From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

4.50 From Paddington

Agatha Christie

Start date: June 1, 2017

Finish date: June 30, 2017

Discussion: Group Challenges

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* Dec 25: They Do It With Mirrors (1952) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 16 posts · 17 views

last updated Dec 08, 2025 05:47PM

* Dec 25: They Do It With Mirrors - SPOILER Thread - (1952)
By Susan · 8 posts · 13 views

last updated Dec 05, 2025 03:04PM

What Members Thought

Feb 16, 2011 Jessica-Robyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-crime, historical-fiction

Sitting in the middle of an autumn thunder storm with the heat cranked up and a whodunit by the fantastic Agatha Christie really is the perfect scenario.

Although 4.50 from Paddington was a slow build the end result was just wonderfully murderous. By half way through I was thoroughly puzzled by who it could possibly be, both the murderer and the murdered. The hows and whys and who were simply fantastic as one unlikely scenario after another is brought to attention with no simple explanation in s Sitting in the middle of an autumn thunder storm with the heat cranked up and a whodunit by the fantastic Agatha Christie really is the perfect scenario.

Although 4.50 from Paddington was a slow build the end result was just wonderfully murderous. By half way through I was thoroughly puzzled by who it could possibly be, both the murderer and the murdered. The hows and whys and who were simply fantastic as one unlikely scenario after another is brought to attention with no simple explanation in sight.

Something I've always loved about Agatha Christie, especially concerning Miss Marple is just how wonderfully unique it is. As a lover of crime-dramas and murder mysteries you've seen it all after some point. There are plenty of detectives out there and more often than not there's something undeniably special about them, like a superhero. But when it comes to Miss Marple and the people she ropes into her mysteries, there are no supernatural abilities here. She's just a intelligent older lady with an eye for murder. She could just as easily be your grandma and that's not something you could say about someone like a Sherlock Holmes.

The historical aspects of the book are also worth noting. There just something so quaintly sinister about the upper class English in this time period. This book takes us away from Miss Marple's village and to a manor, built on a snack food fortune, filled to the brim with resentment and family complexities.

What really brings it all together is Lucy. Lucy is Miss Marple's younger eyes and ears in as she works to help sleuth out a dead body. It was her character and her interactions with the family that really brought out the human and not so human side of each character. I was just as eager to know who she would be romantically involved with by the end of the book as I was figuring out who murdered the girl.

Now all I have to do is figure out which book in the series I should read next. I have a feeling I'll be reading a lot of Agatha this season. Autumn is just too perfect for mysteries. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, england, rtd-2017-missmarple-challenge, 2018

Finished this afternoon. One of my favorite Miss Marple stories. Think I first read it as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw years ago. Always remember the image of Mrs. McGillicuddy coming down the stairs and knowing finally what she saw.

Elspeth McGillicuddy takes a train to visit her friend Jane Marple. She's either on the express or the local and the murder is committed on the other one. And she happens to look up at the wrong time (or maybe it's the right time) - just in time to see a murder take pl ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Louise Culmer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

When Mrs McGuillicuddy witnesses a murder on a moving train, nobody believes her. And there is no body. So naturally she turns to her friend Jane Marple for help. Miss Marple is able to work out where the body would have landed if it had been thrown out of the train. It must have landed outside the stately home belonging to The wealthy eccentric Mr Crackenthorp. Miss Marple arranges for the efficient Lucy Eyelabarrow to take a job with the Crackenthorps so she can snoop around and look for the b ...more

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Aug 27, 2017 Teri-K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, old-favorites, audio-recommended, historical-mystery, great-to-re-read, mystery-golden-age

This has always been one of my favorite Miss Marple books - and that's saying a lot as I like all of the series except one. This particular book starts off with a bang when down-to-earth Mrs. McGillicuddy watches a man on a passing train strangle a woman. Fortunately she's on her way to visit her good friend Jane Marple, and Miss Marple can't let a potential murder go undiscovered.

There's a lot to like about this book including a great setting in ancient Rutherford House with it's many outbuild ...more

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Jan 01, 2018 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Loved the BBC Radio dramatization of it!

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Dec 18, 2017 Stephanie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-cozy

I enjoyed this book, but didn't love it. Not sure why. The basic premise was GREAT, but I'm not sure the tips to recognize the killer were adequate (Christie was known to put in enough clues). Maybe I missed something in the audiobook. Still a good yarn, no matter. ...more

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