It’s been a while since I’ve done a Miss Marple.
The Murder at the Vicarage is set in the small village of St. Mary Mead. Nothing really happens here. The worst crime is poaching. Even the last murder was fifteen years ago. Life in the village is simple, only occasionally broken up by a bit of local drama, like the archeologist hunting for artifacts. Most news is transmitted by the local gossip circles, of whom Miss Marple,“the worst cat in the village,” is a leading member. The only blemish on the peaceful life here is Colonel Protheroe, a magistrate. Devoid of mercy and almost taking pride in how disliked he is, the colonel is currently raising a fuss about some allegedly missing money from the church offering plate, an act that’s so gotten under the skin of Vicar Clement that even he grumbles at lunch that“anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.”
He will eat his words when he’s decoyed out of his house, and returns to find the colonel shot at his writing desk.
Murder at the Vicarage is charming. That’s the best way of putting it. This is one of the most well-known village mysteries of all time, and Christie does an excellent job at capturing the feel of a small English village. There’s plenty of gossip floating around, like how Dr. Stone’s assistant is obviously angling for marriage. Of course, one of the themes of the Marple stories is that humans are much the same everywhere, and that sin and vice are just as present in small villages as they are in the city. So there’s plenty of drama and skullduggery afoot, even outside of the murder. The vicar walks in on the colonel’s wife, Anne, in bed with traveling artist Lawrence Redding. The colonel’s daughter, Lettuce, hates her stepmother. The new curate, Hawes, has been bullied by the colonel over his High Church beliefs. So there’s plenty of people who would have very good motive to kill the colonel.
The best part of this book is hands down Vicar Clement. Christie peaked with narrators here. Poirot should have fired Hastings and replaced him with this guy. Clement is the idea Watson: observant enough about the evidence and the relationships between the villagers, but lacking that needed insight into human nature to put the pieces together. He’s also very witty. I couldn’t get enough of him. Maybe it’s a bit unlikely that the police would keep him so close to the investigation (in spite of the murder occurring in his home he’s not treated as a serious suspect), but we accept that in other stories. The relationship between him and his wife is good too.
Of course, this means he overshadows Miss Marple a bit as well. While she’s present, she actually doesn’t get all that much page time. Don’t get me wrong, she gets all the best lines, and her role as a witness means she’s very involved even before she “officially” starts investigating. Once she quits observing and starts making her deductions known, she’s great. But again, she’s not the central figure here. I’ve heard it argued (by Robert Barnard, at least), that Miss Marple underwent “flufflification” shortly after her debut, going from a snoop and gossip into a more gentle, grandmotherly figure, her sharp views about human nature blunted in later books. I admit I don’t see that. Miss Marple is more proactive about getting information than in later books, but she’s still the same character, in my view. And while her view of human nature is quite caustic, I don’t read it as harsher than later books, though keep in mind it’s been year since I’ve read those books.
Moving onto the murder, that’s handled well. The case is complicated by a speedy clock, two dramatic yet disproven confessions, as well as the general skullduggery that everyone in the village gets up to around the time of the murder. For the most part, this works. The central idea behind the murder is quite clever, hinging less on physical tricks and more on psychology. There are some physical aspects to the crime, but they’re secondary to that central idea. Still, I can see some readers not liking it. This is one of those Christies where a bunch of people get up to some minor crimes that don’t really intersect with the central murder at all. Some of the characters are pretty minor as well. There’s a reason most of the adaptations cut Dr. Stone, for example. Combine that with some clues that are introduced late (and one of which isn’t even mentioned until the summation!) and some weaker minor elements (the gunshot), and I’m open to arguments that this isn’t top-tier Christie.
Still, I think it would be wrong to deny it a place of honor in the Christie pantheon. Complaints aside, this is a great village mystery that has both a strong village and a strong mystery. I know, saying that a book Christie wrote in the 30s, and that brought Miss Marple to the novel to boot, is a good one is kind of a given. But it is very good. Recommended.
Other Reviews: In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, Ah, Sweet Mystery! (longer post with spoilers), Beneath the Stains of Time, The Grandest Game in the World (contains spoilers), FictionFan's Book Reviews, My Reader's Block, Countdown John's Christie Journal (second post with spoilers), Mysteries Ahoy! (audiobook review), Crossexaminingcrime (behind Patreon).
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