grantss Miss Marple is on holiday in the Caribbean, at the Golden Palms resort in St Honore. Seated beside her at a dinner, Major Palgrave seems to recognise in the crowd a murderer from a photograph he has. When Miss Marple quizzes him on is comments he refuses to be drawn on the subject and head back to his room. He is found the next day, dead, apparently from a heart attack. Due to the reaction he had the previous night, Miss Marple suspects it was murder.Reasonably intriguing mystery, with a great setting. The Caribbean vibe and the underlying current of voodoo and general sinister air help the intrigue. Not a particularly complex mystery ultimately, but it will do.The non-mystery side of the Miss Marple series tends to be pretty dull and uneventful, due to the blandness of Miss Marple's character and the fact that she has no regular secondary characters around her (unlike Poirot with Hastings, Japp and Lemon). However, here we have a reasonably interesting sub-plot involving Ian Fleming, the author, and how he struck upon the name of James Bond for the hero of his books. Unfortunately this sub-plot is quite brief, but it is reasonably entertaining.

gridoon2018 This is the third filmed version of Agatha Christie's "A Caribbean Mystery"; I don't much recall the Joan Hickson version, but compared to the enjoyable 1983 version with Helen Hayes as Miss Marple, this new effort is significantly superior in one category only: the photography, which vibrantly captures the beauty of the locations. The film does have a Caribbean flavor, although it was shot in South Africa, and the 1950's-style swimsuits and cars are a sight for sore eyes. Knowing who the killer is before watching, I am not exactly qualified to say how hard or easy it will be for someone to guess his or her identity; I will say, however, that if you tend to suspect the character who is, suspiciously enough, never even considered under suspicion, you'll be on the right track! Julia McKenzie continues to excel as Miss Marple (she does A LOT of knitting in this one), while my favorite supporting performance has to be Hermione Norris as Evelyn; she just exudes the strength of her character. *** out of 4.

bob the moo It wasn't too long ago that I watched the Joan Hickson version of this same tale and, while I enjoyed the color of it, I did feel that that version dawdled a bit too much and lacked forward motion, lingering in the characters and losing momentum the more it went on. So with the new ITV version I was pleased to find that the thing I usually dislike about them actually worked in its favor – the color, the liveliness and the pace. The mystery kicks in very quickly indeed and apart from a few sidesteps it more or less keeps things coming so that I felt engaged with the story. As is normal for me, I wasn't right there with the characters when the resolution was revealed, but I did feel like I was at least going with it.The one exception is an odd moment where James Bond and Ian Fleming make it into the story; it is amusing perhaps but it served no purpose other than, if you're cynical, getting the writer a trip to the location for the sake of a few minutes of screen time. Higson probably deserved it though as he has done a good job as writer, making the story flow and having the material match the heat and color of the setting. The cast mostly get this too. McKenzie is still not really someone I like as Marple, but she is good here and in particular works very well with Antony Sher. The rest of the cast isn't quite that famous but has good turns from Webb, Brown, Wakefield and others.Overall an enjoyable and lively piece of Sunday night mystery; it has color and energy and comes together pretty well.

TheLittleSongbird A Caribbean Mystery isn't among Agatha "The Queen of Crime" Christie's finest works, but even when Christie wasn't at her absolute best she was still pleasurable to read. Of the three adaptations of A Caribbean Mystery(very like with The Mirror Crack'd), I deem this one the best one, Joan Hickson's was very good if sometimes a little dull and I didn't care hugely for Helen Hayes' version. And it is for me one of the better adaptations with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple(though The Blue Geranium, Pocket Full of Rye and The Mirror Crack'd are on top, with Why Didn't They Ask Evans the worst). It could have been improved certainly, the Ian Fleming part was fun in a way but felt out-of-place, Robert Webb does a decent enough job in his role but doesn't look as comfortable in a serious role than with the comedy that he is very gifted at, the voodoo sometimes got excessive and there are characters(Hillingdon and Jackson especially) that are given very little to do.There are things though that did come across as an improvement over the book. Lucky is much more interesting, and the method in how she died was less risky(fellow friends of mine who also love Agatha Christie argued that the way the murder was carried out in the book was too much of a risk and I actually agree). Molly is also more sympathetic, and the whole Victoria subplot actually helped make that come across as believable. Palgrave addressing everybody in telling his story was also a change that came off remarkably well, it did make it easier for the murderer to overhear what he's saying. As an adaptation, the adaptation is solidly done and generally faithful in spirit. There are changes of course but this is one such occasion where the changes actually made the storytelling better than distracting from it, in recent memory another adaptation that comes to mind in this respect was the Poirot adaptation of Elephants Can Remember. Where the adaptation succeeds even more is how well it works on its own.It is very well made, the tropical scenery is just beautiful and the most colourful easily of the three adaptations, and the photography adds to that quality. The music is rich and sensitively orchestrated, nothing overbearing or annoying. The dialogue is thoughtfully written and always engaging, I didn't feel that it was underdeveloped or too much talk. It feels like Christie's writing too which is another plus. The story is gripping and suspenseful, of this, Hickson's and Hayes' I found this one to be the best paced. The acting is excellent, Julia McKenzie is terrific as ever, less shrewish but charming and intelligent. In support, Hermione Norris' wonderfully cold Evelyn, Charity Wakefield's sympathetic Molly and Anthony Sher's touchingly played Rafiel(loved the final scene) stood out the most. Oliver Ford Davies is good in his appearance, his death scene was very cleverly staged and shot, and while the Dysons were slightly overplayed it didn't detract much at all.Overall, very well done on its own and solidly adapted, one of McKenzie's better outings. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox