Information
Goodreads: Sleeping Murder
Series: Miss Marple #13
Age Category: Adult
Source: Library
Published: 1976
Summary
Gwenda and Giles are recently married, and ready to move into their new home together. But Gwenda has troubling premonitions about the house, and the staircase gives her a feeling of horror. Enter Miss Marple, who has a hunch about what happened on the property. But should past crimes be left alone?
Review
Sleeping Murder is perhaps one of Agatha Christies finest Miss Marple books. It possesses all the ingredients of an engrossing mystery: a newlywed couple stumbling into a horrifying crime, a potentially haunted house, and a murder so perfect it seems impossible to solve. Miss Marple occupies the perfect space between actively involved in the detecting and almost imperceptibly guiding Gwenda and Giles in their own investigation. Her powers of observation and deduction are at their height. Sleeping Murder will not disappoint fans of the amateur sleuth!
The opening of Sleeping Murder feels nearly perfect for a book in this genre. Gwenda, who grew up in New Zealand, has arrived in England while her husband Giles travels for work, and bought them a house. Immediately, however, something seems wrong. Gwenda seems to have knowledge about the property she should not possess, and the staircase gives her a feeling of absolute horror. Gwenda begins to worry that the house is haunted or that she herself possesses some mystical powers of premonition hitherto dormant. Nothing says "mystery" like a seemingly haunted house, and I was intrigued to see how Miss Marple would explain this apparently paranormal activity.
Things only pick up from there, however, as Giles and Gwenda devote themselves to solving the mystery of the house, despite Miss Marple's warnings. Miss Marple has seen enough evil to believe that the newlyweds should leave well enough alone. The two young people, however, see mystery solving as a mere lark--they have no concept of danger or what a worried murderer might do, should they realize that someone is on the scent. This all provides a nice setup for Miss Marple to arrive in town and do some first-rate snooping (aka gossiping with the elderly residents) while also keeping an eye on the less experienced Giles and Gwenda. Readers will delight to see Miss Marple's methods at work.
Sleeping Murder provides just the right number of clues and the right number of possible suspects to keep readers on their toes. The clue gathering and the finale are equally satisfying, with readers having to use their utmost powers of deduction to solve this thorny puzzle. Not all Miss Marple mysteries are equal, but this one is surely at the top of the list.
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