Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel — a new Miss Marple mystery by Lucy Foley

September 4, 2026 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 0 ★★★★★

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Agatha Christie, Lucy Foley
Series: Miss Marple (continuation) #1
Published by William Morrow on 9/22/2026
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Bookshop | Kobo | Audible
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five-stars

Also by this author: The Monogram Murders, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, The Man in the Brown Suit, Partners in Crime, The Moving Finger

High in the Swiss Alps, accessible only by a single, winding railway, stands the luxurious Grand Alpine Hotel. With glorious mountain views and exclusive access to powdery slopes, it draws guests from far and wide.

The notorious actress.
The high-flying politician.
The society wife.
The reckless friend.
The shrewd doctor.

But not everyone is here for a winter holiday.

Beneath the champagne and furs, dark histories simmer; old grudges emerge like cracks in the ice.

And someone is watching from the shadows. A polite, unassuming woman with an extraordinary mind: Miss Marple.

When a body is found and a blizzard cuts off all escape, only Miss Marple can connect the clues before the killer strikes again. Because it isn’t a question of who has a motive, but who’s next…

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Fans of Agatha Christie will delight in this addition to the Miss Marple mysteries!

I just finished reading Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, and I am both surprised and impressed. Agatha Christie fans are in for a treat!

I’m often disappointed when a new author attempts to continue a well-loved author’s series. It’s hard to truly capture the original author’s voice and style—all the things that made them both unique and beloved. Let me tell you, Lucy Foley really pulls it off in her new Miss Marple mystery. She channels Agatha Christie’s style so well, I almost thought I was reading a long-lost Christie mystery. Foley employs Christie’s characteristic twists and subtle misdirection with skill, and includes nods to a number of books in the Christie canon.

Miss Marple joins her friend Dolly Bantry and Dolly’s paid companion for a luxury stay at the Grand Alpine Hotel (and spa) in the French Alps. As they arrive, they discover that Anthony Narrancott, a prominent politician, and his upper-crust wife Catherine have also chosen the hotel for a getaway. So, apparently, has Bruno Crane, purportedly old school friend of Narrancott’s, although neither he nor Catherine expected the other’s presence. Other arrivals include a Hollywood bombshell and her giant mastiff, a nervous young man desperate to talk to Narrancott, and a group of nuns.

Told from multiple first-person points of view (none of them Miss Marple herself), the book has a number of elements of a classic Christie novel: an isolated, somewhat exotic setting; several victims and several suspects with possible motives and opportunities for murder; characters who may not be who or what they appear to be; unreliable narrators; and a mystery with its roots in the past. Foley’s early descriptions of the Alpine beauty and luxurious accommodations of the fictional “Grand Alpine Hotel” contrast well with the characters’ growing sense of unease and isolation from the village below; I could scent the clear, snow-crisp mountain air and feel the contrast of the sun’s warmth against the frigid temperatures. I’m not an expert skier, and I’ve never been down an alpine sled run (think luge or skeleton), but Foley’s descriptions of these sports, through the voices of her characters, ring true. She’s equally good at characterization, pacing, and plot.

I was expecting misdirection and was on constantly on the lookout for it. Foley, like Christie before her, plays fair; every clue Miss Marple picks up on is there on the page for you, although (in true Christie style) they are rarely telegraphed or even noticeable. I did manage to pick up on several of the clues. Even so, Foley managed to surprise me a number of times, including the final twist, despite my having considered almost everyone a potential suspect at some point—except, of course, Miss Marple herself! I even had a moment or two of suspecting poor Dolly Bantry, although not for long. (Mrs. Bantry appears in several of the Miss Marple mysteries; she would make a most unlikely murderer. But then, the least likely suspect is often the murderer in a Christie novel.) If you are someone who has read and reread nearly all of Christie’s mysteries, as I have, you might figure out the entire plot…but don’t count on it.

If I had any quibble at all, it’s with that twist ending. It works brilliantly, and it’s a solution worthy of Christie herself. But it left me just a touch uncomfortable because it flirts with a trope I had hoped was on the way out. Nonetheless, I believe that long-time fans of Agatha Christie will delight in this addition to the Miss Marple mysteries, whether or not they choose to consider it canon.

Challenges: COYER 2026: Out to Lunch Again; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2026