After wealthy financier Rex Fortescue’s sudden death, grains of rye are inexplicably found in his pocket. The coroner’s verdict is death by poisoning, yet only one of the dead man’s relatives seems upset. The others all have motives to want the old man dead. When two more members of the Fortescue household are murdered, Miss Marple enters the case. But is one bizarre clue — the pocket full of rye — enough to solve the strangest case of her career?
A Pocket Full of Rye
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
It hardly seems possible for anyone to best Hugh Fraser's savvy audio performance of Christie's Hickory Dickory Dock, but Rosalind Ayres produces an amazing range of voices and accents to create her own one-woman full-cast audio book. After the death by poisoning of wealthy Rex Fortescue, others in the household are murdered in ways that mimic a Mother Goose rhyme. Ayres's Miss Marple is well-mannered, polite and even diffident. Ayres seems to be mocking stereotypes of British accents. Percival, the elder son, is stuffy and nasally clogged. Lancelot, the younger son, is ironic and cavalier. Ayres can slip effortlessly from one accent to another, as when the lofty voice of Rex's secretary collapses into the low-class accent of an East Ender after she discovers her boss's body. The greatest mystery in this 1953 novel is why any mid-century father would name his children Lancelot and Percival. Though the story lacks action and enough Jane Marple for Ayres to develop, her performance is a delightful romp for any Christie fan.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“This is the best of the novels starring Christie’s Miss Marple.”
--This text refers to the
Kindle Edition
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette|Amazon Verified Purchase
I immensely enjoyed this audiobook. I bought it in the cassette version, and it performed perfectly. My daughter also enjoyed it. Full of Dame Agatha's interesting characters, and in classic Christie style, it kept me guessing 'who done it' right up to the end. Miss Marple was the initial Christie character that got me interested in her mysteries; not the performances of Joan Hixson(I have never seen any of her work) but some short stories that were given to me as a gift. The idea of such a genteel little old lady (who reminded me of my own English grandmother)with an unerring gift for unravelling murder, was quite captivating.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In "A Pocket Full of Rye", a childhood nursery rhyme would seem to fit the pattern of the crime. But in the world penned by Agatha Christie, nothing is so simple. Even so, much of the story hinges on the bizzare clue, a pocket full of rye. Red herrings abound in this underrated classic.
Wealthy tycoon Rex Fortescue dies suddenly after a very apparent poisoning. Suspicions immediately fall on his money grubbing wife until she turns up dead. Accompanied by the death of a maid, fingers are immediately pointed at members of the household present during the crimes. Yet no clear motive reveals itself. Enter the mysterious pocket full of rye and the rhyme of its origin. The clue leads to a dark hour in the Fortescue family history, yet no person in the household should still feel its sting. On the other hand, perhaps somebody in the house should not be in the house.
As the story winds to its ends, I could not help but feel the first twist ending was the better solution. But knowing this is a work of fiction, the final conculsion was more than acceptable and logical.
Wealthy tycoon Rex Fortescue dies suddenly after a very apparent poisoning. Suspicions immediately fall on his money grubbing wife until she turns up dead. Accompanied by the death of a maid, fingers are immediately pointed at members of the household present during the crimes. Yet no clear motive reveals itself. Enter the mysterious pocket full of rye and the rhyme of its origin. The clue leads to a dark hour in the Fortescue family history, yet no person in the household should still feel its sting. On the other hand, perhaps somebody in the house should not be in the house.
As the story winds to its ends, I could not help but feel the first twist ending was the better solution. But knowing this is a work of fiction, the final conculsion was more than acceptable and logical.
Format:Kindle Edition
This Miss Marple story is an enjoyable read. After many false trails and complexity in the plot, Miss Marple reveals the outcome you least expect. The mystery kept me guessing all the way to the end. There are enough characters and enough murders to make it intriguing. I reduce it half a star for the ending, which I felt came too quickly and suddenly, with little clues and little wrap-up. It is almost as if Miss Marple pulled the conclusion out of a hat. Still, I enjoyed every minute.
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