Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Not sure how I feel about this. 2.5? 3? 2.75? Full review coming soon, and remember:
Review Taken from The Pewter Wolf
“Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service!” Careless remark from the parson to his wife, only his words come back to haunt him when he discovered the Colonel, shot in the head, in the vicarage’s study. The people of St Mary Mead are shocked: who could have done such a thing? The wife? Her lover? The Colonel’s daughter? The newcomer whose past is a mystery? The doctor? The parson himself?
But living in this picturesque English village lives one Miss Jane Marple, and she has her own thoughts on the murder…
I am in two minds over this. On the one hand, I get why everyone really likes this Christie novel. I do. But on the other… well, I feel a tad underwhelmed by it.
Like I said, I was listening to this while at work over the course of 3 days (on the second day, I listened to over 6 hours of it) so I might not have given it my fullest of attention. Plus, while I love Richard E Grant, I wasn’t such a fan of some/most of the choices he made to character’s voices and the way certain characters spoke.
Like I have said many times, a narrator to an audiobook can make or break an audiobook. Luckily, I warmed to Richard’s choices the further I went into the audiobook. The same goes with the last audiobook I listened to, [b:The Long Call|44086770|The Long Call (Two Rivers, #1)|Ann Cleeves|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560549688l/44086770._SY75_.jpg|67142367] by Ann Cleeves. I warmed as the story went on but at the start... YIKES.
But let’s chat about the mystery itself. I kinda figured it out - now, I’m not sure if it’s because I knew it from the BBC adaptation starring Joan Hickson (I don’t remember watching the ITV adaptation in December 2004 - plus, ITV’s MARPLE also included Marple in non-Marple stories such as [b:By the Pricking of My Thumbs|102314|By the Pricking of My Thumbs|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396227968l/102314._SY75_.jpg|580854] [this is a Tommy and Tuppence story, which is an odd story to pop Marple in. Plus, I’m certain ITV hinted that Tuppence might be an alcoholic (due to her husband’s success at MI6. She was going to join, but unable to due to being pregnant at the time), which is a huge licence of character - wonder how the Agatha Christie Estate/Ltd took to that!] [b:Ordeal by Innocence|39893654|Ordeal by Innocence|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526813199l/39893654._SY75_.jpg|1271997], [b:Towards Zero|12168274|Towards Zero|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458414333l/12168274._SY75_.jpg|2860210], [b:The Pale Horse|12087370|The Pale Horse|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458415497l/12087370._SY75_.jpg|603038] [which the BBC is currently adapting now, FYI], [b:Murder is Easy|9870472|Murder is Easy (Superintendent Battle, #4)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348058839l/9870472._SY75_.jpg|3038817] and other really weird choices!) or hearing the ending from a podcast (All About Agatha, me thinks), but I went “Oh, I see a trick Christie uses so it must be this!”. It didn’t take the fun away - you’re trying to spot the real clues from the red herrings (like I did with [b:The Murder of Roger Ackroyd|6251566|The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392471057l/6251566._SY75_.jpg|1073110], [b:And Then There Were None|11056011|And Then There Were None|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451485698l/11056011._SY75_.jpg|3038872] and [b:Murder on the Orient Express|853510|Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486131451l/853510._SY75_.jpg|2285570]), but there was something about knowing this time that made me not like the story much.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Jane Marple and, over time, I grew to like the Vicar and his wife. But some of the characters (one character is called … wait for it … I kid you not, LETTUCE!) and side plots are a bit… well… they weren’t my cup of tea.
I do wonder if this is because on some Agatha Christies, I love how she sets up the murder and how she solves it and, in others, I just love the set up to the murder but not the way she wraps it up (a good example, to me, is [b:Appointment with Death|16363|Appointment with Death (Hercule Poirot, #19)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308808730l/16363._SY75_.jpg|2773090] and, if I remember from my youth reading, [b:Third Girl|16332|Third Girl (Hercule Poirot, #38)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1295681324l/16332._SY75_.jpg|1084447] and [b:Cat Among the Pigeons|19051707|Cat Among the Pigeons (Hercule Poirot #34)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408927197l/19051707._SY75_.jpg|2728434]. All had interesting set-ups, but the resolutions were… well...)
But then, I wonder if this is because I was listening to this while at work so couldn’t give it my full attention. Plus, I know there’s another edition read by Joan Hickson and I wonder that, if I listened to that version, I would enjoy this more. I know she has done a few more Miss Marple audiobooks as well as Emilia Fox, Stephanie Cole and Richard E Grant did one or two others…
While this might not be the case for me, I am going to try and read more Christie this year as well as a few other Queens of Crime…
Review Taken from The Pewter Wolf
“Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service!” Careless remark from the parson to his wife, only his words come back to haunt him when he discovered the Colonel, shot in the head, in the vicarage’s study. The people of St Mary Mead are shocked: who could have done such a thing? The wife? Her lover? The Colonel’s daughter? The newcomer whose past is a mystery? The doctor? The parson himself?
But living in this picturesque English village lives one Miss Jane Marple, and she has her own thoughts on the murder…
I am in two minds over this. On the one hand, I get why everyone really likes this Christie novel. I do. But on the other… well, I feel a tad underwhelmed by it.
Like I said, I was listening to this while at work over the course of 3 days (on the second day, I listened to over 6 hours of it) so I might not have given it my fullest of attention. Plus, while I love Richard E Grant, I wasn’t such a fan of some/most of the choices he made to character’s voices and the way certain characters spoke.
Like I have said many times, a narrator to an audiobook can make or break an audiobook. Luckily, I warmed to Richard’s choices the further I went into the audiobook. The same goes with the last audiobook I listened to, [b:The Long Call|44086770|The Long Call (Two Rivers, #1)|Ann Cleeves|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560549688l/44086770._SY75_.jpg|67142367] by Ann Cleeves. I warmed as the story went on but at the start... YIKES.
But let’s chat about the mystery itself. I kinda figured it out - now, I’m not sure if it’s because I knew it from the BBC adaptation starring Joan Hickson (I don’t remember watching the ITV adaptation in December 2004 - plus, ITV’s MARPLE also included Marple in non-Marple stories such as [b:By the Pricking of My Thumbs|102314|By the Pricking of My Thumbs|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396227968l/102314._SY75_.jpg|580854] [this is a Tommy and Tuppence story, which is an odd story to pop Marple in. Plus, I’m certain ITV hinted that Tuppence might be an alcoholic (due to her husband’s success at MI6. She was going to join, but unable to due to being pregnant at the time), which is a huge licence of character - wonder how the Agatha Christie Estate/Ltd took to that!] [b:Ordeal by Innocence|39893654|Ordeal by Innocence|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526813199l/39893654._SY75_.jpg|1271997], [b:Towards Zero|12168274|Towards Zero|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458414333l/12168274._SY75_.jpg|2860210], [b:The Pale Horse|12087370|The Pale Horse|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458415497l/12087370._SY75_.jpg|603038] [which the BBC is currently adapting now, FYI], [b:Murder is Easy|9870472|Murder is Easy (Superintendent Battle, #4)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348058839l/9870472._SY75_.jpg|3038817] and other really weird choices!) or hearing the ending from a podcast (All About Agatha, me thinks), but I went “Oh, I see a trick Christie uses so it must be this!”. It didn’t take the fun away - you’re trying to spot the real clues from the red herrings (like I did with [b:The Murder of Roger Ackroyd|6251566|The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392471057l/6251566._SY75_.jpg|1073110], [b:And Then There Were None|11056011|And Then There Were None|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451485698l/11056011._SY75_.jpg|3038872] and [b:Murder on the Orient Express|853510|Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486131451l/853510._SY75_.jpg|2285570]), but there was something about knowing this time that made me not like the story much.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Jane Marple and, over time, I grew to like the Vicar and his wife. But some of the characters (one character is called … wait for it … I kid you not, LETTUCE!) and side plots are a bit… well… they weren’t my cup of tea.
I do wonder if this is because on some Agatha Christies, I love how she sets up the murder and how she solves it and, in others, I just love the set up to the murder but not the way she wraps it up (a good example, to me, is [b:Appointment with Death|16363|Appointment with Death (Hercule Poirot, #19)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308808730l/16363._SY75_.jpg|2773090] and, if I remember from my youth reading, [b:Third Girl|16332|Third Girl (Hercule Poirot, #38)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1295681324l/16332._SY75_.jpg|1084447] and [b:Cat Among the Pigeons|19051707|Cat Among the Pigeons (Hercule Poirot #34)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408927197l/19051707._SY75_.jpg|2728434]. All had interesting set-ups, but the resolutions were… well...)
But then, I wonder if this is because I was listening to this while at work so couldn’t give it my full attention. Plus, I know there’s another edition read by Joan Hickson and I wonder that, if I listened to that version, I would enjoy this more. I know she has done a few more Miss Marple audiobooks as well as Emilia Fox, Stephanie Cole and Richard E Grant did one or two others…
While this might not be the case for me, I am going to try and read more Christie this year as well as a few other Queens of Crime…
I've never read a Miss Marple book prior to this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She definitely had me guessing until the end! Definitely excited to read more!
It's really wonderful getting to know Miss Marple and her nice little theory that people are alike all over. It's also great to read, once in a while, an old female character being treated with such respect by the author, outwitting the police force and refusing to take any credit for it, like a true lady. This isn't, of course, my first Miss Marple mystery, it's not even the first time I'm reading this book (unfortunately, I remembered the killer, but - thankfully - not the details), but I don't think I was aware that this was her first appearance ever. The resolution remains one of my favorites, a truly ingenuous way to keep us guessing (wrong). I always imagine Dame Agatha sipping her tea, in her victorian chair, with a Google spreadsheet laid out before her, in which she listed all the most fantastic endings a murder mystery could possibly have, and going through them one by one, carefully adjusting characters and settings to meet her designs. I truly think this was one of the smartest in that list.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well this was an utterly delightful read. The narrator, the tone, the characters and their relationships, the setting, the mystery—all were absolutely enjoyable despite the fact that I knew the ending having seen the television show first! I highlighted and sent several quotes to friends because they made me laugh out loud, and I loved getting to watch the characters develop throughout the story.
I did alternate back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook for this one, and my one suggestion would be to listen to the Richard Grant version of the audiobook rather than the Joan Hickson. Since the book’s narrator is a man, I much preferred listening to it read by a male actor.
Otherwise, this was a solid 4.5 star read, and I’m excited to read more Miss Marple soon!
I did alternate back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook for this one, and my one suggestion would be to listen to the Richard Grant version of the audiobook rather than the Joan Hickson. Since the book’s narrator is a man, I much preferred listening to it read by a male actor.
Otherwise, this was a solid 4.5 star read, and I’m excited to read more Miss Marple soon!
I'm surprised that I had not read this until now as I have read so many of Agatha Christie's books. This is the book that introduced Miss Marple and the village of St. Mary Mead and I enjoyed the introduction to her and you wonder whether she is a likable person. i am looking forward to reading the next book she appears in to see what I think of her in that. This is a book where the whodunit is believable and the not far-fetched like some stories.
Oh man! How have I never known about this beautiful book by Agatha!!
Murder at the Vicarage reminded me of the oh so entertaining Hercule Poirot books. Which.. reminds me that I never quite finished that series. Oops. Back to Marple! In it, you will meet a variety of suspects. Think about the game clue.. and then you will get the idea.
In the beginning, we find out there's a murder mystery to be solved and since the victim wasn't well-liked by anyone with a beating heart. Well, you had a ton of suspects to go through. While secrets, twists, and the police try to keep us on our toes and give us various breadcrumbs to come through.. there's Miss Marple patiently waiting to give you hints.
Man, she is a great detective! I loved her sleuthing but definitely adored all the hand holding she gave me. Now I'm a horrible detective but I get really happy/excited when I figure everything out before the big reveal. This was not one of those books because I had so many people to think about. Pretty sure I came close to it... but then second guessed myself like a damn fool.
In the end, this was definitely entertaining and I can't wait to dive into the next Miss Marple!
Murder at the Vicarage reminded me of the oh so entertaining Hercule Poirot books. Which.. reminds me that I never quite finished that series. Oops. Back to Marple! In it, you will meet a variety of suspects. Think about the game clue.. and then you will get the idea.
In the beginning, we find out there's a murder mystery to be solved and since the victim wasn't well-liked by anyone with a beating heart. Well, you had a ton of suspects to go through. While secrets, twists, and the police try to keep us on our toes and give us various breadcrumbs to come through.. there's Miss Marple patiently waiting to give you hints.
Man, she is a great detective! I loved her sleuthing but definitely adored all the hand holding she gave me. Now I'm a horrible detective but I get really happy/excited when I figure everything out before the big reveal. This was not one of those books because I had so many people to think about. Pretty sure I came close to it... but then second guessed myself like a damn fool.
In the end, this was definitely entertaining and I can't wait to dive into the next Miss Marple!
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
I'll give this 4.5 as I really like the narrativ POV in this and the story took so many turns that I was entertained the entire time and felt like I got a good grasp of the place it all takes place in.
In the end it did misdirect me as much as the characters for who was responsible.
In the end it did misdirect me as much as the characters for who was responsible.
Not my usual choice of reading, as this is from one of the "Great" mystery writers of all time so we are lead to believe. When I was younger I used to watch Agatha Christie Mysteries when they were on TV loving the Miss Marple and Hercules Poirot Mysteries so I thought it was about time I read Miss Marple, unfortunately like most childhood memories when it came down to actually reading Murder at the Vicarage it wasn't the same I found it very difficult to get into the first quarter was very hard work taking ages to get into the story itself, but once I got into things properly I found it hard to put down, granted it took me a while to read and have read things while also having this on the go but I got their in the end. I won't be in a rush to pick up more in the foreseeable future but might have an urge to revisit at some point .