Agatha Christie

A Miss Marple Mystery

Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie’s first ever Miss Marple mystery, reissued with a striking cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple)

ashwitherow

A mysterious stranger appears at a New Year's Eve party, becoming the enigmatic sleuthing sidekick to the snobbish Mr Satterthwaite... So far, it had been a typical New Year's Eve house party. But Mr Satterthwaite - a keen observer of human nature - sensed that the real drama of the evening was yet to unfold. So it proved when a mysterious stranger arrived after midnight. Who was this Mr Quin? And why did his presence have such a pronounced effect on Eleanor Portal, the woman with the dyed-black hair?

The Murder at the Vicarage

A quaint cozy introduction to Miss Marple and her village (which she runs and protects) ! A love letter to the old spinster that knows more than she gets credit for (by her choice and design). Reading the debuts of Poirot and Marple back-to-back gave real deja vu when it came to the crime at hand which left me wanting for more of a mystery to really reveal (and revel in) -- which Agatha Christie will no doubt provide. In Christ(ie) We Trust.

"Really Miss Marple is rather a dear..."

A quaint cozy introduction to Miss Marple and her village (which she runs and protects) ! A love letter to the old spinster that knows more than she gets credit for (by her choice and design). Reading the debuts of Poirot and Marple back-to-back gave real deja vu when it came to the crime at hand which left me wanting for more of a mystery to really reveal (and revel in) -- which Agatha Christie will no doubt provide. In Christ(ie) We Trust.

Sonia Grgas

Laura Mauler

Another good Miss Marple story, in the usual style. The narrator was especially good, although I can never decide if I like male or female readers best for Agatha Christie audiobooks. I was pretty sure I knew who the murderer was, using my new technique of solving Miss Marple stories, but once again I was way off. I had to console myself with having correctly figured out a minor element of the story. In all, a thoroughly good book.

Aamna

As always, I was at the edge of my seat & clueless about whodunnit till the very end. However this one's dull in comparison with some of her other work.

The Murder At The Vicarage A Miss Marple Mystery

rumbledethumps

I can't imagine reading this book before Miss Marple was a household name in the mystery world. Christie does her usual red herrings around the murder itself, but then she also spreads the red herrings around, so not only don't we know who the murderer is, but we don't who the detective is! We don't really figure out that it's Marple until about 80% of the way into the book. Christie was a genius, and this book is brilliant.

Such a classic, and a true representation of everything Christie does well. I haven't read any full length Marple novels before (I've predominantly been a Poirot fan), and while this novel is actually centered on the vicar, Mr. Clements, and not Miss Marple, I thought it worked as a good introduction to her. 

Outside of the work to introduce Marple and the setting, which I appreciated, the plot wasn't especially outstanding, we mostly just chug along. I don't mind that because the novel is constructed well, but I'm leaving room in my rating, since I know other Christie novels are better.

Boothby

Such a classic, and a true representation of everything Christie does well. I haven't read any full length Marple novels before (I've predominantly been a Poirot fan), and while this novel is actually centered on the vicar, Mr. Clements, and not Miss Marple, I thought it worked as a good introduction to her. 

Outside of the work to introduce Marple and the setting, which I appreciated, the plot wasn't especially outstanding, we mostly just chug along. I don't mind that because the novel is constructed well, but I'm leaving room in my rating, since I know other Christie novels are better.

Colleen

4 Stars
 
*A zigzagging tale of betrayal and murder and a whole lot of meddlesomeness*
 

I have read several of Agatha Christie’s works but never any from the Miss Marple series. So, I decided to give it a go. The setting is pretty standard – shocking murder in a small English town leads to the uncovering of many dirty secrets. The actual mystery kept me guessing, as Christie always does. But what made The Murder at the Vicarage intriguing and amusing were the colorful characters.
 
The story spends a lot of time exploring the perfidy and nosiness of small towns. It really is a fascinating dynamic. The smaller a community, the more people feel they have the right to know everyone’s business, and the quicker they are to point fingers when something goes wrong. The Vicar made an interesting narrator since he was constantly caught between his his clerical vows and his natural reaction to everyone’s intrusiveness and pettiness. Watching him tiptoe through the minefield of small-town drama was ever entertaining.


  “There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.”

What surprised me most was how little Miss Marple is featured in this book. She is mentioned often enough, but she is not directly featured in many scenes. The way she popped up at convenient times with crucial information almost boarded on deus ex machina. I also wasn’t sure how to feel about her character. Partly because she had so little page time and partly because while she is intelligent and resourceful, Miss Marple is also horrendously nosey. She goes around “birdwatching” (spying on her neighbors through binoculars) and interfering with the police. Most Mystery lovers probably fancy themselves some level of amateur detective, but I wouldn’t tout Marple as a role model. But she is admittedly not as conceited as Christie’s other famous detective, Hercule Poirot.
 
For the time period, the story also touches on several controversial subjects and social taboos – mostly having to do with what is or is not proper behavior for women, but also classism. It seemed like Christie was making some sly social commentary through her almost farcical display of such nosy and petty characters. This is a story that strikes a wonderful balance between subtle message and entertainment. I look forward to continuing the series.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Vilandra

The first Miss Marple book. I was surprised that Miss Marple is so unlikable and unliked by the other characters for most of the book. The story was enjoyable to read and I did not guess the ending.

Liz B

Izza

This is the first Agatha Christie novel I read! What! I feel like I’m the only one on Earth who hadn’t read her until now. We were supposed to read And Then There Were None in high school, but I’m ashamed to say this was the only book I never finished for class…

This book totally took me by surprise! I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. This is the best kind of surprise!

Colonel Protheroe is shot in the Vicar’s study, and everyone in the town seems to have a solid alibi! Fortunately, Miss Marple loves detective novels and has a sharp mind still.

Full review over @ the hungry bookster

 is the second appearance of Christie’s Miss Marple, and the first full length novel featuring her. I knew she was a beloved character, but this was my first experience with the fabulously observant spinster. And I have to say that I absolutely understand her following. Jane Marple is a delight, and following her keen mind was wonderfully rewarding, even if the rest of the story was a bit forgettable.

St. Mary Mead is one of the quaintest and coziest settings I’ve ever come across in fiction, and I can see where it has been an influence to many in the mystery genre. I was immediately reminded of Anthony Horowitz’s Saxby-on-Avon, which was obviously and lovingly inspired by St. Mary Mead. This sleepy little English village is rocked when a murder occurs at, you guessed it, the local vicarage. The vicar (and our narrator), Leonard Clement, was away from home when said murder occurred. Colonel Protheroe, a local magistrate disliked by many, is the deceased in question and had been waiting for the vicar to return home. It turns out that nearly everyone in the village had reason to want Protheroe dead, but who is truly responsible? That is what Miss Marple aims to find out.

This is a very eclectic, often charming cast of characters, and I very much enjoyed getting to know them. I found the characters, the setting, and the writing all incredibly cozy, which is one of the things I love most about Christie's mysteries. However, the case itself in this one felt just a bit lackluster to me. Not that Christie didn’t handle it with her usual aplomb; it was cleverly handled and nearly impossible to predict. However, unlike some of her other works, I don’t feel that this one is going to stick with me. The character of Miss Marple, however, absolutely will.

Celeste Richardson

The Murder at the Vicarage is the second appearance of Christie’s Miss Marple, and the first full length novel featuring her. I knew she was a beloved character, but this was my first experience with the fabulously observant spinster. And I have to say that I absolutely understand her following. Jane Marple is a delight, and following her keen mind was wonderfully rewarding, even if the rest of the story was a bit forgettable.

St. Mary Mead is one of the quaintest and coziest settings I’ve ever come across in fiction, and I can see where it has been an influence to many in the mystery genre. I was immediately reminded of Anthony Horowitz’s Saxby-on-Avon, which was obviously and lovingly inspired by St. Mary Mead. This sleepy little English village is rocked when a murder occurs at, you guessed it, the local vicarage. The vicar (and our narrator), Leonard Clement, was away from home when said murder occurred. Colonel Protheroe, a local magistrate disliked by many, is the deceased in question and had been waiting for the vicar to return home. It turns out that nearly everyone in the village had reason to want Protheroe dead, but who is truly responsible? That is what Miss Marple aims to find out.

This is a very eclectic, often charming cast of characters, and I very much enjoyed getting to know them. I found the characters, the setting, and the writing all incredibly cozy, which is one of the things I love most about Christie's mysteries. However, the case itself in this one felt just a bit lackluster to me. Not that Christie didn’t handle it with her usual aplomb; it was cleverly handled and nearly impossible to predict. However, unlike some of her other works, I don’t feel that this one is going to stick with me. The character of Miss Marple, however, absolutely will.

When Colonel Protheroe is found dead from a single gun shot wound to the head, none of his neighbors in the village of St. Mary Mead is much surprised. So many people wished this local official would say farewell, if not quite so permanently. With suspects abound and the local police symied it is up to Miss Jane Marple to root out the killer.

The murder at the vicarage

Kirsten Simkiss

Murder at the Vicarage is the epitome of classic Agatha Christie mystery. Personal, Marple is my favorite of her detectives. I delight in nothing more than a genius going undetected until she means to be. Ms. Marple is an older woman as well, and unlike Christie's other detectives, she doesn't often go chasing after leads. She simply takes a ride with a friend and visits them to impart her knowledge on them or she goes to the local shop to see what the shop girl saw when the attack happened. 

This particular murder occurs in the vicarage, a building in plain view of her home. As a result, she is the perfect witness of all of those who passed by. Rather than forcing situations, as Poirot is prone to doing, Ms. Marple is perfectly happy to give people nudges in the right direction and never points fingers until she is absolutely sure of her theories. I don't want to give it away, of course, but it's an enjoyable (and very much solveable case if you're someone who likes to figure it out on your own if you can).

That being said, this book was written a heckuva long time ago and there are some pretty sexist things that are considered acceptable. Some of the side characters are a little thin too, making it hard to remember names until you're a decent chunk of the way into the book. In terms of personality, people tended to blend together a bit. Having seen dramatizations of this book, I can say for certain that it's much easier to tell them apart on screen than on the page.

I definitely recommend this book. I enjoyed reading it very much and I definitely feel the 4 stars are well deserved.

Emmett

Brilliant, and wonderful. My first foray into Mystery genre proved to be a worthwhile one.

Sophie 

3.75 ⭐️
—
A murder at the vicarage the irony in that never fails to amuse me. Really good murder mystery and I liked the ending seems fitting for everyone to be happy after such an event in their lives.

phoebe nguyen

not an impressive debut of Miss Marple...

Ravana Eagleheart

Absolutely delightful, and kept me guessing until the very end, as per usual!

Giulia Pianta

This was SO GOOD! I loved this so much!!
Back a few years, I didn't enjoy Miss Marple stories that much, as the narrator is always some random person, and she appears just here and there, while I wished she was on page the whole time.

So I was scared I would not enjoy this book much, but I loved it! I liked the vicar's voice, and his observations too. Miss Marple is excellent at reading people and is so bright and smart.

The mystery is really complex and I couldn't piece together all the facts, ending up being super surprised at the end. I was left wanting more of Miss Marple and I can't wait for the next book with her!

Aparna Eeshwar

Jeremy Anderberg

Poirot isn’t Agatha’s only famous detective: Miss Marple stars in her own series of 12 novels. Not the globe-trotter that Poirot is, Miss Marple’s mysteries tend to take place closer to her sleepy English village.

In this introduction to Marple, there’s been a murder at the vicarage (i.e., parsonage), and the Bishop is on record saying he wanted the victim dead. As with all of Christie’s novels, the real conclusion isn’t so neat and tidy. This tale of full of false confessions, dastardly deeds, and an old gossip who proves she’s one smart cookie. This one started a little slow for me, but gained steam in the second half.

Анастасия Розова

It was alright. There wasn't much of Miss Marple, unfortunately. I mean, I get it, it's her first case ever, but her role was so small... That was quite disappointing. 
But overall, the story was as good as usual. Agatha was a genius, I couldn't guess the murderer this time as well.
It's a nice book for someone who wants to know Miss Marple's first case.

Jayarna La Bozzetta

I absolutely ADORED this. I was expecting to read this from Miss Marple's point of view, so when I discovered it was from the vicar's point of view, I was rattled and slightly put off. However he turned out to be a delightful main character, one I was so happy to be following everywhere. He was the perfect balance of kind and dry English sarcasm, and I love his relationship with his wife. This mystery kept me up the entire night trying to get to the end and it did not disappoint. I don't think I'll be able to guess the culprit in an Agatha Christie book, but I'm going to give it a darn good try.

Tanya Sutton

This is the first in the Miss Marple series and what a departure from Poirot!

The story was solidly constructed, the mystery was cleverly executed, and the writing was what I expect from Christie, but after reading the Poirot series I was a bit taken aback and how little Miss Marple actually figures into the story. I came to like her more and more as I progressed through the book and would have liked her to play a more prominent role in the story. Maybe I just need an adjustment period after Poirot's more forceful character. On to the next!

To start this review, I should mention that I don't read detective novels like this very often. It is, however, a genre that is typically littered with characters that know a lot about everything socially pertinent to the mystery, and everyone always seems to have nothing better to do than talk about the murder. In this sense, the Murder at the Vicarage was run-of-the mill. At least she deviated from the butler doing it, which is also a huge cliche.

I was confused through a lot of the talking and action sequences. I think it was more of how I read and that my own knowledge of how investigations are actually conducted hindered my ability to understand the situation. I don't really understand why the Vicar followed the investigators at every turn, or why these people decided to play their own detective game and basically ruin evidence by trampling through the crime scenes and other important areas. It was hard to keep all of the old ladies separated, since they all basically had the same character and interests. The maps were helpful, however, in figuring out where stuff was located. A lot of characters seemed like they were extras, and just muddled the story instead of actually helping it, or that they had such a large introduction for such a small part.

The plot had some nice twists, and it kept me wondering who the murderer was. I thought I had it pegged, but found that I was wrong. However, it would have been nice to learn the information as to how the murderer was uncovered in action, rather than learn after it was figured out by explanation. I understand that some people like to be kept in the dark about the murderer, but it's unfair to simply hide the information so we cannot figure it out without the author telling us.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and a nice break from the heavier material that I have been reading for college and in general. If someone can overlook the inconsistencies that seem acceptable in this type of literature then I'm sure they would enjoy it.

Sofia Pereira

For my OWLS - Herbology Prompt

This was the most boring book I have read this year!
The writting style was way to disconnected, for a book that is part of the MISS MARPLE SERIES you would expect Miss Marple to be the main character but nope. Instead you have this bland Vicar as our main lead, a long with a bunch of characters so badly written I can hardly differentiate from one another except by their genre.
I got so sick of watching our MC go from house to house and meaningless conversation to others of the same sort I admit I speed read some of it. 
The final plot was a bust for me, I had seen it since page 50 or so, it just wasn't fun at all.

Glad it's over now, I can finally dedicate my time to some books I ACTUALLY will enjoy and put this mess of a book behind me

Murder at the Vicarage A Miss Marple Mystery

Reviews

Highlights