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Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: The Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie's first mystery to feature the beloved investigator Miss Marple�??as a dead body in a clergyman's study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide. Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone�??even in the vicar�??wishes he were dead. And very soon he is�??shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the… (more)
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Collins Educational (2012), Edition: None, 72 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie is the first of the Miss Marple mysteries. We are introduced to the village of St. Mary Mead and it’s various inhabitants. Among them is the Vicar, Len Clement, who narrates the story during which a secondary character, the incomparable Miss Marple is
I was particularly engaged by the vicar and his wife, Griselda. On the surface he appears to be the perfect village parson, proper and earnest, but his inner thoughts revealed a sense of humor and a knowledge of human foibles. And while she totally lacked the decorum that one would expect the vicar’s wife to have, Griselda was charming, forthright and fresh. Agatha Christie always seems to people her books with characters that are on the verge of becoming stereotypes yet they still ring true and are fun to read about. In the small village of Saint Mary Mead, we have an assortment of village busybodies and residents’ daily routines are well known and any variations, however slight, are noted and commented on.
In typical Christie fashion, the reader is offered many suspects, lots of clues with a few red herrings scattered about and a final reveal with a slight twist just to keep things interesting.
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introduced. The murder of Colonel Protheroe, who apparently was heartily disliked by everyone he knew, has the village turned upside down it only gets more confusing when various suspects step forward and confess to the murder. Miss Marple with her observing ways and knowledge of human nature is the one who is finally able to put the pieces together and solve this mystery.I was particularly engaged by the vicar and his wife, Griselda. On the surface he appears to be the perfect village parson, proper and earnest, but his inner thoughts revealed a sense of humor and a knowledge of human foibles. And while she totally lacked the decorum that one would expect the vicar’s wife to have, Griselda was charming, forthright and fresh. Agatha Christie always seems to people her books with characters that are on the verge of becoming stereotypes yet they still ring true and are fun to read about. In the small village of Saint Mary Mead, we have an assortment of village busybodies and residents’ daily routines are well known and any variations, however slight, are noted and commented on.
In typical Christie fashion, the reader is offered many suspects, lots of clues with a few red herrings scattered about and a final reveal with a slight twist just to keep things interesting.
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LibraryThing member Eat_Read_Knit
When the Revd Leonard Clement is called out a sick parishioner, he is rather surprised to discover the parishioner is not sick and he wasn't called - but still more surprised when he returns home to find a body in his study. Still, even if the police don't seem to making much headway in their
I think this is one of Christie's better books, although not the best and perhaps not one of her better murder plots. It's a longer book than some, and as a result there is more to it. There are some good subplots, and (perhaps because this was the first full-length Miss Marple novel) there is a lot of background and context which is just taken for granted in some of the later books. The first-person narrative is interesting, and both the narrator and the rest of the village are well-drawn and well-developed characters.
A good mystery - and one of the few where the (1986) film matches the book for quality. (I have obviously watched the film too many times, though, because I could hear Joan Hickson uttering every one of Miss Marple's lines in my head - and hear Paul Eddington doing the same for the vicar.)
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investigation, his next-door neighbour Miss Marple soon has a very strong idea who did it...I think this is one of Christie's better books, although not the best and perhaps not one of her better murder plots. It's a longer book than some, and as a result there is more to it. There are some good subplots, and (perhaps because this was the first full-length Miss Marple novel) there is a lot of background and context which is just taken for granted in some of the later books. The first-person narrative is interesting, and both the narrator and the rest of the village are well-drawn and well-developed characters.
A good mystery - and one of the few where the (1986) film matches the book for quality. (I have obviously watched the film too many times, though, because I could hear Joan Hickson uttering every one of Miss Marple's lines in my head - and hear Paul Eddington doing the same for the vicar.)
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LibraryThing member JoyfullyRetired
Miss Marple is my favorite of all Ms. Christie's detectives. Although Miss Marple appeared in two short stories published in magazines in 1927, this is the first novel in which Miss Marple is introduced. In this book she is not necessarily well liked by everyone. She's considered a busy-body and
*Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner.
*Miss Marple always sees everything. Gardening is as good as a smoke screen, and the habit of observing birds through powerful glasses can always be turned to account.
*In St. Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. *There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.
*I smiled. For all her fragile appearance, Miss Marple is capable of holding her own with any policeman or Chief constable in existence.
The story of Murder at the Vicarage is told in the first person by the vicar, Len Clement. The village of St. Mary Mead is a quiet, pleasant place. Hardly anything happens there. But, there is one man whom everyone dislikes - Colonel Protheroe.
One day he ends up dead, shot in the head, in the Vicar's study. The police are called to investigate all the clues but their job is much easier when someone confesses. Of course, the Vicar and his wife and their neighbor, Miss Marple don't believe the confession. They begin to gather their own information.
Most confusing of all the clues is a note by the body and an over turned clock, as well as the comings and goings of so many people to the Vicarage. Miss Marple believes there are seven people who could have killed Colonel Protheroe. The mystery is - which one of those seven did it, or could it be an eighth person?
This is definitely one of my favorites so far, and not just because I love Miss Marple. It's very light-hearted and often humorous. The characters of the Vicar and his wife are also appealing. Ms. Christie added drawings to the book to help in the understanding of where all the buildings lie, the layout of the Vicar's house and study. Very helpful.
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she thinks the worst of people. Here are some of the descriptions of Miss Marple taken from Murder at the Vicarage:*Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner.
*Miss Marple always sees everything. Gardening is as good as a smoke screen, and the habit of observing birds through powerful glasses can always be turned to account.
*In St. Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. *There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.
*I smiled. For all her fragile appearance, Miss Marple is capable of holding her own with any policeman or Chief constable in existence.
The story of Murder at the Vicarage is told in the first person by the vicar, Len Clement. The village of St. Mary Mead is a quiet, pleasant place. Hardly anything happens there. But, there is one man whom everyone dislikes - Colonel Protheroe.
One day he ends up dead, shot in the head, in the Vicar's study. The police are called to investigate all the clues but their job is much easier when someone confesses. Of course, the Vicar and his wife and their neighbor, Miss Marple don't believe the confession. They begin to gather their own information.
Most confusing of all the clues is a note by the body and an over turned clock, as well as the comings and goings of so many people to the Vicarage. Miss Marple believes there are seven people who could have killed Colonel Protheroe. The mystery is - which one of those seven did it, or could it be an eighth person?
This is definitely one of my favorites so far, and not just because I love Miss Marple. It's very light-hearted and often humorous. The characters of the Vicar and his wife are also appealing. Ms. Christie added drawings to the book to help in the understanding of where all the buildings lie, the layout of the Vicar's house and study. Very helpful.
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LibraryThing member tapestry100
Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie's first book to star one of her greatest literary creations, the indomitable Miss Jane Marple. Miss Marple may appear to be your typical "little old lady," but her powers of observation, honed from living almost her whole life in the small village of St.
When you get right down to it, there isn't much to the story. It is a fairly typical Christie mystery, making you think you know the conclusion until she pulls the rug right out from underneath you when she reveals the mastermind behind the murder. The murder in question is that of Colonel Protheroe, a not-much-loved member of the village, who is found murdered in the vicars writing room. There are plenty of people with motives, and plenty bits of misdirection, but it is up to Miss Marple to put the pieces together and discover the identity of the true culprit before it's too late.
A fun little read with an endearing character in Miss Marple, the whole story is wrapped up with a nice and tidy ending. Not a bad choice if you're looking for an easy mystery read.
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Mary Mead and giving her an acute insight into the human condition, prove to the match of everyone in the village, police included, when it comes to solving the murder of Colonel Protheroe.When you get right down to it, there isn't much to the story. It is a fairly typical Christie mystery, making you think you know the conclusion until she pulls the rug right out from underneath you when she reveals the mastermind behind the murder. The murder in question is that of Colonel Protheroe, a not-much-loved member of the village, who is found murdered in the vicars writing room. There are plenty of people with motives, and plenty bits of misdirection, but it is up to Miss Marple to put the pieces together and discover the identity of the true culprit before it's too late.
A fun little read with an endearing character in Miss Marple, the whole story is wrapped up with a nice and tidy ending. Not a bad choice if you're looking for an easy mystery read.
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LibraryThing member smik
This is the first time I have read this title in 12 years and I was a little surprised at how much I have forgotten or perhaps mis-remembered. I think my memory is a little clouded by the fact that I have probably seen about 3 television versions of the story in that time, and each one of those has
This is the first Miss Marple novel although she had been introduced to readers in short story in 1927. Basically she is an elderly spinster living in St. Mary Mead, with apparently little experience of life outside the village. She has already figured in solving small village mysteries in the past, but the Vicar and his wife both regard her as a busy body, although more astute than most.
Colonel Protheroe, an extremely unpleasant and unpopular character, is found murdered in the same vicar's study, and two different people confess to the crime. The investigation is handed locally to Inspector Slack, who has a great belief in fingerprints, and expects to be able to solve the murder quickly and easily. There are a number of red herrings. At firts Miss Marple who lives next door to the Vicarage doesn't seem to take much part in the novel, but then she seems to hover in the background.
The novel really sets a pattern for what we can expect in future novels and there are a range of characters who will crop up again in the future.
The vicar and his wife, Leonard and Griselda Clement respectively, who made their first appearance in this novel, continue to show up in Miss Marple stories: notably, in The Body in the Library (1942) and 4.50 from Paddington (1957)
The Chief Constable, Colonel Melchett becomes involved, as does Sir Henry Clithering, a friend of Miss Marple's and a former head of Scotland Yard. He will feature in a number of Miss Marple stories. We are also introduced to Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew, who is an author and will also feature in a number of future plots.
Agatha Christie uses the narrator device which she relied on so much in the Poirot novels. we see the story through the eyes of the vicar Leonard Clement. However it is really us seeing things as the vicar does, hearing conversations he is part of, and so on, rather than the impression of a written journal.
The other thing I have noticed in this novel is that Christie uses numbered chapters, without giving each chapter a number and a title as she did in the Poirot novels.
There are still references to the impact of the first world war on English society.
There are a number of side-plots which flesh out the setting: among them the parentage of Lettice Protheroe, and a love interest in the marriage of Leonard and Griselda Clement, the vicar and his wife.
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tampered with or embellished the story.This is the first Miss Marple novel although she had been introduced to readers in short story in 1927. Basically she is an elderly spinster living in St. Mary Mead, with apparently little experience of life outside the village. She has already figured in solving small village mysteries in the past, but the Vicar and his wife both regard her as a busy body, although more astute than most.
Colonel Protheroe, an extremely unpleasant and unpopular character, is found murdered in the same vicar's study, and two different people confess to the crime. The investigation is handed locally to Inspector Slack, who has a great belief in fingerprints, and expects to be able to solve the murder quickly and easily. There are a number of red herrings. At firts Miss Marple who lives next door to the Vicarage doesn't seem to take much part in the novel, but then she seems to hover in the background.
The novel really sets a pattern for what we can expect in future novels and there are a range of characters who will crop up again in the future.
The vicar and his wife, Leonard and Griselda Clement respectively, who made their first appearance in this novel, continue to show up in Miss Marple stories: notably, in The Body in the Library (1942) and 4.50 from Paddington (1957)
The Chief Constable, Colonel Melchett becomes involved, as does Sir Henry Clithering, a friend of Miss Marple's and a former head of Scotland Yard. He will feature in a number of Miss Marple stories. We are also introduced to Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew, who is an author and will also feature in a number of future plots.
Agatha Christie uses the narrator device which she relied on so much in the Poirot novels. we see the story through the eyes of the vicar Leonard Clement. However it is really us seeing things as the vicar does, hearing conversations he is part of, and so on, rather than the impression of a written journal.
The other thing I have noticed in this novel is that Christie uses numbered chapters, without giving each chapter a number and a title as she did in the Poirot novels.
There are still references to the impact of the first world war on English society.
There are a number of side-plots which flesh out the setting: among them the parentage of Lettice Protheroe, and a love interest in the marriage of Leonard and Griselda Clement, the vicar and his wife.
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LibraryThing member revurban
This is, in my opinion the best written and plotted book by Agatha Christie. The dialogue is droll, the characterizations (particularly that of the vicar and his wife) are well constructed, and the plot moves along at a good pace. Unlike many Christie books, this one doesn't reveal too many
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outlandish surprises at the end. It's a great read! Show Less
LibraryThing member davidabrams
No one, it seemed, would shed a tear if Colonel Protheroe died. Loud, obnoxious and ill-tempered, Protheroe made it his business to disturb the peace of the quaint English village of St. Mary Mead, the setting for Agatha Christie’s 1930 mystery Murder at the Vicarage.
I’m not spoiling anything
For starters, there’s Protheroe’s unhappy wife who’s lately been caught in an amorous embrace with the handsome artist Lawrence Redding.
There’s Redding himself, who wants nothing more than to whisk Mrs. Protheroe away from her red-faced, vein-popping husband. Then, too, there’s the fact that Redding owns a 25-caliber Mauser pistol.
There’s the colonel’s daughter, Lettice who, despite her produce-sounding name, is no wilting leaf. She’s bright, ambitious and anxious to get her hands on her inheritance. Plus, she's been having her portrait painted by Redding, much to the displeasure of her father. Miss Protheroe, it seems, does her afternoon sittings clad only in a bathing suit…with nary a swimming pool in sight.
And then there’s the vicar himself, Leonard Clements, who narrates the story and guides readers through the mystery. Dame Christie stirs up some delicious delights when, in only the second paragraph of the novel, she has the vicar announce to the reader: I had just finished carving some boiled beef….and on resuming my seat I remarked, in a spirit most unbecoming to my cloth, that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.
Later, of course, he regrets those words. But by then, the plot is so tangled, so full of suspects that he’s just one of many in the usual Christie line-up. As with many of her intricately committed (and just-as-intricately untangled) crimes, the reader is politely asked to keep pace with all the clues, thank you very much. No dozing, reader; no letting your attention wander over to the Internet, please; stay with the rest of the group and keep your eyes peeled.
Well, I kept my eyes peeled like an orange and I was still blindsided by the denouement. I’ve yet to solve a Christie mystery from my armchair. I doubt I ever will. That’s not the point of reading her delightful novels. I turn the pages because I can get swept away into the oh-so-veddy-proper world of the quaint English hamlet, populated with a full spectrum of colorful characters. Other writers like P.D. James have done similarly well in the genre, but it’s always Christie I go back to time and again for the quintessential British mystery. No one kills characters better than the twinkle-eyed Agatha.
And no one solves mysteries better than her long-running (and long-knitting) sleuth Miss Jane Marple, the white-haired, gossipy spinster who makes her first appearance on the page here in Murder at the Vicarage. A keen observer of human nature who wields a pretty wicked knitting needle (by the way, who wears all those sweaters she keeps churning out?), Miss Marple sees evil everywhere she looks with her china-blue eyes.
In this, her debut, Miss Marple doesn’t take center stage until near the end of the book (the vicar, by virtue of his first-person point of view, dominates the narrative). In fact, if you were to judge by the first reference to the endearing old biddy, you might think Christie had no intention of writing sixteen other mysteries featuring Miss Marple. Here’s how she’s first described by the vicar’s wife: ‿She’s the worst cat in the village,‿ said Griselda. “And she always knows every single thing that happens—and draws the worst inferences from it.‿
In her autobiography, Christie confesses: I cannot remember…what suggested to me that I should select a new character—Miss Marple—to act as the sleuth of the story Murder at the Vicarage. Certainly at the time I had no intention of continuing her for the rest of my life.
I, for one, am glad she did. Just think, if there’d been no Miss Marple, the world would probably have a lot more murderers on its hands. It would almost certainly have a lot less sweaters.
I’m not spoiling anything
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by telling you that, yes, boorish Protheroe gets his comeuppance early in the pages of Murder at the Vicarage. The list of suspects is soon as long as the fabled arm of the law. For starters, there’s Protheroe’s unhappy wife who’s lately been caught in an amorous embrace with the handsome artist Lawrence Redding.
There’s Redding himself, who wants nothing more than to whisk Mrs. Protheroe away from her red-faced, vein-popping husband. Then, too, there’s the fact that Redding owns a 25-caliber Mauser pistol.
There’s the colonel’s daughter, Lettice who, despite her produce-sounding name, is no wilting leaf. She’s bright, ambitious and anxious to get her hands on her inheritance. Plus, she's been having her portrait painted by Redding, much to the displeasure of her father. Miss Protheroe, it seems, does her afternoon sittings clad only in a bathing suit…with nary a swimming pool in sight.
And then there’s the vicar himself, Leonard Clements, who narrates the story and guides readers through the mystery. Dame Christie stirs up some delicious delights when, in only the second paragraph of the novel, she has the vicar announce to the reader: I had just finished carving some boiled beef….and on resuming my seat I remarked, in a spirit most unbecoming to my cloth, that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.
Later, of course, he regrets those words. But by then, the plot is so tangled, so full of suspects that he’s just one of many in the usual Christie line-up. As with many of her intricately committed (and just-as-intricately untangled) crimes, the reader is politely asked to keep pace with all the clues, thank you very much. No dozing, reader; no letting your attention wander over to the Internet, please; stay with the rest of the group and keep your eyes peeled.
Well, I kept my eyes peeled like an orange and I was still blindsided by the denouement. I’ve yet to solve a Christie mystery from my armchair. I doubt I ever will. That’s not the point of reading her delightful novels. I turn the pages because I can get swept away into the oh-so-veddy-proper world of the quaint English hamlet, populated with a full spectrum of colorful characters. Other writers like P.D. James have done similarly well in the genre, but it’s always Christie I go back to time and again for the quintessential British mystery. No one kills characters better than the twinkle-eyed Agatha.
And no one solves mysteries better than her long-running (and long-knitting) sleuth Miss Jane Marple, the white-haired, gossipy spinster who makes her first appearance on the page here in Murder at the Vicarage. A keen observer of human nature who wields a pretty wicked knitting needle (by the way, who wears all those sweaters she keeps churning out?), Miss Marple sees evil everywhere she looks with her china-blue eyes.
In this, her debut, Miss Marple doesn’t take center stage until near the end of the book (the vicar, by virtue of his first-person point of view, dominates the narrative). In fact, if you were to judge by the first reference to the endearing old biddy, you might think Christie had no intention of writing sixteen other mysteries featuring Miss Marple. Here’s how she’s first described by the vicar’s wife: ‿She’s the worst cat in the village,‿ said Griselda. “And she always knows every single thing that happens—and draws the worst inferences from it.‿
In her autobiography, Christie confesses: I cannot remember…what suggested to me that I should select a new character—Miss Marple—to act as the sleuth of the story Murder at the Vicarage. Certainly at the time I had no intention of continuing her for the rest of my life.
I, for one, am glad she did. Just think, if there’d been no Miss Marple, the world would probably have a lot more murderers on its hands. It would almost certainly have a lot less sweaters.
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LibraryThing member SweetOldBob
Classic English murder mystery with multiple suspects with likely motives.
LibraryThing member barnaby
This is the first Miss Marple book, and it is one of the best. It is the classic murder mystery, set in a rural, peaceful village, that holds dark secrets under its covers.
LibraryThing member mramos
This is the first book which we read about Agatha Christie's Miss. Marple. Jane Marple has an abiding interest in human nature and an eye for detail that makes her an excellent detective. In this book Col. Protheroe is found shot to death in Reverand Clements Study (sound like the game clue,).
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There are several possible suspects, the police grow frustrated while our Miss. marple watches and waits. There are enough twist and turns in the clues to makes us find the wrong killer.....But we see the truth as it is explained. A delightful murder mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member MusicMom41
This is the first Jane Marple novel and is classic Christie. Her specialty is complex plots and mysteries within mysteries and this is a prime example of her craft. She is also often ingenious in her selection of narrator—in this case it is the Vicar. Although sometimes is seems a little
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improbable that the police would confide in him—especially Inspector Slack—his selection as narrator adds a vivid dimension to the story and because of his vocation it is very plausible that the inhabitants of the village would confide in him. It gives a masterful way of getting confusing data to the reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member riverwillow
The first Miss Marple, and possibly the best, as a solver of crime she was just so unexpected especially as her mind goes so low. There are so many twists and turns to this plot.
LibraryThing member ReadingKnitter01
very old fashioned-I don't care all that much for the story from the Vicar's perspective
LibraryThing member victorianrose869
July 16, 1999
Murder at the Vicarage
Agatha Christie
The very first Miss Marple mystery, though told from the point of view of the local St. Mary Mead vicar, not Miss Marple herself.
A local resident, not a popular fellow, is found murdered in the vicar’s study, on an evening when the vicar was
Miss Marple, who lives next door to the vicarage, is a nosy busybody who irritates and illuminates at the same time. She annoys everyone with her apologetic observations that knock out the Inspector’s theory of the murder, but the vicar can’t help but be fascinated by her shrewd intelligence. She catches the tiny details no one else does, such as the time printed at the top of the note, and the incongruity of what’s actually written. It never seems strange or sinister until Miss Marple points it out.
Murder at the Vicarage
Agatha Christie
The very first Miss Marple mystery, though told from the point of view of the local St. Mary Mead vicar, not Miss Marple herself.
A local resident, not a popular fellow, is found murdered in the vicar’s study, on an evening when the vicar was
Show More
supposed to have met him there. By his hand lies a just-started note. The man’s young, beautiful wife is having a love affair (unconsummated) with a local artist who’s renting a studio on the vicarage property, so she is the primary suspect, as is her lover. Miss Marple, who lives next door to the vicarage, is a nosy busybody who irritates and illuminates at the same time. She annoys everyone with her apologetic observations that knock out the Inspector’s theory of the murder, but the vicar can’t help but be fascinated by her shrewd intelligence. She catches the tiny details no one else does, such as the time printed at the top of the note, and the incongruity of what’s actually written. It never seems strange or sinister until Miss Marple points it out.
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LibraryThing member madamejeanie
Colonel Lucius Protheroe is very likely the most disliked resident of the sleepy little English village of St. Mary Mead, and when he is found dead, shot through the head, in the vicar's study, there is quite a list of possible suspects. Was it the young wife (who was having an affair with a local
This is the first Miss Marple mystery, written in 1930 and just as intriguing today as it was then, I'm sure. It's told from the perspective of the vicar, which surprised me a bit, and Christie's wit is sharp as a tack throughout. It's no wonder she has so many fans. I found this book to be very good, but not spectacular.
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artist), the daughter (who led an extremely restricted life under her father's iron thumb), the poacher recently sentenced by the Colonel, the mysterious Mrs. Lestrange whose appearance in the village had set tongues to wagging, or perhaps even the vicar himself? Keen eyed Miss Jane Marple lives next door to the vicarage and not much gets past this shrewd old lady. When there are two improbable confessions to the crime, it will be up to her keen observations and logical mind to help Inspector Slack solve this perplexing whodunit.This is the first Miss Marple mystery, written in 1930 and just as intriguing today as it was then, I'm sure. It's told from the perspective of the vicar, which surprised me a bit, and Christie's wit is sharp as a tack throughout. It's no wonder she has so many fans. I found this book to be very good, but not spectacular.
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LibraryThing member aarondesk
Agatha Christie weaves an interesting story about a murder that takes place at vicarage. I found myself wanting to keep reading, just to see who committed the crime.
The first book in the Miss Marple series, so there is some buildup of material at the beginning that seems to slow the pace of the
The first book in the Miss Marple series, so there is some buildup of material at the beginning that seems to slow the pace of the
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book a little, but the ending is gripping. Show Less
LibraryThing member dltucker
The first of the Miss Marple tales, and the first I have read. A murder is committed (of course!) and there are too many suspects with too many motives and few alibis.
There's a fair bit of social commentary in this story, which I felt added some depth to the telling. Miss Marple establishes herself
There's a fair bit of social commentary in this story, which I felt added some depth to the telling. Miss Marple establishes herself
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as an astute observer of human nature, and unravels the murder. Show Less
LibraryThing member verhoevena
In the peaceful village of St. Mary Mead nothing ever happens. So it seems almost incredible when Colonel Protheroe, the churchwarden, is discovered shot through the head in the Vicarage study. Everybody thinks they know who had done it -including Miss Marple, the real old maid of the village, who
Excitement dies down when somebody confesses to having committed the crime. But that is not the end, for almost inmediately somebody quite different also confesses. And there is a third confession through the telephone. But who really killed Colonel Protheroe?
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knows everything and sees everything and hears everything. She declares that at least seven people have reasons for wishing Colonel Proteroe out of the way. Excitement dies down when somebody confesses to having committed the crime. But that is not the end, for almost inmediately somebody quite different also confesses. And there is a third confession through the telephone. But who really killed Colonel Protheroe?
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LibraryThing member smik
Originally published in 1930, this edition is a Marple tie-in edition published by Harper Collins in 2005, to match up with the tele-movie starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, Derek Jacobi as Colonel Protheroe, and Stephen Tompkinson as the Vicar, Leonard Clement, married to Griselda.
ISBN
Church warden Lucius Protheroe must have been the most unpopular man in St. Mary Mead. Even the Vicar had been heard to wish him dead. And now he was. Dead that is. And what's more shot while he was sitting at a writing table in the vicar's study.
It was more than a decade since there had been a murder in the village, before the vicar's time. Until this point Miss Jane Marple who lives right next door to the vicarage had only exercised her deductive skills on petty incidents. She has always believed the method she has developed could be used in a 'real' case and here is her chance. Between them Miss Marple and the vicar make a formidable sleuthing team.
This is Agatha Christie's first book with Miss Marple. Up until now she has seemed to be in search of a satisfactory protagonist, although Hercule Poirot has made 5 appearances. Indeed Miss Marple won't get another outing for another 12 years. In THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE the Vicar plays a similar role to Hastings with Poirot, and Watson with Holmes. However I did feel he was more of equal standing with Miss Marple.
THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE is written through the vicar's eyes, and at first we see Jane Marple as a village busybody, not particularly popular, and extremely observant. The vicar comes to appreciate that she misses very little. I wasn't convinced that Agatha Christie had quite settled on Miss Marple as her next sleuth. In fact, I wondered if she was thinking of a partnership, and indeed, the vicar and his wife appear in the next Miss Marple mystery THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY (1942).
I thought this, #10, the best in the Agatha Christie novels so far, but apparently it did not get a particularly good reception. A number of reviewers in 1930 said that it was far from her best.
ISBN
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0-00-719100-6, 380 pages.Church warden Lucius Protheroe must have been the most unpopular man in St. Mary Mead. Even the Vicar had been heard to wish him dead. And now he was. Dead that is. And what's more shot while he was sitting at a writing table in the vicar's study.
It was more than a decade since there had been a murder in the village, before the vicar's time. Until this point Miss Jane Marple who lives right next door to the vicarage had only exercised her deductive skills on petty incidents. She has always believed the method she has developed could be used in a 'real' case and here is her chance. Between them Miss Marple and the vicar make a formidable sleuthing team.
This is Agatha Christie's first book with Miss Marple. Up until now she has seemed to be in search of a satisfactory protagonist, although Hercule Poirot has made 5 appearances. Indeed Miss Marple won't get another outing for another 12 years. In THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE the Vicar plays a similar role to Hastings with Poirot, and Watson with Holmes. However I did feel he was more of equal standing with Miss Marple.
THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE is written through the vicar's eyes, and at first we see Jane Marple as a village busybody, not particularly popular, and extremely observant. The vicar comes to appreciate that she misses very little. I wasn't convinced that Agatha Christie had quite settled on Miss Marple as her next sleuth. In fact, I wondered if she was thinking of a partnership, and indeed, the vicar and his wife appear in the next Miss Marple mystery THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY (1942).
I thought this, #10, the best in the Agatha Christie novels so far, but apparently it did not get a particularly good reception. A number of reviewers in 1930 said that it was far from her best.
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LibraryThing member markatread
Colonel Lucius Protheroe arrives at Vicar Clement's house at the argreed upon time but the vicar has been called out to visit a parishioner and by the time the vicar returns to the vicarage, Colonel Protheroe has been shot in the back of the head in the Vicarage study. At least "seven or eight
Agatha Christie had written several short stories in which Miss Marple appeared but The Murder at the Vicarage, was her first novel with Miss Marple. The vicar is the narrator and he and his wife, Griselda, are much more clearly developed than Miss Marple is. In fact, Miss Marple is not the central character at all and the person we know from having seen her on TV and read other books about her is not really the person that is in this book. It seems clear that Ms. Christie did not have a clear picture of who Miss Marple was at this point and as a result did not write the second Miss Marlpe for another 12 years. But while Miss Marple was not the centeral character in the book, she is the star of the book, the one who takes her "hobby of observing people" and uses it in an "important" crime and solves the mystery.
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people" could have committed the murder by Miss Marple's count and Inspector Slack,Colonel Melchett, Doctor Haydock and the vicar all talk to almost everyone in town and try to make sense of the tangle of clues and red herrings. Agatha Christie even gives the reader 3 drawings so all the arm chair detectives can try and solve the case as well, but as always it is Miss Marlpe that sees all the clues correctly and figures out the solution to the mystery. Agatha Christie had written several short stories in which Miss Marple appeared but The Murder at the Vicarage, was her first novel with Miss Marple. The vicar is the narrator and he and his wife, Griselda, are much more clearly developed than Miss Marple is. In fact, Miss Marple is not the central character at all and the person we know from having seen her on TV and read other books about her is not really the person that is in this book. It seems clear that Ms. Christie did not have a clear picture of who Miss Marple was at this point and as a result did not write the second Miss Marlpe for another 12 years. But while Miss Marple was not the centeral character in the book, she is the star of the book, the one who takes her "hobby of observing people" and uses it in an "important" crime and solves the mystery.
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LibraryThing member hobbitprincess
This is the first Miss Marple mystery. In typical Christie fashion, this one is excellent and leaves you hanging until the end. I adore Miss Marple!
LibraryThing member miyurose
This is the first Agatha Christie I’ve read in full, rather than listen to the BBC audio production. Right from the start, you are reminded that Christie is a master. The best way to describe her story-telling is 'effortless'. You’re instantly pulled into the story, and charmed by her
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characters, from the vicar’s unusual wife to the Colonel’s spoiled and shallow daughter, to the visiting artist, to the overly observant elderly ladies of the village. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, but she isn’t the narrator. Instead, we are told the story by the village vicar, Len Clement. Miss Marple is seen a little as the village busybody, though she is usually right. There’s a lot of red herrings thrown into the story, and I actually fell for a rather subtle one. Again, mastery! Show Less
LibraryThing member mmyoung
The Murder of the Vicarage is the first of the Miss. Marple mysteries although from the way in which she is introduced in this book there is little hint of the fact that for many readers Marple will become inextricably linked with Christie. Marple does not narrate the book, the actions are not seen
The murder itself in this book is of the highly graphed and planned out type but the solution is actually more psychologically grounded than have been most of Poirot’s. There are a surprising number of three dimensional characters in the book and there is at least as much enjoyment in reading it as a Austen-like exploration of love among the no longer young gentry as for the solution to the crimes.
This book will be an especially enjoyable read for anyone who finds the heavily stereotypical characters of Poirot a little hard to take and wants a good natured look at life among the lesser gentry in English villages between the wars
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through her eyes and the narrator is not her sidekick. Her presence hovers at the edge of many scenes and she is the principle actor in few of them. So far most of Christies female narrators have been young while her narrators are middle-aged although this changed slightly with Katherine Grey in The Mystery of the Blue Train. It was in that book we first heard about the village of St. Mary Mead -- although it seems to reasonable but little the St. Mary Mead of this book. All the same with this book we see Christie beginning to explore the possibilities of ordinary village live as a background for murder. As Marple herself points out, many people do not have the opportunity to set off on adventures and so if they want to find things to interest them they must look to the events and people around them.The murder itself in this book is of the highly graphed and planned out type but the solution is actually more psychologically grounded than have been most of Poirot’s. There are a surprising number of three dimensional characters in the book and there is at least as much enjoyment in reading it as a Austen-like exploration of love among the no longer young gentry as for the solution to the crimes.
This book will be an especially enjoyable read for anyone who finds the heavily stereotypical characters of Poirot a little hard to take and wants a good natured look at life among the lesser gentry in English villages between the wars
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LibraryThing member DirtPriest
Another great mystery with a great twist to it. I guess that should be expected, but the ingenuity of it is so impressive. Reading the Christie mysteries is like eating a bag of those awesome orange Circus Peanuts candies. With a Hires root beer in a glass bottle.
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
It's been a long time since I've read an Agatha Christie, and somehow I had never got around to this one (she wrote over 80 novels.) What I remembered about Christie was her incredible plots and twists, but I didn't remember her for great style or characterizations.
Well, she may not be an Austen
Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle appealing manner. Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two, Miss Marple is much the more dangerous.
Underestimated as an old bitty, a inconsequential spinster who "knows nothing of life," Miss Marple hides under her unassuming manner sharp observations and an even sharper mind. Moreover, by the end of the novel I was quite fond of the vicar and his wife. If you haven't read Agatha Christie, you're missing something special, although I wouldn't number this one as one of her best. Of the novels by her I've read, the ones that are my favorites include Death Comes at the End (set in Ancient Egypt), And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Well, she may not be an Austen
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or a Faulkner (or a Sayers), but she is incredibly fun to read--smooth, well-paced, a fine observer of human nature and witty. This novel published in 1930 was the first mystery with Jane Marple. Narrated by the vicar, Len Clement of St Mary Mead in "Downshire," he describes the indomitable sleuth this way: Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle appealing manner. Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two, Miss Marple is much the more dangerous.
Underestimated as an old bitty, a inconsequential spinster who "knows nothing of life," Miss Marple hides under her unassuming manner sharp observations and an even sharper mind. Moreover, by the end of the novel I was quite fond of the vicar and his wife. If you haven't read Agatha Christie, you're missing something special, although I wouldn't number this one as one of her best. Of the novels by her I've read, the ones that are my favorites include Death Comes at the End (set in Ancient Egypt), And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1930-10-01
Physical description
11 inches
ISBN
0007451571 / 9780007451579