Litsy

Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories | Agatha Christie

Looks like I'll be doing a lot of looking up of archaic words! MY kind of detecting. ?
Banting: "was a popular term for losing weight by excluding sugar from your diet. It was named after a Mr Banting." [Which I think refers to the Canadian doctor who helped discover insulin?!]. The things you learn by accident.
God reference aside, I appreciate a friend counseling another in 1932 not to diet, that her body is just as it should be.

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Robotswithpersonality

Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories | Agatha Christie

Gotta assume this was not an actual pile o' flour.
Common vernacular lost to the passage of time....suppose it's like polenta? To the Google!

Robotswithpersonality The internet has spoken. General consensus is a thin pudding. Sounds like comfort food to me 2h

bnp I'm familiar with using cornstarch (US)/ cornflour (UK) to thicken what we call a pudding in the US. Is that what this is? 59m

Robotswithpersonality @bnp Looks like pudding where cornstarch is the main ingredient (or at least the name of the pudding/custard) is a thing as well! 56m

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Elemar71

4:50 from Paddington | Agatha Christie

pick

This is probably the billionth re-read of this book for me. Read this for the Comfort Book Club, and it was just as charming as ever. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#agathachristie

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LitsyEvents

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

Repost for @Mitch

#goldenagecrimeclub discussion is up and open to everyone who has read the tagged book. To join in the discussion head over to @mitch there are 5 discussion posts to participate in.

LitsyEvents #buddyread 21h

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Chrissyreadit

The Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

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Yes I loved this mystery! And I actually have never read Agatha Christie before- (except And Then There Were None) but this was charming, similar to a cozy, humor and intrigue. Another example that English villages are rather deadly places- so glad this was picked for the #goldenagecrimeclub kickoff

Mitch

Mitch Glad you enjoyed it Chrissy. Be sure to follow #goldenagecrimeclub and see what others thought of Miss Marple! 1d

KathyWheeler Have you read Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village? It plays on this trope murders in English villages. It was funny, and is very short. I failed all the quizzes. 😄 (edited) 1d

Chrissyreadit @KathyWheeler have not but it‘s on my ridiculously sized TBR 1d

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Mitch

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

Thanks to all the #goldenagecrimeclub who‘ve started some fabulous conversations around the tagged book. Conversations will continue into the week so jump in whenever you‘d like. Come share you Christie stories, marvel at Miss Marple‘s feminist tendencies and remind yourself how fun Christie can be!

Julsmarshall Love the artwork! 1d

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erzascarletbookgasm

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

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“There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.”

A nice revisit to the first Miss Marple novel. There are a few too many sub plots, but the mystery is solid with plenty of red herrings. Not my favourite Miss Marple but I did enjoy the narrative.
#goldenagecrimeclub

Pic: Some interesting old covers I found.

Mitch

jlhammar Love seeing all those old covers! 1d

batsy Love those covers! 1d

Cuilin Those cover are great!! 1d

Ruthiella Love the creativity of all the covers! 1d

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Mitch

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

And finally……. Final thoughts, anything we‘ve missed talking about??

#goldenagecrimeclub

LitsyEvents

AmyG I lived in a small(ish) town in NJ where everyone knew everyne else‘s business. So I oddly got a kick out of this town. Ifound parts to be so funny. And I was oddly fascinated by Griselda (what a Disney princess name!) and the Vicar….their marriage. When she said she knew Lawrence before she was married - ha, all I could think was it‘s Griselda???? NO. 🤣 2d

AmyG And thank you for doing this club. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book and look forward to reading Sayers. 2d

Mitch I hear you @AmyG now that I‘m living in a small village in the English countryside - I see Agatha Christie plots and characters at every turn! 2d

See All 18 Comments

Mitch @AmyG my very humble pleasure. The Sayers has some difficult bits - but super interesting! 2d

AmyG I read a few Sayers books as a teen, too. I loved mysteries and horror the most back then. 2d

Aimeesue Since I originally read the Miss Marple way back in the day before internets, I'd never seen a map of St. Mary Mead before. I was happy to find one because it was a BIG help in picturing what happened. 2d

batsy I liked that the vicar's own marriage seem to come under the microscope. The part where he questions himself in relation to Griselda knowing Lawrence before was very understated, but that fact sort lurked in the background and cast a shadow for a bit. But it was a well deserved happy ending for him! 2d

Mitch @Aimeesue what did you think of the maps in the story!? 2d

Mitch @batsy it was dark wasn‘t it …. I wonder how much of Agatha‘s own marriage ( that broke down after her husband had an affair with a younger woman) informed some of this …. 2d

Aimeesue @Mitch I listened to the audiobook, which was not a big help in that respect. 😉 1d

jlhammar I'm with @AmyG - I also found this to be so funny and delightful. Marple had some great lines. Vicar had some great thoughts, as well. And yes, the vicar and “I do hate old women“ Griselda made such an odd and interesting pair. This club was a great idea @Mitch - thanks so much for hosting. Look forward to our Sayers group read next month and to continuing on with Miss Marple! 1d

quietjenn I too always forget just how funny Christie can be. Beyond the things that have already mentioned, I appreciated her poking fun at the literati, via nephew Raymond. Looking forward to the Sayers and the other books we end up reading. Thanks for getting us going and hosting! 1d

Ruthiella Thanks so much for hosting. I‘ve loved revisiting this book. Despite the murder aspect, I find reading Christie to be very comforting. While reading, I was thinking about how some criticize her for writing stick characters with no depth, but at least in this one, I felt the characterization was very well done. 1d

Mitch @Ruthiella I agree. The characters are better formed than I remember and thanks for joining in - it‘s stretching my reading in new directions! 1d

Mitch @quietjenn she is funny ! I don‘t think as a teenager I got that! 1d

SamAnne It had so much more depth than I was expecting. Both funny and dark. A somewhat unexpected delight. 1d

Chrissyreadit I am so glad this was a pick- I enjoyed it more than I expected- I did not realize how funny Christie is. 1d

Aimeesue @batsy I liked that part too. It added some depth. And suspicion, of course ✉️🔍👀 1d

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Mitch

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

What did you think of the ending - was it satisfying? Don‘t forgot to use the “spoiler” function if you need to!

#goldenagecrimeclub

LitsyEvents

IndoorDame It was satisfying for me because it was a possibility that occurred to me right at the beginning, but since I didn‘t figure out the how it was still as much of a surprise as anyone else would have been. 2d

Cuilin Very satisfying. I suspected everyone and dismissed them all too. 2d

AmyG I thought the ending made so much sense. Many times it‘s the most obvious person(s). 2d

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Aimeesue Very satisfying solution. So clever. You do want to cross suspects off the list once you've dealt with them and concluded they couldn't have done it - unless they've worked together! 2d

batsy Satisfying! Especially since I've read it before and forgotten 😂 2d

jlhammar I agree, I thought the ending really worked. And if not for Miss Jane Marple, none would have been the wiser! 1d

quietjenn Very satisfying. Another thing I like about Christie is she's never afraid to make the culprit a character that you like. And often the victim is someone you don't, so that's satisfying in a different way. (edited) 1d

Ruthiella Very satisfying! I remembered who done it but still was impressed with how Christie plotted it out and distracted the reader. 1d

Chrissyreadit I was very satisfied with the ending. And glad that Lettice was going to be with her mom. I did not really have sympathy for the victim or the killers, and felt everything tied up nicely. Except I hope Mary can get some more skills. 1d

Aimeesue @Chrissyreadit Griselda needs to get Mary a cookbook. 😂 1d

Chrissyreadit @Aimeesue 😆 1d

TheAromaofBooks @quietjenn - I was actually thinking the same thing - in many ways, we're led to to make the murderers very sympathetic characters. I think showing the plausibility/justification for why a murder was committed is an important part of her writing - in the eyes of the murderer, this is the ONLY way forward, and the readers have to feel that. 15h

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Mitch

Murder at the Vicarage | Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie was quite critical of her first Miss Marple book - “It has I think far too many characters and sub plots”
What did you think of all her Red Herrings?

#goldenagecrimeclub

LitsyEvents

Mitch I liked all the characters - and believed that every one of them, including the vicar, could have done it! Picking a victim who is universally disliked in a small community gives a good suspect pool! 2d

IndoorDame I also believed anyone could have done it, and I think it was more fun that way! 2d

Cuilin I was listening on Audible and it was harder to keep track of all the characters but it made village life seem fuller with all the side stories. 2d

See All 15 Comments

Mitch @IndoorDame agreed - it definitely kept me guessing right up to the end. For me - finding out who did it at the end wasn‘t where the enjoyment lay surprisingly - I was more interested in how Miss Marple was going to lay it out! 2d

Mitch @Cuilin There was a lot going on! 2d

AmyG I thought there were too many “old” ladies. I get them a bit confused. But I loved them all and their gossipy, entitled, nosy selves. I think at one point I suspected everyone except Miss Marple! @Mitch Ha, yes about the universally disliked character. (edited) 2d

Aimeesue I always think, with books like this where there are so many possible culprits, that it must be like that for police/detectives when a crime occurs. The possible suspects are. . . almost everybody. I did like the ending though, that the suspects who'd been suspected and cleared were actually the culprits. Bravo, Agatha Christie! 2d

batsy I liked it and found it like how it must mirror real life in a social setting. The village is a closed community so to speak, but with a lot of seething resentment and envy that don't quite get expressed. This felt a bit psychological, in a way, particularly because we get that perspective from the vicar. 2d

jlhammar I suppose there was a lot going on in terms of characters and subplots, but I didn't mind. @Cuilin I agree that it helped to paint a more vivid picture of village life. I'll be interested to see how this compares to future books in the series. I'm hoping to read The Body in the Library next month. 2d

Cuilin @Aimeesue I liked that too. Very clever. 1d

quietjenn I didn't mind so much either, although I did once or twice thing one of those “Cast of Characters“ list might be nice. 🙂 And I thought the red herrings were deployed pretty effectively - including one that I totally fell for. 1d

Ruthiella I didn‘t think it was too crowded, though I also typically read Christie uncritically. As others have stated, this does give the reader a good feel for village life and all its layers. I think Griselda shows up in a later book and I love that continuity in series. 1d

Mitch @Ruthiella wow- does she! I‘m going to read all the Miss Marple books in order this year - can‘t wait to meet back up with Griselda🤣 1d

Chrissyreadit @quietjenn I agree about cast of characters- I wish I had kept one in fact. 1d

Chrissyreadit I enjoyed the characters- and the copy of the book I have has illustrations- although I finished it via a digital library copy so now I‘m going to look and see what pictures I missed. I did not mind the sub plots either. It did feel more 3 dimensional to me. 1d

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