Miss Marple stays at Bertram’s Hotel, an establishment that appears to preserve the service, food and social rituals of Edwardian England. Behind the nostalgic surface, police are investigating robberies, unexplained absences and the movements of guests whose respectable identities may be manufactured.
The mystery contrasts post-war London with a commercial reconstruction of its past. Miss Marple understands that the hotel’s perfection is itself suspicious: nostalgia creates predictable behaviour and provides cover for people who know how class assumptions, uniforms and traditional courtesy can prevent witnesses from looking closely.
Jacqueline Winspear
20 books
Rhys Bowen
53 books