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The Moving Finger
(Miss Marple #4)
by
The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village's quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants—all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrive
...more
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Paperback, 299 pages
Published
2012
by Harper Collins
(first published July 1942)
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Start your review of The Moving Finger (Miss Marple, #4)
Jul 19, 2018
Amalia Gkavea
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
favorites,
films,
1940s,
tv-series,
british-literature,
classics,
crime,
mystery,
united-kingdom
“There is too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will. I must concede you the Devil. God doesn't really need to punish us, Miss Barton. We're so busy punishing ourselves.”
Summer and winter are begging for an Agatha Christie masterpiece. Well, any season is fine, really, but extreme heat and extreme cold make most us seek a nice, cozy atmosphere, a good mystery (and what Agatha mystery isn’t good?) and the lovely Miss Marple. Every July and August I re- ...more
Summer and winter are begging for an Agatha Christie masterpiece. Well, any season is fine, really, but extreme heat and extreme cold make most us seek a nice, cozy atmosphere, a good mystery (and what Agatha mystery isn’t good?) and the lovely Miss Marple. Every July and August I re- ...more
The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4), original publication year 1942
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Jerry Burton, Joanna Burton, Megan Hunter, Aimée Griffith, Owen Griffith, Richard Symmington, Elsie Holland, Agnes Woddell, Mrs. Dane Calthrop, Emily Barton, Mr. Pye.
Abstract: Jerry Burton, wounded pilot narrator, recuperates in quiet Lymstock with loyal fashionable sister Joanna, until vicious letters spread suspicion, then death. Mrs Symmington is not the type to panic, but drinks cyanide and leaves ...more
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Jerry Burton, Joanna Burton, Megan Hunter, Aimée Griffith, Owen Griffith, Richard Symmington, Elsie Holland, Agnes Woddell, Mrs. Dane Calthrop, Emily Barton, Mr. Pye.
Abstract: Jerry Burton, wounded pilot narrator, recuperates in quiet Lymstock with loyal fashionable sister Joanna, until vicious letters spread suspicion, then death. Mrs Symmington is not the type to panic, but drinks cyanide and leaves ...more
Not a favorite by any means, The Moving Finger is a good, tidy mystery, but our Miss Marple is not part of the story until the very end. I have read quite a few Christie mysteries, stand alone stories, a few Poirrot, a few Tommy and Tuppence, but mostly Miss Marple. She is my favorite, because she knows human failings and foibles so well and she looks like a dowdy old lady; and therefore is not taken seriously by murderers, until it's too late.
...more
Oh, this is a good one!
Alright, before the internet gave birth to trolls there were the poison pen writers.
What's that? <--ask the kids
Well, back in the day, the same sort of unbalanced idiots who like to make obnoxious anonymous comments online were forced to send out (gasp!) anonymous letters via the mailbox.
And that's what this Miss Marple mystery is about!
Except, like a lot of Miss Marple mysteries, she's not exactly the star of the show. The main character is an injured fighter pilot (Jerry ...more
Alright, before the internet gave birth to trolls there were the poison pen writers.
What's that? <--ask the kids
Well, back in the day, the same sort of unbalanced idiots who like to make obnoxious anonymous comments online were forced to send out (gasp!) anonymous letters via the mailbox.
And that's what this Miss Marple mystery is about!
Except, like a lot of Miss Marple mysteries, she's not exactly the star of the show. The main character is an injured fighter pilot (Jerry ...more
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
verse 51 of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyám
“It's rather like Happy Families, isn't it? Mrs Legal, the lawyer's wife, Miss Dose, the doctor's daughter, etc. ... So sweet and funny and old-world. You just can't think of anything nasty happening here, can you?”
But nasty things do happen ... even in such an in ...more
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
verse 51 of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyám
“It's rather like Happy Families, isn't it? Mrs Legal, the lawyer's wife, Miss Dose, the doctor's daughter, etc. ... So sweet and funny and old-world. You just can't think of anything nasty happening here, can you?”
But nasty things do happen ... even in such an in ...more
A curious Miss Marple tale not least because of favourite elderly sleuth only has a minor role in this novel.
I think I would have enjoyed this one more if I wasn’t aware that Christie’s other famous detective featured and her appearance would have come as a great surprise.
The mystery itself instantly grabbed me as siblings Jerry and Joanna Burton arrive in the quite village of Lymstock only to find a series of anonymous letters spreading false accusations, including themselves with a letter stat ...more
I think I would have enjoyed this one more if I wasn’t aware that Christie’s other famous detective featured and her appearance would have come as a great surprise.
The mystery itself instantly grabbed me as siblings Jerry and Joanna Burton arrive in the quite village of Lymstock only to find a series of anonymous letters spreading false accusations, including themselves with a letter stat ...more
Lymstock is the quintessential definition of the peaceful English countryside: just ask any of its inhabitants. Everything is so utterly uneventful here, that one might be tempted to attribute its inhabitants' main cause of death to boredom, rather than old age. In other words: the perfect place for Jerry Burton's rehabilitation needs. Doctor's orders. So when the first libel-induced suicide happens, our hero is obviously first in line to flex his sleuthing muscles.
In true Agatha Christie fashi ...more
In true Agatha Christie fashi ...more
Another Agatha Christie to pass the time. Mmmmm. Delicious. Only I do have the same complaint I had with another of her books that was listed as a Miss Marple Mystery. Jane Marple doesn't appear until the last 1/4 of the book and then she's just a cute little old lady who says a few words at the end. That doesn't count as a Miss Marple mystery for me!! I much prefer it when Miss Marple is the one solving the crime firsthand. The short stories featuring her are the way to go, I'm figuring out.
...more
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This on audio completely blew me away. It was the perfect introduction to Agatha Christie. I've already scooped up a few more of her books to dive into this year. Richard Grant has established himself as one of my favorite book narrators on audio. He makes the story come alive and reads with enthusiasm. The voices he creates for each character are unique and sure to draw a smile at times. Highly recommend this one in audio.
My Reactions:
-The brother and sister duo are stellar and I loved their ...more
My Reactions:
-The brother and sister duo are stellar and I loved their ...more
Pros: I liked the main character brother-sister duo of Jerry and Joanna, and it was an interesting variation on the traditional poison-pen mystery. Most of the characters were less hateful than is often the case in Golden Age British mysteries, which made it a relaxing read for a sick day.
Cons: Why is this a Miss Marple mystery? She hardly appears and there's no reason, in terms of the plot, that the case could not have been solved in exactly the same way by the police, who seemed competent. I w ...more
Cons: Why is this a Miss Marple mystery? She hardly appears and there's no reason, in terms of the plot, that the case could not have been solved in exactly the same way by the police, who seemed competent. I w ...more
Second Agatha Christie book. (To remind myself. There are so MANY!) Anyway, this was just okay. Short read which I appreciated. I didn't guess the killer right away. I liked the dialogue more than the storyline. I like how people are engaged with one another. Miss Marple just kinda showed up to solve the story in the last 30 pages.
People in this small village are getting disgusting, vulgar letters written to them. It makes for a suicide and a killing. The village is full of gossip, snide remark ...more
People in this small village are getting disgusting, vulgar letters written to them. It makes for a suicide and a killing. The village is full of gossip, snide remark ...more
This is the fourth Miss Marple mystery, although the narrator is Jerry Barton, while Miss Marple does not appear until late into the novel. Recovering from a serious injury, it is suggested that Jerry spend some time in the country to relax and so he takes a house called Little Furze, in Lymstock, and moves there with his sister, Joanna. Shortly after they arrive, a poisonous pen letter arrives, making all sorts of foul accusations and it soon appears that many others in the village have also re
...more
“Most crimes, you see, are so absurdly simple.”
My edition features a beautiful afterword by Claudio Savonuzzi, in which this novel is called “a black fairytale” complete with a Cinderella and a Prince properly dressed for the occasion, and where it is noted how this is the only Christie detective novel where the detective where the detective almost lets the readers forget she (this is a Miss Marple mystery) is there. Our old (not to say ancient) Queen of Busybodies, in fact, appears only in the ...more
My edition features a beautiful afterword by Claudio Savonuzzi, in which this novel is called “a black fairytale” complete with a Cinderella and a Prince properly dressed for the occasion, and where it is noted how this is the only Christie detective novel where the detective where the detective almost lets the readers forget she (this is a Miss Marple mystery) is there. Our old (not to say ancient) Queen of Busybodies, in fact, appears only in the ...more
Read this and more review on my My Book blog
As you can see I've been on a diligent Agatha Christie kick. I think that the month of November makes me want to read mysteries - must be all that grayness and rain.
“Where do one's fears come from? Where do they shape themselves? Where do they hide before coming out into the open?”
Once again this turned out to be a re-read for me, and once again I couldn't remember anything from my first time reading. I only knew that I've read it, because it felt ver ...more
As you can see I've been on a diligent Agatha Christie kick. I think that the month of November makes me want to read mysteries - must be all that grayness and rain.
“Where do one's fears come from? Where do they shape themselves? Where do they hide before coming out into the open?”
Once again this turned out to be a re-read for me, and once again I couldn't remember anything from my first time reading. I only knew that I've read it, because it felt ver ...more
as per pretty much every agatha christie i've read, i was almost 99% sure that i had figured out who it was and that i am an Actual Genius, only for miss marple to blow the whole case open at the end. well-written, as usual, with an interesting romantic aspect that isn't quite usual for christie, but which i liked.
...more
Sep 22, 2011
Nandakishore Varma
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
agatha-christie,
mystery
This one has romance and mystery in equal amounts: for a change, I found the mystery only so-so, but I loved the romance!
The fourth Miss Marple, and again an excellent read. Yet again, despite seeing multiple TV and film versions, I had forgotten who the culprit(s) was (were), and didn't guess until very close to the end (I think it was about 20 pages behind Miss Marple resolving it).
The story is well woven, with some very lively characters and strangely it is not until a long way through (around 3/4) that Miss Marple appears to solve the problem. Even with her late appearance it is still a thoroughly enjoyable an ...more
The story is well woven, with some very lively characters and strangely it is not until a long way through (around 3/4) that Miss Marple appears to solve the problem. Even with her late appearance it is still a thoroughly enjoyable an ...more
This one was a disappointment. The earliest Miss Marple stories don't seem as good as the later ones, except-till now- 'The Body In The Library', which is very complex. I knew this should be a Miss Marple mystery but she doesn't appear throughout most of the book. For another thing, the story takes place in the village of Lymstock, so I kept wondering how Marple was to be brought into the picture. For a few moments I had thought that there must have been a mistake as there wasn't enough scope fo
...more
Pilot Jerry Burton recuperates from a leg injury with his sister Joanna in cosy Lymstock only to discover that someone is writing anonymous "poison pen" letters to most of the young women of the town about their sordid pasts, most of which may not even be true. For example the brother and sister get a letter that accuses them of being secret lovers; this doesn't particularly upset them, as they know it is not true. But some are upset by the letters. One, who receives a letter suggesting her husb
...more
3.75*
“There are questions that you don't ask because you're afraid of the answers to them.”
I do wonder why Christie turned this story into a Marple. After all, it would have worked fine without her, since she has such a small role. Especially since we are totally involved in Jerry’s point of view, the narrator.
Weirdly, it wasn’t so much the murder that captivated me (I had an inkling who it was), but rather Jerry’s interactions with his sister Joanna, Megan, and indeed the rest of the village. W ...more
“There are questions that you don't ask because you're afraid of the answers to them.”
I do wonder why Christie turned this story into a Marple. After all, it would have worked fine without her, since she has such a small role. Especially since we are totally involved in Jerry’s point of view, the narrator.
Weirdly, it wasn’t so much the murder that captivated me (I had an inkling who it was), but rather Jerry’s interactions with his sister Joanna, Megan, and indeed the rest of the village. W ...more
Poison pen letters and then one resident commits suicide (no spoiler as it's on the book's blurb).
Jerry Burton is convalescing in the village with his sister in a rented house on doctor's orders. Lymstock is a quiet place where little happens and is ideal...but then the anonymous letters start being sent to people in the village.
The mystery is enjoyable, and there is a little element of romance that runs through the plot, and helps develop the story and the characters. It is a nice 1940s AC mys ...more
Jerry Burton is convalescing in the village with his sister in a rented house on doctor's orders. Lymstock is a quiet place where little happens and is ideal...but then the anonymous letters start being sent to people in the village.
The mystery is enjoyable, and there is a little element of romance that runs through the plot, and helps develop the story and the characters. It is a nice 1940s AC mys ...more
Gossip Girl and Miss Marple. Someone is on to everyones hidden secrets. But are they true? And who is the author of the letters? Luckily it doesn't take 6 seasons to find out. (By the time the Gossip Girl was revealed did we even care?)
...more
Another delightful Christie mystery where the answer is staring you in the face.
The main characters are siblings Jerry and Joanna who have only just moved to Lymstock to then discover there is a poison-pen writer at large. And the letters don't even seem to have a hint of truth to them.
Naturally poison pen letters can only be written by middle aged spinster women (I love that this is the second book I've read from this time period recently with this assumption!!) and so that narrows down the fie ...more
The main characters are siblings Jerry and Joanna who have only just moved to Lymstock to then discover there is a poison-pen writer at large. And the letters don't even seem to have a hint of truth to them.
Naturally poison pen letters can only be written by middle aged spinster women (I love that this is the second book I've read from this time period recently with this assumption!!) and so that narrows down the fie ...more
A series of vicious letters destroys the peace of an English village,accusing its inhabitants of much wrongdoing.In the beginning,the plot had my rapt attention,but the tension wasn't as sustained in the later part of the book.Miss Marple appears,almost as an afterthought.
...more
Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna move to the quiet village of Lymstock. Having suffered an accident, Mr. Burton's doctor recommends that he goes to the countryside, where his recovery should be more peaceful. But shortly after their arrival, Jerry and Joanna receive a rather unsavory letter accusing them of an absolute lie. Thinking it a prank, they burn the letter and forget about the incident. That is until they learn that most people in the village have received similar letters. When one of
...more
Apr 26, 2018
NILTON TEIXEIRA
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourite-agatha-christie-top-16
3.5 stars.
Although slow, this is quite entertaining.
I loved the first half of the book and I think it is the best part.
I did enjoy the storyline, the settings and the characters.
There are some good dialogues and good moments.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, as it felt rushed. It did not convinced me.
As for Miss Jane Marple, her participation is extremely small. Her part cannot even be called a supporting character.
Anyways, I’m glad that I decided to re-read this book on its original l ...more
Although slow, this is quite entertaining.
I loved the first half of the book and I think it is the best part.
I did enjoy the storyline, the settings and the characters.
There are some good dialogues and good moments.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, as it felt rushed. It did not convinced me.
As for Miss Jane Marple, her participation is extremely small. Her part cannot even be called a supporting character.
Anyways, I’m glad that I decided to re-read this book on its original l ...more
I've read this several times and have seen the videos - but, of course, they always seem to change the story. It is enjoyable. Probably one of the few books where Miss Marple doesn't come into the picture until the book is three-quarters done. But, enter she does, to solve the murder.
Much of the book is consumed by the problem of anonymous poison pen letters. Then the bodies start falling.
Enter Miss Marple. ...more
Much of the book is consumed by the problem of anonymous poison pen letters. Then the bodies start falling.
Enter Miss Marple. ...more
Mar 22, 2020
Julie Durnell
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
england-uk,
mystery
This was a cleverly plotted mystery written in the first person by Jerry Burton, recovering from an accident in a small town, along with his socialite sister, Joanna. I had pinpointed the wrong person for the murders and was quite surprised by the ending. One of Miss Marple's better stories even though she made a very short appearance.
...more
3.5/5🌟 rounded up to 4 🌟
In this Miss Marple mystery, the narrator is Jerry Burton, a recuperating pilot, who is advised by his doctor to go and relax in some remote village. He chooses Lymstock and goes there with his sister for company. Joanna and Jerry both instantly stand out like fish out of water in the rural scenery. However, that is not sufficient cause for them receiving a poison pen letter. When the siblings reveal this to their neighbours, they get to know that this has been happening for a while in the villa
...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #ClassicsCommunit...: June Agatha Christie: The Moving Finger ( with spoilers) | 36 | 59 | Jun 29, 2020 05:00PM | |
| Agatha Christie L...: February 2021 - The Moving Finger | 1 | 5 | Oct 18, 2019 08:21AM | |
| Mission Marple Bo...: General Discussion - The Moving Finger | 10 | 29 | Mar 01, 2019 02:02PM | |
| New Year | 3 | 24 | May 01, 2017 01:29AM | |
| All About Books: Moving Finger (Leslie and Greg) | 5 | 19 | Mar 09, 2017 06:04PM |
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Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t ...more
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t ...more
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“Dogs are wise. They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more.”
—
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“There is too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will. I must concede you the Devil. God doesn't really need to punish us, Miss Barton. We're so busy punishing ourselves.”
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