A Murder Is Announced

‘'People with a grudge against the world are always dangerous.''

An idyllic village in the English countryside is waking up, its quirky residents about to start their day with their favourite newspaper, where an invitation to murder is waiting for them. Can you think of anything more interesting? Leticia, the ‘'queen'' of the village, is completely unaware of the play supposedly staged in her house, but what the heck, let's go with the flow. And a murder does take place but not in the way everyone has imagined. Thus, everything is ready for one of the finest mysteries by Queen Agatha.

In my opinion, this novel has one of the most interesting, vivid, quirky, memorable characters in all Dramatis Personae ever composed by Christie. From the lady of the manor, the disturbed veteran, the farm ladies in a relationship (Agatha never shied away from sexual dynamics), the alluring siblings, the kind-hearted friend who is there for everyone. My favourite characters have always been Philippa, the gardener, and Mitzi, the housemaid who escaped a war-ravaged country to find herself face-to-face with strange murders. As always, identities are mixed, unrevealed secrets kill by the dozen, relationships are broken and mended, lights go out to hide the faces of evil. This is one of the cleverest crimes conceived by the brilliant mind of the Queen of Crime. My grandma had a shepherdess memento from Italy. I remember that after reading A Murder Is Announced, quite a few years ago, I never looked at that porcelain thing in the same way as before. Not that I ever liked it but anyway...Revisiting this mystery always feels like reading it for the very first time.

Would you accept an invitation to murder?

‘'People in the dark are quite different, aren't they?''

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordp