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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
This is the first time I’ve ever read a book by Agatha Christie (mainly because they are so hard to find in second hand book shops) and I can quite happily say it won’t be the last. She had a lovely way of writing that gives you enough detail to either just enjoy the mystery as it unfolds or to try and guess who did the crime. She also like to bring in extra smaller crimes to throw you off the suspect, with all mysteries wrapped up neatly at the end of the book. This one is written as the vicar recounting the story of what has happened to you.
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a tangle of events, characters, and times this book is! The web weaved is so complex that I found it incredibly hard to keep track of who said what and when. I wish I had made a red-string evidence board so I had a chance at understanding the story. There was so much going on that in the end I had to just let the story flow over me rather than try to make sense of what was happening. In the end, my guess was very wrong, as it usually is with Agatha Christie novels.
Miss Marple felt unpolished compared to later stories. More like a busy body than the sharp, witty, and clever neighbourly figure she really is. I wish she had taken centre stage as the narrator rather than the dry Reverend.
Miss Marple felt unpolished compared to later stories. More like a busy body than the sharp, witty, and clever neighbourly figure she really is. I wish she had taken centre stage as the narrator rather than the dry Reverend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder
Minor: Abandonment
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
AGH. I love Agatha Christie so much so it pains me to rate this so low. I listened to the audiobook and just couldn't get into it. We first meet the character of Miss Marple in the Murder of Roger Ackroyd... and I didn't like her in that one. I'm not sure why I thought it would change. I just can't get behind the idea of a nosy, gossip-y, elderly lady solving mysteries before the police. I also really disliked most of the characters for a variety of moral reasons.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
When I was younger I read a lot of Agatha Christie's books but I never read any in the Miss Marple series. I really enjoyed this mystery set in a small English village where Miss Marple, the resident nosey parker, is on continuous alert. The mystery itself - a dead body found in the Vicar's study - is a fairly typical Agatha Christie mystery with classic misdirection. But what elevates this book is the humour. There are so many entertaining characters: the Vicar's young wife, his cranky maid, the ever alert Miss Marple.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes