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Now in her eighties, Miss Marple finds that her stamina, memory, sight, and hearing are not what they used to be. She scans the obituaries to see if she recognizes names and is aided at home by Miss Cherry and her husband. Rather than spending hours visiting her neighbors in St. Mary Mead, she has found that most of her close friends have moved away to warmer climates or passed on. Never one to spend extravagantly, Miss Marple resigns herself to the fact that she will live out her days in the sleepy village that she has always called home. This changes one day, however, when she notices the name of Mr. Rafiel in her daily scan of the obituaries. Having met him on her trip to the West Indies and collaborating with him on one of her cases, Miss Marple always thought fondly of Mr. Rafiel. When a letter arrives from him begging for her assistance in wrapping up the loose ends of his life, she is intrigued to oblige.
Mr. Rafiel has gifted Miss Marple a spot on a motor coach tour of England's glorious homes and gardens. Knowing that Miss Marple enjoys her gardening as much as anyway, Mr. Rafiel had an inkling that she would be thrilled to go on this trip that she could otherwise not afford. Yet, the cast of characters on this trip are not who they seem at first glance, and while Miss Marple rests at the Old Manor House run by three weird sisters, a woman on the tour is murdered, alarming all the participates aboard the coach and halting its progress. It is up to Miss Marple to solve this crime while also bringing to justice the case assigned to her by Mr. Rafiel. Even though her other faculties may be diminishing at her age, Miss Marple's mind is as sharp as ever, and she is all too happy to take on each murder case thrown at her.
As with the other Miss Marple cases I have read this year, Christie has shown that just because someone is older, does not mean that she is enfeebled in any or every form. The fact that age is just a number has been a recurring theme in my reading this year, and Miss Marple has epitomized this more so than other characters because her role has recurred many times. While Scotland Yard and local law enforcement officials are baffled by case after case, Miss Marple pieces together clues from her own form of deduction and is able to solve each mystery that stumps all those around her. In this case, two murdered young women from ten years ago and linked to a murdered victim on the motor coach tour. Miss Marple finds this as well as the three sisters and the clues given her by Mr. Rafiel to be intriguing and uses the information given to her to shape together the motive, crime, perpetrator, and victims. As with her other cases, she is undoubtedly correct, and leaves more experienced police shaking their heads and calling her names from queer to strange.
As I read my first Miss Marple cases earlier this year, I thought her to be a quirky older woman. Yet, the more cases I have read, the more I have enjoyed my time with Miss Marple. She has shown that anyone can solve a crime case by using a common form of deduction. The way she pieces together her cases makes sense that it makes me wonder why I had not thought of the same conclusion all along. I enjoyed rediscovering Agatha Christie this year, and each Miss Marple has was more enlightening than the last. Nemesis was a lovely conclusion to this series, and I hope to revisit Miss Marple more in the years to come.
4 stars
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Nemesis is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie (1890–1976) and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1971.
It was the last Miss Marple novel the author wrote, although Sleeping Murder was the last Christie novel to be published.
Miss Marple receives a post card from the recently deceased Jason Rafiel, a millionaire whom she had met during a holiday on which she had encountered a murder, which asks her to look into an
Nemesis (Miss Marple #12), Agatha ChristieNemesis is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie (1890–1976) and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1971.
It was the last Miss Marple novel the author wrote, although Sleeping Murder was the last Christie novel to be published.
Miss Marple receives a post card from the recently deceased Jason Rafiel, a millionaire whom she had met during a holiday on which she had encountered a murder, which asks her to look into an unspecified crime; if she succeeds in solving the crime, she will inherit £20,000. Rafiel has left her few clues. She begins by joining a tour of famous British houses and gardens with fifteen other people, arranged by Mr Rafiel prior to his death. ....
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1998 میلادی
عنوان: الهه انتقام: حل معمای قتل توسط خانم جین مارپل؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی؛ مترجم: منیژه رضائیزاده؛ تهران، پاسارگاد، 1377؛ در 371ص؛ شابک ایکس - 964607877؛ موضوع داستانهای جنایی از نویسنگان بریتانیایی - سده 20م
عنوان: الهه انتقام؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی؛ مترجم: مجتبی عبدالله نژاد؛ تهران، هرمس، کارآگاه، 1388؛ در شش و 292ص؛ شابک 9789643636111؛ چاپ دوم 1393؛ چاپ چهارم 1397؛
رمان «الهه انتقام» اثر بانوی روانشاد «آگاتا کریستی»، داستان دیگری از ماجراهای «خانم مارپل» را بازگو میکند.؛ شخصیت داستانی «مارپل»، زن مسن و ماجراجویی ست، که کنجکاوی او منجر به کشف حقایق ترسناکی میشود.؛ خانم «مارپل» ساکن روستای «سنت ماری مید»، روزی در روزنامه ی «تایمز» مرگ آقای «جیسون رافیل» را میخواند.؛ «رافیل» مردی سرسخت و ثروتمند بود، و «خانم مارپل» در سفری به جزیره ی «سنت اونوره»، یکی از جزایر «کارائیب»، با او آشنا شده بود.؛ «رافیل» لقب «الهۀ انتقام» را به «خانم مارپل» داده، و او را فردی بااستعداد و نابغه میدانست.؛ به دنبال مرگ «رافیل»، «خانم مارپل» از دفتر حقوقی «رافیل» نامه ای دریافت میکند، و با «جیمز برادریت» مشاور حقوقی او، و شریکش «شوستر» آشنا میشود.؛ طبق وصیتنامِۀ «رافیل»، خانم مارپل به ازای گرفتن مبلغی استخدام شده، تا پرده از جنایتی بردارد و راز آن را آشکار کند.؛ جنایتی که مابین «خانم مارپل» و «رافیل»، به صورت راز و مربوط به رمز «الهۀ انتقام» است
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 06/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
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Everybody else:
Nemesis. For such an ominous title, Christie presents a rather philosophically reserved and sedentary work. Miss Marple, of the pink fluffy wool and knitting needles, has been left a bequest by Mr. Rafiel, the debilitated rich man she met during A Caribbean Mystery. The bequest is conditional; she must investigate and elucidate a certain happening within a year. No more information is provided. The premise intrigues her and she accepts the challenge. She ta
Alfred! Don't read this!Everybody else:
Nemesis. For such an ominous title, Christie presents a rather philosophically reserved and sedentary work. Miss Marple, of the pink fluffy wool and knitting needles, has been left a bequest by Mr. Rafiel, the debilitated rich man she met during A Caribbean Mystery. The bequest is conditional; she must investigate and elucidate a certain happening within a year. No more information is provided. The premise intrigues her and she accepts the challenge. She takes some small steps on her own, although she also receives a brief post-mortem letter from him, containing little more detail except that he would like to send her on a particular coach countryside tour.
It's a mildly-intriguing set-up where the reader and Miss Marple are in similar straights, waiting to discover what the mystery is. Unfortunately, it is very slow going, and because Miss Marple is unsure of her task, much of her conversations are fishing for information, but what sort of catch? It is a very internally-based story, relying on Miss Marple's internal dialogue, and the sharing of long stories with various characters. It occurs to me that it is about the exact opposite of another recent read, Dark Matter, which had frantic pacing and a staccato narrative. Take, for instance, the first part of this paragraph from Miss Marple:
"Mr. Rafiel had made arrangements. Arrangements, to begin with, with his lawyers. They had done their part. At the right interval of time they had forwarded to her his letter. It had been, she thought, a well-considered and well-thought-out letter. It would have been simpler, certainly, to tell her exactly what he wanted her to do and why he wanted it done. She was surprised in a way that he had not, before his death, sent for her, probably in a somewhat peremptory way and more or less lying on what he would have assured her was his deathbed, and would then have bullied her until she consented to do what he was asking her. But no, that would not really have been Mr. Rafiel's way, she thought. He could bully people, none better, but this was not a case for bullying, and he did not with either, she was sure, to appeal to her, to beg her to do him a favour, to urge her to redress a wrong. No. That again would not have been Mr. Rafiel's way. He wanted, she thought, as he had probably wanted all his life, to pay for what he required. He wanted to pay her and therefore he wanted to interest her enough to really enjoy doing certain work."
It goes on this way for another ten to twelve sentences, as she mentally works her way through interpretations of Mr. Rafiel's motivations and plans. But you can see this is rather sleepy stuff, that we are mostly inside Miss Marple's head as she speculates and dissects the situation. It picks up a little bit when she's invited to a house part-way through the trip, but the dialogue gives only some respite, as many times she employs her nattering, ditzy elderly persona to elicit more information. She talks to a man with the Home Office and another man with the Church and listens to their stories as well as their views on the psychology of the crime and the psychology of the criminal.
The setting was nicely developed; I certainly felt like I was on a rather dull coach tour with a bunch of tourists. The gardens, the surface conversations between strangers, the options for the hardy and the elderly all captured that bus tour feeling. Eventually there is a mild atmosphere of oppression, much like the air outside before a mild storm, but nothing quite suffocating. Nothing worth of the 'nemesis' label. The denouement is a bit... anti-climactic, and to make it worse, it is a trick used by Miss M. before.
It occurs to me that despite the inner dialogue, I don't remember very much about Miss M. personally, which is a shame. Still, it was mildly interesting putting the pieces together, even if I did have the tendency to nod off from time to time. I'm totally sure it was me. Mostly. Partly. But I always enjoy a little bit of Miss M. from time to time--after all, after Nancy Drew, she is the female investigator I've known the longest.
Two and a half sleepy stars
Alfred's insightful review on the emotion of the story.
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Nemesis starts very intriguingly, with Mr. Rafiel, introduced in A Caribbean Mystery leaving Miss Marple in his will twenty-thousand pounds, given she solve a mystery for him. Old hat for Miss Marple, right? Except she won't be told the who, the what, the where, or the when of the crime,
In which I mostly skirt around my incredibly long and ever-expanding views on societal victim-shaming because who has days to type that up and people just want to know about the wacky British people, for godssakeNemesis starts very intriguingly, with Mr. Rafiel, introduced in A Caribbean Mystery leaving Miss Marple in his will twenty-thousand pounds, given she solve a mystery for him. Old hat for Miss Marple, right? Except she won't be told the who, the what, the where, or the when of the crime, only the code word "Nemesis".
I feel a little guilty giving this a lower rating than A Caribbean Mystery, as it does feature a much more involving mystery, full of messed-up psycho-sexual dimensions to which Agatha Christie gives much more body than Caribbean trifle. But it is also in need of a judicious amount of editing: it takes a far bit to get moving, the same clues and recaps of events are repeated incessantly, and Christie's style heavily leans on dialogue where a little narration would be a lot more efficient. This undermines the solid core of the story Christie is weaving, but more problematic is her shockingly regressive views, which arise in several contexts, but most specifically as those that shame how young women of "today"(1971 is the publication date) act too "loosely".
This is most egregious in some victim-shaming that occurs, which crops up not once but multiple times by several different characters. I chose one example to discuss, just because it's the most elaborated, but the other examples are much the same. **MILD SPOILERS, if you don't want to know anything about what the case is** The following are words from a crime/police-psychologist, who thinks the man in question does not have the personality of someone capable of the murder of a girlfriend for which he's been convicted. Said convict is a known compulsive liar, thief, gangster, delinquent baby daddy, and who was involved in a previous assault case with another girlfriend: (excuse the length, but I wanted to give you the fullest context necessary)
"That [earlier case] told against him, of course. Not in the jury's mind, because of course they did not hear about that until after the judge's summing up, but certainly in the judge's mind [...] I made a few inquiries myself afterwards. He had assaulted a girl. He had conceivably raped her, but he had not attempted to strangle her and in my opinion--I have seen a great many cases which come before the assizes--it seemed to me highly unlikely that there was a very definite case case of rape. Girls, you must remember, are far more ready to be raped nowadays than they used to be. Their mothers insists, very often, that they should call it rape. The girl in question had had several boy friends who had gone further than friendship. I did not think it counted very greatly as evidence against him. The actual murder case--yes, that was undoubtedly murder--but I continued to feel by all the tests [...] none of them accorded with this particular crime."Yes, a man who fits many of the dimensions by which we define sociopathy, and who has a history of violence towards a girlfriend, is totally incapable of committing a murder (of which he was convicted even without the details of the assault-case being heard at trial, a trial where he had the best defense money could buy). He beat her, but he didn't strangle her, so he's clearly he's a nonviolent soul. Women who have had several boyfriends cannot be raped. She's lying. These later two implications are particularly horrible and hurtful, because besides being ugly and ignorant and false, are also much more prevalent even today than they should be in any right-minded society.**end spoilers**
I'm not demonizing Agatha Christie. I haven't read enough of her to characterize her work as a whole or to really disseminate her worldview. But I do think it's very telling looking at the publication dates of her most popular works, that most of them were from the 30s and 40s and none of them were from the 60s or the 70s. As a character, Miss Marple represents to me a subversive celebration of qualities that are normally derided in Western culture as being stereotypical-elderly-people traits-- and so it's incredibly disappointing to have her instead be a figurehead of stereotypical qualities are just plain ugly. Rating: 2 stars
Note: Nemesis is the basis of one of my favorite Agatha Christie's Marple episodes (2007), staring Geraldine McEwan. It's a little camp and a lot of fun, and it irons out most of the unfortunate implications. I recommend the series in general. It's nice slight viewing that has a great sense of humor about itself.
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JAN 2020- book 17
(I don't review her books, never could because honestly I will be bias because I love her. )
For all who don't know , I am in love with Agatha Christie ever since I started reading her books( 5 years ago) and I planned to read a book of her each month so that I don't run out of her books !
4✨JAN 2020- book 17
(I don't review her books, never could because honestly I will be bias because I love her. )
For all who don't know , I am in love with Agatha Christie ever since I started reading her books( 5 years ago) and I planned to read a book of her each month so that I don't run out of her books !
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She is asked to investigate a crime,so that justice can be done.But the instructions are very vague indeed,leaving Miss Marple to wonder what she is supposed to be looking for.
This is the final Miss Marple book.
It was published just a few years before Agatha Christie died,but in her old age,just like Miss Marple,Christie was still very sharp.This is a mu
She is asked to investigate a crime,so that justice can be done.But the instructions are very vague indeed,leaving Miss Marple to wonder what she is supposed to be looking for.
This is the final Miss Marple book.
It was published just a few years before Agatha Christie died,but in her old age,just like Miss Marple,Christie was still very sharp.This is a multiple murder mystery in which Miss Marple finds her life in great danger.A fitting finale to the Miss Marple series.
All good things must come to an end.
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The plot was excellent and it was probably the Miss Marple book with her the most visible, which truly made it enjoyable. A wonderful cast of characters, in a fantastic setting and an unknown mystery to solve with Miss Marple in the middle of it, what more could you want.
And now that being the last novel, and only the final short stories to go in this c Phew, just finished and you know, I don't think I've ever read this. I knew the story, probably through the TV version, but this was even better.
The plot was excellent and it was probably the Miss Marple book with her the most visible, which truly made it enjoyable. A wonderful cast of characters, in a fantastic setting and an unknown mystery to solve with Miss Marple in the middle of it, what more could you want.
And now that being the last novel, and only the final short stories to go in this challenge, I'm wondering what I'm going to do next year. ...more
It's all wool and smoke. It is unsavory and disappointing.
Then came the Hickson Marple. *shudder* What a farrago. Resembles the book very little, but not to the benefit of the filmed version.
What a mess. A plot that makes no sense. A cast of characters that, frankly, has no coherent logic for their appearance, disappearance, or involvement with each other. Dull writing. Blundering about and letting people killed? What's Marple up to? And Rafiel, the man of justice, sets this death-fest up to...?It's all wool and smoke. It is unsavory and disappointing.
Then came the Hickson Marple. *shudder* What a farrago. Resembles the book very little, but not to the benefit of the filmed version. Dismal, dingy stuff.
And then came Agatha Christie's Marple, with Geraldine McEwan. A better-than-the-book adaptation, though the similarity to the source material is...tangential. I got a BIG kick out of the book's sisters becoming Catholic Sisters. Haw. But my irritation with the basic story makes me think of this as a squicky icky Book-of-Job level creepfest. Like that Biblical bar bet between the divine buds to see how much one man could take before he broke, this story sets a bunch of creepy people to fighting among themselves and gets some of them killed.
That's not right, it's not acceptable, and it's not fun.
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Remember A Caribbean Mystery?!
No?
Yeah, well it was somewhat forgettable. But for whatever reason, Christie decided to one of those characters that Jane teamed up with to kick start this mystery. And while most of them have absolutely nothing to do with her current Nemesis, you do get a tiny peek at what some of those guys are up to now. <--kinda cool
This time around Jane is tasked by an old acquaintance (in
Agatha isn't known for her sequels, but that's almost exactly what Nemisis is...in a way.Remember A Caribbean Mystery?!
No?
Yeah, well it was somewhat forgettable. But for whatever reason, Christie decided to one of those characters that Jane teamed up with to kick start this mystery. And while most of them have absolutely nothing to do with her current Nemesis, you do get a tiny peek at what some of those guys are up to now. <--kinda cool
This time around Jane is tasked by an old acquaintance (in his will) to look into an old murder and see if she can suss out the real killer.
Can she do it?
Duh.
It's another solid Marple mystery that fans of Christie should enjoy.
Joan Hickson - Narrator
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Nemesis is a fairly slow moving story, as Miss Marple is tasked with uncovering a mystery by a rich financier she had met while vacationing in the Caribbean some time before. There is much time spent while Miss Marple gets to know a number of peo Despite Miss Marple's twittering, kindly, old biddy persona that she presents to many, she's an analytical, stern, rather ruthless and calculating person, carefully evaluating people's behaviour and words to very effectively determine who is a murderer.
Nemesis is a fairly slow moving story, as Miss Marple is tasked with uncovering a mystery by a rich financier she had met while vacationing in the Caribbean some time before. There is much time spent while Miss Marple gets to know a number of people while on a tour (paid for by the financier) of houses and gardens.
I liked how Miss Marple deliberately played up her frailty or supposed dottiness to disarm others, so she could watch their actions and what they said. (This novel is definitely part of its time, as there were repugnant views about rape expressed by some of the characters. ) ...more
This is a good story, well-plotted with the right amount of mysterious atmosphere. When Miss Marple says that she can sense evil in the atmosphere, we readers, too, can feel it. Christie has created the mysterious undertone so well. Miss Marple is in full action here in the role of an unofficial detective inspector. The active involvement of Miss Marple is nice and welcoming. By closely following her, I was able to guess the criminal and the motive at an early stage, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the whole. Unlike in many mysteries of the series, this murder mystery has a tragic undertone. I felt quite melancholic reading it and sympathized with all the victims. While all these helped me to connect and enjoy this work, certain factors marred its full enjoyment.
There were too many repeated actions and dialogues that could have been avoided. There wasn't any need to drag on the story like that, making some of the middle chapters pretty boring. Also, I didn't much like Christie's portrayal of Miss Marple here. Christie has no illusions about Miss Marple, of course. She portrays her for her true self, as the aging, feeble lady whose mind is still sharp. But in this case, in her effort to portray Miss Marple as the kind of aging feeble lady of the old school, she had made her judgemental and cynical. And that didn't go quite well with me.
On the whole, however, it was a good mystery, and it certainly brought me comfort after my previous disappointment in the series. There is only one more book to go for me to complete the series, and now I can look forward to it composedly.
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In a sense, this is, unusually, something of a sequel. Mr Jason Rafiel, the wealthy financier we first met in, "A Caribbean Mystery," has died. To her surprise, Miss Marple receives a letter, asking her to visit a solicitors. A sum of money has been set aside, if she will accept a certain proposition. Mr Rafiel wants Miss Marple to investigate a crime – the problem is that there are no real instruction or information. Of course, Miss Marple accepts and is later invited to take a tour – to be specific Tour 37 of the Famous Homes and Gardens of Great Britain.
Knowing Mr Rafiel, Miss Marple expects that she will find out what she is meant to be investigating by being herself; asking questions and being the nosy, elderly woman that everyone expects. Along the way, she is approached by various people that Mr Rafiel has contacted before his death. For he trusted Miss Marple to solve an earlier injustice and, of course, she doesn't let him down.
This has an interesting plot, with an unusual setting and a good cast of characters. I enjoyed the parts of the novel which featured Miss Marple on the coach tour, trundling around various stately homes and wondering which of her fellow passengers were of interest. Although I look forward to reading the last volume of short stories, I am both glad to have read all of the novels in order and saddened that I have come to the last in the series.
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Separated at Birth:
Agatha Christie and Jo Nesbo AND their main crime-solvers, respectively Jane Marple and Harry Hole
Christie and Nesbo: Both are white people who live/d in northern countries, England/Norway. Both are internationally renowned mystery writers who have published millions of copies of their books, published in several languages. Both reference the outdoor
I've just taken the opportunity to read Nemesis by Jo Nesbo and Nemesis by Agatha Christie and that has occasioned the following:Separated at Birth:
Agatha Christie and Jo Nesbo AND their main crime-solvers, respectively Jane Marple and Harry Hole
Christie and Nesbo: Both are white people who live/d in northern countries, England/Norway. Both are internationally renowned mystery writers who have published millions of copies of their books, published in several languages. Both reference the outdoors in their works (though Christie a bit more, with all those flowers especially in the Marple mysteries) and highlight physical adventure and travel in their personal lives (Nesbo a world class rock climber, traveling the world over to climb and research potential crime sites for his novels, and Christie, too, liked to climb and travel, with her archaeologist husband, to research crime sites for her novels). Neither Nemesis book is evidence of their very best work, though I'd argue Nesbo's is a better work. Obviously Christie has the better rep as a writer. That whole most popular writer ever. But give her a break, this book came out when Christie was 80.
Jane Marple and Harry Hole: Similarities: Both passionate about solving crimes, both have what Marple is described as having in Nemesis: "a sense of evil," and a low general view of human nature; Harry is an alcoholic, sometimes dry for most of his books; Marple is not averse to taking a drink or two, especially sherry. A lot of people seem to like them..
Differences: Marple refers to herself as an "old pussy" (Stop right there! She means like cats! Wherever has your mind gone?!) repeatedly in this book; Harry Hole is. .. well, not an old pussy, nor particularly interested in them, based on the women he seems to be attracted to in his Nemesis. Jane is old, as we are reminded repeatedly; Harry is half her age, and, well, is much taller and more attractive to the opposite sex. Woman, man, but what kind of assumptions are we making here in an age of gender fluidity? They may be the same person!
Both books are titled Nemesis, and are focused on various nemeses, which might lead one to think Christie's story will be a particularly dark one, dripping with mythological blood revenge, but it's not that dark. In the Nesbo, the revenge is much darker.
Christie's Nemesis is not her best work, slow-going, somewhat baffingly conceived and plotted; there are repugnant views about rape, women and girls, and teenaged pregnancy expressed by some of the characters, including Miss Marple herself, now like Christie herself, in her eighties. But hey, one the way hand, good for her, she published it at the age of 80, in 1971, one of her very last books, so maybe I give her a break, (maybe). But then, on the other hand, my main memory is all these old people talking rot about young women bringing it all on themselves, and some racist views, too.
Joan Hickson reads it so well, though, so she manages to make Jane still somewhat charming--an unassuming, kind of ditzy old lady on the one hand and ruthlessly focused on the other hand. I'll say 2.5 stars, but honestly, at some points I thought it was pretty weak compared to most of Christie's work. She may not be Jo Nesbo recincarnated after all.
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I would have reviewed this one a while ago, right after I read the book, in fact, but I really didn't want to be reminded about much of the book.
I have really grown to dislike Miss Marple and this book is a fine example of everything that bugs me about her character.
From her innate xenophobia:
"The fourth chair
I would have reviewed this one a while ago, right after I read the book, in fact, but I really didn't want to be reminded about much of the book.
I have really grown to dislike Miss Marple and this book is a fine example of everything that bugs me about her character.
From her innate xenophobia:
"The fourth chair was occupied by Mr Caspar whom Miss Marple considered as not sufficiently conversant with the English language to matter."
....
"Miss Marple had never quite succeeded in abandoning her Victorian view of foreigners. One never knew with foreigners. Quite absurd, of course, to feel like that – she had many friends from various foreign countries. All the same . . . ?"
to her being a judgmental old busy-body:
"One of them was very definitely the complaining type, one who would want to have seats at the front of the coach or else would make a point of having them at the back of the coach. Would wish to sit on the sunny side or could only bear to sit on the shady side. Who would want more fresh air, or less fresh air."
and a little bit deluded - though it was weird to even read about this potential love interest:
"Poor Mr Rafiel. The ship that had passed in the night had been an interesting ship. Once you got used to his being rude, he might have been quite an agreeable man? No! She shook her head. Mr Rafiel could never have been an agreeable man. Well, she must put Mr Rafiel out of her head. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness."
I have not read The Caribbean Mystery, yet, but I somehow doubt there was such a thing in it as a blossoming romance between old Marple and Mr. Rafiel.
Just as I know there is a disconnect between this utterance...
"Miss Marple packed a suitcase bag, went to London, booked a room at a modest hotel – ('Ah, Bertram's Hotel,' she thought in her mind, 'what a wonderful hotel that was!"
...and the fact that Marple disapproved of Bertram's Hotel by the end of the book (At Bertram's Hotel) written six years before Nemesis. So, having paid a little attention, I found this book to be containing more "continuity errors" than I can put up with.
Anyway, I won't give anything away about the somewhat far-fetched plot but Marple is not the only bone of contention with this book. As others have also summarised, there are also concerns with the book with respect to the issue of victim shaming and the trivialisation of rape.
I don't know if the poor quality of the story is down to Dame Agatha loosing touch with readers in her later work or what, but Nemesis pretty much made the decision for me that Miss Marple is not all she's cracked up to be.
"She looked round the church in which she was sitting. It looked so peaceful. The reality of Evil was hard to believe in. A flair for Evil – that was what Mr Rafiel had attributed to her."
Yeah, I think I'm with Mr. Rafiel on this one. ...more
Miss Jane Marple, upon learning of the death of Jason Rafiel, is given a task set by the late Mr. Rafiel himself. In a letter written before his death Mr. Rafiel asks Miss Marple to solve a murder and if she is successful, she will receive 20,000 pounds. However, Mr. Rafiel does not provide any details and Miss Marple does not even know whose murder she is to solve. Driven more by the challenge than the money, Miss Marple takes
"Ah, I see you are an actress, Miss Marple, as well as an avenger."Miss Jane Marple, upon learning of the death of Jason Rafiel, is given a task set by the late Mr. Rafiel himself. In a letter written before his death Mr. Rafiel asks Miss Marple to solve a murder and if she is successful, she will receive 20,000 pounds. However, Mr. Rafiel does not provide any details and Miss Marple does not even know whose murder she is to solve. Driven more by the challenge than the money, Miss Marple takes the case and starts following the clues left behind by Mr. Rafiel. As Miss Marple gets closer to solving the case, could her own life be at risk?
Originally written in 1971, this later installment of the Miss Marple series, to me, is one of the best. Miss Marple met Mr. Jason Rafiel while both were on holiday in the Caribbean island of St Honore about a year and a half ago. The two were involved in solving a murder there. Mr. Rafiel is a millionaire and not one of the easiest people to get along with. When he dies and leaves that letter behind for Miss Marple, she realizes that she made quite an impact on him. Having no solid clues, Miss Marple starts with the people that were with him in St. Honore. Then arrives the all-expenses-paid tour of famous British houses and gardens. Miss Marple joins the tour knowing that Mr. Rafiel must had more in mind than mere sight-seeing. Gradually, Miss Marple learns who was the victim and who is responsible for their death.
I have to say that I quite liked this book and the way in which the plot moved along. Since we do not know whose murder Miss Marple is investigating, I had no idea what details were important and which were the red herrings. I recall reading A Caribbean Mystery and enjoying that book. Mr. Rafiel certainly is a standout character and Miss Marple even more so. The pace, meting out of clues and the characters were all well done in this narrative. This is not just an excellent whodunit, its also a witty story with humorous moments and a character that is larger than life in her fluffy, pink shawl. I am almost towards the end of this series and only have two books left to read in it. Such a shame for I just love these books. As for this installment, it was everythig I expected of Christie and so much more.
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Its been some time since I wrote a review on GRs. I am busy but I had to review this book!
My 3 stars are solely for the reading experience and not for the story which had several issues. This seems to be the sequel of A Carribean Mystery which I felt was a very boring book. In Nemesis, we see a character from the first book Jason Rafaiel, a millionaire and "just" man (this is repeated several times in this book!). Mr. Rafaiel is dead but has entrusted a task to Ms. Marple : to go on a trip t
3.5*Its been some time since I wrote a review on GRs. I am busy but I had to review this book!
My 3 stars are solely for the reading experience and not for the story which had several issues. This seems to be the sequel of A Carribean Mystery which I felt was a very boring book. In Nemesis, we see a character from the first book Jason Rafaiel, a millionaire and "just" man (this is repeated several times in this book!). Mr. Rafaiel is dead but has entrusted a task to Ms. Marple : to go on a trip to visit historical houses and gardens in a different part of the country and there she might find out what Rafaiel has planned!
Clueless, Ms. Marple goes for this trip. There she understands by chance, that the task she has been entrusted might be to investigate a case that took place some time back in that area: the brutal murder of a young girl for which Mr.Rafaiel's only son Michael was arrested as the murderer.
The plot of this book was kind of senseless. The characters were confusing. The murders kind of pointless. But this was the second most creepy Christie book I had ever read (the first one is By the Pricking of my Thumbs). This is also by far the most misogynistic Christie books ever. Rape victim blaming is expressed by both men and women equally in this book.
Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading about this confused Ms. Marple who had no clue as to what she had to do. I was intrigued about what this unusual task could be. This was a really interesting read for me despite this book lacking logic!
*SPOILERS*
Some of the things I found to be stupid:
1. Why did Mr. Rafaiel wait until his death for this investigation?
2. Why did the 3 sisters invite Ms. Marple to their home when Mr. Rafaiel had asked them too, if they knew it was his son who had killed their beloved Verity? Why maintain a contact with Mr. Rafaiel at all? Unbelievable!!
3. The death of Ms. Elizabeth Temple was too far-fetched. How would the killer know she was here? And what if she was here? Why kill her? And how did the killer know she was going to talk to the clergyman at all? What if she had talked? I don't think they would have found much anyway.
4. The last wish of Ms. Elizabeth was to ask Ms. Marple to investigate about Verity!! I mean what a timing. Ms. Marple is on a trip where she meets Elizabeth and then her death leads to the clergyman and then Ms. Marple gets her case sorted out!!
For me, what makes this one of Agatha Christie's best novels is its portrayal of deeply flawed love. How a dying, unloving father seeks to exonerate a delinquent son imprisoned for the murder of a girl he loved. How love did not set free a girl beloved by all and bludgeoned to death. How another girl is shamed more for loving easily than for her disappearance. How young love is idealistic and life-changing, until life tragically changed it. How love in its darkest manifestation desires to desperately possess. How love is confused with sex, and sex for rape.
Nemesis has the requisite group setting of usual suspects, whose dialogues serve to advance the story. The standout conversation takes place between Miss Marple and the village Archdeacon, about a concept of antiquity where love, sex and marriage are intimately related. It is old-fashioned, certainly, but for a suspended moment in time, for the teenager who read this years ago, I believed.
With the gumption of amateur sleuth plays amateur psychologist, Miss Marple solves the crime as she always does. By mid-story, so will many readers just by following the arrows ---> Guilty <---. This is a slight departure from norm, as the mystery itself was peripheral to a central story about love buried in the past. The most honest moments are the self reflections on aging, and moving forward with life, regardless. Nemesis has the feel of an author's farewell published just 2 years before her death at age 85 in 1976.
This was an impromptu re-read. A recent GR discussion had reminded me of Nemesis and I found myself remembering its story but not the details, the feeling but not the words. Most of all, I remembered nothing of the characters' regressive social observations but now reading again as a modern adult, those were immediately glaring and disturbing. To that, I thought, "oh, goodness gracious" and chalked it down to character idiocy. Truly, it was difficult for me to feel upset about a leading lady who repeatedly calls herself a "pussy" with utter earnestness, and totally owns it.
Well, I had enjoyed the story years ago, and apparently, still do.
[* And, see Carol.'s for a much better review]
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Now, I don't know if Agatha Christie felt this way herself, or if she was portraying old people as being out of touch, but I suspect these were her thoughts simply because they are repeated so often, and in several other books written around this time (early 70s) she has main characters decry modern society and the downfall of civilization brought on by women in short skirts. Feh. ...more
Ms Marple might look innocuous, but this old lady has secret depths. Who said being old meant stupid or indeed harmless? No, this old lady can be ruthless in her search for justice, and this is the mission assigned to her from the grave by an old acquaintance, the millionaire Mr Rafiel. Off goes Jane trying
"Was she, Jane Marple—could she ever be—ruthless? "D'you know," said Miss Marple to herself, "it's extraordinary, I never thought about it before. I believe, you know, I could be ruthless…."Ms Marple might look innocuous, but this old lady has secret depths. Who said being old meant stupid or indeed harmless? No, this old lady can be ruthless in her search for justice, and this is the mission assigned to her from the grave by an old acquaintance, the millionaire Mr Rafiel. Off goes Jane trying to find exactly what the old man wanted to be uncovered.
There is quite a bit of repetition and if you are used to these types of stories, you may indeed find out who the murderer is. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. This may have been due to listening to Joan Hickson's rendition (I kept seeing her - not just hearing her), which was perfect :O)
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Mr Rafiel and his masseur-attendant Jackson ... (12 lines later) ... He had with him a valet attendant, a qualified masseur ... (7 lines later) ... Miss Marple wondered whether Jackson? Johnson? had st
By the 1970s when Christie wrote her last three books (Nemesis, Elephants Can Remember, Postern of Fate) it seems extremely likely that she was suffering from Alzheimer's. At the very least, she was obsessively preoccupied with the subject of memory loss. Let's look at the first chapter of Nemesis.Mr Rafiel and his masseur-attendant Jackson ... (12 lines later) ... He had with him a valet attendant, a qualified masseur ... (7 lines later) ... Miss Marple wondered whether Jackson? Johnson? had stayed on ... (10 lines later) ... no, it wasn't Johnson, it had been Jackson, Arthur Jackson.
Mr Rafiel and his secretary Mrs, Mrs Walters, yes, Esther Walters ... (a page and a half later) ... now what was the name of that nice secretary that Mr Rafiel had. Oh yes, Esther Walters.
Miss, Miss Bishop. No, not Miss Bishop, of course not. Why had she thought of the name Bishop. ... (4 lines later) ... Of course, it was Miss Knight I was thinking of. Not Miss Bishop. Why do I think of her as Miss Bishop. The answer came to her. Chess, of course.
OMGWTFBBQ!!1 Who gives a crap?! Can you just get on with the damn story!? Why didn't a relative stop her from trying to publish this drivel? And where were the editors? Why are my eyeballs and little grey cells being subjected to this torture?
It doesn't get any better from there. Any time you're reading a Christie novel and learn that a murder occurred X years ago (a plot device that Christie unfortunately turns to far too often[*]), you know you're in for a god-awful read. This is no exception to that rule. The idea that Mr Rafiel would not provide her any instructions as to what he wanted done ("so as not to prejudice her opinions") is stretched beyond the breaking point. Particularly annoying is that every few pages, she stops to give us a summary of events to that point. It's almost as if you were reading a serial ("when last we left our heroine blah blah blah"). I guess that's another symptom of Christie's failing memory, assuming her readers need a reminder of what happened in the last chapter. And finally, the one unforgivable offense, there's really only one serious suspect, despite some lame attempts at red herrings. Only to cap it off with explanation ad nauseam of the chain of events, which was obvious to anybody chapters before it was revealed.
Aside from the plodding uninteresting plot, the treatment of rape (it's no big deal, and girls usually lie about it anyway) is appalling. And her opinions on lesbianism, while they might have been ok in 1920 when she started her career, were bizarre in the extreme for 1970 when this novel was written (and the reference to "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" confirms it's set no earlier than 1960).
Bottom line: It's better than Postern of Fate, but just barely. Only for hard-core Christie fans. All others can skip it.
[*] Edited 11/23/2020 to add a final thought: This "murder X years ago" device is the setup for ALL THREE of her final novels mentioned in the first paragraph of this review. Presumably this decision is also a result of her declining faculties. It must be much easier to write a detective story when you don't have to worry about getting any of the details precisely right because either there are no witnesses or because the witnesses aren't expected to remember precise details so many years later.
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Jason Rafiel, whom she met when her nephew sent her to the West Indies, gave her the sobriquet of Nemesis and is dying, leaves her some funds if she will resolve a situati0n. He doesn't really tell her what the situation is, and his lawyers don't really know much
One of my favorites of Miss Marple's stories. Not sure why. Maybe it is the promise of riches (to her) at the end or danger she puts herself in. Or just the fact that she is traveling around rather staying in one (relatively) safe place.Jason Rafiel, whom she met when her nephew sent her to the West Indies, gave her the sobriquet of Nemesis and is dying, leaves her some funds if she will resolve a situati0n. He doesn't really tell her what the situation is, and his lawyers don't really know much about it. But he sends her on a bus tour, estates and gardens tour or some such thing.
Through the course of the tour she discovers what the situation is primarily because he has also sent others on this tour to either help or give her clues. And there is one woman who tells her about a girl who was killed and that she believes she died for Love. This sends Miss Marple off on her chase.
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I loved the atmosphere of this book which has scenes steeped in a brooding melancholy - and it's rich in literary allusions: Clytemnestra, Ophelia, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet. More disconcerting are some horrible period attitudes towards women and rape ("Girls... are far more ready to be raped nowadays... their mothers insist... that they should call it rape").
It's lovely, too, to see
An unusual mystery as Miss Marple is sent on a quest with no clues as to who has been murdered...I loved the atmosphere of this book which has scenes steeped in a brooding melancholy - and it's rich in literary allusions: Clytemnestra, Ophelia, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet. More disconcerting are some horrible period attitudes towards women and rape ("Girls... are far more ready to be raped nowadays... their mothers insist... that they should call it rape").
It's lovely, too, to see Miss Marple bow out with a promise to have fun!
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Not so long ago I read A Caribbean Mystery, so Mr. Rafiel was fresh in my memory. I did not expect this story to refer to those events and characters. I think it added a very interesting element and introduced a sense of consistency to the adventures of Miss Marple. It is a pity that it is related to Rafiel's death, because I would love to see
This is a good and interesting story with Miss Marple. Not the best Christie's book I've read, but it's still pretty good. And I had a lot of fun reading.Not so long ago I read A Caribbean Mystery, so Mr. Rafiel was fresh in my memory. I did not expect this story to refer to those events and characters. I think it added a very interesting element and introduced a sense of consistency to the adventures of Miss Marple. It is a pity that it is related to Rafiel's death, because I would love to see them together on yet another adventure.
I also liked that Rafiel partly orchestrated the story. And Miss Marple had to submit to his will, not having too many clues as to what was really going on. She has to guess what Rafiel might have meant based on very few hints. And she has great faith that Rafiel had provided her with everything she might need. It was a very interesting solution.
I also liked how clever Miss Marple is, which we see well in this story. Miss Marple does not hesitate to use her age and harmless appearance to get what she wants and she is eager to play the stereotypical old lady if she needs to. I did not always like Miss Marple in other books in this series, but in this story it is impossible not to appreciate her intuition and brilliance.
As always with Christie, we also have an interesting group of other characters, most of whom, of course, are suspected of committing the crimes. And as always, it is a fairly small group of suspects with vivid personalities. But this time it's even more interesting because you wonder who else Rafiel sent on the trip to help Miss Marple. So you never really know who is the enemy and who is the friend.
Overall, it's a very good story and I rate it 3.5 stars. It was also exactly what I needed to read at this time.
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Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author, having been translated into at least 103 languages. She is the creator of two of the most enduring figures in crime literature-Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple-and author of The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theatre.
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.
Before marrying and starting a family in London, she had served in a Devon hospital during the First World War, tending to troops coming back from the trenches. During the First World War, she worked at a hospital as a nurse; later working at a hospital pharmacy, a job that influenced her work, as many of the murders in her books are carried out with poison. During the Second World War, she worked as a pharmacy assistant at University College Hospital, London, acquiring a good knowledge of poisons which feature in many of her novels.
Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, came out in 1920. During her first marriage, Agatha published six novels, a collection of short stories, and a number of short stories in magazines.
In late 1926, Agatha's husband, Archie, revealed that he was in love with another woman, Nancy Neele, and wanted a divorce. On 8 December 1926 the couple quarreled, and Archie Christie left their house, Styles, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming, Surrey. That same evening Agatha disappeared from her home, leaving behind a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire. Her disappearance caused an outcry from the public, many of whom were admirers of her novels. Despite a massive manhunt, she was not found for eleven days.
In 1930, Christie married archaeologist Max Mallowan (Sir Max from 1968) after joining him in an archaeological dig. Their marriage was especially happy in the early years and remained so until Christie's death in 1976.
Christie frequently used familiar settings for her stories. Christie's travels with Mallowan contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as And Then There Were None) were set in and around Torquay, where she was born. Christie's 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express was written in the Hotel Pera Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, the southern terminus of the railway. The hotel maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author. The Greenway Estate in Devon, acquired by the couple as a summer residence in 1938, is now in the care of the National Trust.
Christie often stayed at Abney Hall in Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts. She based at least two of her stories on the hall: the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, and the novel After the Funeral. Abney Hall became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all the servants and grandeur which have been woven into her plots.
To honour her many literary works, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Year Honours. The next year, she became the President of the Detection Club.
Wikipedia entry for Agatha Christie
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Miss Marple pulled down the mass of pink wool that encircled her head, a pink wool scarf of the same kind that she had once worn in the West Indies.
'One of my names,' she said, 'is Nemesis.'
'Nemesis? And what does that mean?'
'I think you know,' said Miss Marple. 'You are a very well educated woman. Nemesis is long delayed sometimes, but it comes in the end."
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