History Literature / AtBertramsHotel

** Miss Marple's nephew Raymond West and his wife Joan talk about how Miss Marple got mixed up with a murder the last time they sent her on vacation, to the West Indies; that is the plot of ''Literature/AtBertramsHotel''.

* ActionGirl: Lady Sedgwick is an adventuress, and her action skills shine in the climax of the novel.

* ContinuityNod: Miss Marple's nephew Raymond West and his wife Joan talk about how Miss Marple got mixed up with a murder the last time they sent her on vacation, to the West Indies; that is the plot of ''Literature/AtBertramsHotel''.

Miss Marple is holidaying at the titular hotel, where she meets her old friend Lady Selina Hazy, and encounters a variety of other guests including the adventuress Bess Sedgwick, the young heiress Elvira Blake, her guardian Colonel Lunscombe, and the forgetful Canon Pennyfather. The latter is supposed to fly to Switzerland for a conference but misses his flight by a day, returns to the hotel, and is knocked unconscious, before waking up four days later outside of London near to a recent train robbery where witnesses say they saw him; Miss Marple also saw him leaving his room fully conscious several hours after he was knocked out. Meanwhile, Elvira's money is being held in trust until she comes of age, and she asks her guardians who would inherit if she died, and hints that she is planning to get married. Lady Sedgwick has concealed the fact that she is Elvira's mother, considering herself unsuitable, and both women are lovers of the racing-car driver Ladislaus Malinowski, whose car resembles one seen at the train robbery. Miss Marple has seen him with Elvira at a restaurant, and has also overheard Sedgwick talking to the hotel commissionaire, Michael "Micky" Gorman, with whom she was once secretly married in Ireland. When Elvira returns to the hotel on a foggy night, she is shot at by an unknown sniper; Gorman runs in front of her to shield her, and is himself fatally shot. Police Chief Inspector Fred "Father" Davy, already involved in the mystery, teams up with Miss Marple to uncover the various crimes…

The novel has been adapted twice for the screen: firstly as a 1987 BBC film starring Creator/JoanHickson, and secondly as a 2007 episode of ITV's ''Series/{{Marple}}''. The latter made many large changes to the plot, and its associated tropes can be found on the page for the TV series.

* AdaptationalKarma: In the original novel, the murderer is not seen to be apprehended, although Chief Inspector Fred "Father" Davy vows to go after [[spoiler:her]]. The Creator/JoanHickson adaptation follows the killer's final line of the novel with Miss Marple's discovery of an incriminating diary, resulting in an arrest.

* ClicheStorm: The titular hotel is this, full of the retired military officers and GrandeDames one would expect in a hotel that seems frozen in the past. It doesn't take Miss Marple long to realize that something's off about the place. [[spoiler:She's not wrong; the place has been set up this way deliberately to serve as a front for a crime ring.]]

The novel has been adapted twice for the screen: firstly as a 1987 BBC film starring Joan Hickson, and secondly as a 2007 episode of ITV's ''Series/{{Marple}}''. The latter made many large changes to the plot, and its associated tropes can be found on the page for the TV series.

* AdaptationalKarma: In the original novel, the murderer is not seen to be apprehended, although Chief Inspector Fred "Father" Davy vows to go after [[spoiler:her]]. The Joan Hickson adaptation follows the killer's final line of the novel with Miss Marple's discovery of an incriminating diary, resulting in an arrest.

* AllForNothing: It turns out that [[spoiler:Elvira's fears about her mother's marriage to Gorman depriving her of her inheritance by making her "illegitimate" were unfounded, and thus, unknown to her, there was nothing for her to gain from killing him.]]
* BadassDriver: Lady Sedgwick turns out to be one. [[spoiler:She commits suicide by crashing her car after driving very fast and recklessly, but Father notes that her driving was actually magnificent, and that against the odds she avoided any other casualties or property damage.]]

* ClimbingClimax: Near the end of the story, [[spoiler:Lady Sedgwick]] confesses to the murder and then flees by climbing the drainpipe to the roof of the building, managing to elude all of Father's men, before scaling down the far side, driving away recklessly in her car and crashing fatally. [[spoiler:She did this deliberately and the confession was a false one to protect her daughter.]]

* OopsIForgotIWasMarried: Lady Sedgwick and Micky Gorman had married in Ireland, and he had told her that it was just a game and not a legal union, but in fact the marriage was genuine, making all four of her subsequent marriages unwittingly bigamous.

* AllForNothing: It turns out that [[spoiler:Elvira's fears about her mother's marriage to Gorman depriving her of her inheritance by making her "illigitimate" were unfounded, and thus, unknown to her, there was nothing for her to gain from killing him.]]

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Elvira Blake]] was desperately in love with [[spoiler:Malinowski]], but knew that [[spoiler:he would only marry her for her money. She killed Gorman out of fear that because his marriage to her mother made her father's marriage bigamous, Elvira might have, due to being "illigitimate", lost her inheritance, and thus also lost Malinowski. As it turned out, this fear was baseless.]]

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: if [[spoiler: Elvira Blake]] had just [[spoiler: taken her father's will to a competent estate lawyer, she would have found out that her inheritance was securely hers, regardless of her mother's bigamy]] and therefore there was no need for [[spoiler: her]] to kill anybody.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: if [[spoiler: Elvira Blake]] had just [[spoiler: taken her father's will to a competent estate lawyer, she would have found out that her inheritance wasn't changed her her mother's bigamy]] and therefore there was no need for [[spoiler: her]] to kill anybody.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Elvira Blake]] was desparately in love with [[spoiler:Malinowski]], but knew that [[spoiler:he would only marry her for her money. She killed Gorman out of fear that because his marriage to her mother made her father's marriage bigamous, Elvira might have, due to being "illigitimate", lost her inheritance, and thus also lost Malinowski. As it turned out, this fear was baseless.]]

* SiblingTriangle: Actually a parent-child triangle, as both Lady Sedgwick and her daughter Elvira have both been lovers of racing-car driver Ladislaus Malinowski.

Miss Marple is holidaying at the titular hotel, where she meets her old friend Lady Selina Hazy, and encounters a variety of other guests including the adventuress Bess Sedgwick, the young heiress Elvira Blake, her guardian Colonel Lunscombe, and the forgetful Canon Pennyfather. The latter is supposed to fly to Switzerland for a conference but misses his flight by a day, returns to the hotel, and is knocked unconscious, before waking up four days later outside of London near to a recent train robbery where witnesses say they saw him; Miss Marple also saw him leaving his room fully conscious after he was knocked out several hours after he was knocked out. Meanwhile, Elvira's money is being held in trust until she comes of age, and she asks her guardians who would inherit if she died, and hints that she is planning to get married. Lady Sedgwick has concealed the fact that she is Elvira's mother, considering herself unsuitable, and both women are lovers of the racing-car driver Ladislaus Malinowski, whose car resembles one seen at the train robbery. Miss Marple has seen him with Elvira at a restaurant, and has also overheard Sedgwick talking to the hotel commissionaire, Michael "Micky" Gorman, with whom she was once secretly married in Ireland. When Elvira returns to the hotel on a foggy night, she is shot at by an unknown sniper; Gorman runs in front of her to shield her, and is himself fatally shot. Police Chief Inspector Fred "Father" Davy, already involved in the mystery, teams up with Miss Marple to uncover the various crimes…

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Elvira Blake]] was desparately in love with [[spoiler:Malinowski]], but knew that [[spoiler:he would only marry her for her money. She killed Gorman out of fear that because his marriage to her mother maed her father's marriage bigamous, Elvira might have, due to being "illigitimate", lost her inheritance, and thus also lost Malinowski. As it turned out, this fear was baseless.]]

Miss Marple is holidaying at the titular hotel, where she meets her old friend Lady Selena Hazy, and encounters a variety of other guests including the adventuress Bess Sedgwick, the young heiress Elvira Blake, her guardian Colonel Lunscombe, and the forgetful Canon Pennyfather. The latter is supposed to fly to Switzerland for a conference but misses his flight by a day, returns to the hotel, and is knocked unconscious, before waking up four days later outside of London near to a recent train robbery where witnesses say they saw him; Miss Marple also saw him leaving his room fully conscious after he was knocked out several hours after he was knocked out. Meanwhile, Elvira's money is being held in trust until she comes of age, and she asks her guardians who would inherit if she died, and hints that she is planning to get married. Lady Sedgwick has concealed the fact that she is Elvira's mother, considering herself unsuitable, and both women are lovers of the racing-car driver Ladislaus Malinowski, whose car resembles one seen at the train robbery. Miss Marple has seen him with Elvira at a restaurant, and has also overheard Sedgwick talking to the hotel commissionaire, Michael "Micky" Gorman, with whom she was once secretly married in Ireland. When Elvira returns to the hotel on a foggy night, she is shot at by an unknown sniper; Gorman runs in front of her to shield her, and is himself fatally shot. Police Chief Inspector Fred "Father" Davy, already involved in the mystery, teams up with Miss Marple to uncover the various crimes…

* SiblingTriangle: Actually, a parent-child triangle: both Lady Sedgwick and her daughter Elvira have both been lovers of racing-car driver Ladislaus Malinowski.

* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: Subverted. After [[spoiler:Bess Sedgwick crashes and dies, her]] confession and motivations are discussed, when Literature/MissMarple quietly reveals that [[spoiler:she falsely confessed to protect her daughter Elvira, the real murderer.]]