Teresa Reviews Perfect Maid (2005)

Teresa reviews Perfect Maid (2005) from the Japanese anime series Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple.

(Moshibun no nai Meido)

(c)2025 by Teresa Peschel

Source: YouTube

Fidelity to text: 5 thieves

Maybelle takes Edna’s role and Constable Hearst takes Inspector Slack’s, but otherwise, it’s all there.

Quality of movie: 4 thieves

Tightly written and jam-packed with characters who each get one line.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movie on her podcast.

The Perfect Maid perfectly expresses Miss Marple’s view of human nature. She never believes what people tell her, and she takes a dim view of paragons of virtue. No one is perfect. And a perfect housemaid, willing to work for less while not only doing all the housework but also catering to a whiny hypochondriac invalid’s every wish? Impossible. That maid, Mary Higgins, cannot be trusted.

Miss Marple is, naturally, proved correct. She’s also correct in her estimation of village newcomer Lavinia Skinner. When housemaids are so difficult to find that any mistress of the house will accept a poor cleaner and occasional plate-breaker, why would Lavinia — with a demanding, invalid sister — fire an indifferent maid like Gladys thinking someone better will come along? The other three ladies living in the subdivided former mansion with Lavinia think she’s nuts. So does Miss Marple.

Maybelle brings the fired Gladys home and demands help from Miss Marple. She found poor Gladys sobbing because she’d been let go, ostensibly over a broken plate but really because Miss Lavinia thought she’d stolen a brooch. But Gladys, while a clumsy maid, wasn’t a thief. Having rumors spread about her in the village would ensure she’d never find work.

Miss Marple speaks with Lavinia about Gladys and gets nowhere. She meets the new paragon, Mary Higgens, and hears from another room how she caters to the unseen invalid sister. She accidentally dumps her handbag on the floor and Mary graciously picks up the items, including picking up a sticky hand mirror.

Just as Miss Marple suspected, a week later the magical maid disappears along with the Old Hall’s residents’ jewelry, cash, and other easily pocketed items. Constable Hearst is flummoxed until Miss Marple provides the solution: The perfect maid was a fraud from day one and working with Miss Lavinia. The proof lies in the prints left on the sticky mirror.