They Do It With Mirrors ~ Magicians, that is, in their art of misdirection. When the audience is presented a scenario they tend to accept it as fact, when in reality another world exists backstage.
Miss Marple is asked by a childhood friend to visit her sister Carrie Louise at her large home called Stonygates. Carrie's third and present husband Lewis runs the estate as a juvenile correction facility. Living with them is her daughter Mildred, granddaughter and her husband, and an extended family who consider Stonygates their home. One night an argument breaks out between an unbalanced delinquent and Lewis while all the guests watch from the living room. The office door closes as the fight becomes violent and there are two shots fired. Though both men are unharmed, it's discovered another guest was shot dead in his is dead upstairs in his room. Who could have done it with all the guests accounted for? During the investigation by Inspector Curry, it comes to light the dead man was about to expose the plot of someone who was slowly poisoning Carrie with arsenic! Who would profit by her death, and who could maintain the patient poisoning plan?
Inspector Curry knows of Jane Marple's reputation and asks her to keep a watchful eye on the family as the clues emerge. By the end of the novel, there will be poisoned chocolates, fog filled nights, embezzlement scandal, a divorce! and a make-up, unknown relatives and five more deaths in various ways before the murderous plot is revealed.
Mirrors presents a smallish group of characters and with its few locations, would very much suit adaptation to the stage. The whole premise is rather like a play, and I found it a little simple compared to the others I have read. It is well written and the plot is quite a neat puzzle, but I didn't feel the suspension of disbelief that a deeper mystery presents. I knew going in it was a mystery where I should look outside of what was presented, and with all my detection work, I didn't get very involved emotionally.
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare - quite a feat. Each one I have read is masterfully plotted and at the time of publication in the 40's and 50's must have seemed a lot more shocking than reading them today, as we have seen pale variations on her plots many times since. They Do It With Mirrors was not as involving as I wanted, but still extremely clever and well rounded.
1952 / Tradeback / 214 pages
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