1930, #1 Miss Jane Marple, St. Mary Mead, rural Englandwise elderly spinster lady solves a tricky murder; truly deserves the label "classic cosy". Tame, quiet, and sweet, but there are some interesting edges to it as well. Not to be missed. When Colonel Protheroe, irascible church deacon and Big Wig in Town, gets himself messily murdered at the vicar's own desk in his beloved study, it seems things can't get much worse for our kindly narrator the vicar and his young wife. But the villagers are scandalized, and the police aren't exactly nice, or thoughtful or very intelligent, come to think on it. Circumstances rapidly deteriorate around the village, with many old secrets coming to light, as Miss Marple slowly puts the clues and little bits and pieces together to make a whole, coherent story - and its rather a sad one, at the end. The characters: a murder victim you love to hate; a reliable, likable, rather "null" narrator; his almost batty - and extremely entertaining - wife; the victim's peculiar daughter and cold wife; numerous shady villagers; even odder summer visitors to the village; and Miss Jane Marple, who sees pretty much everything, has an opinion on almost everyone, and while having exquisitely fine-tuned manners, manages to get her points across very clearly. The vicar describes her thusly, during teatime at the vicarage:"I shook hands all round and sat down between Miss Marple and Miss Weatherby. Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner – Miss Weatherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is much the more dangerous."Christie's touch is very light, and this is almost as funny in places as her more-deliberately-farcical Tommy and Tuppence stories were. Miss Marple has some really lovely lines that have nicely sharp edges to them, and of all the actresses to have tried that role, Joan Hickson managed to deliver them the best. A genteel sensibility does not mean blameless innocence or stupidity, and there aren't many people around her that are as sharp as Miss Jane. Plus the vicar's narration is beautifully droll, with a dry humor that is very entertaining, and his pragmatism makes a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. It's surprising how many of the interesting interpersonal things that are going on in St. Mary Mead that he remarks upon are still happening in small towns or large neighborhoods today - people don't change much, do they, when it comes to emotions? And the hot-house atmosphere of a small village truly incubates intensity and drama. It's all dressed up rather gently here, though, and that's one of the things I enjoy best about most of the mysteries written in this style "between the wars". MURDER AT THE VICARAGE has often been copied, and never quite equaled, except IMO by Gladys Mitchell in SALTMARSH MURDERS, 1932, her third novel. It's a deliberate parody of VICARAGE while also being a good murder mystery of its own, filled with deliciously salacious innuendo and odd bits. Ms. Mitchell's writing is not to everyone's taste, perhaps, but for me her books are always a lot of fun. Her Mrs Bradley is, as written, a true "anti-Marple" and not at all the genteel over-the-hill flapper shown on TV. VICARAGE is that rare thing - a sweet-tempered, well-plotted rural village murder mystery, filled with odd characters, sad histories, and a very nice Lady at the center of it all, with everything "played fair". Something to definitely be enjoyed, yes, even almost a century after its first publication. [NOTE: The remainder is just me waffling on about "older detectives", not a true spoiler]: (view spoiler)[ While Miss Marple was not the first of the "elderly lady amateur detectives", she is certainly the most famous, known to almost everyone who has read murder mysteries, whether they read cosies or not. Preceded by Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver in novel form in 1928 (GREY MASK) - Miss Marple's first short story wasn't published until December, 1928 (The Tuesday Night Club). And the comparison is inexact as Miss Silver, while being as nearly Victorian appearing as Miss Marple initially was described (fussy, frail, liking to knit, etc), was an actual private detective or "Enquiry Agent" as she often called herself - she worked to solve crimes, and was mostly paid for that work. Jane Marple did not accept payment and would have been horrified if anyone even suggested such a thing to her. And pre-dating both of those is Dorothy L. Sayers' Miss Climpson, who works for Lord Peter, gathering intelligence in several of his novels beginning in UNNATURAL DEATH, 1927, although she is an older woman, she isn't exactly elderly, even by criteria of the time - she appears to be in her early fifties; that would be equivalent to someone who is in her mid-to-late 60s nowadays. But the concept of crime-solving older - and sometimes downright elderly - ladies far pre-dates both of them as this was, and continued for several decades to be, an extremely popular style of mystery (i.e., Stuart Palmer's Miss Withers and several of Phoebe Atwood Taylor's books, both in the 1930s, and numerous HIBK-style stories in the 1940s, 50s and 60s). The earliest one I can think of would be several of Mary Roberts Rineheart's narrators, starting in 1908 with THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE. And as baby boomers (and thus the reading public, including myself) age, the "older sleuth" has again become extremely popular over the last ten or so years. 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The Murder at the Vicarage is the first book in the series and an introduction to the famous Miss Jane Marple. It’s set in her hometown of St Mary Mead; a sleepy and inactive town, where local busybodies like to fill there time with idle gossip. However confusion breaks out when the towns Vicar finds the local Magistrate, Colonel Protheroe in his study, shot dead. As the investigation unfolds, we discover that Protheroe is loud, obnoxious character, and many of the town folk voiced their outright dislike for the man, some even wished him dead. Thus creating a complex case for the police and the Vicar to solve; plenty of suspects but all with solid alibi’s, and time of death not coinciding with clues - the case seems to be going around in circles without progress. Much to the displeasure of the police force, Miss Marple interference and her frank input on the matter, was not welcomed. But with her keen observation of human nature, and the knowledge she’s obtained from reading detective novels, she might be the only person capable of solving this puzzling case.I’ve read a few cozy mysteries over the past years - Miss Phryne Fisher, Hercules Poirot, In A Cat’s Eye to name a few - and I’ve come to really enjoy them. What I like most are the quirky, peculiar traits of the casts. And Miss Marple is no exception; she’s an annoying delightful lady with such shrewd mind. Unfortunately her involvement in the book was a minor one, she only made the occasional appearance throughout, and it was only the last 2 or so chapters at the end where we got to see Miss Marple in her full form. The Vicar narrated the book, and along side him two members of the police force led the investigation. Their voices seemed too restrained; there weren’t any quirks, ticks to their personality or behavior, which in my opinion made it dull to read. And that included the plot, tedious and slow moving, and was going around in circles until Miss Marple stepped in, which picked up pace. I’m glad I read it; I’ve wanted to read a Marple series since I read ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ but I much prefer Poirot.
What do You think about Murder At The Vicarage (2006)?
Murder at the Vicarage, aka: Miss Marple: Origins, is the first Miss Marple mystery by the indomitable Agatha Christie. Interestingly enough, this was written from the point of view of the eponymous Vicar and Miss Marple herself appears in only a minority of the book. Like any Miss Marple murder, this takes place in a small English village with a seething under current of gossip, hidden affairs, love, hate, envy, classicism (so much classicism), and a police force who simply cannot solve the murder without the help of a gossip mongering old woman.Miss Marple herself, while a very sharp mind, is little different from most of the old women in the village, always poking her nose into others affairs and gossiping with the best of them. Apart from the fact that she is often right and much more insightful about human nature, she really is the sort of person you would not want to live next to because not a single secret of yours would stay that way for long.The mystery itself was quite fascinating. The victim was pretty much loathed by everyone in town so there was no shortage of suspects. Like a real town there were many of currents of human events already swirling around before the murder happened. What was connected with the murder and what was happenstance were tricky for our heros to sort out. In fact this book was just as much about the people of the town and their relationships as it was about the murder itself, as they were all so closely tied together.Christie does an excellent job painting a picture of this town and the characters in it as well as them murder itself in both a very accessible, but very nuanced manner. It was easy to get sucked into the story and all its many twists and turns (of which there were many). My only real complaint about the book was the Vicar character. He was much too uptight for my liking and stole screen time from other, more interesting characters, especially Miss Marple.Still, the story was very compelling and the details of the crime itself rather inventive. If you enjoy mysteries this is an absolute must read of the genre.
—Mike
Murder most proper. Agatha Christie's Murder at the Vicarage was my first Miss Marple. Now that I've had her I can say with the experience of knowledge, she ain't half bad! Still, I'm not sure I'd want to be caught by my more macho, football playing friends reading a tea cozy mystery. The characters are dapper dandies and old tea-totalling biddies. The high manners and speech abound, aside from that of the occasional parlor maid, flatfoot, or old age pensioner. Beyond primal embarrassment, this sort of thing is just a little too quaint, even for me...and I've read all of James Herriot.I always say I'm not into the mystery genre, but whenever I read one I'm riveted. Murder at the Vicarage has some clever misdirection. The murder is plausible, the details creditable and the solving of it all rewardingly confounding. I found the writing style reminiscent of PG Wodehouse. A quick bit of research showed that they were contemporaries, living through and writing within the same era. I tally this as a positive as I am a big Wodehouse fan. His work is light-handed, making for airy reading. The same can be said of the few Christies I've read. Mostly stress-free, highly enjoyable stuff that won't tax one's emotions too deeply.
—Jason Koivu
With all the suppositions, concern for the souls, and gossipy renditions projected over the telephones, back gates, and parlor teas, you'd think there would be no more mysteries to be solved in St. Mary Mead, the English village home of Jane Marple!You'd be wrong, for in the study of Vicar Leonard Clement, slumped on the desk is the dead body of Colonel Protheroe, shot through the back of the head. Two people confess, but their willing sacrifices only prove that all are suspects.The Vicar is both the narrator and the long suffering servant of the villagers. With his dry humor he assesses his flock, and it's a sure bet cannonization is not in his future. Calling the old ladies, bent on reform of their fellow citizens, "nasty old cats", his individual reviews are full of human nature's foibles.Relatable yes, but despite the cozyness and familiarity, few of us experience murderers among us...so, who despises the Colonel, lusts for his younger wife, covets his money, or seeks revenge for his court opinions not in their favor? With plenty of motives and suspects, including the Vicar, Miss Marple concedes there are no sacred places in the village from the act of murder. There are gallons of tea to consume, witnesses to interview, and timetables to sort through. Miss Marple proves facts trump hearsay in her first appearance as Agatha Christie's master sleuth. Highly Recommended.
—Cheryl Kennedy
