Mord im Pfarrhaus (1930)

Narrated by a priest in whose study a murder occurred, this mystery, written in 1930, introduces Miss Jane Marple, an unmarried middle-aged or elderly lady who loves to tend her garden, but whom many people (including the murderers in the books in which she is featured; imagine that!) dislike because she is very observant. She's more of a minor character in this book than in subsequent Miss Marple mysteries, but I didn't mind as it is her first. ( )

Leonard Clement, vicar of St. Mary Mead, would certainly not have guessed that one day the relatively despised Colonel Protheroe would be murdered in the vicarage study. Thrust into the role of crime-scene “host”, he takes the opportunity to informally sleuth and assist the police in finding the murderer…with some additional assistance provided by his next-door neighbour, Miss Jane Marple. She may have lived in St. Mary Mead all her life, but her knowledge of human nature is second to none.

I’d never actually read this book, despite seeing both the Joan Hickson and the Geraldine McEwan adaptations, and it was a good read. It is the first novel to feature Miss Marple and sets up the village well. The vicar is a good narrator, sharper than Hastings but still naive in some ways. I would certainly recommend this if you’d heard a lot about Agatha Christie’s work and wanted a representative sample to read. ( )

Enter center stage Miss Marple for a look at one of the premiere sleuths of history, and her being an elderly spinster. So many comments that Miss Marple always is correct in her theories. Miss Marple comment “The young people think that old people are fools; but the old people know the young people are fools” sums up how Agatha Christie and Miss Marple view the world. The village of St. Mary Mead appears to be inhabited by a flock of elderly, spinster women. These women hear and see everything that happens in St. Mary Mead. Romance and murder cannot flourish under the watchful eyes of these noisy women. Thank goodness for their diligence, as they assist in solving the murder of Colonel Lucius Protheroe. As in every Agatha Christie novel, characters disguise themselves and the disguise is always for devilish endeavors. I love how Miss Marple deducts what has happened, what a treat! ( )

Christie's hook of making Mrs. Marple understand mysteries by relating them to thinks she's seen in the village is somehow brilliant. It never gets boring.

The first Christie novel I've read in years, and the first Miss Marple one. Really charming and fun! I forgot how funny Christie is. I have a bone to pick with people who complain Miss Marple is too mean in this which is too long to go into here, but anyhow, really good. ( )