Not forgetting the Crown Prosecution Service lurking in the wings to ensure a fair trial will be possible. You can’t see an author today describing anything other than a highly professional squad that appears and erects barriers to keep curious eyes away. It’s a wonderful commentary on these pre-CSI times that we could innocently believe our British police officers were so accessible and willing to give credence to an old biddy’s ideas. Giving up her quiet holiday in a nearby hotel, Miss Marple invites herself into the middle of the investigation and, before long, she’s suggesting lines of inquiry to the random office officer in charge. Come the appointed time, the lights go out, shots ring out and, not surprisingly, a man is duly found dead. We’re back in a village circa the 1950s, this one appropriately named Chipping Cleghorn, where someone obviously well-meaning announces the imminent death of person or persons unknown. The first effort is A Murder Is Announced. We had not exactly started off auspiciously and I had visions of Agatha Christie vaguely stirring in her grave as broadcast signals slowly penetrated the soil around her grave. With a sense of foreboding, I sat down to watch this second set of three Marple adaptations.
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