Reviews

Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced by Leslie Darbon, Agatha Christie

janhasread's review against another edition

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5.0

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, etc etc as Lady Gaga once said

onesmartcupcake's review against another edition

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3.0

audiobook revisit

reggikko's review against another edition

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4.0

When I was younger I always preferred Poirot. Now, though, Miss Marple is more to my liking. This one is great fun.

marthaives's review against another edition

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4.0

5/10 Halloween Reads

I loved the set-up of this Miss Marple mystery. An announcement appears in the local newspaper of a quiet village: A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m. Unable to resist this mysterious invitation, the villagers show up to the location, wondering if it is a joke or a fun game. They don't presume that they could be witnesses to an actual crime... 

The story had so many exciting twists and turns, common in Agatha Christie books. I struggled figuring out who-did-it and was made to second-guess myself a lot, which I loved. Every time I read an Agatha Christie book, I'm blown away by her genius in coming up with these plots and how she  holds onto the mystery and tension throughout the story. It's no wonder her books are still read today. 

However, in this one there were so many characters to keep track of that at the beginning I sometimes forgot who was who. Especially the characters who were named Mrs whoever! The ending was a great twist and made for a overall enjoyable read. 

howjessicareads's review against another edition

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4.0

I think this is one of Christie's better mysteries, but man is the overuse of the word 'pussy' jarring. I realize it didn't mean the same thing back then, but still made me a bit crazy on audio. Also, I normally love Emilia Fox's narration, but I really disliked how she did Bunch Harmon's voice.

vickykgill's review against another edition

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5.0

I really loved this Marple tale and I loved the other characters and their involvement in finding the killer. A nice re-introduction into the genre of murder mysteries

skitch41's review against another edition

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3.0

At a sleepy inn in England, a murder is advertised beforehand in a local newspaper. And when it does happen, it sets off a race to find a killer by police, with the assistance of an amateur octogenarian sleuth, Miss Marple. That is the hook for this 1950 Agatha Christie novel and while this book does offer a few twists, some of it falls a little flat. The style in which Ms. Christie wrote is a little staid by today's standards. This can lead to some folks not getting some of the more important clues as there appears to be so little action going on throughout much of the book. Christie's writing can also be unintentionally hilarious at times (apparently the word "pussy" was not necessarily a bad word back then). However, things begin to pick up with a second and third murder, though the third one seems to happen off-screen. That's when the stress lines begin to show in people's actions and demeanor. But the final twist and cliché use of a fireplace reveal moves so fast that I had no idea what the heck just happened. Thankfully, Christie writes a final chapter where Miss Marple lays everything out. Still, it felt a little too convenient and unsatisfying. This may not be her best work, but it does have a few points of excitement for Agatha Christie fans.

booksandflowers's review against another edition

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4.0

Ah how I love Miss Marple and a good detective novel on a September day. This time Miss Marple comes to another small town in England and a murder is announced on the local newspaper. At the announced time someone dies. But is it a murder? A robbery went wrong? Or a suicide? Anyone could be the killer and everyone could be innocent.

Letitia Blacklock, the owner of the house in which the crime occurred, is the heiress to a great fortune thanks to her clean past and dedicated work. If a very sick and old lady dies, she would inherit the fortune. If Blacklock dies before the lady, two siblings (the nephews of the lady's husband) would own the money instead. So everyone suspects the two missing siblings Pip and Emma that they try to get rid of Letitia and plot to kill her. However, Letitia died a long time ago and her sister Charlotte pretends to be Letitia to inherit the fortune. Charlotte first plots to kill the receptionist who recognized her from Switzerland and then had to kill a good old friend because she knew the truth.


Another great novel by the one and only Ms. Agatha Christie aka the Queen of Suspense.

julesgou's review against another edition

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3.0

I. Give. Up. I don't think I'll ever figure out the culprit.

What can I say? Classic Christie. The ending didn't feel like it came out of nowhere (big surprise), so if you pay really close attention to what goes on, you can figure it out. It is almost another really really popular series that teens like. I refuse to say which because that would totally spoil the ending.

I feel like this is the first time that Miss Marple has really been there the entire way. She came in about 100 pages in and she stayed there. We got things from her perspective as well as the ending explained by her and the detective. I liked that. For a series focusing on Miss Marple, this is probably the only one that has really been about her and her ways so far.

Classic Christie. What else can be said?

I can't wait for Christie to stump me again!

speciosity's review

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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