At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie * * * *

At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) is a Miss Marple novel that I read as part of the 2025 Agatha Christie Reading Challenge, and in several ways it felt quite unique compared to the other books I read this year. This is very firmly a Miss Marple story. She is present from the beginning to the end, and that alone made it feel refreshing after so many novels where the detective appears late or feels almost incidental.

This is also one of Christie’s later novels, and you can feel that immediately. The book is steeped in a quiet sense of unease about modernity. It looks back at an older London, an older way of life, and contrasts it with a world that is changing fast and not always for the better. That sense of nostalgia, mixed with suspicion, runs through the entire story and gives it a very distinct atmosphere.

I knew this story quite well going in, because it is one of my favourite episodes from the Miss Marple television series. That actually helped, because the novel itself is very different from the adaptation. The TV version adds an entire storyline that simply does not exist in the book, and while that plotline is a complete invention, it is one I genuinely like. Credit where it is due, the adaptation made bold changes that worked extremely well on screen.

The novel, however, has its own surprises. There were details and scenes I remembered but could not place, and I still do not know whether that means I read this book years ago, perhaps in Hungarian, or whether my memory has simply blended different versions together. Either way, reading it now felt both familiar and new at the same time.

One thing that stood out was how unusual the structure is. There is an actual chase scene near the end, which felt almost shocking in a Christie novel. The resolution also plays with expectations in a way I was not prepared for. Without spoiling anything, the ending does not wrap itself up quite as neatly or comfortably as many of her earlier books, and that made it linger in my mind.

Miss Marple herself is wonderful here. She is gentle, observant, and quietly sharp, and she delivers one line near the end that really stuck with me. She remarks that Lucifer’s children are always beautiful. It is an unsettling thought, but also a painfully accurate one. How often do charm and beauty excuse cruelty? That idea feels just as relevant now as it must have in 1965.

This ended up being one of my favourite reads from the entire challenge. I have realised over the course of this year that I often enjoy Agatha Christie adaptations more than the original novels, but At Bertram’s Hotel is a rare exception. As a book, it worked for me on every level. Atmosphere, theme, character, and surprise all came together beautifully.

If I had to single out one Christie novel from this year that truly stayed with me, this would be it.