My thoughts on They Do It with Mirrors

They Do It with Mirrors is a murder mystery book taking place in the 19th century, written by Agatha Christie. It’s about an old lady, named Miss Marple, who is visiting one of her friends. They start talking about the friend’s sister from their childhood named Carrie Louise. The friend warns her that the house that Carrie Louise lives at is unsettling, and she could tell that things were off when she visited. Miss Marple decides to travel there and investigate. Things seem to be a bit off after a day or two. Suddenly, one of Carrie Louise’s relatives, Christian Gulbrandsen, gets murdered shortly after arrival. The story takes place in a Victorian mansion, where there is a branch for delinquent boys that are taken care of. This was the reason most of the people living in the mansion were described as going crazy. With another attempted murder plot happening, and the suspects constantly changing, I felt like this got a bit too confusing and boring for me.

This was a book in a series about different murders, and I felt like Miss Marple was the most present here than in all the other books I’ve read in the series. That should be good news, since this series was about her solving mysteries easily, but it wasn’t that interesting. In the other books, most of the investigation is done by either the normal citizens impacted from the events or people from the police. This makes it more challenging for them to figure out the mystery, since they don’t just solve it with a few pieces of evidence. They have to make small amounts of progress, until finally at the end Miss Marple comes and tells them who the culprit is. Usually, she tells them some hints to guide them on the right track. However, it felt more like the book was more slow-paced at the beginning and went really fast in the end. They were nowhere near figuring out the mystery until Alex, one of Carrie Louise’s stepsons, dropped a really big hint that made Miss Marple instantly figure out how the murder had occurred. That made the book feel rushed in the end, and I felt like the investigation for the other murder plot felt useless. 

Honestly, I would recommend this book to people who are really into mystery or crime, and I would also recommend the other books in the series too, as the ones before this are really good.