Tag: Cornwall

Fact: Old Ladies Solve Murders

Agatha Christie was right, old ladies make great detectives. Spies not so much with all the shooting and chasing. But great detectives and not for the reason one might think. AI may be threatening to take over the world. And I will admit I’ve seen some campaign commercials here in LA lately that absolutely speak to the brilliance and benefit of AI. Yet, sometimes things can’t be duplicated, even by great tech.

So how do old people beat AI? Oh sure there is wisdom that accompanies age, but it’s more. The skills it takes to be a detective are not the only advantage aging brings. It is the hard and extremely cold fact that old ladies are invisible. They can travel about unnoticed as they check out the clues quietly summing up the scene.

Now of course some are better than others.

However, there is a common denominator as they all live in small towns or villages, if you’re in England.

Yes, New York would be hard to navigate, although Jessica Fletcher did venture out of Cabot Cove occasionally.

However, the cases always involved someone in close proximity to her. A relative or neighbor.

Even Miss Marple couldn’t know everyone in New York. Nor I imagine would she want to. But that’s a blog for another day.

So what is it about older ladies, especially widows that seem to hone their investigative skills?

First and foremost, I imagine it’s because they are quiet. They listen and pay attention to details. So when a murderer is spouting a piece of evidence that directly links them to the crime, they actually hear and absorb that knowledge.

Unlike younger people that are so engrossed in social media they hear nothing. Save of course the blare of loud music or pings that signify a text has just come into their phone.

Older women also have years of watching people speak. They have developed a sixth sense about those who are lying, skirting the truth and avoiding the question.

Good information if you’re looking for a murderer.

They are also smart and know the questions to ask. For example. Someone in her village has come to enjoy a cup of tea.
Knitting needles come out, but this is merely a ruse because Miss Marple already has a plan. She has a list of questions she will inconspicuously ask to discern if the person is the murderer.

Yes, it’s just that easy apparently, to figure it all out. Sadly, the police are usually the last to know.

So she has poured the tea, offered the biscuits. And no, I have no idea why the British call cookies biscuits, another one of their supposedly charming quirks I imagine. Despite how heinous the killing, there is always time for tea.

The killer couldn’t be more at ease. Unsuspecting while sipping and munching in a haze of comfort around who they believe is someone totally harmless.

So as with anyone in that position, the guard is let down and a killer tends to slip up and let out a potential clue.

Aha! Marple attacks ever so cleverly. Knit one, purl two, knit one. “So, how are your hydrangeas doing?”

“Oh thank you for asking. They are much better now that you told me to use that special mix. They seem to be thriving. How did you figure that out?”

“Just something my mother used to do to help her garden when it seemed tired. Did you get the mulch at the florist I sent you to? He seems to have just the right mix to make the formula work?”

“Yes, I went there as you suggested.”

Marple is no fool and this was nothing about mulch of course. She is well aware the florist is closed for the month and on vacation with his family at the shore. Aha! She has uncovered a lie. So much for that alibi.

Now Marple must unearth the reason for this deception. Although she is already highly suspicious.

She backs off a tad knowing that after a lie, the killer will be a bit on guard.

“Did you hear the schoolmaster has accepted the job in Cornwall?”  She inquires ever so innocently.

“Yes, what a loss. I had him in first form when I was eleven. Such a wonderful man. A great loss for the entire village.”

Excellent, the killer is back at ease.

Marple strikes again.

“I should wonder they’ll have trouble finding a replacement. After all, one of those who would be considered was the victim in that dreadful murder.”

Marple looks up from under her specs and studies the killer’s reaction.

The killer flinches noticeably. She catches herself quickly, but not fast enough for Marple to have learned all she needs to know. She has determined the person she is with is guilty.

After a few other pointed questions Marple has what she needs to offer that murderer up on a bone china biscuit plate.

And she does so with humility and relish. Although inside of course she is aware she is much smarter than the authorities and can run circles around their skills any day of the week.

Yet she is nothing if not generous and humble. She wants the police to praise her skills and appreciate her help.

And although they consider her an old busy body, they are forced to admit, she’s got the goods.

The method and the ending never vary. Oh the murderer and victim may change, but Marple’s methods remain the same. Tea, biscuits, knitting needles and a few pointed questions then Bob’s your uncle.

Another case solved in one or two hours.

Only Agatha Christie could create a Miss Marple, because she was her in every way. A woman who understood the value of paying attention to details.

I suppose that’s why to this day people still love, read and reread her novels, watch her movies and refer to her as the undisputed Queen of Mystery.

Christie is a master of understatement and suspense. Unequaled in her ability to craft a convoluted mystery in a clever and interesting manner.

Guessing along and figuring out the killer is a source of pride for any mystery lover, and more reassurance the greats always do it best.

Brilliant? yes. An unassuming woman? Indeed.

Still the greatest of all time? You bet, and AI can put that in their pipe and smoke it. Knitting needles and all.

This Whole England-America Special Relationship Really is a Thing

We’ve heard a great deal lately about a special relationship between the United States and England.

At first I thought it was because of the whole 1776 revolution incident. Also, sharing a language, well sometimes anyway. I must admit I’m forced to use the captions when watching certain British shows. And I watch a lot of those.

Recently however I’ve noticed something becoming more and more evident.

There is actually very little daylight between British and American culture.

It’s uncanny the similarities we share. I’ve noticed constant references to American films, television and celebrities on numerous UK shows.

Even older ones that Americans might find obscure show up constantly on BBC shows.

The other day someone referenced Humphrey Bogart and the African Queen, The Lone Ranger and sang Greased Lightnin on British programs.

This is especially the case on comedies that when seeking humorous punchlines resort to Americanisms for laughs.

At first, I was surprised to hear these continuous allusions to stars and places Americana until it became obvious.

We do share a language and a culture in too many ways to avoid intertwining.

Art design and entertainment is way too deeply embedded now to ever be removed.

The familiar shows, celebs and movies pop up easily and are highly recognizable on both sides of the Atlantic.

I’m not certain when it happened or why, but it has. I mean what city doesn’t have street names from England. Hello! New York, New England, Kensington, Cornwall, Queens?

I imagine because we shared a language and both began as Christian countries it was inevitable we’d bond over similar lifestyles.

And speaking of Bond, what American didn’t know and adore Sean Connery?

Who hasn’t read Pride and Prejudice or Shakespeare?

Yet is it just England or is it also the entire Western World that formed a bond that is now coming a bit unraveled at the edges?

Yes, of course we all are familiar with European culture, but far less with other countries.

On occasion we’d watch a German movie with subtitles. Or Spanish or French flick.

France and Italy were a close second to England  in familiarity possessing an enormous desire to travel there for the food and sights.

And let us not forget Bridget Bardot, Maurice Chevalier, Coco Chanel and Louis Jordan.

Italy won our hearts with pasta, leaning towers, gorgeous landscapes and Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastriani and the Godfather.

But there is still something incredibly familiar about England. It’s as though we were always one country with a giant ocean in between. Flying to London on business or for vacation never seemed too difficult. Like going to a relative’s for a weekend stay.

We shared fashion, Carnaby Street, Twiggy in the sixties. Music, Princess Diana, the Beatles and all the other groups in the British Invasion. So many Brits embraced Hollywood as a second home and lived here part or full time. So many British recording artists cite singers like Elvis and Little Richard as their inspiration.

Great American movies like Star Wars were filmed at Pinewood Studios in England and so many crossover stars populated these films.

It almost became difficult to discern who was British or American in show business any longer. Still isn’t.

I must admit in the food department Americans were pretty much okay with Brits keeping their fare to themselves.

While we embraced burgers, pizza and Asian delights, it wasn’t until quite recently British food became a thing and their chefs accepted as culinary elite.

Let’s face it when was the last time you went to a restaurant here that featured spotted dick or blood sausage on the menu? UGH!

But we Americans were more than happy to buy into the rest. English furniture and antiques were held in the highest esteem by the wealthy classes in the States.

British décor complete with dark rich paneling was prominent in the most prestigious homes, exclusive private clubs and public buildings.

And in the fifties when MGM boasted it had more stars than the heavens a great deal of them were English.

Most Americans liked Queen Elizabeth and have a favorable view of the Royal family. Okay many of its members anyway.

We even chose to believe we had our own royal family for a time and its theme was even Camelot.

Kennedy’s death destroyed that dream in a hurry, but the pride we felt in that First Family remains with all of us who lived during those times. It was then we could understand the British pride in their royals.

I remember playing with paper dolls as a kid with gowns from Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.

Although many won’t admit it, we all loved the pomp and circumstance of royal weddings and otherworldly jewels and crowns.

Yes, we’d separated, but it was more like a family that goes through a divorce, but continues to vacation together at the family beach house each summer.

The connection is never really broken.

No other country in the western world has had a closer relationship, shared so much culture or moved so easily through one another’s world.

Politics aside, Britain’s choice of leaders as will ours, won’t impede on what has already become such a deep and abiding interaction between the people of the US and UK.

Perhaps yes, I’m being too optimistic here. As the culture of England and America changes the similarities may subside.

If that is the case, it would be a great shame. Thank goodness we’ll always have Monty Python, Ab Fab, Downton Abbey, Nigella Lawson, Harry Potter and Bond movies to fall back on when we need a British fix

And the Brits will always have Hollywood, Texas Barbeque, Black Friday sales, Halloween, Levis and McDonald’s.

We’ll continue to share it all just as surely as Bogie and Bergman will always have Paris.