Abandoned by Booklikes

Well I found this one very interesting. I have had this book on my shelf for a while, just didn't get around to reading it. This is the last of the Miss Marple standalone novels. She doesn't quite go out with a bang, but seems content with helping a newly married couple.

"Sleeping Murder" follows a newly married young woman named Gwenda. Her husband Giles is still abroad and she has been told to find a home for the two of them to settle into. When Gwenda finally finds what she considers "their" house, she is astonished that she knows what the wallpapers in certain rooms should be, thinks about putting in a door (and finds one has been plastered in) and feels she is losing her mind. She eventually goes away to visit family of her husband. While there she meets Miss Jane Marple and after a night out where the script in a play scares her, tells Miss Marple everything. From there the book follows Gwenda, her husband Giles, and Miss Marple trying to get to the truth of an old memory of Gwenda's. 

I liked Gwenda, she is reminiscent of some of Christie's other female characters. Not quite a Lucy Eyelesbarrow, but no slouch. When Gwenda realizes she may have witnessed a murder when she was a child, she decides to go ahead to find out who could have done it. She is very fast on her feet and has a way of making people talk to her too. 

I found Giles to be a pain though. He constantly talked over both Gwenda and Miss Marple. I was happy when the one inspector sent him away, even he knew things would go easier if he wasn't in the room. 

Miss Marple though I was slightly puzzled by, she knew pretty early on who was the one behind everything, why she didn't feel the need to tell Gwenda and Giles made no sense. One of the reasons why I gave this four stars.

There are also so many plot points that are never tied up to my satisfaction. For example, we hear about the one character Jackie, and Gwenda makes a comment that his wife is afraid of him, and then nothing. Same issue with the character of Walter Fane. There are just too many strange men moving about in this story.

Also I think I found an error in this book. Miss Marple talks to Colonel Bantry's wife and he is mentioned too. I could have sworn in "The Mirror Crack'd" he was dead. There is mention of Miss Marple solving "The Murder at the Vicarage" and "The Moving Finger."

The writing was typical Chrisite. I have to say though it was fairly easy to see who had done this murder if you took your time with if. Probably because nothing else made sense. 

The flow started off pretty slow. Things really don't get moving until Gwenda goes off to London to visit Raymond West and his wife and meets Miss Marple.