The Idol House of Astarte - Agatha Christie

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AUTHOR: Agatha Christie
SERIES: Miss Marple, Short Story #2
GENRE: Cosy Mystery.
RATING: 2 stars.

Shucks! Yet another bummer in this collection.

The Tuesday Night Club meets at Dr. Pender’s house this time. The clergyman narrates a spooky mystery about a supposedly paranormal element in a murder that took place within a mysterious grove of trees. Once again, of the five club members who attempt to solve it, it is Miss Marple who hits the nail on the head.
(I’m beginning to think I should stop writing this line; it is but obvious that every mystery in this anthology will be solved by Miss Marple! 😄)

It took me a while to get into this short Marple story. The middle built up to some chilling paranormal suspense. The ending was a DUD. It leaves too many things unexplained. Moreover, as the entire story comes through conversations alone, it becomes a bit tricky to follow the story-within-a-story.

Overall, I liked the proceedings better than the first story, as this had more of a mystery element, but the resolution was utterly disappointing. Plus, there was hardly anything for Miss Marple to do except to stay quiet throughout the story and suddenly pop in with the answer during the climax.

This story is part of the 'The Thirteen Problems' collection.

PS: It’s a bit insulting about "oriental" looks, but letting it go because of the era it was written in.

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