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Feb 11, 2012

Martha rated it:

I'm starting a reread of all of the Miss Marple books. It's been years ... make that decades ... since I've read them. I'm so looking forward to time with one of my very favorite arm chair detectives!

"Really Miss Marple is rather a dear..." That about sums it up for me. I so enjoyed reading this again and it has been so very many years that the mystery was really a mystery again. I believe The Body In The Library is next. More...

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Nov 24, 2008

Phayvanh rated it:

After reading a couple Miss Marple mysteries, and suffering all those hints as to her background, I decided the first introduction to the lady would be most appropriate.

But this book doesn't offer much more than any of the other stories, to Miss Marple's backstory. The genius of this novel is our narrator, the Vicar of St. Mary Mead. He is as transparent and honest a storyteller as one ever wants (what more could you expect from a parson?), in rendering the townsfolk in true color, More...

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Feb 04, 2012

Cheryl rated it:

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.

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Dec 13, 2011

Susan rated it:

Murder at the Vicarage is my favorite Agatha Christie book, and I am a huge Agatha Christie fan. I have read all her books and stories. Murder at the Vicarage is certainly not her most clever mystery and the reveal is not particurly surprising. However, the narrator of this book, Leonard Clement, Vicar of St Mary Mead and his much younger wife, Griselda, are so charming and funny that they make the story extremely enjoyable. One of the primary criticisms of Agatha Christie is that she does not f More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Louise rated it:

Agatha Christie can always draw me in - even if I have a cold or am very tired. One reason is that she always tells you what's going on. Here is a tea party in the vicarage. The Vicar has a very young wife. They are gossiping about someone else.

'Disgusting, I call it,' continued Miss Hartnell, with her usual tactlessness. 'The man must be at least twenty-five years older than she is.'
Three female voices rose at once making disconected remarks about the Choir Boys' Outing, the regr More...

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Oct 10, 2011

Anne rated it:

Murder at the Vicarage is the first book by Agatha Christie to feature Miss Jane Marple. It is narrated by the Vicar of St. Mary Mead who finds the dead body of Colonel Protheroe in his study. Colonel Protheroe was despised by many people in the small town so there are many suspects in the case. Soon after the body is discovered two people confess to the crime and it is up to Miss Marple and the Vicar to solve the mystery of who really committed the crime.

I have not read an Agatha More...

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Sep 26, 2011

Ryan rated it:

I bonded with Jane Marple when I was about 9. It was summer vacation, I found the book What Mrs McGillicudy Saw, and was hooked. Its not because the book was somehow forbidden (books weren't - we read what we wanted to), but it was such a great puzzle and Miss Marple was so wonderful. I had no idea that Murder at the Vicarage was 'Miss Marple #1' (its funny when books are sequelized later), and the point of reading it this time was that it was a venture into e-books.

Christie has wond More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Jeff rated it:

I've been a fan of the character of Mrs Marple since I was a kid and was introduced to Margaret Rutherford playing her in the movies. Since then I've read a couple of the actual novels and always meant to read more of them. Being that this is the first one to introduce Mrs. Marple and I think was free I could hardly not get it.

Mrs Marple reminds me of elderly Columbo. She is dismissed by most people for her age and even the ones who realize she is rather observant class her as a bus More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Peter rated it:

Lies. Passion. Theft. Blackmail. Murder. Just another day in a small village. Agatha Christie introduces elderly sleuth Miss Jane Marple with a tart and pessimistic novel, although presenting a breath-taking mystery and an interesting view of small-town life.

The town tyrant, Col. Protheroe, is murdered in the Vicar's study and there are not one, but two confessions in quick succession. When they are both disproved, the Vicar tries to identify which of seven suspects remaining wan More...

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Jul 21, 2011

Abdulrahman rated it:

تعتبر عادية بالنسبة لروايات أغاثا الأخرى
مقتطفات :
ص44 : ترددت ، ثم قررت الكلام فقلت : لقد كنت أفكر بأنني عندما يأتي أجلي سيؤسفني ألا يكون لدي من عذر أبذله ساعة الحساب إلا العدالة ، لأن ذلك قد يعني أنه لن يكون لي من جزاء إلا العدالة وحدها

ص110 : و لكنها طريقة سليمة تماما في الوصول إلى الحقيقة ( أن تتذكر شيئا من شئيئ مختلف تماما ) إنها في الواقع ما يسميه الناس حدسا و يختلفون فيه كل هذا الاختلاف ، إن الحدس أشبه بقراءة كلمة دون الاضطرار إلى تهجئتها بصوت عال ، لا يمكن للطفل أن يقوم More...

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Jul 17, 2011

Betsy rated it:

First a technical note: I bought this book for the Kindle and the attached illustrations came through (unlike the free version of The Mystery at Styles). So that's that questions answered. :)

Moving onto the book now... This is the very first Miss Marple novel but well into Christie's writing career. There's definitely a difference. Just in matter of scope, Christie juggles far more characters and sub-plots and blind alleys than in her first book. I also felt like there was more conf More...

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Dec 03, 2010

Riccarla rated it:

This was the first mystery entry on the Ultimate Reading List. I haven't read Agatha Christie in years and I can only conclude it's because I used to have a lot more time on my hands

We meet the Vicar and his much younger wife, Griselda. (Really). The village is your typical cozy English village with an autocratic colonel, a fairly inept police department, and many meddling old lady. The main meddler here turns out to be Jane Marple in her first appearance in a Christie book. The aut More...

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Apr 13, 2010

Laurel rated it:

The first novel to feature Miss Jane Marple is by definition a classic! Christie introduces her cleverly camouflaged among a group of gossipy elderly ladies whom the Vicar's wife dreads having to tea. Only gradually does she emerge as far sharper than her peers, with an unerring insight into human nature. It is wonderful to see her in her native habitat, St. Mary Mead, discovering for the first time that the skills she uses to solve domestic mysteries (the missing gill of picked shrimps!) work f More...

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Mar 23, 2010

maricar rated it:

What can I say? Another keep-you-on-your-toes mystery.

The characters mess with the head. The clues and ‘Peculiar Things’ clarify and bewilder. And the story certainly shows the aggravations of finding oneself stuck in a small, cozy village that has just suddenly borne out its first murder in a long, long while.

Smack in the middle is the village’s highly likeable, dryly humorous, and long-suffering vicar who has the inconvenience of finding the village’s least favorite m More...

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Mar 10, 2010

Nada rated it:

This is another Miss Marple mystery, however it is beyond me why it is known after her because she is barely in the book. The story is narrated by vicar of St. Mary Mead, who is learning as the book progresses that the people are unpredictable and that they have a complex nature. I suppose its named after her because she is the one that solves the murder at the end.

Vicar, Miss Maple and the police try to solve the murder of Colonel Protheroe, a man who is disliked by everyone More...

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Mar 10, 2010

Hope rated it:

This is another Miss Marple mystery, however it is beyond me why it is known after her because she is barely in the book. The story is narrated by vicar of St. Mary Mead, who is learning as the book progresses that the people are unpredictable and that they have a complex nature. I suppose its named after her because she is the one that solves the murder at the end.

Vicar, Miss Maple and the police try to solve the murder of Colonel Protheroe, a man who is disliked by everyone More...

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Feb 01, 2010

Margot rated it:

Miss Marple is my favorite of all Ms. Christie's detectives. Although Miss Marple appeared in two short stories published in magazines in 1927, this is the first novel in which Miss Marple is introduced. In this book she is not necessarily well liked by everyone. She's considered a busy-body and she thinks the worst of people. Here are some of the descriptions of Miss Marple taken from Murder at the Vicarage:

*Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner.
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Nov 06, 2011

Judy rated it:

This is the first Miss Jane Marple mystery, published in 1930, and it introduces readers to a gentle, elderly woman whose keen insights into human behavior has convinced her that human nature is universal. This book is set in the village of St. Mary Mead and details the best and worst of small town life--everyone knows everyone else's business and no action or comment goes unnoticed or undiscussed. Colonel Protheroe is an emotional bully and after he is found shot to death in the study of the More...

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May 11, 2011

Ivan rated it:

Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2010

Mmyoung rated it:

The Murder of the Vicarage is the first of the Miss. Marple mysteries although from the way in which she is introduced in this book there is little hint of the fact that for many readers Marple will become inextricably linked with Christie. Marple does not narrate the book, the actions are not seen through her eyes and the narrator is not her sidekick. Her presence hovers at the edge of many scenes and she is the principle actor in few of them. So far most of Christies female narrators have bee More...

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Feb 16, 2010

Yngvild rated it:

Agatha Christie once claimed that she could not even remember writing The Murder at the Vicarage. I doubt that, but I can see that Dame Agatha would have liked to forget this novel. Miss Marple is portrayed as an unpopular busybody, the dialog is stilted, and the murderer’s main aim is to leave as many clues as possible for the reader and Miss Marple, even if that requires all the other characters to be clownishly obtuse.

The story succeeds despite its rough edges. The gently innoce More...

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Dec 22, 2011

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ rated it:

I started reading Agatha Christie when I was a teenager and read most of the books out of order and in Spanish. I figured I owed it to myself to make sure I read them in the language they were written and in the order she wrote them so I could understand a progression of the detectives.

This is one of those mysteries that's built around the alibis - who was where at that time - so there's a lot of discussion of time. I like logical stories (specially in mysteries) so this didn't bother More...

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Aug 17, 2011

Philip rated it:

Time for a re-read of the first Miss Marple novel, first published in 1930. Since it doesn't appear in my early 1970s Book Log, which ends in early 1976, I surmise that I read it sometime before Miss Marple's 'last case,' SLEEPING MURDER, was published in September 1976, for SLEEPING MURDER, as it happened, was the very last Christie mystery left for me to read when it appeared. I have re-read it more recently, maybe six or seven years ago, perhaps as many as eight.

8/17: Vintage Chr More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Abigail rated it:

I'm not a huge fan of Miss Marple - I prefer Superintendent Battle and Tommy and Tuppence - but I enjoyed this book because she doesn't narrate it. I did not manage to solve the murder (either time I read it - how sad), although I picked up on some clues, but it is possible to do so; Christie gives you all the necessary facts. As a side note, the fact that the narrator is a vicar brings the state of the Anglican Church sadly to life and can be depressing and irritating. One interchange I did More...

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Sep 19, 2011

George rated it:

DESULTORY AND DISCONCERTING.

“These women are singularly deficient in humour, remember, and take everything seriously.”—page 20

Until ‘Murder at the Vicarage,’ I had never read an Agatha Chisty novel, So, I was grateful to Barnes and Noble when they offered this, the first of the ‘Miss Marples’ series, as a free NOOKbook in their ‘Free Fridays’ promotion.

Unfortunately, after reading this one, I’m in no hurry to read another.

I simply never could connect w More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Heather rated it:

This is Miss Marple's first and I remember having read this book the first time after reading other Miss Marple books to find that Miss Marple was not very well liked by others in the village of St. Mary Mead! Why? Because "Miss Marple is usually right. That's what makes her unpopular."
Mr. Clement, the vicar, tells the story from his point of view and his unusual sermon towards the end of the novel would definitely liven up the Sabbath meeting as he ends quoting the Bible, " More...

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Oct 26, 2011

Nicola rated it:

I really liked this one! I thought it started off great and for the first half of the book I could not look away. I love the vicar's personality- he's so to the point and really witty, too. He made me laugh several times over with his observations about the people in the village. He was just a really fun character. I also enjoyed all of his interactions with his wife- just really amusing.

Miss Marple was an interesting character but despite the fact that the series is named after her More...

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Sep 08, 2011

Sophie rated it:

This is the first of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books, and what I love about it is that it isn't in Miss Marple's Point of View. We see Miss Marple through the observations and reactions of other characters--principally the vicar who narrates the novel. The vicar sees her as just another of the village's busybodies, albeit the shrewdest of the bunch. The police investigating the murder condescend to her and dismiss her theories. Even Miss Marple reveals her thoughts and observations in a self More...

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Jan 30, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

I'd never read a mystery novel before, which is rather surprising because my mom loves them, and our house was always littered with mysteries. They just never called out to me; there was always so much else I wanted to read. Last year, after reading Connie Willis's Blackout/All Clear, I read that one of her inspirations was Agatha Christie. In fact, she considers Blackout/All Clear to be her Agatha Christie novel. I loved Blackout/All Clear, so decided that I must read an Agatha Christie.
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Sep 21, 2011

Nicol rated it:

Someone has murdered the Colonel in the study with a gun. But the real question is, Does anybody in St. Mary's Mead care? Not really. Unless you're Miss Marple or the Vicar who found the dead body in his study. I was surprised at how much adultery and allusions to it were a part of the story considering when it was written. Ever see biddycam.com? My husband and I had found them websurfing years and years ago out of boredom. Hilarious stuff. Until they were found out by the authorities. It was a More...

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