Greenshaw's Folly

Miss Marple helps out an abused mother and son in "Greenshaw's Folly," from Season 6 of the Miss Marple series.

Louisa Oxley and her little boy, Archie, appear on Miss Marple's doorstep one night; Louisa is on the run from her abusive husband. Marple brings them to her friend, Katherine Greenshaw, who owns a huge estate, known as Greenshaw's Folly. Katherine is a botanist and needs the help of a secretary, so she hires Louisa.

Katherine's butler Walter is there, as well as her nephew, an actor, Nat Fletcher, and the gardener, Alfred, who takes a shine to both mother and son.

Walter falls and is killed; and then a guest at the house, Horace Bindler, disappears. Miss Marple, who is helping out at the orphanage, doesn't like the atmosphere and believes something is wrong. Then Miss Greenshaw herself meets with an untimely end.

There are secrets to be uncovered and plenty of suspicious characters in this adaptation of two Christie stories. The atmosphere is great, as is the acting. Julia McKenzie is an excellent Marple, and one of England's finest actresses, Fiona Shaw, plays Miss Greenshaw.

A couple of subplots could have been left out, but on the whole, it's an intriguing story and good episode.