Mystified

After conquering the 1000 page Biographical Dictionary of Film, I am happily back on my regular reading schedule. I picked up the next book in my gradually shrinking pile of mystery and science fiction novels that I bought at the Literacy Austin book sale this year (and which I hope to actually finish before the next book sale...). I'm reading them in alphabetical order by author's last name (yes, I went to library school), so next we have another foray into the world of Agatha Christie: A Murder is Announced (1950).

When I read Witness for the Prosecution oh-so-many months ago, it was the first Agatha Christie I'd ever tried. She always seemed so old-ladyish and PBSified. Could I really get into a full length mystery? And a Miss Marple mystery to boot? Well, yes, folks. Yes I could.

At the beginning of this book, an ad appears in the local gazette of a small British village announcing that a murder will take place that afternoon at a certain home. Naturally, all the curious people in the village turn up there to see what it all means -- most are expecting it to be some kind of game, and the people whose house it is believe it is some kind of practical joke. But when the lights go out and shots are fired, a body of a man no one knows is found in the middle of the floor. Pretty strange, eh? There are about one-thousand twists and turns in this book, and I was very satisfied to have figured out the mystery just a few pages before the detectives did, and not right away. And Miss Marple rules -- how did I not know that before?