4*’s
When the publishers Harlequin asked me if I’d like a copy of A Meditation On Murder I nearly bit their hands off, I have watched the television series, Death In Paradise, from the beginning seduced by the echoes of Agatha Christie’s construction of a mystery coupled with the beautiful setting on the Caribbean island of Saint Marie. In fact my partner and I have an ongoing competition not only to guess the murderer in each episode, but to construct the reasons why, with very valuable points at stake. I was therefore thrilled to have the chance to read this book an episode based on the series, but not seen on TV (so I’m unable to use this for points) and written by Robert Thorogood, the creator of the BBC One TV series.
A Meditation on Murder is in the format of a classic ‘locked room’ mystery with the victim meeting his end in a room constructed of paper in the grounds of a hotel which contained five guests and the Spiritual Leader, Aslan Kennedy, the husband of the owner of exclusive retreat. Having been relaxing with headphones and eye-masks the murder was only discovered when the apparent murderer starts screaming. This fiendishly difficult puzzle is made more complex as the chapters progress where ever more apparent motives are raised, only to be dashed by even fewer opportunities for execution. The book recaps the evidence in the form of Richard Poole’s evidence board so the reader can make sure they haven’t missed any points along the way.
I thought I had the murderer sussed at one point, quite proud of myself I read on with the clues working in favour of my hypothesis I was certain that for once I had it all worked out, that was until the same scenario was presented to Richard Poole and I read the words:
Richard let this unlikely scenario hang in the air a moment.
“So thank you, Fidel, for your theory,– just for the record… And nor could X be our killer, either”
So once again I completely failed to spot the murderer despite the liberal scattering of clues that had presented themselves to Richard Poole’s eagle eyes, masked as they were with the obligatory red herrings along the way.
I’ll be honest it is difficult to be objective about the characterisation in this book because I’m unsure how much of my prior knowledge I used while reading, but suffice to say Richard Poole a detective dispatched from Croyden to police the island was instantly recognisable, as was the rest of the team. Richard Poole is a man who is pedantic, hates the sand, the heat and the lizard that shares his shack but for these very reasons, he is the man to lead an investigation with his rigour around the minutest detail.
This was a really enjoyable read especially, but not exclusively, for fans of Death In Paradise which is back on our screens on Thursday 8 January 2015. A Meditation on Murder is published today, 1 January 2015.
Cleopatra Loves Books 
Cleo – This does sound like a great new take on the classic ‘impossible but not really’ mystery. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. The television series sounds great too. I hope it gets to my area at some point.
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I’m sure you’d enjoy this series Margot. Robert Thorogood explains he fell in love with an Agatha Christie novel at ten and the parallels are clear to see but in a more beautiful setting so hopefully the BBC will export this one for you.
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I’ve NEVER watched Murder In Paradise! (There’s a lot of tv crime series I’ve never seen, I’m much more a fan of it on paper!) But I am going to take your (always reliable) recommendation on board and check out the new series…thank you! And the book sounds rather wonderful too! A good start to the new year. Hope you had a good one, Cleo!
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I watch very little TV and then it is usually of this genre (I know what I like) and this is a light-hearted way to cheer myself up on winter nights. The book really captured the same feeling too 🙂 Thanks – I hope you had a good one too, back to work today.
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I have never watched the show (we probably don’t have it on my channels!), but it sounds really exciting. I love mysteries, and shows that are mysteries, too. Thanks for sharing.
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Hopefully the BBC will export this one for you at some point – thanks for stopping by.
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It’s cool how these publishers knock at your door to read and review a book. How fun it’d be to have a group of ppl read the same book at a party and try to map out or guess who the murderer is.
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I’ve always wanted to go to a murder mystery party and this is the ideal sort of book for that but I fear I would probably lose as my deductive skills are usually way off.
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I haven’t seen the series, but almost biting their hand off is a pretty good recommendation! 🙂 It might be called Death in Paradise over on this side of the pond.
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You are quite right Dagny it is called Death In Paradise, I’m putting that mistake down to too much partying over the holiday season. Thank you!
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I have this on my bookcase! I’ve not read it yet and neither have I watched the TV programme so I’ll be interested to see what it’s like to read from that angle 🙂
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It’ll be interesting to see what you think from that perspective particularly as I already had a clear vision of the characters in my mind.
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It’s a long time since I’ve read a good “jigsaw puzzle” murder a la Christie. I miss them, loved them as a child. I’m not so into the ultra gory police procedurals, and there are too many dreary mysteries around where the puzzle isn’t intriguing enough or the author wants to get too far into the “torment” of their not very exciting characters.
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This is far more like a classic mystery than those other types of books you mention. I’m not overly fond of gratuitous violence either.
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I have seen all episodes of Death in paradise including season 4 I just finished the book I found it very good reading although it started a little slow and soared from middle on. a couple of terms I don’t know ( beetled and fortball)
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