Review: MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, Agatha Christie

• 
  Originally published 1930
  
• This edition an e-book on Kindle from Amazon
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FDT36R5M
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ft. Raphael Publishing Company, Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2026
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8892821865
• Book 1 of 12 ‏ : ‎ Miss Marple Mysteries 

Synopsis (Amazon)

"The Murder at the Vicarage" is Agatha Christie's first novel featuring the mild-mannered but brilliantly incisive Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living a quiet life in the little village of St. Mary Mead who often steps in to assist the local constabulary in solving their most baffling cases.

In this story, narrated by Rev. Leonard Clement - the local vicar - the townspeople are shocked when Colonel Protheroe - a wealthy magistrate who is widely disliked in the village - is found shot to death in the vicarage. Suspects abound as the local inspector proceeds with his investigation and discovers that almost everyone in the village had a motive for ending the Colonel's life. It is only when Miss Marple - local gardener and renowned busybody - takes an interest in the case, that the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place.

One of the most widely admired detective stories of the early 20th century, "The Murder at the Vicarage" launched a number of Miss Marple novels and further established Agatha Christie as the premiere mystery writer of her era.  

My Take

My U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group at U3A this year have read 4 Poirot novels, and have now embarked on the first 4 Marples.

In beginning with a new sleuth, an amateur this time, Christie has continued with having a narrator as she did in the Poirot novels. But this time we are in the small village of St Mary Mead and the sleuth is an elderly spinster, one of a gaggle of "cats" who know everything that goes on in the village. 

 But really none of them knows who shot Colonel Protheroe, church warden, as he sat at the vicar's desk in the study at the vicarage. 

We are introduced to a range of characters, some of whom will also appear in later novels. Importantly, we get quite a comprehensive visual summary of Miss Marple herself, and there are a number of false leads (red herrings), as well as at least two other petty crimes which are eventually solved.    

I'm sure the group will enjoy our discussion and the video of the ITV series that we will watch after our discussion.

My rating: 4.5 

I've reviewed it at

THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE and 4.5, THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE 

Check my reviews of Agatha Christie novels here