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    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery
    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery
    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Emilia Fox

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In Agatha Christie’s classic mystery, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, a fatal dose of poison meant for a glamorous movie star fells her ardent admirer instead—and Miss Marple is there to unmask a murderer.

    One minute, silly Heather Babcock had been babbling on at her movie idol, the glamorous Marina Gregg. The next, Heather suffered a massive seizure, poisoned by a deadly cocktail.

    It seems likely that the cocktail was intended for the beautiful actress. But while the police fumble to find clues, Miss Marple begins to ask her own questions, because as she knows—even the most peaceful village can hide dark secrets.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 26, 2013
    ISBN9780062265838
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

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    Reviews for The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

    4.5/5

    121 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Nice story. Easy yet so complicated
    • 4/5
      The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side - has always been one of my favourite Marple stories because in this one the background is rather sad and the murder is fuelled by somewhat different motivations than most other Christie mysteries.

      It's even more impressive to think that the story was partly inspired by a true story Gene Tierney's biography
    • 4/5
      I'm going back and rereading my old favourites. I own every Agatha Christie title (hard work done in used bookstores by my parents and I) and I think it will be fun to just pick one up every so often and read it. Most of the time I forget "who dun it".
    • 4/5
      A lovely Miss Marple that has the regulation dose of old English houses, suspicious characters, old grudges and little old ladies investigating murders. This one is also a little more down than some of them, with Miss Marple's age telling on her so that her nephew employs a live-in carer for her and St. Mary's Mead enduring the changes that the construction of a new housing estate bring. Miss Marple's doctor prescibes a nice murder to cheer her up, which has luckily just happened at the village fete, and the wonderful network of friends and old servants scattered through the village come to her aid bringing gossip and information. Gentle, uplifting and perfect for a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea.
    • 4/5
      Miss Jane Marple has a reputation for solving murders in her home town, St Mary Mead. In fact, her friends consult with her, and her nephew, who is a Detective Chief Inspector, believes she can help him to solve the latest murder in the town. But then the deaths mount like an episode of Midsomer Murders. Miss Marple is constrained by her over-officious housemate but still manages to hear the gossip going around the village. Eventually, she manages to escape the confines of her own home to visit the scene of the first death where she manages to solve the case. In my opinion, this was an entertaining read. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.
    • 2/5
      The low rating is unfair, in a way. The mystery is quite competently written, and was made into a quite competent film. But I just feel too much sadness at the murderer's motive. (Spoiler warning). A pregnant actress loses her unborn child because a silly vain girl insists on meeting and shaking hands with her when ill and infects her. Years later, the actress finds out who was responsible for the loss of her child and kills her.
    • 4/5
      Miss Marple is slightly alarmed by all the changes in her beloved St. Mary Mead with new Development on the edge of the village. She's also irritated with herself for some of the limitations her age has brought into her life. However, her mind remains as sharp as ever and when one of the new residents of the village dies suddenly at a fete hosted by some Hollywood people at the local large estate, Miss Marple can't help but try and determine why the murder happened.It's delightful to return to St. Mary Mead in this entry in the series, to get a sense that time has passed in Miss Marple's world, and to see a well-drawn depiction of the challenges of an aging body not quite being able to keep up with the keen mind within. As always, the mystery is well-drawn and while I picked out bits of the clues that I thought would matter, I didn't quite manage to put the mystery together before Miss Marple's final reveal. Recommended as ever.
    • 3/5
      Pretty good. Similar to End House.
    • 5/5
      A lovely Miss Marple mystery. A kindly but utterly infuriating woman dies at the home of a glamorous movie star. Miss Marple, at home with her tea and knitting, pieces things together into a surprising solution.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely fantastic book. The movie made of it unfortunately, as it seems to happen too often, didn't capture Mrs. Christie's story. A must read for Agatha Christie fans.
    • 3/5
      This book returns to what seems to be a theme for Agatha Christie as it features an actress as a key character. Here actress Marina Gregg has taken up residence at Gossington Hall near St Mary Mead, home of the inquisitive Miss Marple. Gregg and her husband, who is a film director, host a fête for a charitable cause and during the event a select group of people is chosen to meet the movie star. One of these visitors, Heather Badcock, dies soon after meeting Gregg and recounting the story of their previous meeting a dozen or so years earlier when Badcock rose from her sick bed to meet the star and get her autograph. When it is revealed Badcock was poisoned it is assumed that Gregg was the real intended victim and Badcock died by accident.

      Published in 1962 this is one of Christie’s later novels and does address quite well the social changes that are taking place in rural England at the time. There is a new housing development on the outskirts of St Mary Mead which is changing the place’s character and contributing to Miss Marple’s sense that she’s losing touch with things. Miss Marple is also more elderly than ever. She even has to submit to the indignity of a full-time live-in companion; a very annoying woman who treats Miss Marple like she is a stupid child. I think Christie has done a really terrific job of capturing the frustration experienced by someone who is aging but is in full command of their mental faculties even if their physical abilities aren’t what they used to be.

      However the plot here is not one of Christie’s best. The first half of the book labours several points too often, including the actress’ nervous state and the link to the book’s title (it’s a line from a Tennyson poem called the Lady of Shalott which must have been repeated at least a half-dozen times). There is one too many amazing coincidences revealed at the end. One of these is believable (in fact the book is based on something that happened to actress Gene Tierney but don’t google it unless you don’t mind spoilers) but the second is overkill (and totally unnecessary as it adds nothing to the story whatsoever). I also found the depiction of the policeman called in to investigate the crime to be quite unrealistic (although he’s very sweet to Miss Marple).

      To be honest I’ve always preferred Hercule Poirot over Miss Marple so my reaction to this book is not that surprising. While Poirot is far too clever to be real and would undoubtedly be an insufferable chap to spend any time with at least he is depicted with faults whereas Jane Marple has always struck me as impossibly perfect. And the Poirot plots are the more puzzling, clue-based ones that fit with my preference for logic whereas those featuring Miss Marple tend to be based more on what seem to me to be rather wild and random assumptions about human nature.

      Also, sadly, I did not enjoy Hickson’s narration. She seemed to swallow her words and fade away as if she was turning from the microphone and I read to rewind several times to catch what she was saying and she really didn’t seem to be paying that much attention to what she was saying. So if you are going to track down this book I wouldn’t recommend this particular audio version.
    • 4/5
      Miss Marple is on the case when Heather Babcock is murdered at Marina Gregg's home. Was Marina the intended victim? And who or what was it Marina saw on the stairs just before Heather died? Miss Marple, with the help of old and new friends, solves the mystery. I enjoyed reading this, but its a fairly average Miss Marple, although the motive for the murder is very unusual and emotive.
    • 4/5
      I haves watched at least two TV or movie versions of this book. The book continues to surpass the adaptations. It is a version of murders in a country house but even though it is a classic mystery the clues are not all clearly set before the reader at one time, rather like the unveiling of Salome and her seven veils, the picture slowly comes into focus as Miss Marple peers though all the distractions and red herrings to see the solid core of the mystery.

      I liked the Joan Hickson version of the story but I always wish they would give the poor woman more than one hat. I really don't believe she would wear the same hat to garden in that she wears to church and other social events. It is a subtle way to dumb her down and give the viewer a distorted vision of Miss Marple a person who bumbles into the answers rather than using her very acute mind.
    • 4/5
      Liked the premise and the conclusion but sonething was missing, maybe not enough sleuthing by dear old Miss Marple herself. The end felt a bit rushed and other than normal, the explenation of the "whodunnit" part was a bit of a let down mostly because of the rushed feeling.
    • 4/5
      A classic Miss Marple. An aging Miss Marple is fretting under the care of a live in help. When an unassuming local woman is poisoned a the local fete her Dr. recommends that she takes up "unravelling" rather than knitting. Though St Mary Meade is changing - a new housing estate and a film star installed in Gossington Hall, Miss Marple finds that human nature is just the same. I recently found out that the premise behind the motive is supposedly based on something that really happened to movie star Gene Tierney - don't look it up unless you have read the book!
    • 4/5
      Got more involved with this one than with the other Miss Marple books so far... Possibly because of the Arthurian imagery, which is always my thing. I actually felt very sorry for the murderer, and more so for her husband. I suspected from the beginning, which pleases me -- one always loves feeling clever. The Lancelot image at the end doesn't quite work, though.

      Interesting to have an aging but capable detective. Everything is rather sedate, in consequence...
    • 4/5
      As well as reading "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" , I've also seen two or three different versions on TV (including the film with Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak as the warring actresses). It's a good story, and comes as a surprise when you realise whydunnit.
    • 4/5
      As always the mystery only resolves itself towards the end! It's always a pleasure to see miss Marple unraveling the crime step by step.
    • 4/5
      Charming. Miss Marple's very relatable struggle with change adds something poignant and very real to this otherwise simply clever mystery. Which is not to downplay the mystery. Christie is the grande dame for a reason. Here she twists a good little plot. One trait of a good mystery: even if you figure it out long before the sleuth, you don't wish it would hurry or denigrate the sleuth's abilities. I enjoyed this one to the last drop.
    • 4/5
      While I find the way Miss Marple deals with her increased age more relevant now that my parents are in their late 80s, I still don't really like this one. Emilia Fox does a good narration (though I found her American accents didn't sound like any American I know!); too bad I couldn't find an audiobook edition narrated by Joan Hickson!
    • 5/5
      This book was excellently narrated. A perfect Agatha Christie crime story.
    • 2/5
      The book is fine but the narrator has a HORRENDOUS American accent. Americans did not uptalk during the time period of the book. They didn’t sound like valley girls. I’ve listened to many many bad accents without comment but this one badly grated on me.
    • 4/5
      Be Aware of the DetailsThe village of St Mary Mead experienced a growth (a development): new inhabitants, new houses, new shops. A famous artist arrived and settled in. In the fete given in her new house a woman is murdered. Miss Jane Marple considered the matter. The work of the Scotland Yard and the wisdom of Miss Marple are required to solve the puzzle. As is always the case, the solution depends in careful consideration of the facts. The novel presents Jane Marple in a colorful way with the total display of her grace. Another worth reading of Agatha Christie.