The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple)

Paperback, 224 pages

English language

Published March 4, 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

ISBN:
978-0-00-712085-7
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ASIN:
0062073605

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4 stars (1 review)

Murder at the Vicarage marks the debut of Agatha Christie’s unflappable and much beloved female detective, Miss Jane Marple. With her gift for sniffing out the malevolent side of human nature, Miss Marple is led on her first case to a crime scene at the local vicarage. Colonel Protheroe, the magistrate whom everyone in town hates, has been shot through the head. No one heard the shot. There are no leads. Yet, everyone surrounding the vicarage seems to have a reason to want the Colonel dead. It is a race against the clock as Miss Marple sets out on the twisted trail of the mysterious killer without so much as a bit of help from the local police.

57 editions

Review of 'Murder at the Vicarage' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Just a very enjoyable murder mystery book. Having only ever read Orient Express a couple months ago as far as Christie novels go and having been somewhat disappointed with how "dry" it was, I wasn't expecting much, but this one surprised me with its great humor and tone, colorful cast, little b-plots and mystery. The vicar is a truly enjoyable PoV character with an inner monologue I found often very funny, the police are incompetent and self-absorbed, the town regulars are just a bunch of weirdos and Miss Marple is a delight everytime she's "on screen", something that happens less than I expected but I think ends up working really well, specially since she's so often sidelined by "the professionals" only to show up and drop some new bombshell that leaves them flabbergasted. Also she has a shitty author nephew whose only reason for being in the book is sucking …

Subjects

  • Crime & mystery
  • Mystery/Suspense