Apologies to Ellen Byron, I accidentally scheduled this post a week early and it published right after hers! Let’s try this again on the right date, today, October 19th.

Murders at the Grand Alpine Hotel, is a new Miss Marple mystery by celebrated mystery author Lucy Foley.

Murders at the Grand Alpine Hotel is set at a glamorous retreat in the Swiss Alps with an array of interesting guests, including Miss Jane Marple. Characters include a well-to-do British widow named Mrs. Bantry, her companion Diane, and her friend, Miss Marple, who is traveling with her. Along the way, they encounter a politician, his much younger wife, an old friend of his, a socialite, and, of course, murder.  The book is set in the 1950s and draws a few references from the war.

By the end, Miss Marple figures it all out. And Lucy Foley does a fine job, in my opinion, with her rendition of Miss Marple. It doesn’t quite read like a fast-paced Lucy Foley book. But it doesn’t read quite like an Agatha Christie book, either, although more in that milieu.

I enjoyed the snowed-in aspect of the book after a blizzard locks down the hotel area, and I definitely recommend it for Marple friends, as well as Lucy Foley fans.

I have read all of Agatha Christie’s novels, but am still going through to make sure I’ve read all of her short stories. Kenneth Branagh has made a career of combing through all of Agatha’s Hercule Poirot movies. I’m excited for this look back at Miss Marple.

You may wish to pull out one of your favorite Miss Marple stories for a reread after you finish reading the Murders at the Grand Alpine Hotel. What novel would you suggest?