A review by outsmartyourshelf
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings