The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple Mysteries) Paperback – April 12, 2011

I had never read any Miss Maple stories before, so I had to start with the first. The plot was a little convoluted, but was a very enjoyable story. Moving on to the stories.

If you've ever wondered where to start reading works by Agatha Christie, this would be the perfect introduction. We meet the soon to be famous Miss Marple in her village of St. Mary-Mead through the eyes of her Vicar. Unfortunately, the richest and meanest man in the village has been murdered in the study at the vicarage and almost everyone is a suspect, including the Vicar! Even though the local Inspector puts little faith in the ideas of little old ladies, Miss Marple is the one to solve the mystery and put things to rights. Agatha Christie never fails to deliver!

The July read for #ReadChristie2021 was The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. The theme for July was “story with a vicar.” Do you have a favorite story, movie or show that involves a vicar, pastor, or priest?In a small English village, Colonel Protheroe has been found murdered in the vicarage. It seems like it is an open and shut case at first, but it is soon discovered that just about everyone in the village had a reason why they would want to kill Colonel Protheroe. Miss Marple is a neighbor who sees all and helps to solve the case. Who murdered Colonel Protheroe?This has been one of my favorite narrators in a Christie novel so far. I really loved the vicar. Miss Marple is a character is the story with someone else narrator just like in the Hercule Poirot novels. I loved her character and all of the old ladies keeping an eye on everything.I like that the book included maps so you could visualize what the characters were describing. I loved the small English village setting filled with busybodies where secrets are hard to keep.I was still surprised at the end of this one. Having been surprised by Christie before, I overthought everything and made the wrong conclusion again!Favorite Quotes:“I’m afraid that observing human nature for as long as I have done, one gest not to expect very much from it. I dare say the idle tittle-tattle is very wrong and unkind, but it is so often true, isn’t it?”“There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.”“Not only does she see and hear practically everything that goes on, but she draws amazingly neat and apposite deductions from the facts that come under her notice.”“The young people think the told people are fools; but the old people know the young people are fools.”Overall, The Murder at the Vicarage is another delightful mystery from Agatha Christie. I have loved everyone I’ve read so far!Book Source: Purchased by Amazon.com

If you are not already a Christie book fan but have watched any of the TV versions of her books, you might be surprised that the books are often very different from what is depicted in film and TV. The plots are more involved, there is more intrigue, and there are characters in her books that do not appear in film and TV versions.In this one, the TV version has Miss Marple taking front and center of the investigation. The book, however is written from the Vicar's point of view and Miss Marple, although important to the resolving of the mystery, is not the main character.I love her books and have read almost every one more than once. I recommend this one and all of her books for an enjoyable, read that has intrigue and holds our attention and interest without shock scenes and language that assault the senses with over-the-top violence, mayhem, and blood-and-guts gross out scenes.Christie is also a master at mystery and puzzlement plots. Cozy Mystery genre? Not quite. There is not cookie-cutter plot line that cozy mysteries often have. Her characters are well-rounded, likable, and have dimension and often complex personalities and dilemmas. I obviously love her writing.I noticed that the review has a "help customers find their next book" and asks how old was the person I got this book for? Ranges are under 1 to 13 plus. I am a bit offended by this. Christie is NOT for children only. The lack of violence and graphic sex does not mean that an adult can't enjoy it and benefit from it.The popularity of the film and TV versions of this over the decades shows that adults also like a good story without having to be affronted by shock and awe. Don't get me wrong. I also love a good shock and awe story, too. But not all the time, every read.

First published in 1930, The Murder at the Vicarage provides us with observations of English village life from a bygone age. The story is narrated by the local vicar and through him we encounter a myriad of characters. We soon realise that the village of St Mary Mead is quite a hot bed of crime and gossip.Now I have to say I found this story took me much longer to read than I expected. It contains a huge amount of dialogue, through which we discover not only the rich and complex lives of most of the characters but also how many of them have possible reasons for killing Colonel Protheroe, the victim. It is easy to forget that in the 1930s there was not the range of forensic scientific tools or technological aids to help solve crimes that we have today. Instead the police, or more specifically in the case of this story, a group of village folk, have to rely on hearsay and recall of events and discussions to solve the crime.Finally, what I particularly liked about this story is that all the clues as to who is the murderer are there, hiding in plain sight as it were, for any budding armchair detective to unmask who is the killer before the end of the story (and why the murder took place).So, if you enjoy murder mysteries from a bygone age or if you enjoy trying to figure out 'who dunnit' before all is revealed at the end of the story, then I think you will certainly enjoy reading The Murder at the Vicarage.

After reading this year’s collection of Miss Marple short stories by other authors (Marple), I wanted to give an actual Miss Marple story a chance, and so it made sense to start at the beginning.Miss Marple is more of a secondary character in this novel, which is taken from the perspective of the village vicar. After a dead body is found in the vicar’s study he gets pulled in to the investigation. As a gentle story that simply means he speaks to some people, sometimes being with someone as the police officer questions them, and sometimes villagers coming to him to share information because they find him less intimidating than the police.Initially Miss Marple is presented as one of a number of curious older ladies in the village, although the vicar does recognise she has a sharp mind. It is really only towards the end that we hear more about how she thinks and of course how she single handedly figures out the truth.I enjoyed this. It was easy to read and gently paced, making a nice change from my usual thriller reads.

When Colonel Protheroe is murdered while waiting alone in the vicarage study it seems impossible to catch the killer. It might be the worst but it's not the only mystery in St Mary Mead.. who stole from the collection? Who is the mysterious Mrs Lestrange and why has she moved here? What is going on up at the barrow with Dr Stone and Miss Cram?Len Clement, vicar, returns as Lawrence Redding, looking terrified and distraught, is leaving but he's only been there but a moment and as Dr Haydock assures Clement the body has been dead 30 minutes at least it's not possible he did it. So why did he confess the very next day? Followed not long after by a confession from Anne the colonel's wife.. it's clear that something is amiss but what?With almost everyone in the village having cause to dislike the irascible Protheroe for one reason or another it's not easy to see which motive to follow.. but an observant spinster, Miss Marple, lives in the house next door to the vicarage and she's got 7 suspects, as she pieces together the truths and rumours to trap and capture a very cunning killer.

I believe this was the first book in the Miss Marple series, and like all the others by Agatha Christie, it's very cleverly written with her usual totally unexpected ending. But by today's standards, it's extremely dated; it takes place in the small village of St Mary Mead, where every single household had at least two servants, the local vicar spent almost all his time visiting his parishioners, and the village was made up mainly of elderly spinsters who knew and cared about absolutely everybody else's business. Whilst this is rather a charming view of how life used to be some 70 years ago, it couldn't be further from the way we live now. But having said that, it's a very readable book, most enjoyable and will keep you guessing right up to the last chapter. Thoroughly recommended.

What a peculiar book! At the beginning of the book, some of the characterisation is so over the top, it would be better suited to a melodrama. I was relieved to find that it calmed down as the tale progressed and was replaced by humour of the vicar's sardonic thoughts about his flock. The characterisation of Miss Marple herself is also problematic; at the outset, she is made out to be rather unpleasant, yet this is not substantiated by the remainder of the story. This is, of course, Miss Marple's first appearance and Agathe Christie still seems to be feeling her way with the character.As for the murder mystery itself, I have no such reservations; is a good plot with a satisfying ending and plenty of red herrings along the way, so in this respect, the novel is classic Christie.