A review by skitch41
A Murder Is Announced [Stage Adaptation] by Leslie Darbon, Agatha Christie

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.