Miss Marple's contention has always been that in a village you have the opportunity of observing all the delinquencies, weaknesses and evils of the human character. In it we meet the petty, the vindictive, the flirtatious, and the disagreeable to name but a few. Just as this is the first time we meet Miss Marple, this is the first appearance of St Mary Mead in its guise as a small, sleepy, English village becoming a metaphor for the world. That said, in the closing chapters as we build up to the big reveal of the murderer, she becomes a more visible and assertive character and Miss Marple as we think of her today is transformed from a slightly batty old maid to the insightful amateur sleuth we know and love. While it becomes abundantly clear that without her involvement the police would not have apprehended the culprit, there are a number of classical Christie plot twists, the way she is involved is hesitant and diffident. This first book featuring the deductive capacities of Miss Marple feels a little tentative, not in terms of the plot development but in how Miss Marple herself is introduced. The difficulties they experience with the sole domestic servant, whose cooking skills are legendary for all the wrong reasons, provides a lightness to the main plot of the novel.

Griselda is a bit flighty, possessing a mildly dark sense of humour especially when referring to her pastoral duties amongst the women of the village. The relationship and difference in character between the vicar and his wife Griselda is particularly entertaining, with a great deal of gentle humour. The story is narrated by the Revered Leonard Clement, the Vicar of St Mary Mead, and concerns the murder of the highly disagreeable Colonel Protheroe in the vicars study.Īs one expects with any novel by Christie the characters are all well delineated, each one distinct and with a degree of depth to them. This is the first of the Miss Marple books, but not one in which she makes a prominent appearance.

Murder at the vicarage