A Caribbean Mystery

Miss Marple is on holiday in the Caribbean, at the Golden Palms resort in St Honore. Seated beside her at a dinner, Major Palgrave seems to recognise in the crowd a murderer from a photograph he has. When Miss Marple quizzes him on is comments he refuses to be drawn on the subject and head back to his room. He is found the next day, dead, apparently from a heart attack. Due to the reaction he had the previous night, Miss Marple suspects it was murder.

Reasonably intriguing mystery, with a great setting. The Caribbean vibe and the underlying current of voodoo and general sinister air help the intrigue. Not a particularly complex mystery ultimately, but it will do.

The non-mystery side of the Miss Marple series tends to be pretty dull and uneventful, due to the blandness of Miss Marple's character and the fact that she has no regular secondary characters around her (unlike Poirot with Hastings, Japp and Lemon). However, here we have a reasonably interesting sub-plot involving Ian Fleming, the author, and how he struck upon the name of James Bond for the hero of his books. Unfortunately this sub-plot is quite brief, but it is reasonably entertaining.

In the time of "CORONAVIRUS WORLD WAR - 3" in 2020 when your own life is at the hands of a invisible pandemic it's cinema that breaks all barriers and provides solace and entertainment in the confines of the house,I haven't read this book but have seen all of Agatha Christie's "Movies" based on her bestsellers. Have also seen the play "THE MOUSETRAP" at the St Martins theatre in London.Excellent suspense with subtle murders is the secret that keeps the viewer totally engrossed in the movie.The signature played down style of Miss Marpyle ,the harmless looking old lady is what also adds spice to this who-dun-it which has its villain exposed in the end, a totally non-suspect among the group of suspects.

This is a picturesque adaptation of Miss Marple holidaying in the Caribbean. There is a permanent resident at the hotel where she is staying. He's Major Palgrave who is fond of drink and storytelling and zombies which are a hobby of his. He is about to show Miss Marple an old photo of a murderer when he suddenly stops and eyes the other guests. He's later found dead and Miss Marple is unable to find the photo he was about to show her. She starts out on a murder hunt. Nobody attends the Major's funeral except Miss Marple and the officiating Canon. He is lovesick for the hotel manageress, a nice lady but a bit unstable. While a vengeful spirit of the walking dead had been given a mention in the Joan Hickson version, Voodoo comes more to the forefront in this one. But is it just a Hoodoo decoy to add to the Caribbean flavor of the story?

It wasn't too long ago that I watched the Joan Hickson version of this same tale and, while I enjoyed the color of it, I did feel that that version dawdled a bit too much and lacked forward motion, lingering in the characters and losing momentum the more it went on. So with the new ITV version I was pleased to find that the thing I usually dislike about them actually worked in its favor – the color, the liveliness and the pace. The mystery kicks in very quickly indeed and apart from a few sidesteps it more or less keeps things coming so that I felt engaged with the story. As is normal for me, I wasn't right there with the characters when the resolution was revealed, but I did feel like I was at least going with it.

The one exception is an odd moment where James Bond and Ian Fleming make it into the story; it is amusing perhaps but it served no purpose other than, if you're cynical, getting the writer a trip to the location for the sake of a few minutes of screen time. Higson probably deserved it though as he has done a good job as writer, making the story flow and having the material match the heat and color of the setting. The cast mostly get this too. McKenzie is still not really someone I like as Marple, but she is good here and in particular works very well with Antony Sher. The rest of the cast isn't quite that famous but has good turns from Webb, Brown, Wakefield and others.

Overall an enjoyable and lively piece of Sunday night mystery; it has color and energy and comes together pretty well.

Sent on a recuperative holiday to Barbados, Miss Marple finds the Golden Palm Hotel - a tropical paradise of blue sea, white sand and lush vegetation - a rather dull place where nothing seems to occur. But then murder strikes ... an old Major dies from high blood pressure, so it seems, but the sleuthing spinster thinks otherwise having her interest aroused by an old soldier's yarn about a strange coincidence. Infuriatingly, just as he was about to show her an astonishing photograph, the Major's attention wandered. He never did finish the story...

I liked the Helen Hayes' A Caribbean Mystery, but this 2013 version is more closer to the book - which happens to be one of my favourite Miss Marple novels - yet inventive with some emphasis on voodoo and madness. A solid effort with a good cast of characters, a trail of misdirection and Julie MacKenzie doing really well as Miss Marple.