{"id":3450,"date":"2013-01-08T13:11:10","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T18:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2025-09-29T22:05:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:05:38","slug":"the-murder-at-the-vicarage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3450","title":{"rendered":"The Murder at the Vicarage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Murder at the Vicarage<\/a><\/em> (1930) Agatha Christie<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Murder<\/a>It’s been years since I’ve read an Agatha Christie, but she’s always been on of my favorites, and so I decided it was the perfect thing to read while I’m sick and feeling somewhat miserable.<\/p>\n

This is the first Miss Marple mystery, and is told from the point of view of the Vicar. <\/p>\n

Colonel Protheroe is rather a horrible man, doing his best to make everyone around him miserable, including his wife and daughter, so when his body is discovered in the study at the Vicarage, suspects abound.<\/p>\n

The copyright is 1930, so the setting is between the Great War and the buildup to WWII. But I think what makes her so good is that it really could have been set at any time in the early to mid 20th century.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are a few giveaways–the telephone operators and the existence of handguns leftover from the war being something you wouldn’t find in modern England. But to me, those things simply add to the charm of the story.<\/p>\n

And it is charming. One of the things I’d forgotten is how subtly humorous these stories can be. Take this description of Miss Marple:<\/p>\n

Miss Marple is a white-haird old lady with a gentle, appealing manner–Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is much the more dangerous.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and the definitive description of Miss Marple:<\/p>\n

There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I’m also fond of the Vicar’s frustration with the sheer volume of busy-bodies in Mary Meade:<\/p>\n

‘It is a mystery to me,’ I said, ‘how anyone ever gets any nourishment in this place. They must eat their meals standing up by the window so as to be sure of not missing anything.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All of this makes me wonder why it’s been so long since I’ve reread these stories.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by William Morrow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie It’s been years since I’ve read an Agatha Christie, but she’s always been on of my favorites, and so I decided it was the perfect thing to read while I’m sick and feeling somewhat miserable. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, and is told from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,190,48,33,8,291,41],"tags":[228,546,229,693],"class_list":["post-3450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-female","category-historical","category-mystery","category-paper","category-reread","tag-agatha-christie","tag-interwar-period","tag-miss-marple","tag-older-protagonist"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-TE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12850,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12850","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":0},"title":"The Murder at the Vicarage","author":"Michelle","date":"May 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) I was listening to Read or Dead and they were talking about Agatha Christie's first book, which had been published in 1920--100 years earlier, and one of them mentioned her being a comfort read, and I was immediately, \"YES. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Murder at the Vicarage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/The-Murder-at-the-Vicarage.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24581,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24581","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":1},"title":"The Murder at the Vicarage","author":"Michelle","date":"May 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) 'I'm evidently not a housekeeper by nature. I find it better to leave things to Mary and just make up my mind to be uncomfortable and have nasty things to eat.' Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Murder at the Vicarage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/The-Murder-at-the-Vicarage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20893,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20893","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":2},"title":"The Murder at the Vicarage","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This is the first Miss Marple novel. I'd somehow forgotten that it's told from the point of view of the vicar, and Miss Marple is only a secondary character--even if she does solve the mystery. Miss Marple is a white-haired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Murder at the Vicarage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/The-Murder-at-the-Vicarage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3454,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3454","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":3},"title":"The Body in the Library","author":"Michelle","date":"January 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are quite shocked to discover a body in their library--a very young blonde body. The Colonel calls the police, but Mrs. Bantry knows better, and calls Miss Marple. Again, like Murder at the Vicarage, I noticed that much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Body in the Library","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/body-in-the-library.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3463,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3463","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":4},"title":"The Thirteen Problems","author":"Michelle","date":"January 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Thirteen Problems (1928, 1929, 1930, 1933) Agatha Christie (Also published as The Tuesday Club Murders) I read several stories in this collection, but not all, so I don't think I'd previously read this collection as is. After dinner seems a good time to sit around and discuss crime, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Thirteen Problems","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/thirteen-problems.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4902,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4902","url_meta":{"origin":3450,"position":5},"title":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"October 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (2013) Agatha Christie From The Thirteen Problems (1953) The Tuesday Night Club The Idol House of Astarte Ingots of Gold The Bloodstained Pavement Motive v. Opportunity The Thumbmark of St. Peter The Blue Geranium The Companion The Four Suspects A Christmas Tragedy The Herb\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}