I am slowly clearing out the last of my books on hold reads from the public library. Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery was one of them. Normally I enjoy Christie, but perhaps this read was too close to the last one or because I thought this was a Miss Marple mystery and she was nowhere to be found, but for whatever reason the book fell flat with me and I just didn’t get my usual Christie enjoyment out of it.
As I read further and further into the book I started to wonder why there was no mention of Miss Marple, when I was sure this was a Marple book. No mention of her was on the cover, or the back blurb, yet when I did a Google search on the title the name Miss Marple inevitably came up. Upon turning the final page of the novel and still no Miss Marple to be found, I returned to Google only to find the book was turned into a movie with none other than Miss Marple solving the crime. Hmm. Bit of literary license taken there, I’d say.
Well. Humpf.
In the novel, a neighbourly group descends upon Sittaford House one Friday afternoon for tea with the Willets, a mother and daughter new to the neighbourhood. They have recently rented Sittaford House from its owner, Captain Trevelyan who has taken a place nearby in Exhampton. A game of table turning is soon suggested and everyone gathers round for some physic fun. Little are they aware that murder is about to occur or that the victim’s name will be spelled out by the “spirit” called forth. Upon hearing that Captain Trevelyan has been murdered, the group disbands, shocked, upset. None more so than his good friend Major Burnaby, who insists on leaving at once for Exhampton to check on the Captain, despite the snowstorm rapidly approaching.
In the habit of visiting, by foot, his friend each Friday, Major Burnaby trudges through the driving snow the six miles to Exhampton only to discover the murdered body of his late friend. Who, how and why must be discovered and it is soon revealed that the Captain’s nephew had visited Exhampton on the day of the murder and left by the six o’clock train the following morning. Highly suspicious behavour. The nephew is quickly arrested, but his fiancé, one Emily Trefusis, insists he is innocent and sets out to prove it while discovering the real murderer.
All the elements of Christie are present. Quiet village life with the usual assortment of oddball characters and a whip-smart young girl searching for truth while devoted to her true love. I guess I just missed Miss Marple and her clever ingeniousness or Hercule Poirot with his “little grey cells”. Stock characters perhaps, but for me, they bring Christie to life. The Sittaford Mystery was not a terrible read, I just had trouble getting into it as it was not at all what I was expecting.
Till next time, happy reading.
L J
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