The Blood Stained Pavement by Agatha Christie

Cliffs and Stack, West Penwith by Paul Mcgregor

In Agatha Christie's The Blood Stained Pavement, it's now Joyce Lempriere's turn to regale the Tuesday Night Club with a mystery from her past. She recalls a stay at a picturesque seaside inn in Cornwall, where she planned to spend her days peacefully sketching the dramatic landscape. Surrounded by steep cliffs and rocky terrain, one must always be careful of their footing should an unfortunate "accident" occur. As Joyce talks, Miss Marple sits quietly in the corner, knitting away and saying nothing, using her superpower of picking up on the seemingly inconsequential details that the others barely register. 

Joyce notices a young couple arrive at the inn, followed soon after by another woman traveling alone. The man recognizes the woman as an old friend, they exchange pleasantries and everything seems hunky-dory. Perhaps too hunky-dory. Then Joyce spots what looks suspiciously like bloodstains on the pavement (hence, the title), which according to Cornish folklore, is a bad omen meaning that someone will die in 24hrs...dun, dun dun. She begins to question whether it's actually blood or whether the sea air is getting to her head. Before long, the female friend vanishes and her body washes up on the shore few days later. Did she drown? Or maybe she took an unfortunate tumble off the cliff? The ending is anti-climactic because Joyce just tells everyone exactly what happened following the police investigation into the woman's mysterious death. Instead of the group excitedly dissecting clues and debating theories, Joyce simply explains what the police investigation uncovered. Case closed, discussion cancelled. Miss Marple then calmly delivers her usual moral of the story, one she seems contractually obligated to repeat in some shape or form in these tales: 

"There is a great deal of wickedness in village life. I hope you dear young people will never realize how very wicked the world is."

A sobering thought, sure. Unfortunately, the story doesn't offer much in the way of suspense or thrills, which we know Christie is more than capable of delivering. Instead, everything is wrapped up in a tidy little bow and presented to the reader on a silver platter, no sleuthing required.