Richard's Reviews > The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple

Such a clever story, again an accidental death may turn out to be murder. Poison has an uncertain effect on a group of people as Dr Lloyd points out here. Maybe the intended victim was only ill as a result and for someone else it proved quite fatal. This of course is taken up by Miss Marple who correctly unravels the mystery and reveals the hidden motive in the poisoning.

Having started things off by getting Arthur to share his ghost story, hostess Dolly Bantry is cajoled into recounting her own mysterious story.
A sinister tale of murder it seems, a poisoning at another meal table, several fall ill, but tragically one young woman dies from eating foxglove.

Some modern readers might be appalled by the stereotypes Miss Marple calls upon to link people in her village with characters recounted in these mysteries she invariably solves. This is the very essence of her modus operandi. The observing of human nature and the categorising of people into generalisations.

Modern thinking has become more pc and we are affronted by disingenuous terms like “Dumb Blonde”, “Dirty Old Man” and “Essex Girl”. Yet it would be unfair to dismiss these stories on that basis as the implied traits are often seen as a possible indication, perhaps a precursor to motive and subsequent actions.

Agatha Christie must have been aware of it because in this short story she has some over the top labelling of certain characters, having fun with the process in Mr Curle’s case by guessing his choice of under garments. Therefore I feel a reader needs to embrace it, it is a plot device, providing for Marple’s ability to solve crimes that baffle others. A knowledge of poisons is also vital, as in this case, the prerequisite for getting to the truth.