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-deprecating way ("I'm so stupid about these things...") but deep down she surely knows herself as the smartest person in the picture ("my hobby is--and always has been--Human Nature"). The whodunit aspect of the story is appropriately convoluted with plenty of red herrings along the way. Only Miss Marple has a clue what all the clues mean, but once she explains it, it all makes sense. The author's portrayal of village life in St. Mary Mead, where everyone knows what everyone else is up to, is perfect and perfectly absorbing. All in all, a very satisfying mystery.