March Read/3

Title: Nemesis
Author: Christie, Agatha
Genre: Mystery
Number of Pages: 271
Book Description (from inside book flap):
"Our code word, my dear lady, is Nemesis."  Miss Jane Marple sat in the big armchair by the fireplace in her house at St. Mary Mead, and repeated the sentence softly under her breath. It was par of a letter-an unusual letter from an unusual man. The man who had written the letter was dead. She had read the announcement of his death more than a week ago.
     Nemesis...The word brought a picture before her eyes of tropical palms-a blue Caribbean sea-and of herself running through the warm fragrant night on the island of St. Honore to ask for help. To get help in time so that a life could be saved.
     She had insisted on-had demanded-help, and the word that had come to her lips had been Nemesis.
     Now she herself was being asked for help-for a reason she did not know-in a matter of which she was ignorant! The whole thing was impossible, quite impossible-and yet...What possible qualifications could she have? Again a certain sentence came back: "You, my dear, have a natural flair for justice. I want you to investigate a crime. I see you in my mind's eye, as I saw you once one night as I rose from sleep disturbed by your urgency, enveloped in a cloud of pink knitting wool! Miss Marple looked down at her knitting.
     The letter had ended with a quotation from the Book of Amos:
Let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an everlasting stream
"It doesn't sound at all like me," said Miss Marple doubtfully.
My Read:
     In this book, the murders were committed because of love, not revenge nor hatred or the usual causes one might surmise. Here are the conversations between Miss Marple and one of the three sisters, Anthea.-pages 236-237
"But of course it's murder," said Anthea. "All I wonder is who wanted to murder her? I should think probably some pupil of hers at the school who always hated her and had it in for her."
"Do you think hate can last as long as that? asked Miss Marple.
"Oh, I should think so. I should think you could hate anyone for years."
"No," said Miss Marple, "I think hate would die out. You could try and keep it up artificially, but I think you would fail. It's not as strong a force as love," she added.
Love is, sometimes, frightening, said Miss Marple.
I agree.