Hello and Happy New Year crime readers and food lovers!!!!   Today’s Dining with the Dame sees us munching on cherry liqueur chocolates while reading They Do It With Mirrors.  Chocolate, cherries, kirsch and Miss Marple?  Heaven! 

I want you Jane, to go down there right away and find out exactly what’s the matter.”

“Me?” exclaimed Miss Marple.  “Why me?”

“Because you’ve got a nose for that sort of thing.  You always had.  You’ve always been a sweet innocent-looking creature Jane, and all the time underneath, nothing has ever surprised you.  You always believe the worst.”

“The worst is so often true,” murmured Miss Marple.

They Do It With Mirrors – Agatha Christie

They Do It With Mirrors – The Plot

Ruth Van Rydock, deeply worried about her sister, Carrie-Louise, seeks the counsel of her old friend, the astute Miss Jane Marple. Carrie-Louise, now married to the philanthropic Lewis Serrocold, resides in the expansive Stonygates mansion. This unique residence is the home for two hundred young men, part of Lewis’s ambitious program for rehabilitating troubled youth and their teachers, doctors, and therapists.  Also living with Carrie-Louise and Lewis are Muriel, their middle-aged daughter; Gina, Carrie-Louise’s granddaughter; Gina’s American husband, Wally; and Carrie-Louise’s devoted companion, Juliet “Jolly” Bellever. Alexis and Stephen Restarick sons from Carrie-Louise’s previous marriage are also frequent visitors.  

An Unexpected Arrival and Tragedy

Shortly after Miss Marple’s arrival, Christian Gulbrandson, son of Carrie-Louise’s first husband and a trustee of the charitable foundation supporting Stonygates, makes an unexpected visit. He appears troubled, and Miss Marple overhears a hushed conversation between him and Lewis, a conversation marked by urgency and a desire to conceal something from Carrie-Louise.

Following dinner, Christian retires to write letters. Suddenly, the lights go out plunging the mansion into darkness. In the ensuing confusion, Edgar Lawson, a volatile young man employed by Lewis, accuses his benefactor of mistreating him.  Lewis, takes Edgar into his office to try to calm him down.  However, the situation escalates rapidly. Edgar, who harbors delusions of grandeur (claiming to be the son of Winston Churchill and Lord Montgomery), now accuses Lewis of being his father and threatens him with a gun.

What sounds like a gunshot echoes through the house. The family, fearing the worst, attempted to force open the office door. To their surprise, Lewis emerges unharmed. However, a chilling discovery awaits them: Christian Gulbrandson, sitting some rooms away, has been shot dead.

We have:

• One seemingly very mentally unhealthy person being Edgar and 200 possible murderers on the premises.
• Someone trying to poison Carrie Louise:  Arsenic is found in her tonic and someone sends her poisoned chocolates
• One of the young delinquents, Ernie,  admitting to wandering the grounds that night and hearing footsteps
• Alex Restarick starting to add two and two together to come up with murder
• Ernie and Alex killed when someone drops a massive counterweight on their heads

Good thing we have Miss Marple around to save Carrie-Louise and stop the carnage!  We also have an amazingly named Doctor Maverick! This character was played by the wonderful Alexei Sayle in the relevant episode of Marple.  Incidentally, in the same episode, Joan Collins played Ruth Van Rydock and the late, great Sean Hughes played Sergeant Lake.  

“Just a minute, Dr Maverick. Is this young man, in your opinion, definitely a mental case?” 

Dr. Maverick smiled the superior smile again.  “We’re all mental cases, Inspector Curry”.

Tomfool answer, thought the Inspector.  He knew he wasn’t a mental case, whatever Dr.Maverick might be!”

Agatha Christie – They Do It With Mirrors

They Do It With Mirrors – The Covers

There are, as always some wonderful covers here!  Except for the French one second row far right which has an incredibly creepy (and unnecessary) clown on it.  I do like however that the French name for this book is Jeux de Glaces which translates as either Game of Mirrors or Game of Icecreams.  Alternatively, this eBay listing calls it the Game of Ice but then weirdly gives it a subtitle of “Club of Face Masks”.  Which sounds to me like something that creepy clown would belong to. 

Now, that is potentially a translation error. However, Apple TV also lists the relevant episode of Les Petits Meurtres d’Agatha Christie as “Ice Cream Games.” I’m not sure if this means that that they have significantly changed the plot or that many people are left puzzled at the end, thinking, “Where was the sorbet?”

The Recipe

They Do It With Mirrors – Cherry Liqueur Chocolates

Print Recipe

Cherry and Kirsch filled dark chocolates

• Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 150 grams dark chocolate
• Kirsch liqueur – enough to cover cherries
• Maraschino cherries (as many as there are holes in your chocolate moulds) 
• Chocolate moulds
• A paintbrush or small baking brush

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Soak the cherries in the kirsch for 24-48 hours, stirring them occasionally. 

Melt the dark chocolate either in the microwave (30 second intervals) or over a double boiler. 

Using your paintbrush or baking brush, brush the melted chocolate over your moulds.  Place in the freezer to set.

Place a cherry into each space in the mould.  Add some of the leftover kirsch.  Place back in the freezer overnight. 

Remelt your chocolate.  Take the moulds out of the freezer.  

Fill the moulds with the chocolate.

Place back in the freezer for the chocolate to set.  

“I think, ” said Doctor Maverick “that these ones that I have put aside have almost certainly been tampered with”….

“But it seems incredible” said Miss Marple.  “Why, everyone in the house might have been poisoned”…

“Yes there is ruthlessness –  a disregard – ” he broke off.  “Actually, I think all these particular chocolates are Kirsch flavouring.  That is Caroline’s favourite”

They Do It With Mirrors – Agatha Christie

I know the recipe sounds easy but these were an absolute mare of a thing to make!  The pain points, of which there were many included:

• Getting the chocolate thick enough to coat the mould and not leave any holes but not too thick. 
• Trying to top the filled moulds with melted chocolate… the warmth of the tempered chocolate unfroze the liqueur making a real mess!  
• If you push just a bit too hard and your chocolate is too thin, your thumb or finger will go right through that thin layer of chocolate while trying to demould them.   

 I guess this is why we have specialty chocolatiers.

I chose to use Kirsch because the poisoned chocolates in the book were flavoured with Kirsch. However, if you have already made Miss Marple’s cherry brandy, you could equally use those cherries. And you may also need a small sip after the stress of making them. 

Links to the Christieverse

• None that I could find.  Please let me know if you find any!

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in They Do It With Mirrors

• Banana
• Toast (several mentions)
• Port wine jelly
• Calves head broth
• Tea (several mentions)
• Bread
• Jam
• Cheap and unwholesome looking cakes
• Tonic 
• Hot Milk
• Whisky
• Marmalade

If you wish to read along, the book for February will be A Pocket Full of Rye.  Another Marple is coming!  Oh and what a Marple it is!!!!

Have a great week!