From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1)

Agatha Christie

Start date: February 1, 2025

Finish date: February 28, 2025

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The first Miss Marple novel
[close] The first Miss Marple novel

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 16 posts · 18 views

last updated Sep 12, 2025 08:12PM

* 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 07, 2017 Ruth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: golden-age-and-vintage

I had every intention of reading Agatha Christie's books through in order of publication. But having read The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the first novel featuring Hercule Poirot, I couldn't resist reading this one next as it is the first novel to feature Miss Marple. She had previously appeared in the book of short stories The Thirteen Problem, but we see her here as an integral part of the social network of the village of St Mary Mead where she lives.

What struck me most about the book was the ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2017 John Frankham rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-detective, miss-marple-challenge

The first Miss Marple novel, in her home territory of St Mary Mead. First person narration by the local vicar is effective, and the mix of wry humour and character observation, as well as the terrific cast and range of characters, makes this definitely a 5* whodunnit. Who killed the irascible Colonel? So many people hated him ....

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 07, 2017 SewingandCaring rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: detectives, 2017-detectives-challenge

Very pretty mystery. Interesting that this is a introduction to Miss Marple from someone else's perspective. I always forget how outright funny Christie is, she's obviously writing for pleasure without feeling the need to add any deep and meaningful intellectual/moral undercurrent, and I suspect that's where a lot of her critics' snobbery comes from. Same people who can spend half an hour enthusing about a toilet nailed to a wall and 10 seconds dismissing Landseer as "Victorian" I suspect. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2017 Catherine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: miss-marple-challenge

I love a golden age detective story and Agatha Christie is one of the best. There is one niggle about Agatha Christie (two actually but the one that I will mention here is the biggest niggle) that irritates the hell out of me and that is the derogatory remarks about women that Christie slips into her books, whether she has them uttered either by men or women. Old women are 'cats' women in general are dreadful, awful, nothing but trouble, beastly to men etc etc. One might even think it was a miso ...more

1 like · Like · see review