Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Murder at the Vicarage

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

6 reviews

frozenheartv's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

3 stars
🌕🌕🌕

🧠 My thoughts

This is the second book I’ve read from Agatha Christie and I’m still not impressed. The first book was a Poirot case and for me, Poirot was a bit annoying. Miss Marple was more pleasant for me to read. There were so many characters and they just popped out from nowhere, it was so hard for me to grasp the details. Mystery-wise, this book was pretty good but the twist didn’t impress me that much. Execution-wise, it was very hard to follow and the characters were like cardboard pieces laying out on a chess board.

I have to also point out that there were many misogynistic conversations and sexism in this book. I was surprised because this was written by a woman. Not sure how to feel about this.

👍 What I like

The mystery is pretty ok
The vicar is a bit funny to read so it was enjoyable

👎 What I don't like

Too many shallow characters
Hard to follow and understand the details
The twist isn’t impressive

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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

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.

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prashiie's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“The young people think the old people are fools; but the old people know the young people are fools!”

A murder in a small village where everybody knows everybody’s business. A classic whodunnit. This is the book where Agatha Christie introduces Miss Marple. She is described as a very observant and clever woman.

“She’s the worst cat in the village,” said Griselda. “And she always knows every single thing that happens – and draws the worst inferences from it.”

We see the story develop from the vicar’s point of view so we also see the relationship he has with his wife who is much younger than him and who loves to point out that he doesn’t deserve her. The vicar is not much better himself though. He also thinks his wife is very incompetent and wonders why he even married her. No couple goals here. Fortunately, their relationship does seem to get better at the end of the story!

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genny's review against another edition

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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

4.0

I really enjoyed the vicar's POV with his dry sense of humor! It's like he's the only sober, calm person in a village of very high-spirited characters, and the comedic timing always hits. His relationship with Griselda is quite cute as well. I don't know if he'll be a recurring narrator, like the Hastings to Miss Marple's Poirot, but I do hope I see more of Miss Marple herself in the next books. I was a little overwhelmed by the number of characters (AKA potential suspects) at first, but they all had distinct personalities so it was a quick study. I did not guess the perpetrator...I got tricked just as the villagers were :')

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humbug87's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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tiasreads's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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