Critical Overview: Ms. Ma, Nemesis (Part Two)

 Critical Overview: Ms. Ma, Nemesis (Part Two)

 

In my second installment of my series on the Korean series Ms. Ma, Nemesis, based on Agatha Christie’s novel Nemesis, I will look at the stories being adapted.

 

The title story forms the heart and backbone of the narrative, as Ms. Ma herself becomes the person wrongly accused of a crime, and the victim is her own daughter.  The basic outline of Christie’s novel is stretched out into a sinister conspiracy, and a crucial twist, which was vital to the book, seems rather unnecessary and cruel in this adaptation.  A lot of the narrative is original, but unlike many other adaptations that use Christie’s work as a starting point, Ms. Ma, Nemesisoverwhelmingly works on its own merits.

 

Other novels, like The Moving Finger, The Mirror Crack’d, and A Murder is Announced have stripped-down versions of their stories incorporated into the narrative, serving rather like side quests for Ms. Ma to solve while she tries to catch her daughter’s killer.  The Moving Finger does a good job of setting up the complexities of the Korean parallel version of St. Mary Mead, with the central problem being that one minor subplot is never properly resolved.  The Mirror Crack’dnarrative is pretty solid, aside from a very rough translation of Tennyson’s titular poem.  As for A Murder is Announced, the main problem is that it’s much too short, and could have used another couple of episodes.  Otherwise, the conspiracy at the center of the case takes it’s name, Bertram, from At Bertram’s Hotel, but not much else from the book.

 

Overall, this production does an interesting job of adapting Christie’s work to reflect contemporary multicultural styles, without messing too much with the clever clueing and plotting that is a strength of the book.  In most cases where random changes are made to Christie’s work, I feel disgusted.  With Ms. Ma, Nemesis, I was intrigued.

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released on November 3^rd.  His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7^th.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindle edition.

 

Critical Overview: Ms. Ma, Nemesis (Part One)

Critical Overview: Ms. Ma, Nemesis (Part One)

 

South Korean productions are enjoying some well-deserved attention and acclaim in recent years, most notably Parasite, which won the Oscar for Best Picture; Minari, which led to Youn Yuh-Jung’s Best Supporting Actress Academy Award; and Squid Game, the series that became a smash hit on Netflix.  Fans of the aforementioned works who are interested in watching more productions from South Korea, as well as Agatha Christie fans, might be interested in seeking out the recent South Korean series Ms. Ma, Nemesis.

 

Unfortunately, Ms. Ma, Nemesis is not widely available to American audiences as of this writing on major streaming services (to the best of my knowledge), though I write this post in the hopes that someday soon it will be.  I was able to watch it by buying an official, affordable Japanese DVD edition of it on eBay, with English subtitles. 

 

The series is based on numerous Miss Marple novels, primarily the titular Nemesis (it’s worth noting that at least one South Korean news source translated the title to Goddess of Vengeance), though The Moving Finger, A Murder is Announced, The Mirror Crack’d, and The Body in the Library are also incorporated into the plots, with the central villainous organization at the center of a murderous conspiracy taking its name from At Bertram’s Hotel.

 

The series transplants Christie’s mysteries to present-day Korea.  As I have stated many times before and will again in the future, I am a Christie purist.  I do, however, recognize that Christie is a global phenomenon, and I’m always interested to see how different cultures respond to Christie’s work and adapt her work.  Yunjin Kim (best known to American audiences for her role on Lost), plays Ma Ji-won, a mystery writer hiding a secret.  She was wrongly convicted of the murder of her young daughter, escaped from prison, and is now undercover, attempting to identify the real killer.  Over the course of thirty-two half-hour episodes, Ms. Ma makes unlikely friends and allies, discovers a conspiracy far greater than anybody imagined, and solves several other mysteries, many of which have unexpected connections to her own daughter’s case.

 

Ma Ji-won is a much younger version of Miss Marple with a vastly different background.  Christie fans will observe how the central mystery of Nemesis has been adapted to form the backbone of this series, and other novels see their crimes closely replicated in the South Korean equivalent of St. Mary Mead.  There are also lots of new characters, subplots, and plenty of original and radically reworked material.  More often than not, it works pretty well.

 

So, how well does this series work?  I will address that question in more detail in future posts…

 

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released on November 3^rd.  His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7^th.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindle  edition.

Story Profiles: “What Are Friends For?” and “Divorce Ages You”

Story Profiles: “What Are Friends For?” and “Divorce Ages You”

 

The 2021 edition of the BOULD Awards anthology is out, and this year I have two stories in it!  Due to the number of stories in this year’s edition, the print version in split into two volumes, and I have one flash fiction story in each!  The Kindle edition combines both volumes into a single file. 

 

“What Are Friends For?” is the story of a man who realizes that his best friend is planning to kill his unfaithful wife. Naturally, the central character can’t just sit idly by and allow his friend to become a murderer.  Something has to be done, preferably something that won’t leave a body behind, but what?

 

“Divorce Ages You” is the story of a beautiful young woman who is contemplating dissolving her marriage.  Soon, everywhere she goes, people start telling her that she appears to be three times her actual age.  Is this a practical joke?  A malicious plot?  Or is something even weirder afoot?

 

If you like these stories, check out the earlier editions of the BOULD Awards anthologies as well!

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released on November 3^rd.  His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7^th.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindle edition.

The First Review Is In!

The First Review Is In!

 

The wonderful Sherlock Holmes-themed blog I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere has just published a great review of Sherlock’s Secretary.  You can read Johanna Draper Carlson’s wonderful review here.

 

She writes:

 

“It's the details that caught me. I have no idea whether this is a real job [It was. - Ed.], or what happens to Sherlock's mail these days, but I loved thinking about how Addy handled the task and decorated his office. The discussions he and Zabel have, trying to apply Sherlock's methods and puzzle out what's going on, are the kinds of conversations many Sherlockians have envisioned, were they lucky enough to be pulled into a mystery. 

This is a light, breezy read that moves quickly through its twists and turns. I enjoyed the couple of hours I spent with it.”

 

Sherlock’s Secretary is available now!  

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released on November 3^rd.  His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7^th.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindle edition.