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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
Complicated
funny
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This ATE a little bit! Miss Marple is the OG. I love when a book is like just a little gossiping… as a treat… and her being nosy is what saves the day?? Annoying eavesdrop representation
Well, I didn't see that one coming. It was interesting how even though this is a Miss Marple book, it's told by the vicar. It's cool to see his evolution of thinking of Miss Marple as just kind of a gossiping busybody to realizing that she's actually way more astute and intelligent than people assume.
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
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.
Brilliant, and wonderful. My first foray into Mystery genre proved to be a worthwhile one.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The first Miss Marple book sees the murder of an unpleasant man called Colonel Protheroe in the local vicarage. Protheroe had called in early for his appointment to speak to the local vicar who was unfortunately not at home. When the vicar arrives back, he finds the body of the Colonel sat at his writing desk, apparently shot in the midst of writing a note. Two confessions are quickly made but proven false, but the police have little else to go on. Miss Marple says that she knows of at least 7 people who had a motive to kill the Colonel, but frustratingly, the suspects all seem to have a fairly robust alibi at the time of the shooting.
The first full-length mystery starring Miss Marple is a bit hit & miss for me. The main issue for me was that the book was told from the point of view of an extremely boring character: the local vicar. Both he & his younger wife (& some of the other characters actually) were extremely rude about the older women of the village & it felt really uncalled for. Then I realised that Christie was showing us the disdain & dismissal that older women are viewed with, which still goes on today. The idea of a kindly looking octogenarian having one of the sharpest crime-solving brains & confounding everyone around her is brilliant, especially when they realise that they have to start taking her seriously.
I'm not sure whether Miss Marple is one of those characters (like Inspector Morse) that just seems to translate much better onscreen than in the original books.
The first full-length mystery starring Miss Marple is a bit hit & miss for me. The main issue for me was that the book was told from the point of view of an extremely boring character: the local vicar. Both he & his younger wife (& some of the other characters actually) were extremely rude about the older women of the village & it felt really uncalled for. Then I realised that Christie was showing us the disdain & dismissal that older women are viewed with, which still goes on today. The idea of a kindly looking octogenarian having one of the sharpest crime-solving brains & confounding everyone around her is brilliant, especially when they realise that they have to start taking her seriously.
I'm not sure whether Miss Marple is one of those characters (like Inspector Morse) that just seems to translate much better onscreen than in the original books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder