Book of the Month: At Bertram’s Hotel

An old-fashioned London Hotel is not quite as reputable as it makes out… When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she’s looking for at Bertram’s Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer. Yet, not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day…

First published in 1965, At Bertram’s Hotel was the tenth full length novel to feature Miss Marple. Following her adventure to the Caribbean in the preceding novel, At Bertram’s Hotel sees Agatha Christie’s much-loved sleuth Miss Marple on one of her rare visits outside of St Mary Mead. It takes place at Bertram’s Hotel in London, were Miss Marple is holidaying. The story contains a shocking collusion, described by Christie expert John Curran as “an even more breath-taking conspiracy than that of Murder on the Orient Express.”

The novel was first adapted for the screen in 1987 for a BBC television film adaptation starring Joan Hickson in the title role as Miss Marple. Twenty years later it was adapted as part of the third series of Marple starring Geraldine McEwan as the renowned sleuth.