was published just a few years before Agatha Christie died,but in her old age,just like Miss Marple,Christie was still very sharp.This is a multiple murder mystery in which Miss Marple finds her life in great danger.A fitting finale to the Miss Marple series.
All good things must come to an end.
January 8, 2022
Agatha Christie Book Reading Challenge
BOOK 16 :- MAR 2020
4 STARS
BOOK 16 :- MAR 2020
4 STARS
April 22, 2025
Agatha isn't known for her sequels, but that's almost exactly what Nemesis is...in a way.
Remember A Caribbean Mystery?!
No?
Yeah. Well, it was somewhat forgettable. But for whatever reason, Christie decided to use one of those characters that Jane teamed up with to kick start this mystery. And while most of them have absolutely nothing to do with her current Nemesis, you do get a tiny peek at what some of those guys are up to now. <--kinda cool
This time around, Jane is tasked by an old acquaintance (in his will) to look into an old murder and see if she can suss out the real killer.
Can she do it?
Duh.
It's another solid Marple mystery that fans of Christie should enjoy.
Joan Hickson - Narrator
Remember A Caribbean Mystery?!
No?
Yeah. Well, it was somewhat forgettable. But for whatever reason, Christie decided to use one of those characters that Jane teamed up with to kick start this mystery. And while most of them have absolutely nothing to do with her current Nemesis, you do get a tiny peek at what some of those guys are up to now. <--kinda cool
This time around, Jane is tasked by an old acquaintance (in his will) to look into an old murder and see if she can suss out the real killer.
Can she do it?
Duh.
It's another solid Marple mystery that fans of Christie should enjoy.
Joan Hickson - Narrator
April 19, 2022
Nemesis by Agatha Christie is the second to last Miss Marple Mystery in her collection about a doddering old woman who gets involved in crime detection... even the other characters refer to poor Miss Marple as an elderly lady who gets in the way. Truthfully, she's fantastic, and I am sad to almost be done with my second read of the entire series. Nemesis is a code word from an earlier book, and many characters return in this one to help Miss Marple solve a crime. The only problem, she doesn't actually know what the crime is! Piqued your interest now?
I enjoyed the trip in this book... Miss Marple tours a bunch of old homes and gardens, trying to find out what her recently deceased acquaintance wants her to do. He wasn't murdered, so it seems peculiar. But the money he's left her is a treasure. As she discovers odd connections between the other travelers, and several people we've met before pop up in strange situations, the plot begins to thicken. I love Christie's approach in this book, as it really pushes readers to use the analytical side of their brain. A fine example of a well-written murder mystery. But the killer, once we knew the victim's identity, was a bit too obvious for me.
I enjoyed the trip in this book... Miss Marple tours a bunch of old homes and gardens, trying to find out what her recently deceased acquaintance wants her to do. He wasn't murdered, so it seems peculiar. But the money he's left her is a treasure. As she discovers odd connections between the other travelers, and several people we've met before pop up in strange situations, the plot begins to thicken. I love Christie's approach in this book, as it really pushes readers to use the analytical side of their brain. A fine example of a well-written murder mystery. But the killer, once we knew the victim's identity, was a bit too obvious for me.
July 1, 2024
Rating: ??? ?
Genre: Classic + Mystery
This classic can be considered a sequel to A Caribbean Mystery. Originally, it was the eleventh book in the Miss Marple series before Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ messed up the sequence of the books without any valid reason.
In this book, Miss Marple is depicted as more fragile, and her memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Nevertheless, she still manages to outsmart everyone by solving all the murders and mysteries. The elderly lady is contacted by an acquaintance she met on a Caribbean cruise, the late millionaire Mr. Jason Rafiel.
The assignment is to solve a crime that has not yet been identified. A reward of 20,000 British Pounds is offered to her if she is successful in solving this unidentified crime. Before he passed away, the man completed all of the arrangements for her, as he appeared to be very confident that she would accept them. For this reason, Miss Marple is required to embark on a tour with fifteen strangers and become acquainted with them in order to gain a better understanding of the things that she will be looking for.
Obviously, this is not the complete recounting of events; there is a great deal more to it than that. It is expected that Miss Marple will discover a multitude of connections, and she will initially learn that Mr. Rafiel's son may have been involved in a criminal act; however, she will be required to demonstrate whether or not he was guilty of the crime.
First, allow me to share with you some of the aspects of this Agatha Christie mystery that I enjoyed. You are following Miss Marple from the very first page all the way through to the very last page. Some of the books in the Marple series do not center on her. This one does, and it¡¯s a great thing because I personally read these books because of how fascinating this character is.
A second aspect of this book that I found to be very appealing was the premise that it presented. This is something that the author has never tackled before, at least not in any of the Marple books that I have read up until this point. The premise is unique, which makes it exciting, but I understand that some readers might not be in favor of it as it makes the direction of the story not very clear.
Despite the positives, there are a few negatives that will affect your enjoyment. The pace seemed slower, and the book felt longer than all the other books in the series. Additionally, there are many characters in the story, and it takes time to follow everyone, especially if you want to put yourself in the main character¡¯s shoes. But despite the negatives, this remained an entertaining book. It's not a favorite of mine, but it's definitely among the very good ones.
Genre: Classic + Mystery
This classic can be considered a sequel to A Caribbean Mystery. Originally, it was the eleventh book in the Miss Marple series before Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ messed up the sequence of the books without any valid reason.
In this book, Miss Marple is depicted as more fragile, and her memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Nevertheless, she still manages to outsmart everyone by solving all the murders and mysteries. The elderly lady is contacted by an acquaintance she met on a Caribbean cruise, the late millionaire Mr. Jason Rafiel.
The assignment is to solve a crime that has not yet been identified. A reward of 20,000 British Pounds is offered to her if she is successful in solving this unidentified crime. Before he passed away, the man completed all of the arrangements for her, as he appeared to be very confident that she would accept them. For this reason, Miss Marple is required to embark on a tour with fifteen strangers and become acquainted with them in order to gain a better understanding of the things that she will be looking for.
Obviously, this is not the complete recounting of events; there is a great deal more to it than that. It is expected that Miss Marple will discover a multitude of connections, and she will initially learn that Mr. Rafiel's son may have been involved in a criminal act; however, she will be required to demonstrate whether or not he was guilty of the crime.
First, allow me to share with you some of the aspects of this Agatha Christie mystery that I enjoyed. You are following Miss Marple from the very first page all the way through to the very last page. Some of the books in the Marple series do not center on her. This one does, and it¡¯s a great thing because I personally read these books because of how fascinating this character is.
A second aspect of this book that I found to be very appealing was the premise that it presented. This is something that the author has never tackled before, at least not in any of the Marple books that I have read up until this point. The premise is unique, which makes it exciting, but I understand that some readers might not be in favor of it as it makes the direction of the story not very clear.
Despite the positives, there are a few negatives that will affect your enjoyment. The pace seemed slower, and the book felt longer than all the other books in the series. Additionally, there are many characters in the story, and it takes time to follow everyone, especially if you want to put yourself in the main character¡¯s shoes. But despite the negatives, this remained an entertaining book. It's not a favorite of mine, but it's definitely among the very good ones.
August 5, 2018
What a mess. A plot that makes no sense. A cast of characters that, frankly, has no coherent logic for their appearance, disappearance, or involvement with each other. Dull writing. Blundering about and letting people killed? What's Marple up to? And Rafiel, the man of justice, sets this death-fest up to...?
It's all wool and smoke. It is unsavory and disappointing.
Then came the Hickson Marple. *shudder* What a farrago. Resembles the book very little, but not to the benefit of the filmed version. Dismal, dingy stuff.
And then came , with Geraldine McEwan. A better-than-the-book adaptation, though the similarity to the source material is...tangential. I got a BIG kick out of the book's sisters becoming Catholic Sisters. Haw. But my irritation with the basic story makes me think of this as a squicky icky Book-of-Job level creepfest. Like that Biblical bar bet between the divine buds to see how much one man could take before he broke, this story sets a bunch of creepy people to fighting among themselves and gets some of them killed.
That's not right, it's not acceptable, and it's not fun.
It's all wool and smoke. It is unsavory and disappointing.
Then came the Hickson Marple. *shudder* What a farrago. Resembles the book very little, but not to the benefit of the filmed version. Dismal, dingy stuff.
And then came , with Geraldine McEwan. A better-than-the-book adaptation, though the similarity to the source material is...tangential. I got a BIG kick out of the book's sisters becoming Catholic Sisters. Haw. But my irritation with the basic story makes me think of this as a squicky icky Book-of-Job level creepfest. Like that Biblical bar bet between the divine buds to see how much one man could take before he broke, this story sets a bunch of creepy people to fighting among themselves and gets some of them killed.
That's not right, it's not acceptable, and it's not fun.
March 7, 2023
After the disappointment in the previous Miss Marple mystery, I'm happy to find a better story in the Nemesis. This is sort of a sequel (not in the strictest sense) to A Caribbean Mystery as it's Mr. Rafiel, who assisted Miss Marple in solving that mystery, who is summoning Miss Marple, now from his grave to action, in order to vindicate his son whom he believed to be unjustly imprisoned. Miss Marple accepts to investigate this cold case without any clear facts. Bit by bit, with her experience, her intuition, and her "flair for evil", Miss Marple solves a crime committed ten years ago and brings justice to both the victim, Verity Hunt, and the wrongly punished, Michael Rafiel.
This is a good story, well-plotted with the right amount of mysterious atmosphere. When Miss Marple says that she can sense evil in the atmosphere, we readers, too, can feel it. Christie has created the mysterious undertone so well. Miss Marple is in full action here in the role of an unofficial detective inspector. The active involvement of Miss Marple is nice and welcoming. By closely following her, I was able to guess the criminal and the motive at an early stage, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the whole. Unlike in many mysteries of the series, this murder mystery has a tragic undertone. I felt quite melancholic reading it and sympathized with all the victims. While all these helped me to connect and enjoy this work, certain factors marred its full enjoyment.
There were too many repeated actions and dialogues that could have been avoided. There wasn't any need to drag on the story like that, making some of the middle chapters pretty boring. Also, I didn't much like Christie's portrayal of Miss Marple here. Christie has no illusions about Miss Marple, of course. She portrays her for her true self, as the aging, feeble lady whose mind is still sharp. But in this case, in her effort to portray Miss Marple as the kind of aging feeble lady of the old school, she had made her judgemental and cynical. And that didn't go quite well with me.
On the whole, however, it was a good mystery, and it certainly brought me comfort after my previous disappointment in the series. There is only one more book to go for me to complete the series, and now I can look forward to it composedly.
This is a good story, well-plotted with the right amount of mysterious atmosphere. When Miss Marple says that she can sense evil in the atmosphere, we readers, too, can feel it. Christie has created the mysterious undertone so well. Miss Marple is in full action here in the role of an unofficial detective inspector. The active involvement of Miss Marple is nice and welcoming. By closely following her, I was able to guess the criminal and the motive at an early stage, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the whole. Unlike in many mysteries of the series, this murder mystery has a tragic undertone. I felt quite melancholic reading it and sympathized with all the victims. While all these helped me to connect and enjoy this work, certain factors marred its full enjoyment.
There were too many repeated actions and dialogues that could have been avoided. There wasn't any need to drag on the story like that, making some of the middle chapters pretty boring. Also, I didn't much like Christie's portrayal of Miss Marple here. Christie has no illusions about Miss Marple, of course. She portrays her for her true self, as the aging, feeble lady whose mind is still sharp. But in this case, in her effort to portray Miss Marple as the kind of aging feeble lady of the old school, she had made her judgemental and cynical. And that didn't go quite well with me.
On the whole, however, it was a good mystery, and it certainly brought me comfort after my previous disappointment in the series. There is only one more book to go for me to complete the series, and now I can look forward to it composedly.
January 25, 2021
Evident, nu m? a?teptam la identitatea criminalului, ca ?n orice roman scris de Agatha Christie. R?sturn?rile de situa?ie au fost frumos prezentate, iar Miss Marple a reu?it s? scape cu via??, spre surprinderea tuturor.
"- Iar omul sufer? de at?tea boli! Nu m? refer la cele foarte grave, Doamne fere?te, ci vreau s? zic c? to?i avem vreo form? de reumatism sau vreo durere pe undeva. Picioarele nu sunt ?ntotdeauna cum ar trebui s? fie ?i, de obicei, ne doare spatele sau um?rul ori m?inile."
"- De fapt, nu credeam a?a ceva, continu? Miss Marple, doar m? ?ntrebam, fiindc? unele lucruri te preocup? mai mult c?nd e?ti imobilizat, nu po?i s? ac?ionezi ca ?nainte ?i trebuie s-o iei u?or. Atunci grijile ??i vin, pur ?i simplu, ?n minte ?i se fac sim?ite."
"- Iar omul sufer? de at?tea boli! Nu m? refer la cele foarte grave, Doamne fere?te, ci vreau s? zic c? to?i avem vreo form? de reumatism sau vreo durere pe undeva. Picioarele nu sunt ?ntotdeauna cum ar trebui s? fie ?i, de obicei, ne doare spatele sau um?rul ori m?inile."
"- De fapt, nu credeam a?a ceva, continu? Miss Marple, doar m? ?ntrebam, fiindc? unele lucruri te preocup? mai mult c?nd e?ti imobilizat, nu po?i s? ac?ionezi ca ?nainte ?i trebuie s-o iei u?or. Atunci grijile ??i vin, pur ?i simplu, ?n minte ?i se fac sim?ite."
May 19, 2017
Despite Miss Marple's twittering, kindly, old biddy persona that she presents to many, she's an analytical, stern, rather ruthless and calculating person, carefully evaluating people's behaviour and words to very effectively determine who is a murderer.
Nemesis is a fairly slow moving story, as Miss Marple is tasked with uncovering a mystery by a rich financier she had met while vacationing in the Caribbean some time before. There is much time spent while Miss Marple gets to know a number of people while on a tour (paid for by the financier) of houses and gardens.
I liked how Miss Marple deliberately played up her frailty or supposed dottiness to disarm others, so she could watch their actions and what they said. (This novel is definitely part of its time, as there were repugnant views about rape expressed by some of the characters. )
Nemesis is a fairly slow moving story, as Miss Marple is tasked with uncovering a mystery by a rich financier she had met while vacationing in the Caribbean some time before. There is much time spent while Miss Marple gets to know a number of people while on a tour (paid for by the financier) of houses and gardens.
I liked how Miss Marple deliberately played up her frailty or supposed dottiness to disarm others, so she could watch their actions and what they said. (This novel is definitely part of its time, as there were repugnant views about rape expressed by some of the characters. )
July 23, 2014
I didn't finish this book. The mystery portion is confused and pretty slow to build - most likely because we are following a much older, slower Marple, but this keeps the story from being more entertaining. The real reason I didn't finish, and the reason for the one star review, is that for much of the book Miss Marple and various other "good" characters blame young women for getting raped. No joke, they actually spell it out several times that "these young girls" seduce men and then say they've been raped afterwards. The f*ck? The made-for-tv remake is not bad, partly because they change a lot of the plot and partly because Marple doesn't go around rape-blaming the murdered girls.
Now, I don't know if Agatha Christie felt this way herself, or if she was portraying old people as being out of touch, but I suspect these were her thoughts simply because they are repeated so often, and in several other books written around this time (early 70s) she has main characters decry modern society and the downfall of civilization brought on by women in short skirts. Feh.
Now, I don't know if Agatha Christie felt this way herself, or if she was portraying old people as being out of touch, but I suspect these were her thoughts simply because they are repeated so often, and in several other books written around this time (early 70s) she has main characters decry modern society and the downfall of civilization brought on by women in short skirts. Feh.
Read
November 14, 2017This year I have been reading (or rather re-reading) all of the Miss Marple books. Although I have one book of short stories left, this is the final novel, published in 1971 (Christie died in 1976). Many of Christie¡¯s later books are not considered up to par with her greatest works, mostly published in the 1930¡¯s. Certainly, Christie ¨C through her characters ¨C is a little crotchety in this outing. Young women are referred to in rather unkind terms, showing the author¡¯s displeasure with the more relaxed society of the late Sixties and early Seventies. However, although her views are questionable, I simply love the feeling of plunging into any Agatha Christie novel and can forgive her virtually anything for all the joy and pleasure her writing has brought me over the years.
In a sense, this is, unusually, something of a sequel. Mr Jason Rafiel, the wealthy financier we first met in, ¡°A Caribbean Mystery,¡± has died. To her surprise, Miss Marple receives a letter, asking her to visit a solicitors. A sum of money has been set aside, if she will accept a certain proposition. Mr Rafiel wants Miss Marple to investigate a crime ¨C the problem is that there are no real instruction or information. Of course, Miss Marple accepts and is later invited to take a tour ¨C to be specific Tour 37 of the Famous Homes and Gardens of Great Britain.
Knowing Mr Rafiel, Miss Marple expects that she will find out what she is meant to be investigating by being herself; asking questions and being the nosy, elderly woman that everyone expects. Along the way, she is approached by various people that Mr Rafiel has contacted before his death. For he trusted Miss Marple to solve an earlier injustice and, of course, she doesn¡¯t let him down.
This has an interesting plot, with an unusual setting and a good cast of characters. I enjoyed the parts of the novel which featured Miss Marple on the coach tour, trundling around various stately homes and wondering which of her fellow passengers were of interest. Although I look forward to reading the last volume of short stories, I am both glad to have read all of the novels in order and saddened that I have come to the last in the series.
In a sense, this is, unusually, something of a sequel. Mr Jason Rafiel, the wealthy financier we first met in, ¡°A Caribbean Mystery,¡± has died. To her surprise, Miss Marple receives a letter, asking her to visit a solicitors. A sum of money has been set aside, if she will accept a certain proposition. Mr Rafiel wants Miss Marple to investigate a crime ¨C the problem is that there are no real instruction or information. Of course, Miss Marple accepts and is later invited to take a tour ¨C to be specific Tour 37 of the Famous Homes and Gardens of Great Britain.
Knowing Mr Rafiel, Miss Marple expects that she will find out what she is meant to be investigating by being herself; asking questions and being the nosy, elderly woman that everyone expects. Along the way, she is approached by various people that Mr Rafiel has contacted before his death. For he trusted Miss Marple to solve an earlier injustice and, of course, she doesn¡¯t let him down.
This has an interesting plot, with an unusual setting and a good cast of characters. I enjoyed the parts of the novel which featured Miss Marple on the coach tour, trundling around various stately homes and wondering which of her fellow passengers were of interest. Although I look forward to reading the last volume of short stories, I am both glad to have read all of the novels in order and saddened that I have come to the last in the series.
August 23, 2020
I¡¯ve just taken the opportunity to read Nemesis by Jo Nesbo and Nemesis by Agatha Christie and that has occasioned the following:
Separated at Birth:
Agatha Christie and Jo Nesbo AND their main crime-solvers, respectively Jane Marple and Harry Hole
Christie and Nesbo: Both are white people who live/d in northern countries, England/Norway. Both are internationally renowned mystery writers who have published millions of copies of their books, published in several languages. Both reference the outdoors in their works (though Christie a bit more, with all those flowers especially in the Marple mysteries) and highlight physical adventure and travel in their personal lives (Nesbo a world class rock climber, traveling the world over to climb and research potential crime sites for his novels, and Christie, too, liked to climb and travel, with her archaeologist husband, to research crime sites for her novels). Neither Nemesis book is evidence of their very best work, though I¡¯d argue Nesbo¡¯s is a better work. Obviously Christie has the better rep as a writer. That whole most popular writer ever. But give her a break, this book came out when Christie was 80.
Jane Marple and Harry Hole: Similarities: Both passionate about solving crimes, both have what Marple is described as having in Nemesis: ¡°a sense of evil,¡± and a low general view of human nature; Harry is an alcoholic, sometimes dry for most of his books; Marple is not averse to taking a drink or two, especially sherry. A lot of people seem to like them..
Differences: Marple refers to herself as an ¡°old pussy¡± (Stop right there! She means like cats! Wherever has your mind gone?!) repeatedly in this book; Harry Hole is. .. well, not an old pussy, nor particularly interested in them, based on the women he seems to be attracted to in his Nemesis. Jane is old, as we are reminded repeatedly; Harry is half her age, and, well, is much taller and more attractive to the opposite sex. Woman, man, but what kind of assumptions are we making here in an age of gender fluidity? They may be the same person!
Both books are titled Nemesis, and are focused on various nemeses, which might lead one to think Christie¡¯s story will be a particularly dark one, dripping with mythological blood revenge, but it¡¯s not that dark. In the Nesbo, the revenge is much darker.
Christie¡¯s Nemesis is not her best work, slow-going, somewhat baffingly conceived and plotted; there are repugnant views about rape, women and girls, and teenaged pregnancy expressed by some of the characters, including Miss Marple herself, now like Christie herself, in her eighties. But hey, one the way hand, good for her, she published it at the age of 80, in 1971, one of her very last books, so maybe I give her a break, (maybe). But then, on the other hand, my main memory is all these old people talking rot about young women bringing it all on themselves, and some racist views, too.
Joan Hickson reads it so well, though, so she manages to make Jane still somewhat charming--an unassuming, kind of ditzy old lady on the one hand and ruthlessly focused on the other hand. I¡¯ll say 2.5 stars, but honestly, at some points I thought it was pretty weak compared to most of Christie¡¯s work. She may not be Jo Nesbo recincarnated after all.
Separated at Birth:
Agatha Christie and Jo Nesbo AND their main crime-solvers, respectively Jane Marple and Harry Hole
Christie and Nesbo: Both are white people who live/d in northern countries, England/Norway. Both are internationally renowned mystery writers who have published millions of copies of their books, published in several languages. Both reference the outdoors in their works (though Christie a bit more, with all those flowers especially in the Marple mysteries) and highlight physical adventure and travel in their personal lives (Nesbo a world class rock climber, traveling the world over to climb and research potential crime sites for his novels, and Christie, too, liked to climb and travel, with her archaeologist husband, to research crime sites for her novels). Neither Nemesis book is evidence of their very best work, though I¡¯d argue Nesbo¡¯s is a better work. Obviously Christie has the better rep as a writer. That whole most popular writer ever. But give her a break, this book came out when Christie was 80.
Jane Marple and Harry Hole: Similarities: Both passionate about solving crimes, both have what Marple is described as having in Nemesis: ¡°a sense of evil,¡± and a low general view of human nature; Harry is an alcoholic, sometimes dry for most of his books; Marple is not averse to taking a drink or two, especially sherry. A lot of people seem to like them..
Differences: Marple refers to herself as an ¡°old pussy¡± (Stop right there! She means like cats! Wherever has your mind gone?!) repeatedly in this book; Harry Hole is. .. well, not an old pussy, nor particularly interested in them, based on the women he seems to be attracted to in his Nemesis. Jane is old, as we are reminded repeatedly; Harry is half her age, and, well, is much taller and more attractive to the opposite sex. Woman, man, but what kind of assumptions are we making here in an age of gender fluidity? They may be the same person!
Both books are titled Nemesis, and are focused on various nemeses, which might lead one to think Christie¡¯s story will be a particularly dark one, dripping with mythological blood revenge, but it¡¯s not that dark. In the Nesbo, the revenge is much darker.
Christie¡¯s Nemesis is not her best work, slow-going, somewhat baffingly conceived and plotted; there are repugnant views about rape, women and girls, and teenaged pregnancy expressed by some of the characters, including Miss Marple herself, now like Christie herself, in her eighties. But hey, one the way hand, good for her, she published it at the age of 80, in 1971, one of her very last books, so maybe I give her a break, (maybe). But then, on the other hand, my main memory is all these old people talking rot about young women bringing it all on themselves, and some racist views, too.
Joan Hickson reads it so well, though, so she manages to make Jane still somewhat charming--an unassuming, kind of ditzy old lady on the one hand and ruthlessly focused on the other hand. I¡¯ll say 2.5 stars, but honestly, at some points I thought it was pretty weak compared to most of Christie¡¯s work. She may not be Jo Nesbo recincarnated after all.
February 9, 2024
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May 4, 2025
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March 15, 2017
2.5/5. Turns out I'm just not a fan of Christie's 1970s novels (except for the ones she wrote years before, but which were published in the 1970s). The mystery itself was actually quite good, but what really annoyed me were some of the remarks made by Miss Marple and other characters in this story. A lot of it was highly problematic - there was some victim blaming mixed with a few xenophobic and rascist comments and totally outdated views on women's position in society. No idea if these were Christie's personal views (I haven't come across these problematic statements in her other books), but they definitely made me enjoy the book as a whole a lot less which would've been a very good mystery otherwise.
December 26, 2018
Love, love, love Mrs. Marple. I want to be like her when I am older. The story is really great, suspenseful and leaves you guessing till the end!!!!
November 21, 2017
Conservative old people with judgmental attitudes + half-assed amateur psychology = offensive and unconvincing mystery
August 1, 2023
After reading this book, I realized that this is a sequel to A Caribbean Mystery, Miss Marple series (which I didn¡¯t read yet). So let me suggest to all of you to read A Caribbean Mystery first before you read this book.
In by , Miss Marple is given very little details and notes from the late Mr Jason Rafiel, an old acquaintance (whom she had met during the holiday at the Caribbean Island) has died and left her a problem to solve. The letters from Mr Rafiel direct her somewhat, but she has to trust her own intuition to figure out what course of action to take. Mr Rafiel has provided her the opportunity to go on a tour of famous British houses, and this is where small clues and ideas begin to form. There are fourteen other people on the tour with her, and she begins to take inventory of who they are.
Little by little, small hints reveal themselves to her, and she begins to form a small idea of Rafiel¡¯s intentions. When a mysterious ¡°accident¡± happens, she tries to piece together who did it, and, furthermore, why it was done. She must discover who are friends, and who are enemies, in order to solve this mystery, that unfolds slowly until the final conclusion.
As usual, this is a cleverly plotted tale full of dark secrets and lurking danger. In addition, this story has a palpable atmosphere as in the typical Christie tale...
In by , Miss Marple is given very little details and notes from the late Mr Jason Rafiel, an old acquaintance (whom she had met during the holiday at the Caribbean Island) has died and left her a problem to solve. The letters from Mr Rafiel direct her somewhat, but she has to trust her own intuition to figure out what course of action to take. Mr Rafiel has provided her the opportunity to go on a tour of famous British houses, and this is where small clues and ideas begin to form. There are fourteen other people on the tour with her, and she begins to take inventory of who they are.
Little by little, small hints reveal themselves to her, and she begins to form a small idea of Rafiel¡¯s intentions. When a mysterious ¡°accident¡± happens, she tries to piece together who did it, and, furthermore, why it was done. She must discover who are friends, and who are enemies, in order to solve this mystery, that unfolds slowly until the final conclusion.
As usual, this is a cleverly plotted tale full of dark secrets and lurking danger. In addition, this story has a palpable atmosphere as in the typical Christie tale...
March 7, 2023
Wasn't sure what to rate this book. The mystery and Miss Maple content was a clear 4 stars although there was some very problematic views and ideas said in this book that was more of a 1 stars. I enjoyed it overall and it was fun that I remember a little from the Miss Marple episode I saw years ago.
October 22, 2015
¡®She¡¯s going to take it on, is she? Sporting old bean,¡¯ he said. Then he added, ¡®I suppose she knows something of what it¡¯s all about, does she?¡¯ ¡®Apparently not,¡¯ said Mr Broadribb.
I would have reviewed this one a while ago, right after I read the book, in fact, but I really didn't want to be reminded about much of the book.
I have really grown to dislike Miss Marple and this book is a fine example of everything that bugs me about her character.
From her innate xenophobia:
"The fourth chair was occupied by Mr Caspar whom Miss Marple considered as not sufficiently conversant with the English language to matter."
....
"Miss Marple had never quite succeeded in abandoning her Victorian view of foreigners. One never knew with foreigners. Quite absurd, of course, to feel like that ¨C she had many friends from various foreign countries. All the same . . . ?"
to her being a judgmental old busy-body:
"One of them was very definitely the complaining type, one who would want to have seats at the front of the coach or else would make a point of having them at the back of the coach. Would wish to sit on the sunny side or could only bear to sit on the shady side. Who would want more fresh air, or less fresh air."
and a little bit deluded - though it was weird to even read about this potential love interest:
"Poor Mr Rafiel. The ship that had passed in the night had been an interesting ship. Once you got used to his being rude, he might have been quite an agreeable man? No! She shook her head. Mr Rafiel could never have been an agreeable man. Well, she must put Mr Rafiel out of her head. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness."
I have not read The Caribbean Mystery, yet, but I somehow doubt there was such a thing in it as a blossoming romance between old Marple and Mr. Rafiel.
Just as I know there is a disconnect between this utterance...
"Miss Marple packed a suitcase bag, went to London, booked a room at a modest hotel ¨C (¡®Ah, Bertram¡¯s Hotel,¡¯ she thought in her mind, ¡®what a wonderful hotel that was!"
...and the fact that Marple disapproved of Bertram's Hotel by the end of the book (At Bertram's Hotel) written six years before Nemesis. So, having paid a little attention, I found this book to be containing more "continuity errors" than I can put up with.
Anyway, I won't give anything away about the somewhat far-fetched plot but Marple is not the only bone of contention with this book. As others have also summarised, there are also concerns with the book with respect to the issue of victim shaming and the trivialisation of rape.
I don't know if the poor quality of the story is down to Dame Agatha loosing touch with readers in her later work or what, but Nemesis pretty much made the decision for me that Miss Marple is not all she's cracked up to be.
"She looked round the church in which she was sitting. It looked so peaceful. The reality of Evil was hard to believe in. A flair for Evil ¨C that was what Mr Rafiel had attributed to her."
Yeah, I think I'm with Mr. Rafiel on this one.
I would have reviewed this one a while ago, right after I read the book, in fact, but I really didn't want to be reminded about much of the book.
I have really grown to dislike Miss Marple and this book is a fine example of everything that bugs me about her character.
From her innate xenophobia:
"The fourth chair was occupied by Mr Caspar whom Miss Marple considered as not sufficiently conversant with the English language to matter."
....
"Miss Marple had never quite succeeded in abandoning her Victorian view of foreigners. One never knew with foreigners. Quite absurd, of course, to feel like that ¨C she had many friends from various foreign countries. All the same . . . ?"
to her being a judgmental old busy-body:
"One of them was very definitely the complaining type, one who would want to have seats at the front of the coach or else would make a point of having them at the back of the coach. Would wish to sit on the sunny side or could only bear to sit on the shady side. Who would want more fresh air, or less fresh air."
and a little bit deluded - though it was weird to even read about this potential love interest:
"Poor Mr Rafiel. The ship that had passed in the night had been an interesting ship. Once you got used to his being rude, he might have been quite an agreeable man? No! She shook her head. Mr Rafiel could never have been an agreeable man. Well, she must put Mr Rafiel out of her head. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness."
I have not read The Caribbean Mystery, yet, but I somehow doubt there was such a thing in it as a blossoming romance between old Marple and Mr. Rafiel.
Just as I know there is a disconnect between this utterance...
"Miss Marple packed a suitcase bag, went to London, booked a room at a modest hotel ¨C (¡®Ah, Bertram¡¯s Hotel,¡¯ she thought in her mind, ¡®what a wonderful hotel that was!"
...and the fact that Marple disapproved of Bertram's Hotel by the end of the book (At Bertram's Hotel) written six years before Nemesis. So, having paid a little attention, I found this book to be containing more "continuity errors" than I can put up with.
Anyway, I won't give anything away about the somewhat far-fetched plot but Marple is not the only bone of contention with this book. As others have also summarised, there are also concerns with the book with respect to the issue of victim shaming and the trivialisation of rape.
I don't know if the poor quality of the story is down to Dame Agatha loosing touch with readers in her later work or what, but Nemesis pretty much made the decision for me that Miss Marple is not all she's cracked up to be.
"She looked round the church in which she was sitting. It looked so peaceful. The reality of Evil was hard to believe in. A flair for Evil ¨C that was what Mr Rafiel had attributed to her."
Yeah, I think I'm with Mr. Rafiel on this one.
August 17, 2021
Az¨¦rt ez mekkora geny¨®s¨¢g m¨¢r. K¨¦pzeld el, hogy egy szeg¨¦ny, j¨®raval¨® gyilkos vagy, aki hossz¨²-hossz¨² ¨¦vekkel ezel?tt eltett l¨¢b al¨®l valakit - nyilv¨¢n respekt¨¢lhat¨® okokb¨®l -, ¨¦s akkor egy nap kopognak. T?r¨¦keny, cukimuki ?regl¨¢ny van az ajt¨®ban, jaj de meleg van, s¨®hajtja, le¨¹lhetne-e ?nn¨¦l? Te meg ugye j¨®raval¨® gyilkos vagy, sz¨®val megk¨ªn¨¢lod egy poh¨¢r v¨ªzzel, azt¨¢n csever¨¦sztek err?l-arr¨®l, ¨¦s egyszer csak azon kapod magad, hogy csattan csukl¨®don a bilincs. Mert ¨¢tvert az ?regl¨¢ny! Becsapott! Azt hitted, valami random Erzsike n¨¦ni, holott ? Miss Marple!!!
(?n Miss Marple-t mindig Joan Hickson arc¨¢val k¨¦pzelem el. Ez m¨¢r ¨ªgy marad.)
Alighanem ez a Marple-reg¨¦nyek titka, a kontraszt a t?r¨¦keny test ¨¦s a m?g?tte rejl? eleven szellem k?z?tt, ami, ha szagot fog, kikutatja a gazs¨¢got, ha hat l¨¢b m¨¦lyre temett¨¦k is. Nem csoda, ha Mr. Rafiel (akivel tal¨¢lkoztunk m¨¢r a Rejt¨¦ly az Antill¨¢kon-ban) csak benne b¨ªzik, ?t k¨¦ri meg a hal¨¢lon t¨²lr¨®l visszany¨²lva, hogy bogozzon ki egy cs¨²nya rejtv¨¦nyt, egy elfeledett gyilkoss¨¢got, amit m¨¢r mindenki ad acta tett. Sz¨ªntiszta lehetetlen k¨¹ldet¨¦s ez, a logika ?sszes szab¨¢lya szerint, de h¨¢t Miss Marple-nek nincs lehetetlen. (Mivel Agatha Christie ¨²gy ¨ªrta meg, hogy ne legyen neki lehetetlen.) ?gyhogy cidrizzetek, gyilkosok, mert a Nemezis egy t¨¹nd¨¦ri, vid¨¦kies aggle¨¢ny k¨¦p¨¦ben m¨¢r fel¨¦tek csoszog.
(Megj.: picit sokalltam a reg¨¦nyben a "r¨¦genmindenjobbv¨®t" ¨ªz? mondatokat. Hogy a fiatalok ilyenek meg olyanok. A mai l¨¢nyok meg m¨¦g ilyenebbek ¨¦s olyanabbak. De v¨¦g¨¹l f¨¹ggetlen¨ªteni tudtam magam az ezzel kapcsolatos halov¨¢ny ellen¨¦rz¨¦seimt?l.)
(?n Miss Marple-t mindig Joan Hickson arc¨¢val k¨¦pzelem el. Ez m¨¢r ¨ªgy marad.)
Alighanem ez a Marple-reg¨¦nyek titka, a kontraszt a t?r¨¦keny test ¨¦s a m?g?tte rejl? eleven szellem k?z?tt, ami, ha szagot fog, kikutatja a gazs¨¢got, ha hat l¨¢b m¨¦lyre temett¨¦k is. Nem csoda, ha Mr. Rafiel (akivel tal¨¢lkoztunk m¨¢r a Rejt¨¦ly az Antill¨¢kon-ban) csak benne b¨ªzik, ?t k¨¦ri meg a hal¨¢lon t¨²lr¨®l visszany¨²lva, hogy bogozzon ki egy cs¨²nya rejtv¨¦nyt, egy elfeledett gyilkoss¨¢got, amit m¨¢r mindenki ad acta tett. Sz¨ªntiszta lehetetlen k¨¹ldet¨¦s ez, a logika ?sszes szab¨¢lya szerint, de h¨¢t Miss Marple-nek nincs lehetetlen. (Mivel Agatha Christie ¨²gy ¨ªrta meg, hogy ne legyen neki lehetetlen.) ?gyhogy cidrizzetek, gyilkosok, mert a Nemezis egy t¨¹nd¨¦ri, vid¨¦kies aggle¨¢ny k¨¦p¨¦ben m¨¢r fel¨¦tek csoszog.
(Megj.: picit sokalltam a reg¨¦nyben a "r¨¦genmindenjobbv¨®t" ¨ªz? mondatokat. Hogy a fiatalok ilyenek meg olyanok. A mai l¨¢nyok meg m¨¦g ilyenebbek ¨¦s olyanabbak. De v¨¦g¨¹l f¨¹ggetlen¨ªteni tudtam magam az ezzel kapcsolatos halov¨¢ny ellen¨¦rz¨¦seimt?l.)
December 13, 2017
"?? ???? ???? ????? ?? ????? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??????!"
"???? .. ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????"
????? "???? ???? ???" ?? "?????? ???????" ?? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??????"???? ???? ???? ??????" ?? "?????" ???? ????? ???? ???????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ??????? ???? ???????. ?? ???? ?? ???? ???????! ?????? ????? ????? ??????.
"???? .. ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????"
????? "???? ???? ???" ?? "?????? ???????" ?? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??????"???? ???? ???? ??????" ?? "?????" ???? ????? ???? ???????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ??????? ???? ???????. ?? ???? ?? ???? ???????! ?????? ????? ????? ??????.
March 7, 2020
¡°Ah, I see you are an actress, Miss Marple, as well as an avenger.¡±
Miss Jane Marple, upon learning of the death of Jason Rafiel, is given a task set by the late Mr. Rafiel himself. In a letter written before his death Mr. Rafiel asks Miss Marple to solve a murder and if she is successful, she will receive 20,000 pounds. However, Mr. Rafiel does not provide any details and Miss Marple does not even know whose murder she is to solve. Driven more by the challenge than the money, Miss Marple takes the case and starts following the clues left behind by Mr. Rafiel. As Miss Marple gets closer to solving the case, could her own life be at risk?
Originally written in 1971, this later installment of the Miss Marple series, to me, is one of the best. Miss Marple met Mr. Jason Rafiel while both were on holiday in the Caribbean island of St Honore about a year and a half ago. The two were involved in solving a murder there. Mr. Rafiel is a millionaire and not one of the easiest people to get along with. When he dies and leaves that letter behind for Miss Marple, she realizes that she made quite an impact on him. Having no solid clues, Miss Marple starts with the people that were with him in St. Honore. Then arrives the all-expenses-paid tour of famous British houses and gardens. Miss Marple joins the tour knowing that Mr. Rafiel must had more in mind than mere sight-seeing. Gradually, Miss Marple learns who was the victim and who is responsible for their death.
I have to say that I quite liked this book and the way in which the plot moved along. Since we do not know whose murder Miss Marple is investigating, I had no idea what details were important and which were the red herrings. I recall reading A Caribbean Mystery and enjoying that book. Mr. Rafiel certainly is a standout character and Miss Marple even more so. The pace, meting out of clues and the characters were all well done in this narrative. This is not just an excellent whodunit, its also a witty story with humorous moments and a character that is larger than life in her fluffy, pink shawl. I am almost towards the end of this series and only have two books left to read in it. Such a shame for I just love these books. As for this installment, it was everythig I expected of Christie and so much more.
Miss Jane Marple, upon learning of the death of Jason Rafiel, is given a task set by the late Mr. Rafiel himself. In a letter written before his death Mr. Rafiel asks Miss Marple to solve a murder and if she is successful, she will receive 20,000 pounds. However, Mr. Rafiel does not provide any details and Miss Marple does not even know whose murder she is to solve. Driven more by the challenge than the money, Miss Marple takes the case and starts following the clues left behind by Mr. Rafiel. As Miss Marple gets closer to solving the case, could her own life be at risk?
Originally written in 1971, this later installment of the Miss Marple series, to me, is one of the best. Miss Marple met Mr. Jason Rafiel while both were on holiday in the Caribbean island of St Honore about a year and a half ago. The two were involved in solving a murder there. Mr. Rafiel is a millionaire and not one of the easiest people to get along with. When he dies and leaves that letter behind for Miss Marple, she realizes that she made quite an impact on him. Having no solid clues, Miss Marple starts with the people that were with him in St. Honore. Then arrives the all-expenses-paid tour of famous British houses and gardens. Miss Marple joins the tour knowing that Mr. Rafiel must had more in mind than mere sight-seeing. Gradually, Miss Marple learns who was the victim and who is responsible for their death.
I have to say that I quite liked this book and the way in which the plot moved along. Since we do not know whose murder Miss Marple is investigating, I had no idea what details were important and which were the red herrings. I recall reading A Caribbean Mystery and enjoying that book. Mr. Rafiel certainly is a standout character and Miss Marple even more so. The pace, meting out of clues and the characters were all well done in this narrative. This is not just an excellent whodunit, its also a witty story with humorous moments and a character that is larger than life in her fluffy, pink shawl. I am almost towards the end of this series and only have two books left to read in it. Such a shame for I just love these books. As for this installment, it was everythig I expected of Christie and so much more.
October 20, 2020
3.5*
Its been some time since I wrote a review on GRs. I am busy but I had to review this book!
My 3 stars are solely for the reading experience and not for the story which had several issues. This seems to be the sequel of A Carribean Mystery which I felt was a very boring book. In Nemesis, we see a character from the first book Jason Rafaiel, a millionaire and "just" man (this is repeated several times in this book!). Mr. Rafaiel is dead but has entrusted a task to Ms. Marple : to go on a trip to visit historical houses and gardens in a different part of the country and there she might find out what Rafaiel has planned!
Clueless, Ms. Marple goes for this trip. There she understands by chance, that the task she has been entrusted might be to investigate a case that took place some time back in that area: the brutal murder of a young girl for which Mr.Rafaiel's only son Michael was arrested as the murderer.
The plot of this book was kind of senseless. The characters were confusing. The murders kind of pointless. But this was the second most creepy Christie book I had ever read (the first one is By the Pricking of my Thumbs). This is also by far the most misogynistic Christie books ever. Rape victim blaming is expressed by both men and women equally in this book.
Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading about this confused Ms. Marple who had no clue as to what she had to do. I was intrigued about what this unusual task could be. This was a really interesting read for me despite this book lacking logic!
*SPOILERS*
Some of the things I found to be stupid:
1. Why did Mr. Rafaiel wait until his death for this investigation?
2. Why did the 3 sisters invite Ms. Marple to their home when Mr. Rafaiel had asked them too, if they knew it was his son who had killed their beloved Verity? Why maintain a contact with Mr. Rafaiel at all? Unbelievable!!
3. The death of Ms. Elizabeth Temple was too far-fetched. How would the killer know she was here? And what if she was here? Why kill her? And how did the killer know she was going to talk to the clergyman at all? What if she had talked? I don't think they would have found much anyway.
4. The last wish of Ms. Elizabeth was to ask Ms. Marple to investigate about Verity!! I mean what a timing. Ms. Marple is on a trip where she meets Elizabeth and then her death leads to the clergyman and then Ms. Marple gets her case sorted out!!
Its been some time since I wrote a review on GRs. I am busy but I had to review this book!
My 3 stars are solely for the reading experience and not for the story which had several issues. This seems to be the sequel of A Carribean Mystery which I felt was a very boring book. In Nemesis, we see a character from the first book Jason Rafaiel, a millionaire and "just" man (this is repeated several times in this book!). Mr. Rafaiel is dead but has entrusted a task to Ms. Marple : to go on a trip to visit historical houses and gardens in a different part of the country and there she might find out what Rafaiel has planned!
Clueless, Ms. Marple goes for this trip. There she understands by chance, that the task she has been entrusted might be to investigate a case that took place some time back in that area: the brutal murder of a young girl for which Mr.Rafaiel's only son Michael was arrested as the murderer.
The plot of this book was kind of senseless. The characters were confusing. The murders kind of pointless. But this was the second most creepy Christie book I had ever read (the first one is By the Pricking of my Thumbs). This is also by far the most misogynistic Christie books ever. Rape victim blaming is expressed by both men and women equally in this book.
Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading about this confused Ms. Marple who had no clue as to what she had to do. I was intrigued about what this unusual task could be. This was a really interesting read for me despite this book lacking logic!
*SPOILERS*
Some of the things I found to be stupid:
1. Why did Mr. Rafaiel wait until his death for this investigation?
2. Why did the 3 sisters invite Ms. Marple to their home when Mr. Rafaiel had asked them too, if they knew it was his son who had killed their beloved Verity? Why maintain a contact with Mr. Rafaiel at all? Unbelievable!!
3. The death of Ms. Elizabeth Temple was too far-fetched. How would the killer know she was here? And what if she was here? Why kill her? And how did the killer know she was going to talk to the clergyman at all? What if she had talked? I don't think they would have found much anyway.
4. The last wish of Ms. Elizabeth was to ask Ms. Marple to investigate about Verity!! I mean what a timing. Ms. Marple is on a trip where she meets Elizabeth and then her death leads to the clergyman and then Ms. Marple gets her case sorted out!!
March 3, 2017
Very slow start. Good plot, though.
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