The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
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Publication date
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12 November 1962 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | The Pale Horse |
| Followed by | The Clocks |
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 12 November 1962 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September 1963 under the shorter title of The Mirror Crack'd and with a copyright date of 1962. The UK edition retailed at fifteen shillings (15/-) and the US edition at $3.75.
It is set in the fictional English village of St. Mary Mead and features Miss Marple. It was dedicated by Christie: "To Margaret Rutherford, in admiration." The story reflects heavily on how much has changed in the world in the 1960s. The story acts as a sort of sequel to The Body in the Library.
Miss Marple investigates the murder of Heather Badcock, who consumed a poisoned cocktail apparently meant for American film actress Marina Gregg, Heather's idol. As Marple investigates, she discovers dark secrets in Marina's past, secrets which also link to other seemingly innocent citizens of St. Mary Mead.
Sometime after Colonel Arthur Bantry dies of pneumonia, his wife moves into a cottage on the estate grounds and sells Gossington Hall to film star Marina Gregg, who takes up residence with her husband Jason Rudd. At a fête hosted by Marina, St. John Ambulance helper Heather Badcock drinks a daiquiri and subsequently dies. The coroner reveals Heather died as a result of ingesting four grains of the antidepressant Calmo, a quantity six times the recommended dose.
Shortly before her death, Heather was in conversation with Marina, giving her a long, boring account of how she had met Marina many years ago in Bermuda, getting out of bed despite her illness and putting on lots of makeup, to seek Marina's autograph.
Marina is seen with a "frozen" look on her face for a moment while Heather talks to her; it is a look likened to the Lady of Shalott, as though "doom has come upon her."
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Wikipedia