The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple Series)

Murder at the Vicarage

This is the first story Christie wrote that includes Miss Jane Marple. My Christie-reading career began with the Hercule Poirot series. After reading something like 6 Poirot books in a row I felt I'd give Miss Marple a try. This was a fantastic choice on my part. Miss Marple is extremely clever and cunning. I read this book in only a couple of days--because it was that fantastic and it was only 250 pages. When I first began reading I had made the mistake of thinking that Miss Marple, like Poirot, was a retired detective who was being asked favors by her friends.... But i was wrong: Miss Marple is just an old lady who observes human nature; and because of this she is able to find the murderer. This, in a sense can be better and worse than Poirot. The solution to the murder is nothing short of surprising. Christie delivers twists and turns like she does in all of her books. Nevertheless i recommend this book to all Christie fans and to those who, like me, want to deviate from the professional styles of Hercule Poirot.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Murder At the Vicarage

I read this book for a seventh grade English project and I loved it! This is Christie at her best, and definitly my favorite of all. I prefer Miss Marple over Hercule Poirot.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Superb!!!

This book was great!! Jane Marple is truly in a class by herself! I personally prefer her over Hercule Poirot! She's not only quick and clever, i found at times she is also often quite humorous!! Agatha Christie is definatley one of the greatest writers ever, and as far as characters go, Miss Jane Marple is also one of the best!! Readit! i doubt you will be dissapointed!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Classic Christie for young and old

I just finished reading this 2 weeks ago in an e-book from our library. Written in the thirties, Christie's wry humor and wonderful vocabulary make this a great read! I enjoyed reading mysteries and challenging my vocabulary when I was young, so this is a good book for 11 to infinity. For Anglophiles, a Christie mystery is great with a cup of hot tea and a biscuit (cookie to you Yanks). I'm more familiar with Poirot, but I loved reading the first Miss Marple.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great book!!! Little kids should read this and learn proper spelling.

This is a great book and I was thrilled to see it as a Free Friday download. These children giving bad reviews because it is not a child's book should have mommy and daddy go buy them a nook book! I agree with other reviewers. I worked hard for the money to buy this. I would be upset it Barnes & Nobles started catering to these spoiled, whiny, illiterate brats. Great book, great download.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Love Agatha Christie novels but....

Out of all the stories I have read, or in this case listened to, this one is my least favorite. The writing is good but doesn't seem up to par to her normal but I think that maybe reading the book myself might have been better. The person they used to narrate the story really wasn't right for it and his way of talking was disjointed. I think that may be why it seemed so "bad". My daughter got this one and I got Nemesis, then we exchanged and she told me that this one wasn't as good as normal and she was very right. Now, Nemesis was excellent and definitely in the "best" category of the ones we have gotten on audio and listened to. Between my daughter and I we have a6 of them. I could suggest many others of hers over this novel for sure! Understand though, Agatha Christie was a superb writer and her "bad" is better than some peoples "good" writings. It is just that comparing her work to her work, this one was by far my, and my daughter's, least favorite.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my favorite books.

The characters were good. The plot is awesome. I was even thrilled a bit and kept me guessing who the murderer was. I love the writing style. Agatha Christie have always originality. It is a bit dramatic and romantic. The ending was so surprising. I recommend it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Decent Story

This was a phenominal detective story. Admittedly it was rather slow in the beginning as it tried to grasp its footing, but once it got going it was amazing. Ms Marple is a quirky and fun character. I just wish I had gotten to know her through her ppint of view. Four stars is fair.

Fun read

So different from the style she uses in her Hercule Poirot books. Really enjoyed it.

very disapointed!

Iusually likeher books,but thistime she dropped the ball... Ihad to force my self to finish it, very dry.... I only gave it a two out of respect for tge aurthor.

first Miss Marple

AgathaChristie could plot! And her characters are not bad, either.If you like "cozy"mysteries and have not read this, get with it!

Barely readable. This book shows it's age...

I wanted to get into Agatha Christie's work as I am a fan of murder mysteries, picking this up on a nook book free Friday deal, I figured I would give it a shot and I think I just started out with the wrong one. The narration in this book is all over the place, the characters are uneventful, and when I flip the page I am more confused on what is happening than before. I couldn't finish this book and stopped halfway through. I guess i just need to stick with books written currently, as I just can't seem to get through anything written 30+ years ago. Guess I'm not into classics.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fair recommendation

I enjoy books that the plot is so fast moving that I can't put the book down. This book had a hard start and was exttremenly slow moving. It did have some good twists and turns to the plot but was a hard read.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Quick Question?

Is this a short story, or a normal novel?
Also would this be good for young teens?

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Quick read with an enjoyable storyline.

Interesting look into human nature and I love Miss Marple.

Loved!!!!

I love a good mystery. Agatha Christie never disappoints. Her characters are believable & endearing. A definite must read for all mystery fans.

Good read

As always you gotta love her work!

Captures the setting perfectly

Speaking as the pastor of a small church in a small town where everyone (especially the little old ladies) knows everything about everyone else, I must say that Agatha Christie perfectly captured this setting in Murder at the Vicarage. This mystery was very well-written. She doesn't muck about setting the scene for half the book before anything actually happens, and though I guessed a couple of the twists/surprises well in advance, it wasn't enough to give away "whodunnit." The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is that I feel that just about anything in the mystery genre has a rather low re-read value...good thing Dame Agatha has so many more books out there!

Disappointed.

I had heard how good Agatha Christie was, so I decided to pick this book up. Boy was I disappointed. It didn't live up to the hype it had.

After the murder it seemed like there was more gossip than actually mystery. I found the story quiet lengthy and boring. Miss Marple is someone who sticks her nose into everyones business and thinks she is always right.

I am not discouraged from ready another book by her, but I think I will try a different series.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not my bag

This type of book is not something I like. It had too many suspects and too much gossiping. I didn't care for it at all.