From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #4)

Agatha Christie

Start date: October 1, 2025

Finish date: October 31, 2025

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The next book in our Christie challenge.
[close] The next book in our Christie challenge.

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 17 posts · 20 views

last updated Sep 25, 2025 01:00PM

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
By Susan · 13 posts · 22 views

last updated Sep 16, 2025 12:58PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 25, 2019 Kelly Furniss rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed this old fashioned murder mystery picked a group read.
There was many characters to keep track of but it was a great plot with a good twist.
Miss Marple and her observant eye kept the intrigue going accumulating in a good finish.

9 likes · Like · see review

May 08, 2015 Teri-K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: old-favorites, mystery-golden-age, senior-citizen-mcs, zz-2023-bought, z-permanent-bookshelf

This is one of my favorite Miss Marples, which makes it a favorite Christie over all. I love the small rural setting and the group of people who know each other very well - or do they? I always remember who did it but it doesn't matter because the strength of the story lies in the characters - though few first time readers will guess the perpetrator or motive.

NB - I'm not a big fan of the audio narrated by Emilia Fox. She makes Bunch sound really weird, inhuman even. And I think Bunch is a fun, ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2014 Christine PNW rated it really liked it

Shelves: vintage-women

3/2014

Bought 8/2/2013

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2017 Jennifer M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: z-read-2017, z-read-2022

I loved this book! I found the murder mystery party angle intriguing. I love murder mystery shows and parties...but to have one where the hosts know nothing about it? Absolutely fascinating!

The character descriptions and mannerisms were spot on and I felt like I knew them!

At one point, the book started turning out like an episode of Midsomer Murders. 😂 Sooo many murders!

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2019 Annie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bhf-reviewed, 2019-reviews, agatha-christie, owned-cozy

At Little Paddocks, Chipping Cleghorn, the locals gather to snoop and learn what was behind the strange advertisement in the Gazette. When the residents of Little Paddocks are themselves dumbfounded, the lights go out, a voice orders them to raise their hands and a gun is fired. As the lights go back on, they see a young man killed from a gunshot. Diane "Bunch" Harmon, the wife of the Chipping Cleghorn vicar, invites her godmother, Miss Jane Marple to solve the mystery. What they discover is muc At Little Paddocks, Chipping Cleghorn, the locals gather to snoop and learn what was behind the strange advertisement in the Gazette. When the residents of Little Paddocks are themselves dumbfounded, the lights go out, a voice orders them to raise their hands and a gun is fired. As the lights go back on, they see a young man killed from a gunshot. Diane "Bunch" Harmon, the wife of the Chipping Cleghorn vicar, invites her godmother, Miss Jane Marple to solve the mystery. What they discover is much, much more than what the crime appears to be.

People ask me, "Why do you like Christie so much?", and gasp in horror as to why I would choose her over Arthur Conan Doyle as the better detective mystery writer. I would like to point out that there's really no comparison between Dame Christie and Sir Conan Doyle because they made huge contributions to the genre. And I don't dislike the Sherlock Holmes novels; there are some novels and there are short stories that I like. Agatha Christie's mysteries are more relatable and have more human characters, motives and experiences. Sure, there are stories on espionage and daring adventures, but you can connect more with her characters because they have conflicts that are realistic and grounded, such as financial problems, family relationships, interpersonal dynamics, choosing one's life partner, etc. The motivations behind every character's actions, and even the murders themselves, are real. Agatha Christie makes the readers empathize with her characters. In A Murder is Announced, you will understand why the murder happened, but justice must still be served and the murderer must pay for the crime under the law for things to be right again. And I like how Agatha Christie uses the theme of "necessary evil" to make her murderers relatable.

Maybe readers will find A Murder is Announced a little bit longer than usual, and there are certainly a lot of names in the suspect list that you will get to know more, but everything pays off at the end. ...more

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Jan 07, 2025 Jessica-Robyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-crime, historical-fiction, cozy-vibes

A Murder is Announced is a solid mystery that unfortunately suffered for me because I had just watched the Marple edition prior to reading it. Going in blind is a much better idea! Still an enjoyable story with good twists. I think writing wise that it could have been shorter and the number of characters were sometimes hard to keep track of. The audiobook edition that I listened to really helped me stay on track of who is who and was engaging to listen to.

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