Book review: Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley

I don’t like historical fiction and that includes historical crime fiction. I do however, love all-things Agatha Christie and had a huge collection of her books bought from second-hand bookstores in the late 1980s or early 1990s. In recent years we’ve seen Sophie Hannah revisit Hercule Poirot and now Lucy Foley has resurrected Miss Marple. On checking old posts here – looking for one which references my absolute fave TV Miss Marple – I was reminded that in 2022 Harper Collins UK had twelve different authors re-imagine Dame Agatha’s Miss Marple so I wonder if that was some sort of ‘try-out’ before Foley got the guernsey. Who knows… either way, I think she does a good job at enacting the original.

About this book

High in the Swiss Alps, accessible only by a single, winding railway, stands the luxurious Grand Alpine Hotel. With glorious mountain views and exclusive access to powdery slopes, it draws guests from far and wide.

The notorious actress. The high-flying politician. The society wife. The reckless friend. The shrewd doctor.

But not everyone is here for a winter holiday.

Beneath the champagne and furs, dark histories simmer; old grudges emerge like cracks in the ice.

And someone is watching from the shadows. A polite, unassuming woman with an extraordinary mind: Miss Marple.

When a body is found and a blizzard cuts off all escape, only Miss Marple can connect the clues before the killer strikes again. Because it isn’t a question of who has a motive, but who’s next…

My thoughts

Foley gives us a number of narrators here, labelled simply… The Help; The Friend; The Wife; and The Star. It’s a good way of sharing with us SOME of their secrets while also hinting at others… It also allows readers to see Jane Marple through a series of lenses.

One of the things that used to amuse me the most about these books is how extraordinarily generous Jane’s friends (and nephew) are… she seems to get ‘shouted’ on an inordinate amount of holidays. Here she’s the guest of the widowed Dolly Bantry, a mainstay from the original series, who has also invited a ‘companion’ (Diana).

They’ve journeyed by train to a posh hotel and we’re introduced to other guests, including politician Anthony Narracott and his wife Catherine, his mistress Sylvia and an unlikely friend from his army days, Bruno. There are other guests, including a young medical student who is seen pestering the politician, as well as a French police officer, who comes in handy after the murder when a train derailing and blizzard mean the local police are unable to get to the hotel to investigate. (And by default channeling Dame Agatha’s locked-room style mystery!)

This is set in 1950 and includes many references to World War II, including the role Switzerland did (or didn’t) play. We quickly learn that Anthony is in a financial bind, having frittered away much of his wife’s money, but about to come into a fortune of sorts along with Bruno… the pair holding past secrets over each other.

Of course other guests also have secrets, hidden agendas and who may not be as they seem.

Foley is more wordy than Christie… particularly when describing the lavish hotel, its surrounds and snowfields and I found myself skimming a little (as I’m not a visual reader). I think what I liked about the originals is they were quick reads. Cosy reads to inhale in an hour or two.

The conclusion also bordered on convoluted for me. Foley deliberately misleads readers a number of times… perhaps too many ultimately. I should mention she also offers up more sex (well, some at least) than that offered by Dame Agatha a century ago. But a need for tighter-editing aside, I enjoyed this outing with Miss Marple.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley was published by Harper Collins in the UK.

I received an electronic copy of this book for review purposes.