I also haven't read this for about 10 years and loved my reread. I have seen the tv versions many times and had forgotten how much they (necessarily) fall short of the novel. Loved Len and Griselda and the whole structure. There is also a lot of humour, which I had forgotten. It's so great that the reader starts off seeing Miss Marple the way Len and Griselda do, as just one of the gossipy old ladies, and gradually realises, along with them, that she is so much more, and then becomes quite fond of her. Christie is masterful here, especially her pacing, which is faultless. The actual solution to the crime is only one of the pleasures of the book. Loved every bit of it.
Yay for Mission Marple! This was only my second time reading a Marple full length story, I have read a few short stories in random collections that I don't really remember and I read the Body in the Library a few years ago. I loved it so much more than I was expecting to, I think I had kind of written Miss Marple off as less interesting than Poirot, but I was so engaged in the story right from the start! I'm starting the Thirteen Problems this week and I've joined the Goodreads group now so I'm excited to discuss these books with everyone,
Yay!!! I'm so glad to have you along for the ride on Mission Marple! Yes, I'm enjoying Marple so much more than I remember... I wonder if it's because I'm older & can appreciate her cynicism more? IDK, but it will be a fun ride to see how it goes as the stories go on
Hi! I’m so sorry I missed this series the first time around - I love AC mysteries - Marple, Poirot, Inspector Battle, Parker Pine (even Harley Quin). When I started traveling long haul trips for work years ago I picked up her books for the flights and made my way through all of them (I think...) and it was such fun. Since last fall I’ve started listening to the audiobooks. Your videos popped up on my feed and they’re great companions to these - thank you for sharing!
Great video! This was my first time reading a Miss Marple novel, I really enjoyed it. Curious to find out which one will be my favourite, the Marple short stories are amazing!
I’m so glad you loved this! It’s my favorite Marple, and one of my two favorite Christies. Like you, I love Len and despise that beast Protheroe. There’s a thing I like about Christie’s work: the correct person is murdered. So very satisfying for the reader. I’m not sure if it’s the perfect portrayal of the whole setting, or the characters, or the really deft plotting here; taken altogether, for me it’s a perfect, or as close to perfect as one can get, mystery.
Yes, she always knows how to make you hate the victim & root for potential murderers in a way that makes you feel kind of icky or complicit when you think about it :D
it looks like I'm in the minority here, but i couldn't get past all the characters. I had such a hard time keeping everyone with who they were in my head. I am going to move on to the next book and come back to this one after i get a feel for Christie's writing. I just couldn't do it first. :(
Fair enough!! Christie in general is a very specific flavor, so she won't always work for every reader. I really like the short stories, so that might be a good route to try
@@bookslikewhoa I really want to like her. I really enjoyed And Then There Were None. That's the only one I've read. I will try the next one. if that doesn't work I'll be really sad. :)
Yes, Mission Marple has begun. I loved this book. When I read it. I do prefer Poirot to Marple. I do like Miss Marple. Lettice has to be one of my favorite character in the book. She makes me laugh. The group of old ladies where fun to listen too. The Vickers wife is a hoot too. The story is well told. I love the end of this book. Keep the videos coming.
In "the Mystery of the Blue Train," St. Mary Mead is stated to be in Kent. In the Miss Marple novels as a whole, St. Mary Mead is definitely in the South. Over time, it is clear that St. Mary Mead is a fictional village in a fictional county. OTOH, it is definitely south of London, due to the 4:50 from Paddington.
Just finished the murder at the vicarage this was my third book from the marple series i loved this one and griselda is my favorite character as well I laughed a lot with this book
A little late but yay, just finished my first Marple and first Agatha of the year. Firstly, love this! I have to say that the introductory books of the main characters are really well-written. I enjoyed Mysterious Affair at Styles as much as I've enjoyed this one. The characters felt like they stand out on their own because of the roles and personalities. I was afraid that I couldn't keep up but it was actually fine. Great start! I'm looking forward to the next one.
Oh and, I won't give anything away just in case anyone else reads this but, (at 20:37) I had the same thoughts as well! He was who I suspected for quite a while.
Oh yay!! I'm so glad you ended up enjoying this one! Yeah, I think it's very telling how strong both the first entries in her long running series are. She knows how to make memorable characters who stick!
I remember the first time I read this book,it was shortly after I'd finished Roger Ackroyd - and I was absolutely certain Christie was pulling the same trick and that the Vicar did it :)
I really enjoyed the actual process of reading the book - the characters were vibrant and engaging, the narration was great, and it was really funny - but I was a bit disappointed by who ended up doing it, and some of the subplots felt a bit distracting. It's my first Agatha Christie novel and it was good but it didn't blow me away as a mystery tbh. I'm looking forward to some others
This will be my first re-read of Miss Marple since the 1970s and 1980s, and gives me the chance to use my Bantam hardcover collection again as the edition of this book from that collection was published in August 1983. I love the way you tie in The Blue Train and other Christie's to the MATV. I have re-watched both Joan Hickson's and Geraldine McEwan's depictions of Miss Marple MATV from my DVD collection and thoroughly enjoyed both. I have joined your discussion group on Goodreads, so look forward to participating. NOTE: My Bantam hardcover collection used the later title "The Tuesday Club Murders" for "The Thirteen Problems".
Oh lovely-- you'll have the benefit of time to be able to come to it really fresh! I love coming back to things after I've given them a lot of breathing room-- let's you see things in a new light :)
Hurrah! I really enjoyed this and it was great to see your enthusiasm for this book - it mirrored my own as I reread it. Also, that eyeshadow? Love it! 😀 What you said about this book dealing a lot with people wondering who is boning who is so true and as I'm making my way through these Marple books I've noticed sexuality is dealt with a lot more often and with a lot more frankness than I remember. I think the general idea many people have is that Christie doesn't write sex. She doesn't do sex scenes from what I remember but sex is everywhere and I was so interested to see that. The books feel somewhat more modern than I thought because of it. One of the parts that cracked me up, speaking of the vicar's naïvety, was when one of the elderly women (Miss Wetherby perhaps?) mentions her maid spending her afternoon off in the room above the fishmonger's shop and the vicar starts going off into an interior monologue about how maids always like to go there on their afternoon off and they'd be better off out in the fresh air than cooped up inside. I was like, oh Len... hahaha 😂
For real-- so much of Christie intrigue centers around sexual intrigue, infidelity, jealousy, etc. So while it's not really sexually explicit per se (like you rarely even have a situation where someone's alibi is that they were hooking up together somewhere), sexuality is a pervasive part of the Christie canon And "oh Len" sums up a lot of my feelings about this book :D
I loved the Vicar! I liked it as a narrator. I'm making my way through Christie's work and I noticed that what makes or breaks a book for me is the narrator. My least favorite book is Roger Ackroyd, because of the doctor voice. I really couldn't care about him while Len was awesome!
Christie really excels at first person narrators-- I wish she would have more of them honestly. I think both Poirot & Marple benefit from having the first person narrator help move the story along & guide the reader's perception
I love Poirot but miss Marple is my goddess. The way she plays dumb, the way she seems the most harmless and good-natured old lady on the outside but is in fact sharp as a blade on the inside, the way she arrives at conclusions by extrapolating from the most trivial small-village happenings... I LIVE FOR IT
I really enjoyed her in this novel, much more so than I remember liking her from my first go-around. I'm excited to "get to know her" all over again :)
Just started my Agatha Christie journey (although I did read And Then There Were None years ago) and start with this novel and I have to agree with all your comments about this book...it made me appreciate the read even more and I am looking forward to reading more of these books and then watching your reviews. My next one with be the first Poirot and then go from there. Do you think its best to read them in publication order or does it matter after the first ones as I have be able to get about 14 books from book outlet but not all in order yet? Thanks for a great video and wonderful series...your thoughts are making me love Agatha Christie even more!!
Yay! Glad to hear you're enjoying... I've got a video going up next Friday on this very topic, but in essence, while not necessary to read in order, I do think it really enhances the experience to go in order they were written on Marple
This is the First Agatha Christie book I have ever read and let me tell you I was shocked at how I was not able to find out who the murder is! I was really surprised
For Miss Marple, I think they are best read in order, but less so for Poirot-- for both series, however, I recommend reading the last book last. You can find my full thoughts in a video I made called "Where to Start with Agatha Christie" -- happy sleuthing!
The idea that divorce was once considered almost a fate worse than death seems to crop up in a few Christie plots. So many women murdered because somebody being Catholic made divorce not acceptable or just the fact that sometimes a divorce wasn't sought at an appropriate point until circumstances made it impossible - so the partner was *murdered* to solve the conflict. It all seems ridiculous by modern standards.
I also haven't read this for about 10 years and loved my reread. I have seen the tv versions many times and had forgotten how much they (necessarily) fall short of the novel. Loved Len and Griselda and the whole structure. There is also a lot of humour, which I had forgotten. It's so great that the reader starts off seeing Miss Marple the way Len and Griselda do, as just one of the gossipy old ladies, and gradually realises, along with them, that she is so much more, and then becomes quite fond of her. Christie is masterful here, especially her pacing, which is faultless. The actual solution to the crime is only one of the pleasures of the book. Loved every bit of it.
So glad you enjoyed your reread! It's always great to come back to a book with fresh eyes & it still be a story that delights you
@@bookslikewhoa where did u get that book cover
Miss Marple's lowkey savage and I love her (I just read the book to finish watching the video ahaha)
I mean, she's HIGH key savage tbh :D
My fav Marple. I have read it four or five times. An excellent review; very enjoyable.
I simply loved this novel. I had forgotten how much fun it was. Marpel is my favorite detective of all time.
Your book cover,. with the three men standing over the murdered body, is much better than mine. Much more evocative. Good review.
Yay for Mission Marple! This was only my second time reading a Marple full length story, I have read a few short stories in random collections that I don't really remember and I read the Body in the Library a few years ago. I loved it so much more than I was expecting to, I think I had kind of written Miss Marple off as less interesting than Poirot, but I was so engaged in the story right from the start!
I'm starting the Thirteen Problems this week and I've joined the Goodreads group now so I'm excited to discuss these books with everyone,
Yay!!! I'm so glad to have you along for the ride on Mission Marple! Yes, I'm enjoying Marple so much more than I remember... I wonder if it's because I'm older & can appreciate her cynicism more? IDK, but it will be a fun ride to see how it goes as the stories go on
Hi! I’m so sorry I missed this series the first time around - I love AC mysteries - Marple, Poirot, Inspector Battle, Parker Pine (even Harley Quin). When I started traveling long haul trips for work years ago I picked up her books for the flights and made my way through all of them (I think...) and it was such fun. Since last fall I’ve started listening to the audiobooks. Your videos popped up on my feed and they’re great companions to these - thank you for sharing!
Great video! This was my first time reading a Miss Marple novel, I really enjoyed it. Curious to find out which one will be my favourite, the Marple short stories are amazing!
Oh yay!! So glad you're along for the ride! The short stories are indeed awesome
This is my favorite Agatha Christie book. Love all the movie versions too.
Mine too so far. And I love that she was done with Colonel Archie and killed off Colonel Protheroe.
I’m so glad you loved this! It’s my favorite Marple, and one of my two favorite Christies.
Like you, I love Len and despise that beast Protheroe. There’s a thing I like about Christie’s work: the correct person is murdered. So very satisfying for the reader.
I’m not sure if it’s the perfect portrayal of the whole setting, or the characters, or the really deft plotting here; taken altogether, for me it’s a perfect, or as close to perfect as one can get, mystery.
Yes, she always knows how to make you hate the victim & root for potential murderers in a way that makes you feel kind of icky or complicit when you think about it :D
it looks like I'm in the minority here, but i couldn't get past all the characters. I had such a hard time keeping everyone with who they were in my head. I am going to move on to the next book and come back to this one after i get a feel for Christie's writing. I just couldn't do it first. :(
Fair enough!! Christie in general is a very specific flavor, so she won't always work for every reader. I really like the short stories, so that might be a good route to try
@@bookslikewhoa I really want to like her. I really enjoyed And Then There Were None. That's the only one I've read. I will try the next one. if that doesn't work I'll be really sad. :)
Yes, Mission Marple has begun. I loved this book. When I read it. I do prefer Poirot to Marple. I do like Miss Marple. Lettice has to be one of my favorite character in the book. She makes me laugh. The group of old ladies where fun to listen too. The Vickers wife is a hoot too. The story is well told. I love the end of this book. Keep the videos coming.
In "the Mystery of the Blue Train," St. Mary Mead is stated to be in Kent. In the Miss Marple novels as a whole, St. Mary Mead is definitely in the South. Over time, it is clear that St. Mary Mead is a fictional village in a fictional county. OTOH, it is definitely south of London, due to the 4:50 from Paddington.
I've not read every Christie book, but I'm up into the double digits and this is probably in my top 2 so far, with ...Styles being the other.
Just finished the murder at the vicarage this was my third book from the marple series i loved this one and griselda is my favorite character as well I laughed a lot with this book
WOW starting it now!
A little late but yay, just finished my first Marple and first Agatha of the year. Firstly, love this! I have to say that the introductory books of the main characters are really well-written. I enjoyed Mysterious Affair at Styles as much as I've enjoyed this one. The characters felt like they stand out on their own because of the roles and personalities. I was afraid that I couldn't keep up but it was actually fine. Great start! I'm looking forward to the next one.
Oh and, I won't give anything away just in case anyone else reads this but, (at 20:37) I had the same thoughts as well! He was who I suspected for quite a while.
Oh yay!! I'm so glad you ended up enjoying this one! Yeah, I think it's very telling how strong both the first entries in her long running series are. She knows how to make memorable characters who stick!
I remember the first time I read this book,it was shortly after I'd finished Roger Ackroyd - and I was absolutely certain Christie was pulling the same trick and that the Vicar did it :)
It definitely comes up in your mind if you've read Ackroyd! I think it's the first person narrator + small village setting
I really enjoyed the actual process of reading the book - the characters were vibrant and engaging, the narration was great, and it was really funny - but I was a bit disappointed by who ended up doing it, and some of the subplots felt a bit distracting. It's my first Agatha Christie novel and it was good but it didn't blow me away as a mystery tbh. I'm looking forward to some others
I really like Hercule Poirot... but I really love Miss Jane Marple. So Much!!! Great review!!!
This will be my first re-read of Miss Marple since the 1970s and 1980s, and gives me the chance to use my Bantam hardcover collection again as the edition of this book from that collection was published in August 1983. I love the way you tie in The Blue Train and other Christie's to the MATV. I have re-watched both Joan Hickson's and Geraldine McEwan's depictions of Miss Marple MATV from my DVD collection and thoroughly enjoyed both. I have joined your discussion group on Goodreads, so look forward to participating. NOTE: My Bantam hardcover collection used the later title "The Tuesday Club Murders" for "The Thirteen Problems".
Oh lovely-- you'll have the benefit of time to be able to come to it really fresh! I love coming back to things after I've given them a lot of breathing room-- let's you see things in a new light :)
Not a super shocking conclusion, but I was duped down the final stretch nonetheless (though in hindsight no one else as culprit(s) really made sense).
Hurrah! I really enjoyed this and it was great to see your enthusiasm for this book - it mirrored my own as I reread it. Also, that eyeshadow? Love it! 😀
What you said about this book dealing a lot with people wondering who is boning who is so true and as I'm making my way through these Marple books I've noticed sexuality is dealt with a lot more often and with a lot more frankness than I remember. I think the general idea many people have is that Christie doesn't write sex. She doesn't do sex scenes from what I remember but sex is everywhere and I was so interested to see that. The books feel somewhat more modern than I thought because of it. One of the parts that cracked me up, speaking of the vicar's naïvety, was when one of the elderly women (Miss Wetherby perhaps?) mentions her maid spending her afternoon off in the room above the fishmonger's shop and the vicar starts going off into an interior monologue about how maids always like to go there on their afternoon off and they'd be better off out in the fresh air than cooped up inside. I was like, oh Len... hahaha 😂
For real-- so much of Christie intrigue centers around sexual intrigue, infidelity, jealousy, etc. So while it's not really sexually explicit per se (like you rarely even have a situation where someone's alibi is that they were hooking up together somewhere), sexuality is a pervasive part of the Christie canon
And "oh Len" sums up a lot of my feelings about this book :D
I loved the Vicar! I liked it as a narrator. I'm making my way through Christie's work and I noticed that what makes or breaks a book for me is the narrator. My least favorite book is Roger Ackroyd, because of the doctor voice. I really couldn't care about him while Len was awesome!
Christie really excels at first person narrators-- I wish she would have more of them honestly. I think both Poirot & Marple benefit from having the first person narrator help move the story along & guide the reader's perception
I love Poirot but miss Marple is my goddess. The way she plays dumb, the way she seems the most harmless and good-natured old lady on the outside but is in fact sharp as a blade on the inside, the way she arrives at conclusions by extrapolating from the most trivial small-village happenings... I LIVE FOR IT
I really enjoyed her in this novel, much more so than I remember liking her from my first go-around. I'm excited to "get to know her" all over again :)
Just started my Agatha Christie journey (although I did read And Then There Were None years ago) and start with this novel and I have to agree with all your comments about this book...it made me appreciate the read even more and I am looking forward to reading more of these books and then watching your reviews. My next one with be the first Poirot and then go from there. Do you think its best to read them in publication order or does it matter after the first ones as I have be able to get about 14 books from book outlet but not all in order yet? Thanks for a great video and wonderful series...your thoughts are making me love Agatha Christie even more!!
Yay! Glad to hear you're enjoying... I've got a video going up next Friday on this very topic, but in essence, while not necessary to read in order, I do think it really enhances the experience to go in order they were written on Marple
@@bookslikewhoa Thank you I think thats what I will do!!
I am definitely Team Poirot all the way but after watching this video I am going to try Ms. Marple.
Yay!!! I’m a Poirot gal too, but so far am very much enjoying my reread
This is the First Agatha Christie book I have ever read and let me tell you I was shocked at how I was not able to find out who the murder is! I was really surprised
You should read some Nero Wolfe. I can give you a few suggestions about what to start with in case you are unfamiliar.
I ‘discovered’ Nero Wolfe on UA-cam, and I couldn’t agree more! They’re great tales!
Watching this pretty much made my day :D
Marple FTW!
@@bookslikewhoa Me and Marple is my OTP
I really want to get into Agatha Christie. How important is it to read them in order?
For Miss Marple, I think they are best read in order, but less so for Poirot-- for both series, however, I recommend reading the last book last. You can find my full thoughts in a video I made called "Where to Start with Agatha Christie" -- happy sleuthing!
bookslikewhoa Thanks! I look up the video!
The idea that divorce was once considered almost a fate worse than death seems to crop up in a few Christie plots. So many women murdered because somebody being Catholic made divorce not acceptable or just the fact that sometimes a divorce wasn't sought at an appropriate point until circumstances made it impossible - so the partner was *murdered* to solve the conflict. It all seems ridiculous by modern standards.
3:30
Although I vastly prefer Poirot to Marple, I think "Murder at the Vicarage" may be the best Christie novel.