41st out of 571 books
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512 voters
4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple #8)
Previously published as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw.
Elspeth McGillicuddy is not given to hallucinations. Until she witnesses a murder at Paddington Station. But did she? No victim, no suspect, no other witnesses. In fact no one believes it really happened at all. Except her friend Miss Jane Marple, and she's returning to the scene of the crime to discover just exactly what...more
Elspeth McGillicuddy is not given to hallucinations. Until she witnesses a murder at Paddington Station. But did she? No victim, no suspect, no other witnesses. In fact no one believes it really happened at all. Except her friend Miss Jane Marple, and she's returning to the scene of the crime to discover just exactly what...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
July 1st 2000
by Signet
(first published 1957)
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May 20, 2012
Ken Montville
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
mystery lovers. cozy readers
This is my second Agatha Christie novel and my second Miss Marple novel.
In this one Miss Marple actually has more of a role than the previous book, A Pocket Full of Rye.
A woman is seen strangled on a passing train and Miss Marple's friend, Mrs. McGillicuddy is the only one who saw it and no one believes her except Miss Marple!
An amazing cast of characters is assembled including a domestic worker who is so good at what she does that she only hires out for short periods of time for the big money...more
In this one Miss Marple actually has more of a role than the previous book, A Pocket Full of Rye.
A woman is seen strangled on a passing train and Miss Marple's friend, Mrs. McGillicuddy is the only one who saw it and no one believes her except Miss Marple!
An amazing cast of characters is assembled including a domestic worker who is so good at what she does that she only hires out for short periods of time for the big money...more
Classic crime with not so much as a pathologist in sight. This is an England where the upper middle classes were purely defined and recognised by how they behaved; and not by the size of their bank balance and investment income.
An undemanding read and absolutely none the worse for that. Clues are sought and red herrings found almost everywhere and anyhow: other than by scientific analysis of the corpse.
The period detail is delightful. For example (1) the compartment carriage with no connecting...more
An undemanding read and absolutely none the worse for that. Clues are sought and red herrings found almost everywhere and anyhow: other than by scientific analysis of the corpse.
The period detail is delightful. For example (1) the compartment carriage with no connecting...more
Sep 28, 2011
Felicity James
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
agatha-christie,
murder-mystery
A good Christie, one of the better Marples, but not a particularly fiendish development at any point - if you've read many Christies before you'll not have much trouble guessing the culprit in this one. Not enough trains though.
Nov 24, 2008
Phayvanh
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Miss Marple followers
Recommended to Phayvanh by:
library book sale
It probably helps to have read a few Miss Marple books before getting into this one--both to fully appreciate the cleverness, and to have a backstory to our "old pussy", as she is called in this book. In absolutley no time does Miss Marple deduce the the solution to the missing corpse. She also wastes no time in finding a suitable proxy to unlock the mysteries of Rutherford Hall for her.
Indeed, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, is as capable and clever as they come. And she is very likeable: practically all th...more
Indeed, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, is as capable and clever as they come. And she is very likeable: practically all th...more
NOTE - Also known as the 4:50 to Paddington and Murder, she Said
Alas, another Agatha Christie book I like! McGillicuddy and the bafamed Ms. Marple make a witty, clever pairing, the new introduced character Lucy is an admirable force, while all suspects and characters in the Ruthford Hall estate are gratifying to read about. The book starts out a little slow and after time I grew impatient with the older woman's fretting, but once she leaves and Ms. Marple hires Lucy to act as a domestic at the e...more
Alas, another Agatha Christie book I like! McGillicuddy and the bafamed Ms. Marple make a witty, clever pairing, the new introduced character Lucy is an admirable force, while all suspects and characters in the Ruthford Hall estate are gratifying to read about. The book starts out a little slow and after time I grew impatient with the older woman's fretting, but once she leaves and Ms. Marple hires Lucy to act as a domestic at the e...more
Mystery
286 Pages
One day when a woman named Elspeth McGillicuddy is on a train she sees quite the interesting scene in the train next to hers. In the train there is a woman being strangled! When she tells the officials, no one believes her. There is no body left, nor evidence that a murder ever happened. Everyone thinks that the old woman is going loony until she goes to meet her old friend, Mrs. Marple. Mrs. Marple believes in her friend and decides to investigate the case. They find out the r...more
286 Pages
One day when a woman named Elspeth McGillicuddy is on a train she sees quite the interesting scene in the train next to hers. In the train there is a woman being strangled! When she tells the officials, no one believes her. There is no body left, nor evidence that a murder ever happened. Everyone thinks that the old woman is going loony until she goes to meet her old friend, Mrs. Marple. Mrs. Marple believes in her friend and decides to investigate the case. They find out the r...more
Excellent, pure and simple; this is one of the true classics of the Christie canon. It came out within 5 years of the similary-titled Mrs. McGinty's Dead, which is a solid novel, but this is truly special. It is one of the novels that will stand out in your mind if, like me, you decide to read a LOT of Agatha in a short space. I've actually read this novel repeatedly and never tire of it.
This novel has some of Christie's best characterizations; along with dear Miss Marple (who appears in fine f...more
This novel has some of Christie's best characterizations; along with dear Miss Marple (who appears in fine f...more
Re-reading a Christie favorite, first read in 1974 under its U.S. title, WHAT MRS. MCGILLICUDDY SAW!, one of several novels Christie wrote concerning a murder on a train - as two trains run parallel to each other at the same speed, a window-shade snaps open and Mrs. McGillicuddy is startled to see a woman being soundly strangled by a man whose back is to the window . . . nobody in charge seems to believe her, but fortunately she's on her way to visit her friend, Jane Marple, who does, even thoug...more
I have loved Agatha Christie mysteries ever since I was a young girl and I have especially loved the character of Miss Marple. She always has a knack for figuring out why ordinary people are pushed to do such a heinous crime as murder. This was classic Christie. It starts with Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy witnessing the murder of a woman in a train that passes along side the one she is riding in, but after some investigation by the train authorities, the woman's body is not to be found. Elspeth bri...more
Huzzah, I guessed the identity of the murderer correctly. I hit on his identity fairly early, when only one of the three murders had been committed. I didn't know anything else. Sadly to say, I couldn't guess the identity of the strangled lady. What propelled this book to 5 stars is the enormous interest I had for the first murder, which was evil in character but also very exciting to read about. Then there's the two basic murders of the brothers. They catch you unawares. They highlight the firs...more
OK, I admit it. I kinda maybe flipped to the end of the book... unintentionally, of course... So I knew who it was. BUUUT I still enjoyed it and it still had me guessing.
I think that, having read Poirot first, I'll always prefer him. It's like Mallory Towers vs. St Clare's in my Enid Blytonyears days - I read Mallory Towers first and always loved it better. Only a wee bit better, but still. Same situation here.
I think that the main problem is that while you get the feeling that Miss Marple kn...more
I think that, having read Poirot first, I'll always prefer him. It's like Mallory Towers vs. St Clare's in my Enid Blyton
I think that the main problem is that while you get the feeling that Miss Marple kn...more
I liked this a little better than A Murder is Announced which I read just before this one.
The murder itself is interesting and the characters are more sympathetic. I liked Lucy Eyelesbarrow, the mathematician turned freelancing maid and the heap of marriage proposals thrown at her from every grown male in Rutherford Park are actually funny, especially that of Mr. Crackenthorpe, the irascible patriarch with an irritable digestive system and questionable aesthetic tastes, in sarcophagi and otherw...more
The murder itself is interesting and the characters are more sympathetic. I liked Lucy Eyelesbarrow, the mathematician turned freelancing maid and the heap of marriage proposals thrown at her from every grown male in Rutherford Park are actually funny, especially that of Mr. Crackenthorpe, the irascible patriarch with an irritable digestive system and questionable aesthetic tastes, in sarcophagi and otherw...more
This was my first time reading an Agatha Christie novel (after having seen many adaptations on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery program) and I have to say that it was just delightful!
The majority of the novel takes place at a large manor in rural England - the perfect place for a murder mystery in my opinion - and we follow along as Lucy Eyelesbarrow and Dermot Craddock investigate the lives and histories of the Crackenthorpe family, all under the unassuming direction of the elderly Miss Marple, our de...more
The majority of the novel takes place at a large manor in rural England - the perfect place for a murder mystery in my opinion - and we follow along as Lucy Eyelesbarrow and Dermot Craddock investigate the lives and histories of the Crackenthorpe family, all under the unassuming direction of the elderly Miss Marple, our de...more
Title: 4:50 From Paddington.
Author: Agatha Christie.
Genre: Classic, Mystery, Historical Fiction.
Plot: Elspeth McGillicuddy doesn't lie, and when she tells her old friend Miss Marple that she saw a woman being murdered a train passing hers, Miss Marple believes her. But, after reporting this interesting fact to the proper authorities, the question remains; what to do about the murder. Feeling her years weighing on her, Miss Marple decides the best course of action is to hunt up her much younger e...more
Author: Agatha Christie.
Genre: Classic, Mystery, Historical Fiction.
Plot: Elspeth McGillicuddy doesn't lie, and when she tells her old friend Miss Marple that she saw a woman being murdered a train passing hers, Miss Marple believes her. But, after reporting this interesting fact to the proper authorities, the question remains; what to do about the murder. Feeling her years weighing on her, Miss Marple decides the best course of action is to hunt up her much younger e...more
Who doesn't love Miss Jane Marple? This time a friend of hers, Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy, is sure that she witnessed a murder while she was on the train. I ride trains all the time, and have never seen a murder! I guess that I need to look out the window more often. I also want to go to St. Mary Mead, where apparently Miss Jane Marple lives. I bet it would be a great place to vacation. After Elspeth tells several people about seeing the murder, and no one believes her, she tells her friend Jane....more
This was my first Miss Marple story, although I am a firm fan of Ms Christie's other famous creation, Hercule Poirot. This is a very different kind of book, with Miss Marple herself staying very much in the shadows: being an old lady, she can't really get around, so she relies on the thoroughly competent Lucy Eyelesbarrow to be her eyes and ears. Lucy is an intriguing character in her own right, and I liked the idea of this very intelligent, well-educated young woman deciding to turn domestic se...more
I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie, but haven't read every single book she has written..I have read probably half of them, though..And i think this one would have been my least favorite thus far. I know most of her stories usually follow a similar formula..A crime, a murder, the arrival of a detective, or in some cases, Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, and then another murder or two, followed by the revelation of something that we have either overlooked as a reader, or Ms. Christie has wrote in a sp...more
This nineteen fifty-seven puzzler offers an unbelievable opening sequence, an ingenious murder resolution, and a delicious denouement with future love predicted in the twinkle of Miss Marple's eye.
Mrs. McGillicuddy and her parcels settled in first class on the 4:50 FROM PADDINGTON. Pleased with her purchases and rested from a nap, she peers out the window to observe a man strangling a woman on the train running on the parallel track. Horrified, she reports the murder to officials who find no suc...more
Mrs. McGillicuddy and her parcels settled in first class on the 4:50 FROM PADDINGTON. Pleased with her purchases and rested from a nap, she peers out the window to observe a man strangling a woman on the train running on the parallel track. Horrified, she reports the murder to officials who find no suc...more
Jul 12, 2011
Ariel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-agatha-christie
This is the second book that I've read in the Agatha Christie summer reading challenge. In this novel we find that Miss Marple's friend has witnessed a murder on the opposite train when the two trains were crossing paths. She only got a brief glimpse and so she cannot identify the murderer or his victim. From these tenuous beginnings Miss Maple is able to puzzle out the solution to the mystery. She is joined on her quest by Miss Lucy Eyelesbarrow who is a professional domestic servant and amateu...more
I must say, as big a fan as I am of Agatha Christie, this wasn't one of her better stories. This is a Miss Marple mystery, and I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't have the lovely old lady in much of the story but it just didn't keep my interest as most of her stories do.
This story starts with one of Miss M's friends seeing a murder on train, as she it is moving next to her own train, so she can't do anything about it. She tells the authorites when she gets off the train but no one believe t...more
This story starts with one of Miss M's friends seeing a murder on train, as she it is moving next to her own train, so she can't do anything about it. She tells the authorites when she gets off the train but no one believe t...more
Title: 4:50 to Paddington
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery
Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR Challenge 2009 , A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Numbers Challenge
Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (320)
Published: Originally 1957 (Audio 2005)
From the back:
Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the...more
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery
Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR Challenge 2009 , A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Numbers Challenge
Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (320)
Published: Originally 1957 (Audio 2005)
From the back:
Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the...more
What a joy it is to read an Agatha Christie Miss Marple, like meeting an old friend who you know well but who can still surprise you.
I love this edition of the book (I have a few editions) with its images of the wonderful Margaret Rutherford, though it is a magnificent stretch to say that "4.50 from Paddington" is the book of the MGM film "Murder She Said" as the film differs wildly from many aspects of the book, not that that makes the film, or the book for that matter, any less enjoyable.
Agath...more
I love this edition of the book (I have a few editions) with its images of the wonderful Margaret Rutherford, though it is a magnificent stretch to say that "4.50 from Paddington" is the book of the MGM film "Murder She Said" as the film differs wildly from many aspects of the book, not that that makes the film, or the book for that matter, any less enjoyable.
Agath...more
I picked this book randomly, without expecting much from it. So far, I was not a big fan of Agatha Christie. I have read her Nemesis, Sparkling Cyanide and a couple others whose names I don’t remember. I found them good but not exceptionally engaging, as a mystery novel should be. I liked the character of Miss Marple from Nemesis but wasn’t a big fan of her. So when I picked this one, I thought it would be a good time pass but nothing too demanding (actually I am still having my exams).
It turne...more
It turne...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This is the first Agatha Christie book I've read as a grown up. I picked up one once as a kid because I knew her books were supposed to be good and it just bored me to tears.
But now I liked it - and I worry what this says about me. Am I more boring or more mature? Don't answer that. Miss Marple is a mild mannered old lady who solves mysteries on the side. She encourages the young policeman who is actually in charge of the case and helps him solve it. There's a big, English manor, a family ful...more
But now I liked it - and I worry what this says about me. Am I more boring or more mature? Don't answer that. Miss Marple is a mild mannered old lady who solves mysteries on the side. She encourages the young policeman who is actually in charge of the case and helps him solve it. There's a big, English manor, a family ful...more
This book was ok. I really wasn't into it at first, and I guess I got used to the style and characters and liked it a little better after that, but there is NO sense to suspense or excitement. Mostly it's the Miss Marple character I have a problem with. The hero of your story is supposed to excite you and fill you with confidence; this is an old lady in her 60's or 70's, who's sipping tea and forming theories. I felt like I was watching Murder She Wrote, it was horrible. It slowed the book WAY d...more
This story starts with Mrs.Elspeth who boards a train from Padding for Milchester to meet her long time frnd miss Marple & when her train is just about to reach Brackhampton another train from adjacent track starts running parallel to her train & in that particular moment she witnesses a woman being murdered at the other train but before she tries to raise an alarm her train gains speed but she manages to inform the railway authorities abt the incident but nobody believes her as there is...more
weh, ga biasanya saya suka dgn cerita Agatha Christie yg kasusnya ditangani Miss Marple. Tapi cerita ini saya suka.
Mungkin karena ada pilot pesawat tempurnya? :)
Atau lebih mungkin karena saya sudah lebih dari sepuluh tahun ini jadi anker, anak kereta. Meskipun satu kali pun saya belum lihat ada orang dicekik di kereta sebelah. Kalau sekadar ditimpuk batu dari luar ya pernah. Atau sekali ada orang tersengat listrik di atap gerbong lalu gosong dan jenazah kakunya jatuh ke kolong di stasiun pondok...more
Mungkin karena ada pilot pesawat tempurnya? :)
Atau lebih mungkin karena saya sudah lebih dari sepuluh tahun ini jadi anker, anak kereta. Meskipun satu kali pun saya belum lihat ada orang dicekik di kereta sebelah. Kalau sekadar ditimpuk batu dari luar ya pernah. Atau sekali ada orang tersengat listrik di atap gerbong lalu gosong dan jenazah kakunya jatuh ke kolong di stasiun pondok...more
I adore Agatha Christie and I think that this has to be one of her finer stories. It starts with a woman on a train who sees a woman murdered in the train next to her, but the trains are only side by side for a brief second. Nobody believes her because they can't find the body. So Miss Marple arrages an investigation.
This book kept me on my toes although I found how the plot developed to be on the brink of "that would never happen in real life". It is the classic round them up and narrow down t...more
This book kept me on my toes although I found how the plot developed to be on the brink of "that would never happen in real life". It is the classic round them up and narrow down t...more
I enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery, though the character that stood out to me the most was not Marple, but rather the young woman she employs as an assistant sleuth: Lucy Eyelsbarrow. Once a top mathematics student at Oxford, she now garners a fruitful living as a professional domestic. Throwing Lucy headfirst into the delightfully dysfunctional (to put it mildly) and perhaps murderous clan that is the Crackenthorpe family was a real inspired choice on Christie's part. I was disappointed to find...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Potential spoilers] Driving me crazy: who does Lucy "obviously" choose? | 15 | 60 | Apr 19, 2013 02:37am | |
| great book | 1 | 27 | Jul 06, 2009 05:50pm |
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880...more
More about Agatha Christie...
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880...more
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May 19, 2013 02:56pm