Christie, Agatha - The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
Review by Nick Fuller
4/5
The first appearance of Miss Marple, "the worst cat in the village", and hence disliked by everybody; for example, the vicar, who narrates the story, is "repelled" by her "eager curiosity." This eager curiosity is, however, turned to good account when the vicar finds the bullying Colonel Protheroe shot dead in his study. Attempts to fix the exact moment when the shots were fired and the fact that the vicar's clock had been tampered with add zest to a problem composed largely of people's movements on the evening of the crime. The case is further complicated by an unbelievable array of sub-plots, "things that don't really matter, but that get in the way," and which not unnaturally irritate the reader. The solution, when it comes, is largely a reworking of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, but without the clues. Had John Dickson Carr written this book, the reader would have been told where Mrs. Protheroe's earrings were on Friday, of the contents of the anonymous letters, and exactly what type of rock it was.
See also: http://www.facebook.com/l/DAQGR7jLY/bit.ly/SdKUpt
Comments (1)
Jon said
at 8:44 am on Jan 27, 2010
Blurb: In the peaceful village of St. Mary Mead nothing ever happens. So it seems almost incredible when Colonel Protheroe, the churchwarden, is discovered, shot through the head, in the Vicarage study. Everybody thinks they know who has done it- including Miss Marple, the real old maid of the village who knows everything and sees everything and hears everything! She declares that at least seven people have reasons for wishing Colonel Protheroe out of the way! Excitement dies down when somebody confesses to having committed the crime. But that is not the end, for almost immediately somebody quite different also confesses! And there is a third confession through the telephone! But who really killed Colonel Protheroe?
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