Customer Reviews

The Murder at the Vicarage (Agatha Christie Mysteries Collection)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Murder at the Vicarage" is memorable because it introduces the delightful Miss Jane Marple. With her love of gardening, binoculars for bird-watching close-at-hand, and an uncanny ability to find similarities between the present situation and her past experiences and acquaintances, Miss Marple is introduced in her home village of St. Mary Mead. We will return here many times and reacquaint ourselves with the characters introduced in this mystery---the vicar Leonard Clement and his wife Griselda, Mrs. Price Ridley, Colonel Melchett, Dr. Haydock, and others.

The murder victim, Colonel Protheroe, is a hateful man disliked by everyone he had dealings with. Therefore, the list of suspects is much longer than usual. There is the victim's second wife, the visiting artist she loves, a mysterious lady with the telling name of Mrs. Lestrange, a teenage daughter, an archaeologist, and a secretary.

There are plenty of red herrings in this one and it is up to Miss Marple to reveal if the most likely suspect is also the guilty one in this cozy read for those of us who thrive on evil in small village life.

Like many other writers, Christie went through an apprentice period during which she created the particular style we recognize as unique to her work. Novels from this early period are hit and miss--and MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, which introduces the famous Miss Marple, might best be described as a bit of both.

VICARAGE offers the story of the widely unpopular Col. Protheroe, who seems determined to vex every one he encounters--including his daughter from a former marriage and his current wife, the latter of which has undertaken a liaison with a local artist. One evening the Colonel pays a call to vicarage only to find the Vicar out on a call... and while waiting is shot dead under what seem impossible circumstances. No sooner is the body discovered than people who could not possibly have committed the crime begin to confess, and the Vicar and his neighbor, the meddlesome Miss Marple, form a somewhat uneasy alliance to ferret out the truth.

The Miss Marple of this particular novel is not the character we know from later books; although the outlines of the character are well established, she is not greatly sympathetic and she lacks the disconcerting twinkle found in such works as THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY and A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED. Moreover, the other characters, the setting, and the plot seem extremely stiff. The solution, when it comes, is also rather gimmicky in a way which Christie cannot yet make entirely plausible. I would not recommend this particular Christie to newcomers--but I do recommend it longtime fans, who will enjoy seeing how Christie developed the character of Miss Marple and how she herself evolved as a writer, particularly since the outline of the plot is a device to which she would return with considerably greater effect in later and more substantial novels.

Our narrator, Rev. Clements is articulate, self-deprecating and an able Watson to Miss Marple's Holmes. The locale is the village St. Mary's Mead; the victim is the detestable Col. Protheroe. In their proper places are Flighty Wife, Handsome Artist, Ethereal Ingénue, Gruff Physician, Gossipy Maiden Ladies, Timid Curate, and Mysterious Lady. They need no proper names for they appear over and over in Ms. Christie's novels with new names, but are essentially the same people.

Col. Protheroe is shot in the back of head while apparently writing a note in the Vicar's study. On the face of it, this seems impossible. Though there are people all about, no one heard a shot from the house. No one saw anyone go near the study. The maid let him in just fifteen minutes before the body was discovered. A pretty kettle of fish! Two false confessions quickly muddy up the waters, and it is discovered that most everyone had a motive for killing the good Colonel, except Miss Marple, who, if truth were told, didn't like him very well either.

The intricacies are many, timetables are crucial, but Miss Marple is up to the test. I particularly liked the leisurely lives and pace of St. Mary's Mead. Everyone had servants, you could not move from room to room without being announced. There is some nice humor that runs through regarding the surly maid who runs the vicarage. She is a diffident housekeeper and appalling cook. But the vicar's young wife determinedly keeps her on, for if the maid improves, Griselda fears she would be hired away from them. The vicar bears up as well as he can. People only call upon the police when they feel like it, usually after much discussion with friends and neighbors. The lead policeman has the unfortunate name of Inspector Slack, and Miss Marple gently chides him while he disdains her advice (to his sorrow of course.) The vicar walks everywhere because he cannot master a bicycle. I guess a car would be unthinkable, because it is never mentioned.

It all works out to Prime Dame Agatha. And lest you get too comfortable, she will definitely fool you once again. As always---sigh.

Ms.Marple did it again!. This time, our favourite detective had to deal with a murder in her own village, St.Mary Mead. The victim, Colonel Protheroe, was not a very nice person, so his death almost acceptable to everyone in the village. There's a widow, a daughter, and a mysterious lady from his past, plus a number of people who had a very strong motive to do the murder. But once again Ms.Marple discovered the real murderer with her own old-way. The basic idea of this story is not very special, but the plot is. We'll get some laughs as usual and a satisfaction in the end. Two thumbs up for Agatha Christie!!

As told in the point of view of the vicar himself, The Murder at the Vicarage is an interesting whodunnit whereupon the reader is kept in the dark and enlightened only to be misled again.

Unlike Christie's And Then There Were None, the clues aren't dealt out, so it would be nearly impossible for the reader to figure out what is going on. I myself suspected someone from nearly the very beginning, only to find that, had I been a police inspector, I would have quickly lost my job for nearly imprisoning an innocent character.

But then, this is true for nearly the entire police force here (and in other Marple books), for it always comes down to Jane Marple's discourse on her facts and her timeline that sets everyone down the correct path. And while in The Body in the Library (third in the series) Miss Marple waits for proof before opening her mouth, here she must speak up in order to... well, you will just have to see.

The book is fun, and the vicar's opinionated personality makes for a very intriguing read (what do these religious personalites really think about everyone?). What immediately stood out was how Christie is able to make nearly everyone (this is a dozen characters!) quite possibly the murderer! The finale is, of course, the best part, and I would think to myself, "Ah that explains it, but then what about..." to which I would find the answer. This occurs four or five times, and even then the reader will have two pages to go to wrap up little details that he or she may have quite forgotten about!

The book drags in some areas probably due to our modern requisite for instant gratification. And it was a joy to compare the book cover's painting to the goings-on in the text. I read the 1979 Dell edition.

My dictionary dash consisted of only badinage (131) and vituperation (180).

Aside: I found a receipt tucked halfway through the book; the price being $1.95, tax 13¢ and dated 18Oct75. The book, however, was published in 1979. Odd.

It's no secret that no one in St. Mary Mead likes Colonel Protheroe. He is strict, somber, and by the numbers. But when the vicar returns home late for a meeting, he's surprised to find Colonel Protheroe shot through the head. The local police are called in and two people confess. Yet something doesn't seem quite right. Fortunately, Miss Marple lives next door. With her sharp mind talent for learning gossip, she just might make sense of everything that's happening.

Ok, I confess. I love a good cozy mystery but have yet to read much Christie. I can tell I need to change that. This book had me confused from the get go. There were so many red herrings it was hard to tell what was really happening. Yet it all came together at the end in a logical conclusion.

I checked this audio version out of the local library for a trip and only after listening to it discovered that it was abridged. While disappointed, I never would have noticed. It was expertly cut, and everything was there I need to enjoy the story. Ian Masters did a great job of bring the characters and story to life.

Agatha Christie is a class mystery writer for a reason. Anyone who loves a good puzzle with a surprising conclusion will love this book.

This is the first Miss Marple stories and set the stage for the rest of the series. Miss Jane Marple is an elderly spinster of modest means,a life-long resident of the tiny village of St. Mary Mead, an advid gardener and bird watcher and a most astute observer of human nature. Many of the residents and visitors of St. Mary Mead that will return in later works are introduced here, the gentle vicar and his lively younger wife, Raymond West, Jane's novelist nephew and others.

The story is told by the vicar and gives us many insights into his homelife. Col. Protheroe is found murdered in the vicarage, much to the delight of his wife and daughter and embarrassment of the vicar. As the local police try to solve the crime it become apparent that Col. Protheroe was not going to be missed and that nobody really had an alibi. As the investigation progresses it seems that more questions are raised than answered. Ultimately it is Miss Marple who resolves the issues of love affairs, mysterious strangers, and assorted lies to uncover the true culprit.

This is a perfect gem, Christie at her best. The characters are well written and the descriptions of the lack of privacy in a small are incredibly accurate and a recurring theme of Christie's. In typical Christie style of the rules of detection are flirted with but the clues are fairly laid out for the reader to follow, if they can be separated from the red herrings.

I'm a solid Agatha Christi (and Miss Marple) fan, and I have read quite a few of her books. I am always trying to figure out the ending, and who did it. This one had me guessing, like they all do.

I like Agatha Christie because she is not too formulaic, and her works are always entertaining. It seems like so many books nowadays are the same book with the names of the people and the town changed, making them tedious and predictable. Agatha Christie is decidedly not afflicted with this problem.

Overall, I rated this book four stars, because it was interesting, puzzling, and well written, but it wasn't one of her best. The setting was good,(the Vicars study in a tiny village full of busybodies) and the characters were just disfunctional enough (the mostly intelligent vicar being saddled with the shallow, silly wife). But, the twist ending was the first one I ever saw by her that went toward mundane, which is surprising for AC, but it was still good, and sort of a double twist.

I originally bought this book because I read other Agatha Cristie books (Hercule Poirot) and thought I might as well try a Miss Marple book, even though the character did not seem to appeal to me. I came away with a very enjoyable reading experience, and I will probably read other Miss Marple books in the future.

This book is an easy pleasure read. The story is easy enough to follow, and it isn't too long winded. I actually read the whole book in one sitting (although "locked up" in an air plane).

As far as classic mystery characters go, I still like Holmes and Poirot better, but I ended up pleasantly surprised.

While this book is definitely an original Christie's, it is hardly a vintage.

Writing from the perspective of the vicar of St Mary Mead village where Ms Jane Marple lived, the writer unfolded a scene of a little village's usual "transquility" being disturbed by an outsider in the form of Mr Lawrence Redding, an artist who drew various local ladies. One of the ladies was Griselda, wife of the vicar, and another was Anne, second wife to a not generally loved Colonel Protheroe, the latter being a murder victim found in the study of the vicar.

Rounding up the usual suspects, there was the victim's daughter, Lettice, nearly as old as her stepmother and hated the latter utterly, a ne'er-do-well local by the name of Archer who was jailed by the late Colonel who happened to be on the bench, plus a mysterious Mrs Lestrange, a recent reticent arrival to the village.

Instead of treating the readers to a conventional detective story, the writer described everything from the eyes of the vicar, a possible suspect himself if not for a cast-iron alibi, he had been calling on one of his flocks. The narrator attempted to clear the mystery himself, unsatisfied with the effectiveness of the investigating police officer, a certain Inspector Slack. Together with the local doctor Haydock, they spoke to almost everyone imaginable in the village, trying to reconstructing the truth from various perspective.

As a detective novel, it did not help that the star sleuth Ms Marple was herself a witness, her residence being right next to the vicarage. Readers would get a feeling that they are not being treated fairly in terms of the information being provided, depending instead on evaluations provided by Ms Marple.

Several red herrings of course were thrown in, which made the story more life-like. As the investigation proceeded, new clues were revealed which oft led the amateur sleuths on wild goose chases. It was only when they returned to re-examine the scene of the crime that the truth finally came to light.

Readers who loved mysteries would find nothing to complain about, except that they had been led on a wrong trail and for most of the book, missed out on the real mystery.