Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
Lymstock, England, ca 1940.
Jerry Butler er pilot i RAF og efter et slemt styrt har han brug for fred og ro til at komme sig så han kan smide krykkestokkene. Han og søsteren Joanna flytter derfor til Lymstock, hvor de lejer et lille hus Little Furze af en sød ældre dame Miss Emily Barton. Efter
Krimigåden løses med venstre hånd af Miss Jane Marple. De anonyme breve er atypiske, så hvis man nu ser bort fra dem, er der en død dame tilbage og ægtefællen er jo altid den oplagte at mistænke. Tilsæt at konen var lidt træls og at der er kommet en sød (men tomhjernet) guvernante i huset for nylig og sagen har opklaret sig selv. Symmington lokkes i en fælde og alt vender sig til det bedste.
Smuk personbeskrivelse, som stadig er gyldig selv om miljøet for længst er ædt af tidens tand.
Det er næsten en Miss Marple uden Miss Marple, for hun dukker først op til sidst
Jerry Butler er pilot i RAF og efter et slemt styrt har han brug for fred og ro til at komme sig så han kan smide krykkestokkene. Han og søsteren Joanna flytter derfor til Lymstock, hvor de lejer et lille hus Little Furze af en sød ældre dame Miss Emily Barton. Efter
Show More
en uges tid dukker et anonymt brev op, der påstår at de ikke er bror og søster. Da lægen lidt senere kommer for at checke op på Jerry, kan han fortælle at brevene florerer. En pudsig detalje er at brevene ser ud til at være skrevet af en ældre dame, men udmærker sig ved slet ikke at bruge noget af det autentiske skandalestof, der findes i den lille by. Affæren udvikler sig da sagføreren Mr Symmingtons kone Mrs Symmington begår selvmord efter at have modtaget et af brevene. Politiet skærper jagten på den anonyme brevskriver. En tjenestepige Agnes bliver brutalt myrdet og alle mistænker alle. Jerry har dog fået et godt øje til Symmingtons datter Megan af første ægteskab og tager hende med til London hvor hun bliver fikset op svarende til hendes 20 år. Joanna driller Jerry med at han er blevet lun på Megan og han må give hende ret. Joanna er til gengæld lun på lægen Owen Griffith og til slut bliver begge par viet.Krimigåden løses med venstre hånd af Miss Jane Marple. De anonyme breve er atypiske, så hvis man nu ser bort fra dem, er der en død dame tilbage og ægtefællen er jo altid den oplagte at mistænke. Tilsæt at konen var lidt træls og at der er kommet en sød (men tomhjernet) guvernante i huset for nylig og sagen har opklaret sig selv. Symmington lokkes i en fælde og alt vender sig til det bedste.
Smuk personbeskrivelse, som stadig er gyldig selv om miljøet for længst er ædt af tidens tand.
Det er næsten en Miss Marple uden Miss Marple, for hun dukker først op til sidst
Show Less
Genres
Publication
London : HarperCollins, 1986.
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: The indomitable sleuth Miss Marple is led to a small town with shameful secrets in Agatha Christie's classic detective story, The Moving Finger. Lymstock is a town with more than its share of scandalous secrets??a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir. But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says "I can't go on," but Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone??as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly
User reviews
LibraryThing member davidabrams
Pointing Fingers
Agatha Christie's swift, slim 1942 novel The Moving Finger is a Miss Marple mystery which very nearly does not have Miss Marple.
In my version (the spiffy new Black Dog & Leventhal edition), the grandmotherly detective makes her first appearance on page 144 of the book's 201 pages.
However, even though she has what can best be described as an extended cameo role in The Moving Finger, Miss Jane Marple pulls it off in grand fashion, as always.
The story is told through the eyes of Jerry Burton who has come to the little village of Lymstock with his younger sister Joanna after he's been injured in a wartime plane crash. His doctor has advised him to "lead the life of a vegetable" in a place where he can find peace and quiet.
At first, Lymstock seems like the perfect haven. Sure, the residents are a little eccentric-but who isn't when they live in Agatha Christie Land, right? From the first page of the novel, we're told that something is amiss and it centers around a series of anonymous letters which have been sent to several people living in the village.
As Jerry tells us after he receives the first crude message, It seems odd, now, to remember that Joanna and I were more amused by the letter than anything else. We hadn't, then, the faintest inkling of what was to come-the trail of blood and violence and suspicion and fear.
That first letter accuses Jerry and Joanna of engaging in sexual activity most unbecoming of a brother and sister. Agatha never discloses the contents of the letters, but lets our imagination dance around the possibilities of what it says. I have a feeling that what we imagine is much more graphic than how readers in 1942 would have filled in the blanks. Whatever we guess the letters to say, the language would not have been suitable for World War Two era readers.
During a visit to the local doctor, Jerry happens to mention the letter (which he impetuously burned in the fireplace). Dr. Griffith drops his bag and exclaims, "Do you mean to say that you've had one of them?"
The epidemic of anonymous poison letters has been spreading around Lymstock for some time, Griffith tells Jerry, all of them "harping on the sex theme." The local solicitor Symmington was accused of illicit relations with his secretary ("Miss Ginch, who's forty at least, with pince-nez and teeth like a rabbit"), and even the doctor himself has received a letter which claims to have knowledge of him sleeping with some of his lady patients.
"What is this place?" Joanna wonders. "It looks the most innocent, sleepy harmless little bit of England you can imagine."
That is Agatha's forte, of course-ripping away the thin skin of gentility and good manners to reveal the gory, pestilential truth beneath. What reader hasn't known a two-faced, scheming liar who gets his or her jollies out of seeing innocent people suffer? Agatha knew how to craft a clever, often outlandish plot around an ordinary truth.
Eventually, the venomous accusations become too much to bear and one character commits suicide-ah, but was it really suicide? Perhaps there's something deeper, darker at work in Lymstock than just flooding the mail with wicked letters. Maybe there's more to it than just "sex and spite." Soon, paranoia is gripping the town: There was a half-scared, half-avid gleam in almost everybody's eye. Neighbor looked at neighbor.
The police are called in as more bodies begin to pile up and while the investigators do their best to sort through the psychological patterns they find in the letters, it isn't until Miss Marple makes her late entrance in the novel that we know the village residents can breathe a sigh of relief. It won't be long before this "tame elderly maiden lady" will unmask the letter writer.
Sandwiched chronologically between The Body in the Library and Murder in Retrospect, The Moving Finger is a fine addition to the Christie library. Agatha herself was partial to it, as she wrote in her Autobiography, "I find that another one I am really pleased with is The Moving Finger. It is a great test to reread what one has written some seventeen or eighteen years before. One's view changes. Some do not stand the test of time, others do."
With its keen psychological probing of rumor and paranoia, this Christie mystery certainly stands the test of time.
Agatha Christie's swift, slim 1942 novel The Moving Finger is a Miss Marple mystery which very nearly does not have Miss Marple.
In my version (the spiffy new Black Dog & Leventhal edition), the grandmotherly detective makes her first appearance on page 144 of the book's 201 pages.
Show More
That's like Bruce Willis making his first appearance in a Bruce Willis movie twenty minutes before the end credits roll. Fifty-seven pages do not allow very much time for a detective to solve a case.However, even though she has what can best be described as an extended cameo role in The Moving Finger, Miss Jane Marple pulls it off in grand fashion, as always.
The story is told through the eyes of Jerry Burton who has come to the little village of Lymstock with his younger sister Joanna after he's been injured in a wartime plane crash. His doctor has advised him to "lead the life of a vegetable" in a place where he can find peace and quiet.
At first, Lymstock seems like the perfect haven. Sure, the residents are a little eccentric-but who isn't when they live in Agatha Christie Land, right? From the first page of the novel, we're told that something is amiss and it centers around a series of anonymous letters which have been sent to several people living in the village.
As Jerry tells us after he receives the first crude message, It seems odd, now, to remember that Joanna and I were more amused by the letter than anything else. We hadn't, then, the faintest inkling of what was to come-the trail of blood and violence and suspicion and fear.
That first letter accuses Jerry and Joanna of engaging in sexual activity most unbecoming of a brother and sister. Agatha never discloses the contents of the letters, but lets our imagination dance around the possibilities of what it says. I have a feeling that what we imagine is much more graphic than how readers in 1942 would have filled in the blanks. Whatever we guess the letters to say, the language would not have been suitable for World War Two era readers.
During a visit to the local doctor, Jerry happens to mention the letter (which he impetuously burned in the fireplace). Dr. Griffith drops his bag and exclaims, "Do you mean to say that you've had one of them?"
The epidemic of anonymous poison letters has been spreading around Lymstock for some time, Griffith tells Jerry, all of them "harping on the sex theme." The local solicitor Symmington was accused of illicit relations with his secretary ("Miss Ginch, who's forty at least, with pince-nez and teeth like a rabbit"), and even the doctor himself has received a letter which claims to have knowledge of him sleeping with some of his lady patients.
"What is this place?" Joanna wonders. "It looks the most innocent, sleepy harmless little bit of England you can imagine."
That is Agatha's forte, of course-ripping away the thin skin of gentility and good manners to reveal the gory, pestilential truth beneath. What reader hasn't known a two-faced, scheming liar who gets his or her jollies out of seeing innocent people suffer? Agatha knew how to craft a clever, often outlandish plot around an ordinary truth.
Eventually, the venomous accusations become too much to bear and one character commits suicide-ah, but was it really suicide? Perhaps there's something deeper, darker at work in Lymstock than just flooding the mail with wicked letters. Maybe there's more to it than just "sex and spite." Soon, paranoia is gripping the town: There was a half-scared, half-avid gleam in almost everybody's eye. Neighbor looked at neighbor.
The police are called in as more bodies begin to pile up and while the investigators do their best to sort through the psychological patterns they find in the letters, it isn't until Miss Marple makes her late entrance in the novel that we know the village residents can breathe a sigh of relief. It won't be long before this "tame elderly maiden lady" will unmask the letter writer.
Sandwiched chronologically between The Body in the Library and Murder in Retrospect, The Moving Finger is a fine addition to the Christie library. Agatha herself was partial to it, as she wrote in her Autobiography, "I find that another one I am really pleased with is The Moving Finger. It is a great test to reread what one has written some seventeen or eighteen years before. One's view changes. Some do not stand the test of time, others do."
With its keen psychological probing of rumor and paranoia, this Christie mystery certainly stands the test of time.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BookishRuth
“Such a peaceful smiling happy countryside – and down underneath, something evil…”
-- The Moving Finger, p. 28
After a wartime plane crash, Jerry Burton’s doctor advises him to find a nice, quiet country village and “live the life of a vegetable” to speed along the recuperation process.
Jerry’s peaceful, vegetative life in Lymstock is, however, soon shattered. A few days after their arrival, Jerry receives a malicious anonymous letter. The letter alleges that the Burtons are not brother and sister, but an unmarried couple living in sin. Jerry and Joanna are initially quite amused by the novelty of receiving such a letter, but they soon view the letter as a sign of something much more sinister.
All of Lymstock, it seems, has been receiving these letters. When a woman apparently commits suicide after receiving a letter, the search for the writer intensifies. After another character is murdered, presumably by the anonymous writer, a palpable fear settles over the community. Neighbor suspects neighbor and the whole of Lymstock wonders who amongst them could be capable of such despicable acts.
The indomitable Miss Marple makes her first appearance in the last quarter of the novel. For a less skillful writer than Dame Christie, the lack of the primary character could have made this story very tedious for the reader, but Christie’s characters are so well-drawn and compelling that the reader does not notice the loss. The primary sleuthing has been done by Jerry and a few of the other residents of Lymstock, but only Miss Marple is able to connect the myriad of clues and bring the killer to justice.
The Moving Finger was originally published in the United States in 1942. For a novel that is over sixty years old, it has aged incredibly well. Agatha Christie’s extraordinary understanding of human nature gives her characters and her stories a timeless quality.
One of my favorite Christie novels, The Moving Finger is a compelling read that will keep you guessing until the end.
-- The Moving Finger, p. 28
After a wartime plane crash, Jerry Burton’s doctor advises him to find a nice, quiet country village and “live the life of a vegetable” to speed along the recuperation process.
Show More
Jerry and his sister Joanna settle in Lymstock, an idyllic country town that is three miles from a main road. It is a place where, as an astonished Joanna observes, “People really call – with cards!” Jerry’s peaceful, vegetative life in Lymstock is, however, soon shattered. A few days after their arrival, Jerry receives a malicious anonymous letter. The letter alleges that the Burtons are not brother and sister, but an unmarried couple living in sin. Jerry and Joanna are initially quite amused by the novelty of receiving such a letter, but they soon view the letter as a sign of something much more sinister.
All of Lymstock, it seems, has been receiving these letters. When a woman apparently commits suicide after receiving a letter, the search for the writer intensifies. After another character is murdered, presumably by the anonymous writer, a palpable fear settles over the community. Neighbor suspects neighbor and the whole of Lymstock wonders who amongst them could be capable of such despicable acts.
The indomitable Miss Marple makes her first appearance in the last quarter of the novel. For a less skillful writer than Dame Christie, the lack of the primary character could have made this story very tedious for the reader, but Christie’s characters are so well-drawn and compelling that the reader does not notice the loss. The primary sleuthing has been done by Jerry and a few of the other residents of Lymstock, but only Miss Marple is able to connect the myriad of clues and bring the killer to justice.
The Moving Finger was originally published in the United States in 1942. For a novel that is over sixty years old, it has aged incredibly well. Agatha Christie’s extraordinary understanding of human nature gives her characters and her stories a timeless quality.
One of my favorite Christie novels, The Moving Finger is a compelling read that will keep you guessing until the end.
Show Less
LibraryThing member riverwillow
Miss Marple only appears in the latter third of the book, but this is an intruiging mystery about annoymous letters followed by murder. The romantic element feels contrived and unconvincing, but Christie superbly evokes the atmosphere of a small village under threat from an anonymous source.
LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
Jerry Burton (a pilot recuperating) and his sister Joanna have let a house in the quiet village of Lymstock.... Soon they are victims of poison pen letters, as are most of their neighbors.
When the mother of the odd & unwanted young Megan commits suicide and her maid is poisoned, the village is
Show More
thrown into even more of a frenzy of accusations & suspicions...The vicar's wife, who with her acid tongue & pronouncements, is not above suspicion herself, calls in her friend Miss Marple to help solve the problems.
Meanwhile Jerry not only takes a keen interest in Megan and is surprised find his interest to be romantic, but an even keener interest in solving the crimes.
When Megan decides to blackmail her stepfather (at the behest of Miss Marple) the solution of the poison pen letters & the murder is solved.
I liked the mystery, the plot, the romance, and the twists made for good reading, but I found Miss Marple's intervention too pat.
Show Less
LibraryThing member RubyScarlett
I loved the narrator in this. His interactions with the rest of the cast are absolutely priceless. I love that Christie excels at creating eccentric characters that serve their purpose extremely well. Joanna is quite an exuberant woman and I loved the dichotomy between her and her brother. Some
Show More
really hilarious lines. The mystery is fairly conventional with a disappointingly flat ending but this is such a comfortable book to read. Marple barely makes an appearance but her scenes are efficient and to the point. Good book. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Vintage Christie--ranked against her own competition of jaw-dropping books, such as And Then There Were None, this is a tad less memorable, but it still kept me guessing to the end while playing fair with the reader. Otherwise it's more than solid and has all the hallmarks of her best. There is the
Show More
picture of life in a small English village in the mid-20th Century, Lymstock, which has been suffering from a series of poison pen letters culminating in murder. There's all the clues that come together in the end like clockwork, the red herrings, the plausible suspects, some of whom you favor, and others you come to care about you so hope didn't do it. There's humor, a nice element of romance, suspense--and oh, and Christie's elderly spinster detective Miss Marple. Although she mostly features at the end with the solution, not coming into the tale until Chapter Six of Eight, only a few dozen pages before the end. The story is the first person account of Jerry Burton, staying at the village with his sister while he recovers from an accident, and he's an appealing character through which to follow the tale. Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
Previously reviewed in 2011 at THE MOVING FINGER (aka THE CASE OF THE MOVING FINGER) - Miss Marple.
I decided to re-read the book as part of my participation in in the monthly meme Crime Fiction of the Year Challenge @ Past Offences. The year for February is 1943.
I don't want to repeat much of what
We are never really told what has happened to Jerry Burton to bring him and his sister to Little Furze at Lymstock. He appears to have been an airplane pilot who has crashed - he has been in plaster, has something wrong with his back, he walks with sticks, and wonders if he will ever be able to fly again. The timing of the publication seems to suggest he has be in the war, but there is never a reference to the war effort. He is worried that he will be bored with country life, and certainly his sister Joanna has to make a real effort to fit in. But then they get a poison pen letter suggesting that they are not really brother and sister. Others in the village have already had similarly scurrilous letters and more make their appearance. The local police are baffled and call in an expert from Scotland Yard who points out the similarities between these letters and others in earlier cases that he has solved. The local lawyer's wife gets a letter and commits suicide and then a week later a murder takes place.
While this is labelled as a "Miss Marple" she really plays a role only in the last quarter of the book. I wondered in my earlier reading about why she appeared so late and I'm almost convinced that Agatha Christie had originally meant this to be a stand-alone. However by the middle of the book, there are too many red herrings, too many possible murderers and the police and the amateur sleuth Jerry Burton are in desperate need of an independent point of view. So Jane Marple to the rescue! Miss Marple is invited to stay by the vicar's wife, Mrs Dane Calthrop. (She, by the way, will appear 20 years later in an Ariadne Oliver title). Miss Marple of course solves the puzzle. She says the solution was pretty simple. Everone else was just focussing on the wrong things.
I am amazed that I can re-read these titles and still find something else in them. I must confess also that I don't remember every plot nuance, so I don't get bored with the re-read either.
I decided to re-read the book as part of my participation in in the monthly meme Crime Fiction of the Year Challenge @ Past Offences. The year for February is 1943.
I don't want to repeat much of what
Show More
I said in the earlier review, so I encourage you to look at that one too.We are never really told what has happened to Jerry Burton to bring him and his sister to Little Furze at Lymstock. He appears to have been an airplane pilot who has crashed - he has been in plaster, has something wrong with his back, he walks with sticks, and wonders if he will ever be able to fly again. The timing of the publication seems to suggest he has be in the war, but there is never a reference to the war effort. He is worried that he will be bored with country life, and certainly his sister Joanna has to make a real effort to fit in. But then they get a poison pen letter suggesting that they are not really brother and sister. Others in the village have already had similarly scurrilous letters and more make their appearance. The local police are baffled and call in an expert from Scotland Yard who points out the similarities between these letters and others in earlier cases that he has solved. The local lawyer's wife gets a letter and commits suicide and then a week later a murder takes place.
While this is labelled as a "Miss Marple" she really plays a role only in the last quarter of the book. I wondered in my earlier reading about why she appeared so late and I'm almost convinced that Agatha Christie had originally meant this to be a stand-alone. However by the middle of the book, there are too many red herrings, too many possible murderers and the police and the amateur sleuth Jerry Burton are in desperate need of an independent point of view. So Jane Marple to the rescue! Miss Marple is invited to stay by the vicar's wife, Mrs Dane Calthrop. (She, by the way, will appear 20 years later in an Ariadne Oliver title). Miss Marple of course solves the puzzle. She says the solution was pretty simple. Everone else was just focussing on the wrong things.
I am amazed that I can re-read these titles and still find something else in them. I must confess also that I don't remember every plot nuance, so I don't get bored with the re-read either.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie is classed as a Miss Marple mystery, but there was very little evidence of Miss Marple in this book. She didn’t show up until page 142 out of 200 pages, then she proceeded to knit a few rows while solving the identity of the anonymous letter writing
Other than the lack of Miss Marple, I quite liked this book. Set in a seemingly quiet, placid country village, the obscene poison pen letters spared no one and did not hesitate to accuse each recipient of shocking activities. Even with no spark of truth in them these letters caused people to look at one another in a different way and suddenly everyone was under suspicion and accusations were being bandied about. It wasn’t long before suicide and murder followed.
With Jane Marple being an almost afterthought, the focus of the book is on Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna, who have come to the village while Jerry recovers from a flying accident. These two are total misfits in the rural village but were two characters that I found very sympathetic and I enjoyed seeing the events unfold through Jerry’s eyes. While The Moving Finger is not destined to be one of my favorite Miss Marple mysteries, it is still going to be considered a very good Agatha Christie mystery.
Show More
murderer.Other than the lack of Miss Marple, I quite liked this book. Set in a seemingly quiet, placid country village, the obscene poison pen letters spared no one and did not hesitate to accuse each recipient of shocking activities. Even with no spark of truth in them these letters caused people to look at one another in a different way and suddenly everyone was under suspicion and accusations were being bandied about. It wasn’t long before suicide and murder followed.
With Jane Marple being an almost afterthought, the focus of the book is on Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna, who have come to the village while Jerry recovers from a flying accident. These two are total misfits in the rural village but were two characters that I found very sympathetic and I enjoyed seeing the events unfold through Jerry’s eyes. While The Moving Finger is not destined to be one of my favorite Miss Marple mysteries, it is still going to be considered a very good Agatha Christie mystery.
Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
THE MOVING FINGER was written in 1942 and considered by Agatha Christie to be in her top 10 novels.
The narrator is Jerry Burton, and while for some of the narration we feel as if the events are occurring simultaneously with the narration, much of the style is retrospective.
This allows Christie to
Here is the end of Chapter 3.
'We have come down here,' I said sternly, 'for peace and quiet, and I mean to see we get it.'
But peace and quiet were the last things we were to have.
and a little later on, another example.
She paused lost in thought, her eyes screwed up. Then she said slowly, as one who solves a problem, 'Blind hatred... yes, blind hatred. But even a blind man may stab to the heart by pure chance... And what would happen then, Mr Burton?'
We were to know that before another day had passed.
The other thing that is interesting about THE MOVING FINGER is that Miss Marple almost plays only a cameo role. The main sleuths are Jerry and his sister Joanna. Miss Marple is invited to stay by the vicar's wife quite late in the novel (at 75% according to Kindle's numbering). Up until that point Jerry had been counting the vicar's wife among his suspects, because she is rather odd, and he isn't even really sure about Miss Marple when she arrives. She seems to him to take an inordinate, almost unseemly, interest in the murder.
The Dane Calthrops had a guest staying with them, an amiable elderly lady who was knitting something with white fleecy wool. We had very good hot scones for tea, the vicar came in, and beamed placidly on us whilst he pursued his gentle erudite conversation. It was very pleasant.
I don’t mean that we got away from the topic of the murder, because we didn’t. Miss Marple, the guest, was naturally thrilled by the subject. As she said apologetically: ‘We have so little to talk about in the country!’
She had made up her mind that the dead girl must have been just like her Edith.
In the long run it is of course Miss Marple who solves the crime, but she is gracious in saying that it was Jerry who made the various observations that led her to the right conclusions.
The climax of the novel is a very interesting one as it uses a honey trap but those who set it up, Miss Marple and the police, don't tell Jerry what they are doing, and he independently becomes convinced that the woman he wants to marry is in great danger.
The narrator is Jerry Burton, and while for some of the narration we feel as if the events are occurring simultaneously with the narration, much of the style is retrospective.
This allows Christie to
Show More
create "hanging endings" to chapters or parts of chapters. This is really the first time I have noticed her attempts at this style.Here is the end of Chapter 3.
'We have come down here,' I said sternly, 'for peace and quiet, and I mean to see we get it.'
But peace and quiet were the last things we were to have.
and a little later on, another example.
She paused lost in thought, her eyes screwed up. Then she said slowly, as one who solves a problem, 'Blind hatred... yes, blind hatred. But even a blind man may stab to the heart by pure chance... And what would happen then, Mr Burton?'
We were to know that before another day had passed.
The other thing that is interesting about THE MOVING FINGER is that Miss Marple almost plays only a cameo role. The main sleuths are Jerry and his sister Joanna. Miss Marple is invited to stay by the vicar's wife quite late in the novel (at 75% according to Kindle's numbering). Up until that point Jerry had been counting the vicar's wife among his suspects, because she is rather odd, and he isn't even really sure about Miss Marple when she arrives. She seems to him to take an inordinate, almost unseemly, interest in the murder.
The Dane Calthrops had a guest staying with them, an amiable elderly lady who was knitting something with white fleecy wool. We had very good hot scones for tea, the vicar came in, and beamed placidly on us whilst he pursued his gentle erudite conversation. It was very pleasant.
I don’t mean that we got away from the topic of the murder, because we didn’t. Miss Marple, the guest, was naturally thrilled by the subject. As she said apologetically: ‘We have so little to talk about in the country!’
She had made up her mind that the dead girl must have been just like her Edith.
In the long run it is of course Miss Marple who solves the crime, but she is gracious in saying that it was Jerry who made the various observations that led her to the right conclusions.
The climax of the novel is a very interesting one as it uses a honey trap but those who set it up, Miss Marple and the police, don't tell Jerry what they are doing, and he independently becomes convinced that the woman he wants to marry is in great danger.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
I can't for the life of me figure out how this title goes with the story, but the story was a pleasant read.
LibraryThing member madamejeanie
Jerry Burton is an aviator from London who is recovering from injuries he suffered in a crash landing and his doctor has recommended that he remove himself from the hustle and bustle of London and lease a house in a quiet little village for a few months. So, Jerry and his sister Joanna come to
Great read! Miss Marple only appears in the final quarter of the book and the story is told from Jerry Burton's POV, so we aren't allowed to see the workings of this good lady's logical mind, only the results. But it was still a great story.
Show More
Lymstock, rent a cottage, and set about becoming acquainted with the other villagers. But there is turmoil just under the placid surface of this tiny bucolic spot and a series of anonymous letters start being delivered to nearly everyone in the village, accusing them of horrible secrets and activities. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else and things are brought to a boil when one of the letters causes the wife of the local barrister to commit suicide. But things only get worse when a kitchen maid in one of the cottages is found murdered. The vicar's wife asks a good friend of hers to come visit and Miss Jane Marple arrives and works her "nothing new under the sun" magic, lining up the clues that were right in front of everyone all along.Great read! Miss Marple only appears in the final quarter of the book and the story is told from Jerry Burton's POV, so we aren't allowed to see the workings of this good lady's logical mind, only the results. But it was still a great story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Figgles
Vies with Sleeping Murder for the title of my favourite Aggie! Great love story with a murder thrown in. Re read after a half-way decent adaptation shown on TV (most of the TV adaptations are so heavily adapted they may as well be new stories!).
LibraryThing member horacewimsey
No good at all, despite Christie having thought this was her best work. It had potential, but did not nearly achieve it.
And where was Miss Marple? The cover of the book indicated that this was a "Miss Marple Mystery," yet she didn't appear until page 130 or so (in a 200-page edition) and only then
And where was Miss Marple? The cover of the book indicated that this was a "Miss Marple Mystery," yet she didn't appear until page 130 or so (in a 200-page edition) and only then
Show More
to come in a say how the crimes too place. Of what use was she? Commercial only, no doubt; popular series are easier to sell, I think, than something completely new. Show Less
LibraryThing member lahochstetler
Poison pen letters spread throughout an English village, upsetting recipients, and leading to a suicide. The village is full of quirky characters, any one of whom might be responsible for the anonymous missives. Ultimately the mystery will be solved by one of the villagers' acquaintances, none
This was my first Miss Marple mystery, and I was surprised at how small a presence Miss Marple actually was in the story. She didn't appear until more than halfway through the book, and then remained in the background, sort of like the furniture. Yes, she does ultimately solve the mystery, but she's hardly a character of much consequence. It appears that The Moving Finger is one of the earlier Miss Marple mysteries, and perhaps the character was not yet well-developed. As this was my first Miss Marple I don't really have another novel for comparison.
The story is told by an injured pilot, who has moved to the countryside to recover. As he meets the various villagers, especially the women, there's an added element of romance, but as with all of Christie's work, the mystery remains the heart of the book. This is not one of Christie's more remarkable works, but it is certainly solid, and kept me riveted to the end.
Show More
other than Miss Jane Marple. This was my first Miss Marple mystery, and I was surprised at how small a presence Miss Marple actually was in the story. She didn't appear until more than halfway through the book, and then remained in the background, sort of like the furniture. Yes, she does ultimately solve the mystery, but she's hardly a character of much consequence. It appears that The Moving Finger is one of the earlier Miss Marple mysteries, and perhaps the character was not yet well-developed. As this was my first Miss Marple I don't really have another novel for comparison.
The story is told by an injured pilot, who has moved to the countryside to recover. As he meets the various villagers, especially the women, there's an added element of romance, but as with all of Christie's work, the mystery remains the heart of the book. This is not one of Christie's more remarkable works, but it is certainly solid, and kept me riveted to the end.
Show Less
LibraryThing member archerygirl
This one was billed as a Miss Marple mystery, but she's only there for the last few chapters and we don't really get to see her detective powers until the final chapter. I felt slightly cheated by this because, while the POV character was great, it wasn't the book that I wanted when I sat down with
Show More
it. I'm sure that if you're not specifically looking for a Marple book then this is a fun, satisfying mystery. I didn't guess who did it (I was way off base) and the brother and sister team at the heart of the book were fun to spend time with. Not one of Christie's strongest, but still a good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member JulesJones
Technically a Miss Marple novel, although the little old lady from St Mary Mead barely appears in this one, not even being introduced until the final third of the book. It's told from the viewpoint of Jerry Burton, a war-wounded pilot who has taken a house in the small town of Lymstock to spend a
Jerry's continued interest in the case is welcomed by the police, for as the officer in charge of the investigation points out, as an incomer he doesn't have pre-existing biases, but as a resident he will hear things that people will be reluctant to tell the police. And so Jerry gets to see in fine detail how scandal and gossip work in a small community, with the phrase "no smoke without fire" as a running theme of village conversation.
This is an excellent study of village gossip, with some fine character studies. The main disappointment is the portrayal of Miss Marple herself, who seems a curiously flat character in this book. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I known when starting it that Jerry is the primary investigative character as well as the narrator.
Show More
few months recuperation somewhere in the country away from his friends. His doctor's advice was to take an interest in local politics and scandal as a way of keeping his brain occupied without stressing him. Jerry and his sister Joanna get an early opportunity to do just that, when they receive a poison pen letter. when they find that they're not the first, they decide to track down the writer, almost as a game. But the game turns deadly serious when one of the recipients is found dead by poison, with a note saying "I can't go on". Jerry's continued interest in the case is welcomed by the police, for as the officer in charge of the investigation points out, as an incomer he doesn't have pre-existing biases, but as a resident he will hear things that people will be reluctant to tell the police. And so Jerry gets to see in fine detail how scandal and gossip work in a small community, with the phrase "no smoke without fire" as a running theme of village conversation.
This is an excellent study of village gossip, with some fine character studies. The main disappointment is the portrayal of Miss Marple herself, who seems a curiously flat character in this book. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I known when starting it that Jerry is the primary investigative character as well as the narrator.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Brother and sister Jerry and Joanna Burton have leased a house in a small English town while Jerry recuperates from a flying accident. The town's tranquility is soon disturbed by a flurry of poison pen letters making all sorts of false but scandalous accusations. What starts out as an annoyance
This is the third novel featuring Miss Marple, and to this point she could be described as a minor character who functions as a catalyst for others to solve the crimes. It seems like Christie hasn't quite decided what to do with her yet. It's one of my favorite Miss Marple novels, despite the fact that Miss Marple makes only a couple of brief appearances in it.
Show More
eventually escalates to sudden death in the suicide of a letter recipient. Although the observant Jerry has noticed circumstances and anomalies that put the letter-writer's identity almost within his grasp, it takes the influence of Miss Marple to make the pieces fall together into the shape of a murderer.This is the third novel featuring Miss Marple, and to this point she could be described as a minor character who functions as a catalyst for others to solve the crimes. It seems like Christie hasn't quite decided what to do with her yet. It's one of my favorite Miss Marple novels, despite the fact that Miss Marple makes only a couple of brief appearances in it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MickyFine
Jerry Burton and his sister, Joanna, have temporarily located to the sleepy town of Lymstock while Jerry recuperates from injuries from a plane crash. But Lymstock is not as quiet as it appears. Shortly after their arrival Jerry and Joanna are the recipients of a nasty, anonymous letter and they're
Yet another delightful mystery from Agatha Christie. Jerry is a fine narrator for the mystery, which is well-crafted of course. I once again utterly failed to determine whodunnit. Of course, Christie's fantastic dry wit still remains one of my favourite parts of her novels. This one is nominally a Miss Marple novel although she makes a very slim appearance. Still, a highly enjoyable read.
Show More
just one of the many victims in town. But when one of the recipients of a letter commits suicide, things begin to take a much darker turn.Yet another delightful mystery from Agatha Christie. Jerry is a fine narrator for the mystery, which is well-crafted of course. I once again utterly failed to determine whodunnit. Of course, Christie's fantastic dry wit still remains one of my favourite parts of her novels. This one is nominally a Miss Marple novel although she makes a very slim appearance. Still, a highly enjoyable read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sarah-e
Murder mysteries aren't usually this charming. That's what's so good about Agatha Christie. The Moving Finger is Marple-lite. The mystery is so small-town - nasty letters are going around and no one knows who sent them. In true Christie fashion, the villagers are paraded past as a string of
Show More
suspects and the suspense lasts until close to the end. If Miss Marple had narrated, she would have seen the culprit a mile away. She does, of course, save the day. This book has more resolution than other of Christie's novels, but that just adds to the charm. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jiraiya
This one was a disappointment. The earliest Miss Marple stories don't seem as good as the later ones, except-till now- 'The Body In The Library', which is very complex. I knew this should be a Miss Marple mystery but she doesn't appear throughout most of the book. For another thing, the story takes
Apart from that the denouement of the mystery itself is a disappointment. The old habit of setting up the spouse as the engineer of all the evil in the book-including the murders-is vintage Agatha Christie. But here the mystery is not as intriguing and not as impossible as her finer work. One of the lesser tricks employed in the story was to make the reader believe that the guilty must be a woman; an embittered woman who may or may not be a lady. But that didn't wash with me. There were not many false clues lying about, as the story was told from the perspective of Jerry Burton.
Jerry Burton marries Megan Symmington. His sister Joanna marries Owen Griffth. I kept up with this book better whenever Megan was being described...what she wore, how she had a horse face...how childish her words were, how, when she cried, she rather bawled. She was crucial to my enjoyment of the book. To be honest the two way love between Jerry and Megan flares up rather suddenly. Near up to where Jerry falls for Megan, she was being described by Jerry as a sad dog who now was glad for having been taken for a walk! I haven't met someone like Megan in my life but I'm certain Dame Agatha Christie has. Any waning interest in her books rekindles because of some remarkable insight or description of hers. She must have met some of those people. She cannot have manufactured them out of thin air. That, I think, is impossible.
Show More
place in the village of Lymstock, so I kept wondering how Marple was to be brought into the picture. For a few moments I had thought that there must have been a mistake as there wasn't enough scope for Miss Marple to appear and shine.Apart from that the denouement of the mystery itself is a disappointment. The old habit of setting up the spouse as the engineer of all the evil in the book-including the murders-is vintage Agatha Christie. But here the mystery is not as intriguing and not as impossible as her finer work. One of the lesser tricks employed in the story was to make the reader believe that the guilty must be a woman; an embittered woman who may or may not be a lady. But that didn't wash with me. There were not many false clues lying about, as the story was told from the perspective of Jerry Burton.
Jerry Burton marries Megan Symmington. His sister Joanna marries Owen Griffth. I kept up with this book better whenever Megan was being described...what she wore, how she had a horse face...how childish her words were, how, when she cried, she rather bawled. She was crucial to my enjoyment of the book. To be honest the two way love between Jerry and Megan flares up rather suddenly. Near up to where Jerry falls for Megan, she was being described by Jerry as a sad dog who now was glad for having been taken for a walk! I haven't met someone like Megan in my life but I'm certain Dame Agatha Christie has. Any waning interest in her books rekindles because of some remarkable insight or description of hers. She must have met some of those people. She cannot have manufactured them out of thin air. That, I think, is impossible.
Show Less
LibraryThing member NellieMc
Classic Ms. Marple -- what's not to love?
LibraryThing member bke
Not really a Miss Marple mystery. Marple doesn't appear until about 80% of the way through and then as a cameo role. She then appears at the end to wrap everything up. It was like she was added as an afterthought so it could be a "Miss Marple Mystery." Really, Christie could have inserted any of
Show More
her sleuths and it wouldn't have made much difference. Show Less
LibraryThing member antiquary
One of the cosier Christies --some are pretty grim but this is mild. A recuperating wounded airman and his sister come to a small village which is afflicted with a spate of nasty anonymous letters. The police believe they are written by a repressed respectable lady, but this turns out not to be the
Show More
case. Miss Marple appears only briefly at the end to solve the case. One of the nicer features us a budding romance between te POV character (the wounded man) ad a troubled young woman. Show Less
LibraryThing member jrsearcher
Miss Marple doesn't come in until the last third of the book, and even at that point, she's still a secondary character.
The foreshadowing was interesting (but didn't help me "solve" the mystery)
I had to skip to the back and see "whodunnit" before I could finish reading.
The foreshadowing was interesting (but didn't help me "solve" the mystery)
I had to skip to the back and see "whodunnit" before I could finish reading.
LibraryThing member SoulFlower1981
A rather enjoyable mystery book. Christie keeps you guessing exactly what is going on in it, but when you come to the end of the book you come to the realization that it all falls into place rather nicely and if you had just looked at things from a slightly different angle you would have gotten
Show More
there yourself. I rather found it pleasing to read and glad I finished it. I would recommend it to those that want to be able to dissect a mystery novel as this one seems rather ease for that purpose. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1942-07-01
Physical description
217 p.; 17.7 cm
ISBN
0006172695 / 9780006172697
Local notes
Omslag: Ikke angivet
Omslaget viser et par hænder, der taster på en gammel skrivemaskine
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Omslaget viser et par hænder, der taster på en gammel skrivemaskine
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Other editions
Døden kommer med posten by Agatha Christie (Hardcover)
Døden kommer med posten by Agatha Christie (Paper Book)
Similar in this library
Pages
217
DDC/MDS
| 823.912 |