A review by bethpeninger
Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie

3.0

In this final Tommy and Tuppence mystery, the Beresfords have moved into a charming house in an English village. They are ready and eager to settle into a slower pace of life. Accompanying the house was leftover furniture, bric-a-brac, and books. So, in addition to the work that needs to be done to the house to bring it up to proper standards, Tommy and Tuppence find themselves sorting through the things left behind by the previous owner. As Tuppence casually reads a book she found she discovers a code of sorts written within the book, "Mary Jordan did not die naturally." That is all it takes for Tuppence to start sleuthing around. Who was Mary Jordan? Why did the coder say she didn't die naturally? Tommy is dismissive at first but soon Tuppence is asking too many good questions for him to ignore that there is a story, a mystery, to uncover. But it's what one would call a cold case, however, it seems some people still remember the circumstances all too vividly and are keen to keep anyone else from finding out what really happened to Mary Jordan and why.

Part of the charm of the Beresfords is their personal interactions with each other. Tommy is so delightfully enamored with Tuppence and she disarms him constantly with her innocent guile and cleverness. Even after many. many years of marriage. I also appreciate the way Christie utilizes lay people to solve mysteries and the Beresfords fall neatly into that category.