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shahrazedez 's review for:
They Do It with Mirrors
by Agatha Christie
1 star
TW: racism, use of slurs, ableism.
Waste of my time,
Predictable murderer that was so obvious, and the second half of the book trying to obscure it by talking about how the murderer had no financial motive was so silly considering he was in charge of the trust and had big plans and ambition. Edgar Lawson pretending to have a mental disorder was obvious considering the 'sly smile' he gave, him actually being the son of the murderer was the only intriguing thing but tbh the resemblance between them was only brought up as the information was revealed so it was lackluster. We did spend a lot of time with the characters which was better than some other books where we barely see their interactions. Miss Marple should have got this one immediately. This would have been better as a short story.
On top of that we have the inspector saying the n word out of nowhere, I mean I know she was a conservative and racist but to just put slurs in this book and everyone to praise it is laughable. And the constant weird remarks about Italians and how they're dramatic were annoying too.
The inspector himself was annoying, as was everyone else who pushed the sentiment and message of the book that seemed to be 'why help people who have done crimes because of mental disorders like kleptomania or schizophrenia, when you can help a hardworking poor lad who hasn't committed a crime?' and no one presenting the argument that maybe we should help both makes me think the author's personal feelings aligned with what characters like the inspector and Walter thought.
And to make matters worse we have the most tedious boring romance, with the classic 'here are all these suitors but really let me go back to my stereotypical manly husband who doesn't do the dreaded 'art' who wants me to give it all up for him and put me in a position where I'm even more vulnerable, even though I expressed throughout the book how I dislike how women are vulnerable in society and I enjoy power'. At least he didn't strangle her in this one.
The best character in the book was Ruth and she only appeared in the beginning.
TW: racism, use of slurs, ableism.
Waste of my time,
Predictable murderer that was so obvious, and the second half of the book trying to obscure it by talking about how the murderer had no financial motive was so silly considering he was in charge of the trust and had big plans and ambition. Edgar Lawson pretending to have a mental disorder was obvious considering the 'sly smile' he gave, him actually being the son of the murderer was the only intriguing thing but tbh the resemblance between them was only brought up as the information was revealed so it was lackluster. We did spend a lot of time with the characters which was better than some other books where we barely see their interactions. Miss Marple should have got this one immediately. This would have been better as a short story.
On top of that we have the inspector saying the n word out of nowhere, I mean I know she was a conservative and racist but to just put slurs in this book and everyone to praise it is laughable. And the constant weird remarks about Italians and how they're dramatic were annoying too.
The inspector himself was annoying, as was everyone else who pushed the sentiment and message of the book that seemed to be 'why help people who have done crimes because of mental disorders like kleptomania or schizophrenia, when you can help a hardworking poor lad who hasn't committed a crime?' and no one presenting the argument that maybe we should help both makes me think the author's personal feelings aligned with what characters like the inspector and Walter thought.
And to make matters worse we have the most tedious boring romance, with the classic 'here are all these suitors but really let me go back to my stereotypical manly husband who doesn't do the dreaded 'art' who wants me to give it all up for him and put me in a position where I'm even more vulnerable, even though I expressed throughout the book how I dislike how women are vulnerable in society and I enjoy power'. At least he didn't strangle her in this one.
The best character in the book was Ruth and she only appeared in the beginning.