The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple Mysteries, #1)

by Agatha Christie

''Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,'' declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ''would be doing the world at large a favour!'' It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later – when the colonel was found shot dead in the clergyman’s study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe.

• ISBN10: 0440159466
• ISBN13: 9780440159469
• Publish Date: 1 September 1982 (first published 1930)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 25 January 2021
• Imprint: Dell Publishing Company
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Language: English

Reviews

Miss Marple is usually right. That’s what makes her unpopular.’

Christie, Agatha. Miss Marple 3-Book Collection 1: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger (p. 245). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.

In The Murder at the Vicarage, the vicar, Leonard Clement is horrified to discover local magistrate, Colonel Protheroe, shot dead in his study. In a small town like St. Mary Mead, a murder is the most exciting thing to happen in years and soon, the whole town has put on their detective caps and is busy trying to solve the mystery. But only one person can be right - an elderly spinster with an interest in the study of human nature - the one and only - Miss Jane Marple.

Although I've read a lot of Hercule Poirot, I'm afraid I've never gotten around to reading any Miss Marple and I was pleasantly surprised - and somewhat confused. The mystery was good and I enjoyed the cast of characters residing in St Mary Mead - but for the first Miss Marple book, Miss Marple herself is surprisingly absent. I mean Agatha Christie is fond of experimenting with her characters and narrative styles and Poirot has often taken on only a peripheral role - but for some reason I was baffled by the use of it here. Maybe because it's supposed to be the first book. Either way, it didn't suffer for the lack, although I look forward to getting to know Miss Marple in future books.

I really liked the narrator, Len who for a vicar, was rather blunt and uncharitable - even if only in his thoughts. His wife, Griselda was great as well and I adored the elderly ladies of the town.

‘My dear young man, you underestimate the detective instinct of village life. In St Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.’

Christie, Agatha. Miss Marple 3-Book Collection 1: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger (p. 43). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Overall a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery with an interesting cast of characters, a delightful small town setting and an unexpected murderous twist. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

[clairelm]

Another fantastic Agatha Christie book, the first with Miss Marple, with another twist I didn't see coming at all!

[Bianca]

2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
02. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent

Human nature is full of inconsistencies.

— Great murder mystery. I was fooled.

[brokentune]

‘Nobody knows a thing about it except you, Padre.’ ‘My dear young man, you underestimate the detective instinct of village life. In St Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.’

The Murder at the Vicarage was the first Christie I have ever read, and although this was a long time ago, my recent re-read of this book still held the same enchantment as my first encounter with the book.

There is something fabulous about this book that makes is quite different from Christie's other books, and I still can't put my finger on what it is that makes this one so special (other than a slight twinge of nostalgia of discovering Christie for the first time).

The book famously is the first of the Miss Marple mysteries but I really enjoyed all of the characters in this story, especially our narrator - the Vicar - and his wife:

‘It is a pity that I am such a shocking housekeeper,’ said my wife, with a tinge of genuine regret in her voice. I was inclined to agree with her. My wife’s name is Griselda— a highly suitable name for a parson’s wife. But there the suitability ends. She is not in the least meek.

They were such a lovely couple and Griselda seemed the kind of young woman with gumption that make Christie both fun and modern in her time. However, as some of you may recall, one of my main peeves with Christie is that she seems to have a problem with modern attitudes, and whilst I enjoyed Griselda's character, I could not help but notice during this re-read how often she is being patronised.

What are you doing this afternoon, Griselda?’
‘My duty,’ said Griselda. ‘My duty as the Vicaress. Tea and scandal at four-thirty.’
‘Who is coming?’
Griselda ticked them off on her fingers with a glow of virtue on her face. ‘Mrs Price Ridley, Miss Wetherby, Miss Hartnell, and that terrible Miss Marple.’
‘I rather like Miss Marple,’ I said. ‘She has, at least, a sense of humour.’
‘She’s the worst cat in the village,’ said Griselda. ‘And she always knows every single thing that happens— and draws the worst inferences from it.’
Griselda, as I have said, is much younger than I am. At my time of life, one knows that the worst is usually true.

It's not just her husband who attributes her youth with naivety, but also the other villagers, especially one old biddy, which makes me question my perception of Christie's attitude towards young(er) characters. I mean, in her later novels, her high-Edwardian morals become problematic because they are so disconnected from the time she wrote in, but I (apparently wrongly) assumed that her earlier books did not have this problem.

‘Don’t you think,’ said my wife, ‘that Miss Cram may just like having an interesting job? And that she considers Dr Stone just as an employer?’ There was a silence. Evidently none of the four ladies agreed. Miss Marple broke the silence by patting Griselda on the arm. ‘My dear,’ she said, ‘you are very young. The young have such innocent minds.

As most of you know by now from my other Marple reviews, I don't like her as a character. That does not change my love of the book as whole, however, which is such a perfect construct of suspense, tight plot, and that little bit of satire of the English village.

Miss Marple always sees everything. Gardening is as good as a smoke screen, and the habit of observing birds through powerful glasses can always be turned to account.

[clq]

Murder at the Vicarage is about, and I hope this is not too much of a spoiler: a murder that takes place in a vicarage. The vicarage is situated in a village which also happens to be the home of a Miss Marple, and this is the first book in which she makes an appearance.
Overall, this book didn't quite reach the bar set by The Seven Dials Mystery but it is none the less enjoyable. The story is fun, and interesting enough, but in my opinion the mystery crossed the fine line from being justifiably elaborate, to being a bit messy. Fortunately the story continues, more or less, in the fun style set out by Seven Dials, making it an entertaining read none the less. While this isn't a book to pick up for a murder mystery, it is worth picking up for the "glances into human nature and interaction" element of it. And there is a bit of a mystery to go with it.

[ibeforem]

This is the first Agatha Christie I’ve read in full, rather than listen to the BBC audio production. Right from the start, you are reminded that Christie is a master. The best way to describe her story-telling is "effortless". You’re instantly pulled into the story, and charmed by her characters, from the vicar’s unusual wife to the Colonel’s spoiled and shallow daughter, to the visiting artist, to the overly observant elderly ladies of the village. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, but she isn’t the narrator. Instead, we are told the story by the village vicar, Len Clement. Miss Marple is seen a little as the village busybody, though she is usually right. There’s a lot of red herrings thrown into the story, and I actually fell for a rather subtle one. Again, mastery!