Dr. Haydock is speaking to his patient, Miss Jane Marple:
"There had been no miscarriage of justice? Nobody had suffered as a result of this crime?"
"As far as one can see, no."
"Hm. Murder in retrospect. Sleeping murder. Well, I'll tell you. I'd let sleeping murder lie - that's what I'd do. Messing about with murder is dangerous. It could be very dangerous."
"That's what I am afraid of."
<snip>
"So that's what you're doing with your excuses to get to Dillmouth. Mixing yourself up in something that's no concern of yours."
"Not at all, Dr. Haydock. But I'm worried about those two. They're very young and inexperienced and much too trusting and credulous. I feel I ought to be there to look after them."
Miss Marple and her doctor are right to be concerned. Miss Marple has been told a very interesting story by a young newlywed couple, Gwenda and Giles Reed. Gwenda, who has lived most of her life in New Zealand, has returned home to England with her new husband, and they have bought a house in the seaside town of Dillmouth. But Gwenda is disturbed by flashes of memory - she feels she somehow knows this house better than she should. In fact, she soon discovers that she lived in that house as a small child with her father and stepmother - and she finds herself remembering a horrifying moment when she witnessed a murder in that house eighteen years earlier, a murder that nobody even suspected had happened. Now Gwenda and Giles are eager to dig into the case and try to solve it - despite the misgivings of Miss Marple and her doctor, who warns repeatedly, "Let sleeping murder lie."
The book is Sleeping Murder, by Agatha Christie. It was written during World War II as what Christie and her publisher intended to be the last Miss Marple book. It was published in 1976, after Christie's death, and it tells a powerful story about a murderer who had managed to avoid any suspicion that a murder that taken place, and who was unlikely to welcome the efforts of the Reeds to investigate further. A murderer, in fact, who was quite likely to kill again to protect the secret.
Need I mention that it will be a very good thing indeed that Miss Marple takes an interest in the case? Sleeping Murder was written during a period that many agree saw some of her best work. It's a powerful mystery, solidly packed with both red herrings and surprises. It's highly recommended.
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