This edition published 16th February 2023 by Harper Collins. Originally published in 1930.
From the cover of the book:
A quiet English village.A shocking murder.
An unlikely detective.
Nobody liked Colonel Protheroe.
So when he’s found dead in the vicarage study, there’s no absence of suspects in the seemingly peaceful village of St Mary Mead.
In fact, Jane Marple can think of at least seven.
As gossip abounds in the parlours and kitchens of the parish, everyone becomes an amateur detective.
The police dismiss her as a prying busybody, but only the ingenious Miss Marple can uncover the truth . . .
Never underestimate Miss Marple...
***********
Welcome to the village of St Mary Mead, a quiet place where apparently very little happens, until the boorish Colonel Protheroe gets himself murdered in the vicarage study, of all places. No one was particularly fond of Colonel Protheroe, and he had certainly made enemies of more than one person in St Mary Mead, in his capacity as husband, father, magistrate, and church warden, but who would be bold enough to act on their dislike?
Everyone has a theory about who was responsible, and they are not shy about sharing gossip and innuendo in pursuit of the truth, but only one resident of St Mary Mead really has a handle on the situation - the elderly spinster, Miss Jane Marple. Miss Marple can think of at least seven people who might want the Colonel out of the way, and as an expert in human nature she is way ahead of the police...
The Murder at the Vicarage featured the marvellous Miss Marple in her first full novel in 1930 (having previously only appeared in a series of short stories, later gathered together in The Thirteen Problems) - a character that Christie said she based upon her own grandmother, and who grew as an extension of Caroline Shepherd from her 1926 novel, the Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The story is narrated by vicar Leonard Clement, who becomes involved in the murder investigation by Colonel Melchett (Chief Constable of the County) and the abrasive police detective Inspector Slack, by virtue of being the person who finds Colonel Protheroe dead in his study.
The characters are typical, small village, Christie fare, ranging in age, class and respectability, which allows her to spin delicious threads of intrigue, rife with red herrings to lead you astray. Despite appearances, there is rather a lot of lusting, hatred, and betrayal going on behind closed doors to keep the village curtain twitchers busy, but it is the deceptively pink and fluffy Miss Marple that really has her finger on the pulse of life in St Mary Mead. Christie has Miss Marple twinkling straight out of the gate, and she guides the action along in her gently persuasive, insightful way, through her interactions with several of the other characters - especially the vicar and his, enormously fun, much younger wife Griselda, who gradually realise that she is a lot more than the busy-body the police believe her to be. The case hinges on timing, misleading messages, and jaw-dropping deceit, and Miss Marple's logic is uncontestable, however bizarre the solution.
It has been years since I first read this book, and I had forgotten how gloriously funny it is. Leonard Clement is particularly amusing in his observations about the vicarage's truculent domestic help Mary, the acerbic Inspector Slack, the deceased Colonel Protheroe, and many other of the interesting characters in St Mary Mead, including his own wife and nephew, and Miss Marple! There are so many laugh out loud moments here that I found revisiting this book an absolute delight.
This was my April choice for #ReadChristie2024 as a book written by Christie in the 1930s, and I listened to the excellent audio book narrated by Richard E. Grant. I was not too fond of his rendition of The Moving Finger, but have to say that he does a sterling job keeping the humour going in this first Miss Marple book, and I loved every second. What a perfect pick!
The Murder at the Vicarage is available to buy now in multiple formats.
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