‘Life is a kind of one-way track – just their own progress through it. Other people seem to them just like – like wall-paper in a room.’ She paused and then said. ‘I think Heather Badcock was that kind of person.’

the mirror crack’d from side to side: ‘the doom has come upon me.’ cried the Lady of Shalott

I thought The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side told us more about Miss Marple, with a murder and its investigation taking place in the background. The story began with Miss Marple’s reflections, and a running theme of not being able to get the staff these days as she has been ill and has somebody to help her in her house, who maybe wouldn’t be her first-choice person for the role. Miss Marple learns much of the story in the same way that we do, through her friend Mrs Bantry and Inspector Craddock. Although village gossip does a remarkable job of keeping everyone in the loop. There were a couple of red herrings. The blackmail parts of the story felt fudged because I thought there was something important happening there and I didn’t have time to get my head around it, before there were more murders and the murderer was then being revealed. The reveal of who the murderer was surprised me because I was not even considering that person.

 ‘I can assure you that I am not romancing or imagining things. What I am telling you is sober fact. These things get round very quickly in a village, you know, though they take a little longer,’ she added. ‘in reaching the Hall.’

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