Library Journal
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The Grand Alpine Hotel, a luxurious and remote ski resort and spa, is accessible only by a single, winding railway. Guests arrive from far and wide to enjoy its mountain views and decadent amenities and to celebrate freedom and prosperity after World War II. Most of them—a war hero politician and his society wife, a notorious Hollywood actress, a reckless friend, a shrewd doctor, and the renowned Miss Jane Marple—are there for a winter holiday, but others have more sinister intentions. The atmosphere of celebration quickly sours when a body is discovered. As a hazardous snowstorm descends upon the Alps, it cuts off all escape routes and leaves the hotel isolated from the outside world. Trapped with a murderer, Miss Marple uses her keen mind and experience observing human nature to hunt for clues, discovering a history of secrets, greed, betrayal, and ice-cold grudges. With many guests possessing ample motive, Miss Marple remains determined to stop the killer before more lives are lost in the freezing isolation of the Grand Alpine Hotel. VERDICT Foley (The Midnight Feast) crafts a modern tribute to Christie's classic Marple novels that is perfect for avid mystery lovers or those new to the genre.—Linsey Milillo

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The year 1950 finds Miss Jane Marple, everyone’s favorite spinster, vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Murder soon follows. And why not? After all, Agatha Christie already took Miss Marple from the village of Much Benham to London and the Caribbean and staged mysterious deaths for her to solve. But Foley complicates this sequel in several ways that will leave Christie fans gaping. It’s hard to believe Miss Marple and her recently widowed friend Dolly Bantry, who memorably discovered the body in the library back in 1942, would seek pleasure on a chilly mountaintop, even if the destination were suggested by Diana Glass, Mrs. Bantry’s companion. In addition, Foley parcels out the story among four narrators: Catherine Narracott, the much younger wife of ambitious Tory Member of Parliament Anthony Narracott; Bruno Crane, Anthony’s wartime comrade in arms, who pops up out of nowhere bent on mischief; Hollywood star Sylvia Sinclair, who establishes her American credentials by calling everyone sweetheart, honey, or baby; and Diana herself. The rapid shifts among the leading suspects when Anthony Narracott is predictably killed, along with an accident that even more predictably cuts off the Grand Alpine Hotel from the authorities and the rest of the world, sadly upstage Miss Marple, who’d be the first to note she’s not one to take charge. Readers who persevere to the big reveal will discover that the mystery has been adroitly plotted and intricately clued, with a solution that will surprise many of them—providing compelling evidence against Raymond Chandler’s famous dictum that the ideal mystery is one you’d read even if the end were missing. The principal takeaway: It’s a lot harder to bring Miss Marple back to life than the higher-profile Hercule Poirot. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Foley (The Midnight Feast) honors the legacy of Agatha Christie with this sterling mystery that finds legendary sleuth Miss Jane Marple traveling to Switzerland in 1950 with her friend, Dolly Bantry, and Dolly’s prim assistant, Diana Glass. The women are delighted by the luxuries they find upon checking in to the Grand Alpine Hotel, located in an isolated region of the Swiss Alps. The trip sours, however, when someone at the resort turns up dead and a powerful blizzard subsequently strands the guests. Eccentric disguises and stolen gold bars add color to a mystery that starts with familiar tropes but grows increasingly unpredictable as Miss Marple’s investigation proceeds. Foley’s side characters—aging movie star Sylvia Sinclair; powerful political candidate Anthony Narracott and his wife, Catherine; six skiing nuns who pray in the adjacent chapel; and French detective Moreau, who conveniently shows up after the first murder—live up to the casts Christie constructed in her books. Foley’s Miss Marple, meanwhile, perfectly blends the investigative prowess and unassuming disposition that’s long made the character so beloved. Golden age mystery fans will adore this faithful update. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (Sept.)

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

A new Miss Marple mystery written by one of the best thriller writers in the business? What’s not to like? Jane Marple is, of course, the amateur sleuth created by Agatha Christie: Marple headlined her first novel in 1930. This new Marple story, set in 1950, features a typical Christie cast of characters and a convoluted murder mystery that promises—and delivers—plenty of suspense and surprises. This is no slavish imitation of Dame Agatha, though. Foley, the author of such best-sellers as The Guest List (2020) and The Paris Apartment (2022), writes in the present tense, which differs from the third person used in the original Marple novels, but that also gives the story an immediacy that benefits it greatly: the reader and the various first-person narrators are in the same position, uncertain about what’s going to happen and who’s about to be revealed as a villain (and, not incidentally, which of the narrators might be keeping some things hidden from us). Like Sophie Hannah’s Hercule Poirot novels, this new novel featuring a beloved Agatha Christie character is sure to be a rousing success with fans.