Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: - I usually don't read mysteries , I often find them quite boring and are easily solved but this is the exact opposite! Her twists and turns give your fingers cramps from turning so fast! i read it in 3 hours and now I am hooked! The irony of having someone murdered in a vicar's study is clever. Plus the suspects are endless because everyone despises the victim, even the vicar has been heard to say that he'd be better off dead! All in all, a gripping novel of suspense! Two thumbs up!
Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
Summary: A good "read" on Audio Partners tapes
Review: A very friendly firm called Audio Partners is releasing a series of complete classic mystery novels read by highly competent actors. So we have Hercule Poirot himself in the person of David Suchet doing "Death on the Nile" for instance, and <Murder at the Vicarage> on six cassettes with James Saxton doing the honors. Now any review of a book on tape must consider the book itself and the reader separately. The latter might lack the vocal variety of Suchet--that is, he does not change his voice all that much for each character However, "Vicarage" is told in the first person by the Vicar himself, and so Saxton's voice is quite appropriate if one keeps in mind who is supposed to be speaking. In this way, he does a very good job indeed of keeping up the listener's interest, although this particular Christie novel is not quite as spellbinding as was "Murder on the Orient Express" for example. The tale itself was dramatized very well on PBS a while ago as part of the Joan Hickson "Miss Marple" series, but it did leave out a good deal of the adverse opinions that other residents of St. Mary Mead have of her. None of the male characters seem to like her very much, but that is because they recognize her ability to see through the lies with which most of them surround themselves in even the most routine of days, let alone those that involve a shocking murder in the Vicar's own study . Not really a comic creation, Miss Marple still elicits broad smiles as she free-associates the present events and the people with those from her past experience and usually manages to come up with the solution on that basis alone. At any rate, this tale is just a tad padded and perhaps would have profited from a slight abridgment; but I am grateful to have a full edition, as it were, on this Audio Partners tape.
Rating:
Summary: She was always too good for me.
Review: Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors, however, having read nearly all her books, and never getting to find out for myself 'who dun it,' I think she wrote the stories and then at the end, fixed someone as the murderer; someone whom she too did not even know beforehand. When I look through her books, I find that, with a reasonable explanation, anyone could have done it. When Ms. Christie finally picks someone as the murderer, she rounds off all the rest as impossible suspects. But really, the same can be done for any of them, then round off all the rest. Nevertheless, she is a damn good writer. Hope I can write like her someday
Rating:
Summary: The first Miss Marple (I believe)
Review: Despite being around 70 years old, this is still a charming mystery. Indeed, it's a testament to Dame Agatha that she devised such a complex plot at such an early stage in her writing career. The plot is classic British small town mystery. An unpopular man is dead and there are a host of people with motives - but none with an obvious opportunity. Miss Marple chases some red herrings but eventually sees that which isn't quite right. I listened to the abridged BBC version with mixed feelings. Three hours is probably a reasonable amount of time for this plot so I don't regret the abridgement. However, this is a presented as a radio drama (not a reading of the text) and it's a bit confusing to follow all of the characters. I'd recommend that other readers listen to this in one sitting, preferably with few distractions.
Rating: 
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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