Marple One

In a switch from my usual Christie habits, I've decided to switch over to Marple, instead of Poirot and reread my Marple omnibus editions instead of my Poirot editions (barring some selected novels from my Poirot editions that are my favourites).

I thought I had all the Marples in my omnibus editions, but it turns out that Miss Marple is in 12 novels, not 8. I have 2 omnibus editions with 4 novels each, so I am missing 4 novels! Hopefully a Marple III has been published - but a trip to the library should suffice, for now.

Miss Marple Omnibus Volume I
It should be noted that the novels in this series are not in any type of chronological order at all. I'm not really sure the reason for the grouping of the novels, but I just read them in the order presented.

The Body in the Library
The story begins, obviously, with a body in the library. But not just a body - that of a platinum blonde, dressed in fantastic evening dress, and strangled. And not just a library, but the very proper English country village library of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry. The Bantrys do not know the poor murder victim, but that doesn't stop rumours about the Colonel spreading through the village like wild-fire. Fortunately for Colonel Bantry, Mrs. Bantry is good friends with that most unlikely sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. The police soon connect the body with a missing dancer at a hotel in the next county, and Miss Marple must investigate an interesting family at the hotel that was connected with the dancer, as well as unravelling the mystery of a missing Girl Guide.

This is an entertaining and interesting Miss Marple. I really enjoy Miss Marple's village parallels and how they help her solve the most convoluted of crimes. Miss Marple's mysteries are also enjoyable in that they show the reader a slice of English country village society that very likely does not exist anymore. The books are perfect snapshots of their time.

The Moving Finger
The narrator in this entertaining and original Miss Marple is one Jerry, a young airplane pilot who has been invalided out of the war. He and his sister, the lovely Joanna, rent a house in the quiet village of Lymstock in order to help Jerry recuperate from his crash. However, everything is not as it seems - nasty anonymous letters are going around the village. Soon enough, one of the letters strikes home, and the local solicitor's wife kills herself. But was it suicide, or murder? Jerry and Joanna investigate the village inhabitants to find out who is the mysterious murderer.

This book is narrated in the first person by Jerry and has a breezy, energetic tone. I enjoyed meeting all the different characters of the book through his eyes. And there are some interesting characters - the doctor, Owen Griffith; his sister Aimee Griffith; the sweet spinster Miss Emily Barton; the solicitor's stepdaughter, the puppy-like Megan; and the unique vicar's wife, Mrs. Dane Calthorp.

Where, you may ask, is Miss Marple? Fortunately for the novel, Miss Marple is a friend of Mrs. Dane Calthorp's. Miss Marple arrives for a stay with the vicar's wife in Chapter 10 and helps Jerry and the police solve the mystery. Despite not being present in the village all along, Miss Marple is still able to solve the mystery and unravel the clues at the end for the audience.

A Murder is Announced
This is a very excellent Miss Marple. The residents of the village of Chipping Cleghorn are intrigued by a notice in the daily village paper announcing a Murder at Miss Blacklock's that evening. The curious villagers show up at Miss Blacklock's house at the appointed time to visit with Miss Blacklock and her various assorted lodgers. The game seems to be proceeding well when a young man bursts in. The lights go out and the mysterious visitor tells everyone to "Stick 'em up!". There are oohs and aahs from the delighted guests, which turn quickly to gasps of dismay when a revolver is fired. The lights go on to show Miss Blacklock bleeding from a wound in her in ear and the young criminal lying dead on the floor. Who killed him? Who wants to kill Miss Blacklock? Miss Marple must unravel the clues of an extremely ingenious Christie puzzle.

This is an excellent Christie book. There are clues scattered throughout the book, so a second-time reader can see some of the pointers that Christie left for the reader to attempt to figure it out. That is one of the things I enjoy about Christie - she doesn't hide everything from the reader - she gives the reader a fair chance of figuring out the puzzle. I, however, prefer to leave the detecting to the experts (Poirot, Marple) and just enjoy the unraveling in the final chapter, sometimes with a flip back through the book to see the clues I missed.

4.50 From Paddington
This book, as with many Christie books, begins with a murder. However, the murder occurs on a train - the only witness an elderly woman in the carriage of another train running parallel to the first train. (Confusing? Perhaps a bit - don't worry, I won't be asking any questions about "If Train A leaves the station at 8:15 and is traveling at 25 miles per hour....").

The police don't believe her - fortunately, however, the woman is friends with the remarkable Miss Marple. Miss Marple believes her friend, and after a few train journeys and the judicious study of maps, finds the spot on the line where the body would have been dumped from the train. Unable to put herself right on the spot, she hires the indomitable Lucy Eyelsbarrow to work as a housekeeper at the house in question while sleuthing for a body. Lucy finds herself in the Crackenthorpe house. Sure enough - Lucy finds the body of a woman. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why was she murdered? Do any of the Crackenthorpes have anything to do with the murder? Fortunately Miss Marple is staying nearby and helps Lucy, and the police, solve the mystery.

While the mystery is interesting and the set-up to catch the murder well-written, the best part of the novel is the unique and interesting characters created by Christie. The Crackenthorpe family is presided over by a miserly old man who despises his sons: artist Cedric, shady Alfred, stuffy Harold, and tolerates his caretaker daughter, Emma. Other visitors include Emma's brother-in-law Bryan (husband of her dead sister Edith), Bryan's son Alexander and his friend James. Nearly all of the men in the novel make passes at Lucy - Christie seems to have been an inveterate match-maker in her novels. However, Christie leaves one mystery for the readers here - who will Lucy choose? My pick is Bryan! This is an entertaining and interesting Christie and a good Miss Marple.