Nemesis: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing Nemesis by Agatha Christie, the 11^th Miss Marple book. Find out what we thought of this novel and If you should add it to your reading list!

Nemesis Summary

While browsing the newspaper, Jane Marple sees that her acquaintance Mr. Rafiel passed away. A few days later, Jane Marple receives a letter from Mr. Rafiel asking her to investigate a crime after his death.

But the letter doesn’t tell her what the crime is, who committed it, or where it happened. If Jane chooses to accept it, she will have to discover the crime that Mr. Rafiel is talking about and then solve it.

This leads Jane to tour famous British houses and gardens with mostly strangers. It is here that Jane finally catches the scent of the crime that Mr. Rafiel wanted her to solve. But very soon, Jane learns that someone doesn’t want the past to be revisited, no matter what.

Can Jane solve this mystery that Mr. Rafiel left for her or will the criminal get away? 

Commentary

Nemesis was released in 1971 in both the U.K and the U.S and was the last Miss Marple novel that Christie wrote but wasn’t the last Miss Marple novel published. Sleeping Murder is the 12th and last novel in the series but was written in the early 1940s.

The novel was well received and the mystery at hand is fresh and innovative. We, the reader doesn’t even know what the crime is and Christie does a wonderful job making this plot easy to follow. 

Mr. Rafiel is a character that first made his appearance A Caribbean Mystery and the world Nemesis was first used there. It feels like Christie knew that she would eventually write this novel. 

I really enjoyed this novel and loved not having a crime to solve as you usually do in a Christie novel. Instead, we follow Jane as she has to discover what the case is. This is an idea that Christie visited in A Sleeping Murder but that case came into view much earlier than the case in this novel. 

Conclusion

Even after reading so many Christie novels, it is always fun to see how creative her plots are. I would have loved to have seen what other fun plots she would have created if she lived longer. This is a great conclusion to the Miss Marple series and feels like the perfect farewell for Jane Marple. Happy reading!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook