I really enjoyed At Bertram’s Hotel, because some of Christie’s novels, and specifically Miss Marple’s mysteries, have this quieter theme of respectability and respectable appearances, and here's it right at the forefront.

I’m thinking of that entire subplot in The Sittaford Mystery where everyone suspects that Mr. Duke might be *gasp* a retired tradesman, so no one wants to question his background too much in case they should be confronted with this information and have to decide whether to continue to socialize with him. But here, at Bertram’s Hotel, that’s really the main plot. Who is actually respectable in this thoroughly British, thoroughly upper-class London hotel? And that leads to a secondary question, doesn't it cost a lot of money to run th...

Please subscribe to keep reading.