the body in the library geraldine mcewan

She concluded that Cleopatra's legendary death was based on an Isis myth and she was murdered by Octavian, later Augustus Caesar. Snake venom or even poison tend to be slow and uncertain. It is true there are anomalies in the suicide story.

Her view of Cleopatra ('She never quit') is, perhaps, overly American. If Cleopatra's Alexandria is now at the bottom of the sea, no matter. The detective here is an American profiler, Pat Brown, brisk as a broom and absolutely indefatigable. Which brings me to Who Killed Cleopatra? Revealed (Five). I have to say, through slightly gritted teeth, that it actually strengthens the story.

The solution of a murder mystery is supposed to take your breath away and this certainly does that. The film opens with a V2 falling on a birthday party and ends with a bit of a bombshell too. David Walliams, half of the Little Britain team, makes something extremely funny and slightly sinister out of very little. As Miss Marple explains how two dead blondes have been swapped in a kind of conjuring trick, she interjects with warm appreciation at each fresh revelation: 'Mind like a sink, you know,' 'Isn't she marvellous?' and 'You must admit she is frightfully good!' The whole story is played, though not excessively, for comedy. Joanna Lumley plays a blinder as Miss Marple's Watson. When her friend, Dolly Bantry (Joanna Lumley) says they never have wild parties in St Mary Mead, she agrees with infinitely lingering regret 'N-a-y-o-w.' You wouldn't have thought a single vowel could be stretched out as long as that without a wild horse at either end. Talking of little tarts, her sidelong eyes are full of mischief, and one suspects that this Miss Marple has a racy past. Her tiny face is screwed up like a withered apple, sharp and possibly a little tart. (Phoebe de Gaye - I know she sounds implausible - has had a lot of fun with the costumes.) She is so fond of this particular hat, and indeed it is flattering, that she has a blue and a green version. As Miss Marple she looks like a mischievous elf wearing a hat like a fallen leaf or half a harebell. At a gathering of the Clan McEwan, all with mighty knees and some playing the bagpipes, she would stand out. Invisible is not in a leading lady's vocabulary. Now, Christie's idea of Miss Marple was a maiden lady, so fluttery, so flustered, so wreathed in fluffy wool that she was effectively invisible.

The body in the library geraldine mcewan