Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery

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Summary: Fiction's Favorite Spinster Detective in Her First Case
Review: "The Murder at the Vicarage" is memorable because it introduces the delightful Miss Jane Marple. With her love of gardening, binoculars for bird-watching close-at-hand, and an uncanny ability to find similarities between the present situation and her past experiences and acquaintances, Miss Marple is introduced in her home village of St. Mary Mead. We will return here many times and reacquaint ourselves with the characters introduced in this mystery---the vicar Leonard Clement and his wife Griselda, Mrs. Price Ridley, Colonel Melchett, Dr. Haydock, and others.

The murder victim, Colonel Protheroe, is a hateful man disliked by everyone he had dealings with. Therefore, the list of suspects is much longer than usual. There is the victim's second wife, the visiting artist she loves, a mysterious lady with the telling name of Mrs. Lestrange, a teenage daughter, an archaeologist, and a secretary.

There are plenty of red herrings in this one and it is up to Miss Marple to reveal if the most likely suspect is also the guilty one in this cozy read for those of us who thrive on evil in small village life.

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Summary: Good start
Review: .... this is not the best Christie book. While Miss Marple is my favourite detective of all time, Agatha Chrisitie's MIss Marple novels sometimes leave something to be desired. Miss Marple deserves more exciting plots, i sometimes feel. (Although, i know that is silly to suggest. She's an elderly woman. The plots Agatha Chrisite chose for her are of the perfect tone to match the old-lady.) but sometimes they feel a bit laclustre. Indeed, in this one, the first Marple book, she uses some of the same devices she used in the first POIROT book. Mind you, they are not hugely noticeable as repetitions, and the book definitely does not suffer for it.

The characters are good, the writing sharp, the plot typically Marple-esque. Relaxed, in comparison to the Poriot mysteries. Miss Marple is a brilliant creation, and it is a great shame that Christie did not write as many books about her as she did Poirot. She is a hugely enjoyable character, and wonderfully original detective. The way she solves crime is entertaining, but doe slack something which the Poirot novels have. (I can't really put my finger on it...the only thing i can think of to describe what i mean is possibly saying that the Poirot novels are more in-your-face, whereas with the Marple books, the peaceful nature of the villages is brought across in the plot.)

While this is not one her best best books, it is still a very good one. The solution contains none of the great shock value that some of her books do, but it is still a surprise, and this book is still worth a read.

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Summary: Entertaining for Hardcore Christie Fans
Review: Like many other writers, Christie went through an apprentice period during which she created the particular style we recognize as unique to her work. Novels from this early period are hit and miss--and MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, which introduces the famous Miss Marple, might best be described as a bit of both.

VICARAGE offers the story of the widely unpopular Col. Protheroe, who seems determined to vex every one he encounters--including his daughter from a former marriage and his current wife, the latter of which has undertaken a liaison with a local artist. One evening the Colonel pays a call to vicarage only to find the Vicar out on a call... and while waiting is shot dead under what seem impossible circumstances. No sooner is the body discovered than people who could not possibly have committed the crime begin to confess, and the Vicar and his neighbor, the meddlesome Miss Marple, form a somewhat uneasy alliance to ferret out the truth.

The Miss Marple of this particular novel is not the character we know from later books; although the outlines of the character are well established, she is not greatly sympathetic and she lacks the disconcerting twinkle found in such works as THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY and A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED. Moreover, the other characters, the setting, and the plot seem extremely stiff. The solution, when it comes, is also rather gimmicky in a way which Christie cannot yet make entirely plausible. I would not recommend this particular Christie to newcomers--but I do recommend it longtime fans, who will enjoy seeing how Christie developed the character of Miss Marple and how she herself evolved as a writer, particularly since the outline of the plot is a device to which she would return with considerably greater effect in later and more substantial novels.

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Summary: Christie at her best...
Review: Murder at the Vicarage, first published in 1930, is the book that first introduced the world to Miss Jane Marple and the cozy English village of St. Mary Mead. Every mystery fan in the world is or should be familiar with Christie's classic character of Miss Marple. This book presents her at her best and is required reading for any mystery fan. The writing is sharp, the plotting crisp and clever, there are many red herrings and the solution is very satisfying. This is Christie at her very best. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Introducing Miss Jane Maple, detective extraordinaire
Review: My two favorite British detectives are Miss Jane Marple and Lord Peter Whimsy. If you prefer action filled American mysteries or fast moving Sherlock Holmes tales, Agatha Christie is probably not for you. She creates mind puzzles in which you are given all the clues while the author tries to confuse and mislead you into suspecting the wrong person. No one has ever been better at red herrings and misdirection than Agatha Christie. If you enjoy glimpses into British life in the 1920's combined with enjoyable characterizations and creative plotting, settle down to enjoy an excellent example of the cozy mystery genre. The Murder at the Vicarage combines all of the best characteristics of vintage Agatha Christie without the sometimes annoying presence of Agatha Christie's more famous detective, Hercule Poirot.

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Summary: Pure Comfort Reading
Review: Our narrator, Rev. Clements is articulate, self-deprecating and an able Watson to Miss Marple's Holmes. The locale is the village St. Mary's Mead; the victim is the detestable Col. Protheroe. In their proper places are Flighty Wife, Handsome Artist, Ethereal Ingénue, Gruff Physician, Gossipy Maiden Ladies, Timid Curate, and Mysterious Lady. They need no proper names for they appear over and over in Ms. Christie's novels with new names, but are essentially the same people.

Col. Protheroe is shot in the back of head while apparently writing a note in the Vicar's study. On the face of it, this seems impossible. Though there are people all about, no one heard a shot from the house. No one saw anyone go near the study. The maid let him in just fifteen minutes before the body was discovered. A pretty kettle of fish! Two false confessions quickly muddy up the waters, and it is discovered that most everyone had a motive for killing the good Colonel, except Miss Marple, who, if truth were told, didn't like him very well either.

The intricacies are many, timetables are crucial, but Miss Marple is up to the test. I particularly liked the leisurely lives and pace of St. Mary's Mead. Everyone had servants, you could not move from room to room without being announced. There is some nice humor that runs through regarding the surly maid who runs the vicarage. She is a diffident housekeeper and appalling cook. But the vicar's young wife determinedly keeps her on, for if the maid improves, Griselda fears she would be hired away from them. The vicar bears up as well as he can. People only call upon the police when they feel like it, usually after much discussion with friends and neighbors. The lead policeman has the unfortunate name of Inspector Slack, and Miss Marple gently chides him while he disdains her advice (to his sorrow of course.) The vicar walks everywhere because he cannot master a bicycle. I guess a car would be unthinkable, because it is never mentioned.

It all works out to Prime Dame Agatha. And lest you get too comfortable, she will definitely fool you once again. As always---sigh.

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Summary: Introducing Miss. Marple
Review: 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,). 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.

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Summary: Meet Miss Marple
Review: This is the first Miss Marple stories and set the stage for the rest of the series. Miss Jane Marple is an elderly spinster of modest means,a life-long resident of the tiny village of St. Mary Mead, an advid gardener and bird watcher and a most astute observer of human nature. Many of the residents and visitors of St. Mary Mead that will return in later works are introduced here, the gentle vicar and his lively younger wife, Raymond West, Jane's novelist nephew and others.

The story is told by the vicar and gives us many insights into his homelife. Col. Protheroe is found murdered in the vicarage, much to the delight of his wife and daughter and embarrassment of the vicar. As the local police try to solve the crime it become apparent that Col. Protheroe was not going to be missed and that nobody really had an alibi. As the investigation progresses it seems that more questions are raised than answered. Ultimately it is Miss Marple who resolves the issues of love affairs, mysterious strangers, and assorted lies to uncover the true culprit.

This is a perfect gem, Christie at her best. The characters are well written and the descriptions of the lack of privacy in a small are incredibly accurate and a recurring theme of Christie's. In typical Christie style of the rules of detection are flirted with but the clues are fairly laid out for the reader to follow, if they can be separated from the red herrings.

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Summary: MISS MARPLE AND HER STUDIES ON "HUMAN NATURE"
Review: Well Ms. Christie fooled me again but, then again she always does. That is why she was and still remains the best of the genre. This is our intro to Miss Marple and her amatuer sluething. The best thing you can say about any mystery writer is her/his solutions are well hidden yet, totally believable when they are revealed. That fits this story to a tee. The story is narrated by the vicar who is not only unlucky enough to have a murder commited in his home but, is also one of the main suspects. Tough day for anyone unless your next door neighbor is MISS MARPLE. Buy this and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

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Summary: Misleading right to the end ...
Review: While this book is definitely an original Christie's, it is hardly a vintage.

Writing from the perspective of the vicar of St Mary Mead village where Ms Jane Marple lived, the writer unfolded a scene of a little village's usual "transquility" being disturbed by an outsider in the form of Mr Lawrence Redding, an artist who drew various local ladies. One of the ladies was Griselda, wife of the vicar, and another was Anne, second wife to a not generally loved Colonel Protheroe, the latter being a murder victim found in the study of the vicar.

Rounding up the usual suspects, there was the victim's daughter, Lettice, nearly as old as her stepmother and hated the latter utterly, a ne'er-do-well local by the name of Archer who was jailed by the late Colonel who happened to be on the bench, plus a mysterious Mrs Lestrange, a recent reticent arrival to the village.

Instead of treating the readers to a conventional detective story, the writer described everything from the eyes of the vicar, a possible suspect himself if not for a cast-iron alibi, he had been calling on one of his flocks. The narrator attempted to clear the mystery himself, unsatisfied with the effectiveness of the investigating police officer, a certain Inspector Slack. Together with the local doctor Haydock, they spoke to almost everyone imaginable in the village, trying to reconstructing the truth from various perspective.

As a detective novel, it did not help that the star sleuth Ms Marple was herself a witness, her residence being right next to the vicarage. Readers would get a feeling that they are not being treated fairly in terms of the information being provided, depending instead on evaluations provided by Ms Marple.

Several red herrings of course were thrown in, which made the story more life-like. As the investigation proceeded, new clues were revealed which oft led the amateur sleuths on wild goose chases. It was only when they returned to re-examine the scene of the crime that the truth finally came to light.

Readers who loved mysteries would find nothing to complain about, except that they had been led on a wrong trail and for most of the book, missed out on the real mystery.