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Miss Marple #7
4:50 from Paddington
In Agatha Christie’s classic mystery
4:50 From Paddington
, a woman in one train witnesses a murder occurring in another passing one…and only Miss Marple believes her story.
For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs. McGillicuddy's friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case -- for there is no corpse, and no one is missing.
Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of the mystery, and help unmask a murderer.
280 pages, ebook
First published November 4, 1957
1,995 people are currently reading
28.4k people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,193?books71.4k?followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Кр?ст? (Ukrainian)
Αγκ?θα Κρ?στι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉丝蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Кр?ст? (Ukrainian)
Αγκ?θα Κρ?στι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉丝蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,712 reviews
April 22, 2025
Lucy Eyelesbarrow is the best thing about this book.
Loved her. Why is she not in more books?
She and Miss Marple were just an unbeatable team!
Psst - This book is also known as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
However, that ending came out of nowhere like a giant ex machina sky beam.
No. I do not agree with that one at all. I normally don't mind when Christie makes an unlikely character the murderer, but this one was poorly done.
POORLY DONE.
Everything from the slipshod way the murderer was 'identified' by the witness to the idiotic reasoning behind the murderer's reason for killing the young woman. I was floored by how badly it all came together.
5 stars for Lucy and the rest of the characters, 1 star for the ridiculous ending.
I'm settling for 3 stars because I love trains in mysteries.
Toot-toot!
Publisher: HarperAudio
Edition: Unabridged
Joan Hickson - Narrator
Loved her. Why is she not in more books?
She and Miss Marple were just an unbeatable team!
Psst - This book is also known as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
However, that ending came out of nowhere like a giant ex machina sky beam.
No. I do not agree with that one at all. I normally don't mind when Christie makes an unlikely character the murderer, but this one was poorly done.
POORLY DONE.
Everything from the slipshod way the murderer was 'identified' by the witness to the idiotic reasoning behind the murderer's reason for killing the young woman. I was floored by how badly it all came together.
5 stars for Lucy and the rest of the characters, 1 star for the ridiculous ending.
I'm settling for 3 stars because I love trains in mysteries.
Toot-toot!
Publisher: HarperAudio
Edition: Unabridged
Joan Hickson - Narrator
April 7, 2025
This classic Marple story gets an F-rating from me:
Fast. Fun. Fantastic.
All fans of Dame Christie should give this one a try. It's her classic formula on full display.
Fast. Fun. Fantastic.
All fans of Dame Christie should give this one a try. It's her classic formula on full display.
October 17, 2023
3,5/5 za ma?o Panny Marple!!
September 20, 2018
fulfilling book riot's 2018 read harder challenge task #3: A classic of genre fiction AND #23: A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60. i didn't want to double up like this, but i have been neglecting this challenge for a couple of months and now i have to scramble.
i started this reading year off in a very ambitious frame of mind. in addition to setting my own reading goals as far as # of books to read and personal reading challenges, i decided to join the cool kids and participate in book riot's read harder challenge. i started off strong and organized - jotting down the titles of books i already owned for the individual tasks; birds & stones &etc.*
it went well for a few months, i even managed to get ahead at one point, but then it all fell apart because life is the worst and suddenly here i was, four months away from the end of the year and thirteen books behind, realizing i'd have to do the old “double ‘em up” LGM just to get them all done.
and even though there’s no oversight committee on this, i feel like i’m cheating with this one. for #3 - can every book by agatha christie be considered a “classic,” just because she was such an influential author?
One does not applaud the tenor for clearing his throat, after all.
and for #23 - i’d hardly call miss marple the protag here. she’s in the book, but she delegates a lot of the legwork to other people, outsourcing the research, evidence-gathering, investigating/interrogating and even the final unveiling is graciously bequeathed to her friend mrs. mcgillicuddy, a woman of excellent principles and no imagination.
i’m willing to let myself off the hook a bit, because when i’d ultimately decided to bundle the two challenges under the miss marple banner, i read a bunch of gr reviews to figure out which marple to read, and several of the reviews said of several different titles that “there’s not much marple here”** or “this is only nominally a marple,”*** and i specifically did not choose those. the point is, i tried. i guess miss marple is like bunnicula in the bunnicula series or morrissey in concert - she’s the draw, but she’s only prepared to give so much of her time - she’s got other things to do.
anyway - i read this book. it was fine. i certainly wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or a classic, but it was the perfect thing to read when my back betrayed me and i was forced to spend an entire day in bed, reading and dipping into my hoarded-after-surgery pain pill stash.
in a “this should tell you all you need to know about the book” statement, i actually read all but the last nine pages (i.e. up to the “whodunnit”) before succumbing to sleep. which either means that i wasn’t even invested enough in the mystery to stay awake for the big reveal or it means that those pain pills are gooooood.
i wasn't.
they are.
this is my favorite part of the book, in which cozy crime scene preservation standards are very low, indeed, and victim's dignity/privacy rights disregarded so little boys can experience a rite of passage:
and even though i know perfectly well that this does not mean what i think it means
"How well I remember my own dear father. 'Got a lot of old pussies coming?' he would say to my mother. 'Send my tea into the study.' Very naughty about it, he was."
it makes me laugh nonetheless.
I KNOW I JUST SAID THAT JEEZ!
and if you want to know whodunnit,
i have learned my lesson.
i have also managed to use FOUR visual references to "stuff i loved in the 80's," which is at least three more than i'd anticipated when i sat down to write this review. just to round it out, here you go:
MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE
* for example, the books i’d selected as possible candidates for task #23: “A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60” were:
** paraphrase #1
*** paraphrase #2
i started this reading year off in a very ambitious frame of mind. in addition to setting my own reading goals as far as # of books to read and personal reading challenges, i decided to join the cool kids and participate in book riot's read harder challenge. i started off strong and organized - jotting down the titles of books i already owned for the individual tasks; birds & stones &etc.*
it went well for a few months, i even managed to get ahead at one point, but then it all fell apart because life is the worst and suddenly here i was, four months away from the end of the year and thirteen books behind, realizing i'd have to do the old “double ‘em up” LGM just to get them all done.
and even though there’s no oversight committee on this, i feel like i’m cheating with this one. for #3 - can every book by agatha christie be considered a “classic,” just because she was such an influential author?
One does not applaud the tenor for clearing his throat, after all.
and for #23 - i’d hardly call miss marple the protag here. she’s in the book, but she delegates a lot of the legwork to other people, outsourcing the research, evidence-gathering, investigating/interrogating and even the final unveiling is graciously bequeathed to her friend mrs. mcgillicuddy, a woman of excellent principles and no imagination.
i’m willing to let myself off the hook a bit, because when i’d ultimately decided to bundle the two challenges under the miss marple banner, i read a bunch of gr reviews to figure out which marple to read, and several of the reviews said of several different titles that “there’s not much marple here”** or “this is only nominally a marple,”*** and i specifically did not choose those. the point is, i tried. i guess miss marple is like bunnicula in the bunnicula series or morrissey in concert - she’s the draw, but she’s only prepared to give so much of her time - she’s got other things to do.
anyway - i read this book. it was fine. i certainly wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or a classic, but it was the perfect thing to read when my back betrayed me and i was forced to spend an entire day in bed, reading and dipping into my hoarded-after-surgery pain pill stash.
in a “this should tell you all you need to know about the book” statement, i actually read all but the last nine pages (i.e. up to the “whodunnit”) before succumbing to sleep. which either means that i wasn’t even invested enough in the mystery to stay awake for the big reveal or it means that those pain pills are gooooood.
i wasn't.
they are.
this is my favorite part of the book, in which cozy crime scene preservation standards are very low, indeed, and victim's dignity/privacy rights disregarded so little boys can experience a rite of passage:
"Sir. Please, sir."
Inspector Bacon turned. Two boys had arrived, breathless, on bicycles. Their faces were full of eager pleading.
"Please, sir, can we see the body?"
"No, you can't," said Inspector Bacon.
"Oh, sir, please sir. You never know. We might know who she was. Oh, please, sir, do be a sport. It's not fair. Here's a murder, right in our own barn. It's the sort of chance that might never happen again. Do be a sport, sir."
...
"Take 'em in, Sanders," said Inspector Bacon to the constable who was standing by the barn door. "One's only young once!"
and even though i know perfectly well that this does not mean what i think it means
"How well I remember my own dear father. 'Got a lot of old pussies coming?' he would say to my mother. 'Send my tea into the study.' Very naughty about it, he was."
it makes me laugh nonetheless.
I KNOW I JUST SAID THAT JEEZ!
and if you want to know whodunnit,
i have learned my lesson.
i have also managed to use FOUR visual references to "stuff i loved in the 80's," which is at least three more than i'd anticipated when i sat down to write this review. just to round it out, here you go:
MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE MARPLE
* for example, the books i’d selected as possible candidates for task #23: “A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60” were:
** paraphrase #1
*** paraphrase #2
October 20, 2020
4:50 From Paddington (Miss Marple, #8), Agatha Christie
Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy is on her way from a shopping expedition to visit her old friend Jane Marple for Christmas. Her train passes another train running parallel and in the same direction as her train.
Then, a blind in one compartment flies up and she sees a man with his back to her strangling a woman. She reports it to a sceptical ticket collector who passes the report for investigation.
When arriving at Miss Marple's cottage, she tells all to her. Mrs McGillicuddy describes the dying woman as having blonde hair and wearing a fur coat and the man as tall and dark, though she saw only his back.
Miss Marple believes her story, knowing her friend to be trustworthy in description. With no report of a body found in the next day's news, Miss Marple sets out to determine where the body is. With a good map and several rides on the trains to feel the effect of a sharp curve on standing passengers, she determines that the body is on the grounds of Rutherford Hall.
Miss Marple sends Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a young professional cook and housekeeper, to work at Rutherford Hall and find the body.
Luther Crackenthorpe is a semi-invalid widower who lives in Rutherford Hall with his daughter Emma. Luther's father wrote a will that left his property for his eldest grandson, not liking his son. Luther receives the income for life. After Luther's death, the capital is to be divided equally among Luther's surviving children, not unlike a tontine pension. The share of cash rises to the living children as each sibling dies before their father dies.
Edmund, the firstborn son, died during World War II. Youngest daughter Edith ("Edie"), died four years before the novel begins, leaving a son, Alexander.
The remaining children are Cedric, an Ibiza-based bohemian painter; Harold, a married banker; Alfred, who engages in shady business dealings; and Emma. Others at the family home include Alexander's father Bryan Eastley, and Alexander's school friend James Stoddart-West, and local physician Dr Quimper, who looks after Luther but is in love with Emma.
Lucy uses golf practice as a way to search the grounds. She discovers fur from a woman's fur coat caught on a bush. Then she finds a cheap compact.
Lucy takes these to Miss Marple, who believes the murderer knew all about Rutherford Hall. He removed the body from the embankment where it had fallen away from the railway, drove a car outside the grounds at night and hid the body. Lucy finds the woman's body hidden in a sarcophagus in the old stables containing Luther's collection of dubious antiques. Who was she? ... Original publication year 1957
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, Mrs McGillicuddy.
???????: ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ?????????? ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ???????? ? ????? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?????: ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? 2006??????
????? ??: ???? ???? 4:50 ?? ????????? ?????: ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? 1384? ?? 343?.? ???? 9643633268? ????? ????????? ???????? ?? ????????? ??????? - ??? 20?
?????? ??: ???? ???? 4:50 ?? ???????? ? ????? ?? ???? ?????: ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???????? ???????? 1388? ?? 720?? ???? 9789643636203? ???????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ?? ?? ????: ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ????????? ? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ?? ?? ?????: ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???
???? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ?????? ? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ? ...?
????? ?????? ????? 28/07/1399???? ???????? ?. ???????
Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy is on her way from a shopping expedition to visit her old friend Jane Marple for Christmas. Her train passes another train running parallel and in the same direction as her train.
Then, a blind in one compartment flies up and she sees a man with his back to her strangling a woman. She reports it to a sceptical ticket collector who passes the report for investigation.
When arriving at Miss Marple's cottage, she tells all to her. Mrs McGillicuddy describes the dying woman as having blonde hair and wearing a fur coat and the man as tall and dark, though she saw only his back.
Miss Marple believes her story, knowing her friend to be trustworthy in description. With no report of a body found in the next day's news, Miss Marple sets out to determine where the body is. With a good map and several rides on the trains to feel the effect of a sharp curve on standing passengers, she determines that the body is on the grounds of Rutherford Hall.
Miss Marple sends Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a young professional cook and housekeeper, to work at Rutherford Hall and find the body.
Luther Crackenthorpe is a semi-invalid widower who lives in Rutherford Hall with his daughter Emma. Luther's father wrote a will that left his property for his eldest grandson, not liking his son. Luther receives the income for life. After Luther's death, the capital is to be divided equally among Luther's surviving children, not unlike a tontine pension. The share of cash rises to the living children as each sibling dies before their father dies.
Edmund, the firstborn son, died during World War II. Youngest daughter Edith ("Edie"), died four years before the novel begins, leaving a son, Alexander.
The remaining children are Cedric, an Ibiza-based bohemian painter; Harold, a married banker; Alfred, who engages in shady business dealings; and Emma. Others at the family home include Alexander's father Bryan Eastley, and Alexander's school friend James Stoddart-West, and local physician Dr Quimper, who looks after Luther but is in love with Emma.
Lucy uses golf practice as a way to search the grounds. She discovers fur from a woman's fur coat caught on a bush. Then she finds a cheap compact.
Lucy takes these to Miss Marple, who believes the murderer knew all about Rutherford Hall. He removed the body from the embankment where it had fallen away from the railway, drove a car outside the grounds at night and hid the body. Lucy finds the woman's body hidden in a sarcophagus in the old stables containing Luther's collection of dubious antiques. Who was she? ... Original publication year 1957
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, Mrs McGillicuddy.
???????: ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ?????????? ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ???????? ? ????? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?????: ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? 2006??????
????? ??: ???? ???? 4:50 ?? ????????? ?????: ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? 1384? ?? 343?.? ???? 9643633268? ????? ????????? ???????? ?? ????????? ??????? - ??? 20?
?????? ??: ???? ???? 4:50 ?? ???????? ? ????? ?? ???? ?????: ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???????? ???????? 1388? ?? 720?? ???? 9789643636203? ???????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ?? ?? ????: ????? ???? 4:50 ?? ????????? ? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ?? ?? ?????: ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???
???? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ?????? ? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ? ...?
????? ?????? ????? 28/07/1399???? ???????? ?. ???????
September 28, 2015
Mrs. McGillicuddy is traveling by train when she witnesses a woman being strangled in the train traveling alongside hers. She reports the incident and is promptly dismissed, leaving her to turn to her friend, the resourceful Miss Marple. Strange as it seems, Miss Marple believes her:
“Mrs. McGillicuddy looked at her without comprehension and Miss Marple reaffirmed her judgment of her friend as a woman of excellent principles and no imagination.”
I always forget about that brief section in 4:50 from Paddington that feels like the beginning of the dreaded story problem: “if two trains are traveling…”
Luckily, Miss Marple soon discards that line of investigation in favor of looking for the body, because no one has been reported missing and no one was found dead on the train. As it goes in the famous Breakfast Club episode of Psych, “no body, no crime.”
Elderly Miss Marple can’t go scouring a country estate for clues, so she hires the very clever and resourceful Lucy Eyelesbarrow to take a post at the most likely spot the body was dumped. What follows is classic Christie manor mystery, filled with the usual characters given enough shading to distinguish them. The eccentric, miserly father, the dutiful daughter, and the three sons: the artistic one from abroad, the posh London businessman and the youngest, a slick grifter. Cast is rounded out by the impish grandson and his school friend, household staff, Yard Detective Craddock and, of course, Miss Marple (and Florence), with guest appearance by Mrs. McGillicuddy.
“‘I’m sure you will succeed, my dear Lucy. You are such an efficient person.’
“In some ways, but I haven’t had any experience in looking for bodies.’
‘I’m sure all it needs is a little common sense,’ said Miss Marple encouragingly.”
Among Christie’s creations, What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (the original title) stands out in character and plotting. Published in 1957, rather late in Christie’s career, she cleverly uses Lucy as a stand-in for Miss Marple. Lucy’s position at the manor allows her to poke into all sorts of corners as well as getting to know the family–sometimes, a little bit better than she would like. I was particularly fond of the beginning chapters establishing Lucy’s tenure and her initial attempts at poking around the estate. Grandson Alexander and his friend Stoddart-West livened up the search.
“They discoursed gravely during lunch on events in the sporting world, with occasional references to the latest space fiction. Their manner was that of elderly professors discussing paleolithic implements. In comparison with them, Lucy felt quite young.”
There’s a couple bits that feel dated, particularly the investigative line spent pursuing any “mental bends” in the family tree. The denouement too: it might have surprised me the first time through, but as I’ve slowly re-read and cataloged my Christie reads, I realize it’s an ending used before –with Miss Marple, no less! While it gets a bit silly near the end, it overall manages to maintain the air of suspense. Ah well, a fun read anyhow.
September 13, 2022
2022 Lunchtime listen of the Audiobook read by Emilia Fox
A brilliant AC mystery that starts with a friend of Miss Marples allegedly seeing a murder whilst travelling on a train. Despite reporting it both at the station at which she disembarked and and also the next day with Miss Marple at the local Police station, Elspeth McGillicuddy is not believed.
Having to go abroad Miss Marple is left to investigate the possible murder. Having pondered on her approach she enlists the help of an acquaintance, young Lucy Eyelesbarrow
As I said when I read it earlier, this is an excellent story, well crafted and full of red herrings. This is also brilliantly read by Emilia Fox, who I gather has recently recorded all the Miss Marple novels.
2017 Group Read of all the Miss Marple Book
An excellent Miss Marple, with her at her very best, ably assisted by Lucy Eyelesbarrow. A great story, very original, with a large cast of possible suspects or are they possible victims.
Well woven as ever by the Mistress of Crime into a story with a number of red herrings and a wonderful denouement. Certainly worth a read.
A brilliant AC mystery that starts with a friend of Miss Marples allegedly seeing a murder whilst travelling on a train. Despite reporting it both at the station at which she disembarked and and also the next day with Miss Marple at the local Police station, Elspeth McGillicuddy is not believed.
Having to go abroad Miss Marple is left to investigate the possible murder. Having pondered on her approach she enlists the help of an acquaintance, young Lucy Eyelesbarrow
As I said when I read it earlier, this is an excellent story, well crafted and full of red herrings. This is also brilliantly read by Emilia Fox, who I gather has recently recorded all the Miss Marple novels.
2017 Group Read of all the Miss Marple Book
An excellent Miss Marple, with her at her very best, ably assisted by Lucy Eyelesbarrow. A great story, very original, with a large cast of possible suspects or are they possible victims.
Well woven as ever by the Mistress of Crime into a story with a number of red herrings and a wonderful denouement. Certainly worth a read.
July 3, 2021
I still have no clue who Lucy Eyelesbarrow is supposed to marry... :)
(Or why she should marry anyone, for that matter?)
(Or why she should marry anyone, for that matter?)
April 1, 2017
"The truth is people are an extraordinary mixture of heroism and cowardice."
?I don't really want to consider Miss Marple's character a flaw in itself, but not only I don't particularly connect with her, she wasn't even present most of the time. Since the figure of the detective is one of the things I consider and value the most in a crime novel, I was disappointed. (Long story short, long live my favourite Belgian egghead.)
?This investigation ran so long. It just dragged on and on for 200 pages without moving forward in the slightest. It doesn't happen to me very often with this kind of books, but this time around I have no choice but admit that I was bored to tears.
?Another thing about detective fiction that makes me fall head over heels every single time is the long explanation that takes place at the end of the story, whodunit style, the so-called dénouement. In Christie's novels, the dénouement is usually long and unbelievably satisfying -I always enjoy it, even when I didn't like how the investigation was carried out. In 4:50 from Paddington, the whole thing is explained in two measly pages. I found it anticlimactic and underwhelming.
Definitely not the best Christie's out there.
?I don't really want to consider Miss Marple's character a flaw in itself, but not only I don't particularly connect with her, she wasn't even present most of the time. Since the figure of the detective is one of the things I consider and value the most in a crime novel, I was disappointed. (Long story short, long live my favourite Belgian egghead.)
?This investigation ran so long. It just dragged on and on for 200 pages without moving forward in the slightest. It doesn't happen to me very often with this kind of books, but this time around I have no choice but admit that I was bored to tears.
?Another thing about detective fiction that makes me fall head over heels every single time is the long explanation that takes place at the end of the story, whodunit style, the so-called dénouement. In Christie's novels, the dénouement is usually long and unbelievably satisfying -I always enjoy it, even when I didn't like how the investigation was carried out. In 4:50 from Paddington, the whole thing is explained in two measly pages. I found it anticlimactic and underwhelming.
Definitely not the best Christie's out there.
September 24, 2022
Case solved! Well done Miss Marple!
September Read Christie 2022 challenge. It is from the Miss Marple series/#8
I do love a train setting!
Elspeth?is minding her business when she looks out the train window and is horrified! As her train crosses paths with another, she witnesses a man with his hands around a women's neck. She couldn't see his face, but she must report this crime! "Fiddlesticks" she exclaims! "It was murder!"
Miss Marple to the rescue! In search of a body, a family of suspects, and perhaps its the simplest kind of crime? Of course she will have to school the Inspector!
Fun, fun, fun....
September Read Christie 2022 challenge. It is from the Miss Marple series/#8
I do love a train setting!
Elspeth?is minding her business when she looks out the train window and is horrified! As her train crosses paths with another, she witnesses a man with his hands around a women's neck. She couldn't see his face, but she must report this crime! "Fiddlesticks" she exclaims! "It was murder!"
Miss Marple to the rescue! In search of a body, a family of suspects, and perhaps its the simplest kind of crime? Of course she will have to school the Inspector!
Fun, fun, fun....
September 6, 2020
Labor Day weekend is here, marking the end of summer. What an extraordinary summer it has been: almost no baseball, no trip to the beach, and pretty much all of my time devoted to reading. This year I have rekindled my enjoyment in reading Agatha Christie’s cases. I have long read mysteries in between denser prose and nonfiction to clear my palette, but I have found myself craving Dame Christie not as a palette cleanser but to see if I could put fit the pieces of the puzzle together and figure out whodunit before the end. My summer has seen me read much of Hercule Poirot, so I decided it was time for a change of pace and turned to Miss Marple of St Mary Mead.
Miss Marple is approaching ninety years old. She has cast a long network of friends, nieces and nephews, godchildren, and former employees. Yet, she still has a clear head and sharp mind and at her age enjoys solving murder mysteries. This case begins on a train which passes Brackhampton station. Missus Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses a dark haired man on a parallel train strangle a woman to death. Alarmed, she notifies the conductor, who writes off this behavior as a tall tale told by an old lady. En route to visit Miss Marple, Mrs McGillicuddy retells what she saw to the proper authorities, only to have each one tell her that she must have been seeing things. Miss Marple believes her friend. Other ladies might have been concocting tall tales, not Elspeth McGillicuddy. She is as honest as they come, and through Miss Marple’s network of police contacts, the ladies begin to unravel this heinous crime.
Miss Marple dictates this case from afar. She installs herself at a bed and breakfast in Brackhampton and employs a former housekeeper Lucy Eyelesbarrow to work at the same job at Rutherford Hall, a manor with acreage abutting the train rails. The land includes an embankment where a murderer could easily roll a body down a hill and then transport to a hiding place where authorities could not find it. Miss Marple is getting on in age and too old to be snooping for clues but Lucy Eyelesbarrow makes for a perfect sleuth. She has a sharp mind, yet opted to use her Oxford education as a housekeeper, and has maintained steady employment since graduation. Always thorough on the job, it would seem preposterous that Eyelesbarrow decided to clean out a little used shed on the property and discover a body. Miss Marple had been correct again, and with Scotland Yard alerted, it would not be long until we figure out whodunit, or would it.
Readers find out that the Crackenthorpe heirs of Rutherford Hall stands to inherit a large sum of money and land when their father passes away. The money would be split six ways, and, when Miss Marple discovered this, she thought how a murderer would, and realized that when money is involved, some people can get greedy. Once one murder is committed, it is it beyond the guilty party to commit a second or a third or even a fourth if s(he) is not caught. Miss Marple requested Inspector Craddock of Scotland Yard, a godson of a dear friend of hers. Because he is not the sharpest of inspectors, not surprisingly he requests Miss Marple’s advice on the case, and, with assistance from Miss Eyelesbarrow, the mystery resolves itself quickly. The back and forth a between Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock bring a smile to my face, as I wonder how dense the inspector actually is. In the end, it is the ladies who unravel the, in Miss Marple’s words, “simple” case, with Craddock and the local authorities wondering how she figured things out so quickly.
Miss Marple has been a change of pace for me from the intellect of Hercule Poirot. She is as sharp as a tack for her age, yet is a common woman and does not think herself as superior to anyone. The Queen of Crime shows through Miss Marple that just because someone is aged does not been that they are feeble, making her one of the first writers to address ageism in a positive manner. Per her usual, Dame Christie withholds a key piece of information until the end, making it nearly impossible for the average reader to figure out whodunit. This is why I keep turning to her mysteries to see if I can figure out that clue midway through a book and devise my own theories as to the murderer and motive. My summer of reading the cases of the Queen of Crime might be coming to a close, but I will continue to turn to her mysteries as a means of keeping my own mind as sharp as Miss Marple’s. Palette cleansers, there are always other detectives and mysteries for that.
3.5 ???♀? stars
Miss Marple is approaching ninety years old. She has cast a long network of friends, nieces and nephews, godchildren, and former employees. Yet, she still has a clear head and sharp mind and at her age enjoys solving murder mysteries. This case begins on a train which passes Brackhampton station. Missus Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses a dark haired man on a parallel train strangle a woman to death. Alarmed, she notifies the conductor, who writes off this behavior as a tall tale told by an old lady. En route to visit Miss Marple, Mrs McGillicuddy retells what she saw to the proper authorities, only to have each one tell her that she must have been seeing things. Miss Marple believes her friend. Other ladies might have been concocting tall tales, not Elspeth McGillicuddy. She is as honest as they come, and through Miss Marple’s network of police contacts, the ladies begin to unravel this heinous crime.
Miss Marple dictates this case from afar. She installs herself at a bed and breakfast in Brackhampton and employs a former housekeeper Lucy Eyelesbarrow to work at the same job at Rutherford Hall, a manor with acreage abutting the train rails. The land includes an embankment where a murderer could easily roll a body down a hill and then transport to a hiding place where authorities could not find it. Miss Marple is getting on in age and too old to be snooping for clues but Lucy Eyelesbarrow makes for a perfect sleuth. She has a sharp mind, yet opted to use her Oxford education as a housekeeper, and has maintained steady employment since graduation. Always thorough on the job, it would seem preposterous that Eyelesbarrow decided to clean out a little used shed on the property and discover a body. Miss Marple had been correct again, and with Scotland Yard alerted, it would not be long until we figure out whodunit, or would it.
Readers find out that the Crackenthorpe heirs of Rutherford Hall stands to inherit a large sum of money and land when their father passes away. The money would be split six ways, and, when Miss Marple discovered this, she thought how a murderer would, and realized that when money is involved, some people can get greedy. Once one murder is committed, it is it beyond the guilty party to commit a second or a third or even a fourth if s(he) is not caught. Miss Marple requested Inspector Craddock of Scotland Yard, a godson of a dear friend of hers. Because he is not the sharpest of inspectors, not surprisingly he requests Miss Marple’s advice on the case, and, with assistance from Miss Eyelesbarrow, the mystery resolves itself quickly. The back and forth a between Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock bring a smile to my face, as I wonder how dense the inspector actually is. In the end, it is the ladies who unravel the, in Miss Marple’s words, “simple” case, with Craddock and the local authorities wondering how she figured things out so quickly.
Miss Marple has been a change of pace for me from the intellect of Hercule Poirot. She is as sharp as a tack for her age, yet is a common woman and does not think herself as superior to anyone. The Queen of Crime shows through Miss Marple that just because someone is aged does not been that they are feeble, making her one of the first writers to address ageism in a positive manner. Per her usual, Dame Christie withholds a key piece of information until the end, making it nearly impossible for the average reader to figure out whodunit. This is why I keep turning to her mysteries to see if I can figure out that clue midway through a book and devise my own theories as to the murderer and motive. My summer of reading the cases of the Queen of Crime might be coming to a close, but I will continue to turn to her mysteries as a means of keeping my own mind as sharp as Miss Marple’s. Palette cleansers, there are always other detectives and mysteries for that.
3.5 ???♀? stars
January 8, 2022
Agatha Christie Book Reading Challenge
BOOK 7 :- JUNE 2019
3 STARS
BOOK 7 :- JUNE 2019
3 STARS
January 13, 2023
With its brilliant start, this specific Marple book was promising to be one of the best written by Agatha Christie. But unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be so. The story couldn't hold onto the initial excitement of the first chapters. It mercilessly dragged in the middle without much forward going in the criminal investigation. Then comes the twist at the end, out of the blue, making the whole thing more awkward than surprising.
It started very well. A crime is committed in a passing train which was witnessed by a passenger in a parallel train. And as this witness turned out to be a friend of Miss Marple, she interests herself in the crime. The cleverness displayed by Miss Marple to uncover the dead body and to establish the crime so to interest the police is admirable. I liked the idea of Miss Marple acting through a proxy, and the chosen proxy, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, is one of the most interesting characters I met in this series. When the story proceeded with the police investigation, however, I felt Miss Marple's role as a detective was undermined. It's her cleverness and analytical mind that help to uncover the criminal. And given that it's her brilliance that enabled to actuate the criminal investigation, I expected a more active involvement on her part. It was disappointing to see otherwise.
The story was exciting in the beginning, but it dragged painfully in the middle with no forward going with the investigation. The climax is rushed and the story ends abruptly. The twist at the end was rather awkward, as I've already said, although everything seems plausible when the criminal motive was explained. I guessed the criminal alright, but the motive was different from the one I formed. In any case, the denouncement didn't come as a surprise.
This could easily have been one of the best Agatha Christie stories. What with that excellent start, Christie could have created a memorable Marple book out of it. But unfortunately, it wasn't to be so. This novel seriously suffers from her "too much assurance".
It started very well. A crime is committed in a passing train which was witnessed by a passenger in a parallel train. And as this witness turned out to be a friend of Miss Marple, she interests herself in the crime. The cleverness displayed by Miss Marple to uncover the dead body and to establish the crime so to interest the police is admirable. I liked the idea of Miss Marple acting through a proxy, and the chosen proxy, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, is one of the most interesting characters I met in this series. When the story proceeded with the police investigation, however, I felt Miss Marple's role as a detective was undermined. It's her cleverness and analytical mind that help to uncover the criminal. And given that it's her brilliance that enabled to actuate the criminal investigation, I expected a more active involvement on her part. It was disappointing to see otherwise.
The story was exciting in the beginning, but it dragged painfully in the middle with no forward going with the investigation. The climax is rushed and the story ends abruptly. The twist at the end was rather awkward, as I've already said, although everything seems plausible when the criminal motive was explained. I guessed the criminal alright, but the motive was different from the one I formed. In any case, the denouncement didn't come as a surprise.
This could easily have been one of the best Agatha Christie stories. What with that excellent start, Christie could have created a memorable Marple book out of it. But unfortunately, it wasn't to be so. This novel seriously suffers from her "too much assurance".
January 2, 2022
Miss Marple is a delightful treasure, and in the 8th book of her series, 4:50 from Paddington, she's convinced her friend is telling the truth about witnessing a murder on a train. The cops and train conductor note the woman's account but mostly believe she simply woke up from a nap and misunderstood what was happening in a train passing by her train on an adjacent track. Our doddering old sleuth sets another friend on the case, and by about a third into the story, the body is found! Of course, it could only take Dame Agatha Christie to pull off a tale like this one.
A rich old family with 2 daughters and 4 sons. The patriarch is sick and dying. One daughter is dead and one son was presumed lost in the war. A grandchild or two. The nurse has caught the eye of several male family members. The doctor fancies the daughter but won't ask her out. What's really going on? Hidden beneath the surface is a cleverly woven tale of secret drama, and as it all comes to the surface, so does the body count. I liked this one immensely, even if the plot is a little concerning. I'm not entirely sure how Miss Marple could really be certain that her friend was truthful... if a friend told me they saw a murder and the police wouldn't do much... I'd probably walk away after not finding any immediate clues. Then again, if I didn't work two jobs, and I had tons of free time, it might be cool to keep focused on it
All that said, another memorable trip into the past. I can't believe some of these stories have just hit their 100-year-anniversary! Highly recommended for all.
A rich old family with 2 daughters and 4 sons. The patriarch is sick and dying. One daughter is dead and one son was presumed lost in the war. A grandchild or two. The nurse has caught the eye of several male family members. The doctor fancies the daughter but won't ask her out. What's really going on? Hidden beneath the surface is a cleverly woven tale of secret drama, and as it all comes to the surface, so does the body count. I liked this one immensely, even if the plot is a little concerning. I'm not entirely sure how Miss Marple could really be certain that her friend was truthful... if a friend told me they saw a murder and the police wouldn't do much... I'd probably walk away after not finding any immediate clues. Then again, if I didn't work two jobs, and I had tons of free time, it might be cool to keep focused on it
All that said, another memorable trip into the past. I can't believe some of these stories have just hit their 100-year-anniversary! Highly recommended for all.
July 8, 2017
" Doamna McGillicuddy r?mase ?ncruntat? ?i vag nemul?umit?. Oare conductorul avea s? raporteze cele relatate de ea? Sau spusese a?a doar ca s-o lini?teasc?? Erau o mul?ime de femei ?n v?rst? care c?l?toreau prin ?ar?, pe deplin convinse c? demascaser? comploturi comuniste, c? erau ?n pericol de a fi omor?te, c? au v?zut farfurii zbur?toare ?i nave spa?iale secrete ?i raportau crime care nu avuseser? loc niciodat?. Dac? omul o considera drept una dintre ele... "
"- Nu chiar, spuse Craddock. E o idee foarte de?teapt? s? spui ferm c? nu-?i aminte?ti. Foarte mul?i oameni nu ??i amintesc ce au f?cut ?i unde au fost acum o s?pt?m?n?. Este util ?ndeosebi dac? nu vrei s? atragi aten?ia asupra felului ?n care ?i-ai petrecut timpul."
"- Nu chiar, spuse Craddock. E o idee foarte de?teapt? s? spui ferm c? nu-?i aminte?ti. Foarte mul?i oameni nu ??i amintesc ce au f?cut ?i unde au fost acum o s?pt?m?n?. Este util ?ndeosebi dac? nu vrei s? atragi aten?ia asupra felului ?n care ?i-ai petrecut timpul."
April 28, 2024
4:50 from Paddington is the 8th novel by Agatha Christie to feature her genteel amateur sleuth, Miss Marple. It was first published in 1957, and might well have been the first novel I read by Agatha Christie.
I remember the day when I was first allowed through the double doors from the children’s library to the main adult library. I was perhaps 14. The libraries which still have special children’s tickets now, seem to specify ages of 5 to between 13-16, but many libraries now incorporate both adult and children’s sections within one library. Nevertheless, the thrill of that day remains with me.
What would I choose? In fact I chose one book by Agatha Christie and a Sherlock Holmes one by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (only to discover when I got home that a visiting relative told me one was much better than the other, but refused to tell me which! I now think he was being a little snooty about Dame Agatha …)
Did he have good reason? Well this is not her best crime novel, although it is certainly enjoyable. It features a murder on a train, one of Agatha Christie’s favourite devices, since it is a variant on the locked room mystery, with the added spice of locomotion. British fans of her books would have a good idea of what was about to occur when they read the title 4:50 from Paddington, as Paddington is one of the largest railway terminal stations in London. Their appetites would be whetted for a murder mystery similar to “Murder on the Orient Express” - two decades earlier, and with Hercule Poirot as detective - in 1934. However an international reading audience of 1957 may not have been as conversant with London railway stations as they are now, so the author’s American publishers decided not to risk this title, but instead call it “What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw!, complete with arresting exclamation mark. Instead of heightening the intrigue for British audiences though, this title may well have conjured up sleazy ”What the Butler Saw!” seaside coin-in-the-slot Victorian peepshows, or French farces. At any rate Collins publishers decided on discretion, and later British editions always have the original title 4:50 from Paddington.
The story begins in a gripping way, with the murder taking place very early on. Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy is on the train from London, setting off to visit her friend Miss Jane Marple in St. Mary Mead. At one point on the track her train passes another, running in the same direction. We know from one of the titles, (and by the genre we are reading) the sort of thing she is likely to see which would merit an exclamation mark in 1957. These were times well before the almost mandatory use of exclamation marks in current textspeech. Mrs. McGillycuddy is of course horrified, and reports this to various officials, but after taking a look at her lurid reading material, and noting her age, they put her down as a dotty old lady having a vivid dream as she indulged herself having a snooze for forty winks.
However, Miss Marple knows that her friend is an honest woman - and has no imagination at all - so that what she reports as having seen must be the literal truth. She insists that the police follow this up, which they do to the best of their ability, but since there is no evidence to bear out what Mrs. McGillycuddy was so sure she had seen, they inevitably come to the same conclusion as the railway guards and officials. Mrs. McGillycuddy has gone off on holiday abroad by now, but Miss Marple is still cogitating.
She is feeling the effects of old age by now, and is no longer as sprightly as she once was, although her mental acuity remains as sharp as ever. Miss Marple has quizzed her friend closely, and knows exactly which train she took.
Those who have ever travelled by train in Britain or Europe may wonder about the likely topography of the route taken by the 4:50 from Paddington. Agatha Christie herself researched this quite closely before she wrote her novel. The Paddington line serves the stations to Devon. However there must be a possibility of two parallel tracks at some point on the line, unless we are to believe that the entire scene was some sort of mirrored reflection (which is not beyond the bounds of possibility; this author has used this device before after all.) There must also be somewhere for .
Agatha Christie found all this in the real life Abney Hall, the splendid Victorian mansion belonging to the Watts family. Agatha Christie spent many Christmasses and holidays there with her best friend and sister-in-law Nan Watts. So she transposed this hall and its environs to Devon, and fictionalised it as the slightly down-at-heel “Rutherford Hall”. The lodge has since been demolished, and only the gates are left standing, but the description of Rutherford Hall in the opening chapters fits this perfectly. In addition, a Victorian map of the estate of Abney Hall show the proximity of two railway lines; the London and the North West lines. One of these has since been lifted for economic reasons, but when Agatha Christie originally wrote the novel, they were there, adjacent to Abney Hall.
In 1961, four years after the book was first published, MGM decided to begin a series of Miss Marple films, kicking off with 4:50 from Paddington, which they renamed “Murder, She Said.” It had a strong cast, led by Margaret Rutherford, despite the fact that Agatha Christie herself said that although Margaret Rutherford was a “fine actress”, she bore no resemblance to her own idea of Miss Marple. Agatha Christie had seen her own ideal incarnation of Miss Marple; a young woman at the time, but who would be perfect in the future when she eventually grew older. It was a young woman playing a maid on the London stage, and her name was Joan Hickson.
And of course Joan Hickson did indeed go on to play Miss Marple for the BBC, not only in a dramatisation of 4:50 from Paddington in 1987, but also in dramatisations of every short story and novel Agatha Christie wrote with Miss Marple in; the entire canon. Plus Joan Hickson actually had a small part in this first 1961 film “Murder, She Said”, playing Mrs. Kidder.
The 1987 adaptation with Joan Hickson is my preferred one, and I have watched it many times, even though it differs from the novel itself in a few key places. Sometimes this is to enable a smooth continuation of the television series, such as adding Inspector Duckham and the recurring characters from the BBC television series, Inspector Slack and Sergeant Lake, and making Detective-Inspector Dermot Craddock, Miss Marple’s godson rather than Sir Henry Clithering’s. There is no Both of these threads are inventions of the 1987 BBC film, plus there is one which is lifted straight from the 1961 film: . The two young boys also feature more largely in the adaptation, , and at the end, Miss Marple openly expresses her views about an upcoming marriage, which she does not do in the novel.
However, none of these minor story changes affect the plot line adversely in my opinion, and it is surely to its advantage that Miss Marple is played by the author’s own personal choice of actor.
The BBC also dramatised the novel as a single 90-minute episode for radio, which was first broadcast in March 1997. June Whitfield played Miss Marple, and went on to act the part in further dramatisations; I feel she acts the part authentically.
There is one remaining dramatisation, by ITV in 2004 for the series “Marple” starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. When it was shown in the US, the title was changed to “What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!” This adaptation contains several major changes from the novel, which diverge from the novel so much that it is almost a completely different story! I shan’t bother to enumerate them, since the entire series of “Marple” seems to be staged differently from Agatha Christie’s intention, with the actors playing their parts in such a droll, knowing way that the entire production seems camp. Some viewers like this, but it is not in keeping, in my view.
Margaret Rutherford also played her role for laughs, although she was well received enough to reprise it for 3 further films of Agatha Christie’s novels. I very much enjoyed it at the time … not quite as early as 1961, as at that time English local cinemas used to show films which had been released a few years before. I had never read an Agatha Christie novel, but I knew the name, so accordingly in the long school holiday one summer, still entitled to a child’s 6d. ticket, I took the bus (or perhaps walked) on my own to the local cinema to see “Murder She Said!” I loved it, ripply pink curtains rising over the black and white screen and all, and from then on determined that I would visit the cinema as often as I could. Again, such solitary pleasures are probably denied to today’s children, in a world full of fears for them, both real and imaginary.
My rating of four stars is in part an affection for this novel, rather than an objective rating. In fairness it probably should stay at my default of three stars. There are huge coincidences, for instance knowing a detective inspector at?Scotland Yard personally (Dermot Craddock, who first met Miss Marple in “A Murder is Announced”?and was also to work with her in "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side"). Not only that, but also in this case she has a great-nephew, David, who works for British Railways. Also, is it likely that Miss Marple, in these class-ridden novels, would know just the right sort of person to ? We are expected to believe that she and her brothers are all academic highflyers, and that she is a veritable mathematical genius, yet prefers to work hard at short-term grinding domestic labour, in order to have the money to go on holidays abroad. This seems to be a carefully contrived plot device, rather than a realistic and believable portrait of a young woman of the time. And (sorry Dame Agatha!) a couple of the changes in the 1987 film do seem to make the plot more plausible.
A fellow crime writer of the time, Anthony Berkeley Cox, (who wrote under the pen name of Francis Iles), wrote in “The Guardian” newspaper that he was disappointed. He admitted to a liking for the “sprightly stories” of Agatha Christie, but also looked for:
“detection: genuine, steady, logical detection, taking us step by step nearer to the heart of the mystery. Unfortunately it is that quality that is missing in 4.50 from Paddington. The police never seem to find out a single thing, and even Miss Marples (sic) lies low and says nuffin’ to the point until the final dramatic exposure. There is the usual small gallery of interesting and perfectly credible characters and nothing could be easier to read. But please, Mrs Christie, a little more of that incomparable detection next time.”
And the current mystery writer Robert Barnard seems to agree, saying that it:
“settles down into a good old family murder. Contains one of Christie’s few sympathetic independent women. Miss Marple apparently solves the crime by divine guidance, for there is very little in the way of clues or logical deduction.”
Nevertheless it is an entertaining read, with plenty of engaging characters, and a murderer who is cleverly disguised for almost the entire story. I have no doubt that I will choose it again, should I need a comfort mystery read (or watch) when I have the ’flu. As the critic of the “Times Literary Supplement” in 1957 said:
“Miss Christie never harrows her readers, being content to intrigue and amuse them.”
I remember the day when I was first allowed through the double doors from the children’s library to the main adult library. I was perhaps 14. The libraries which still have special children’s tickets now, seem to specify ages of 5 to between 13-16, but many libraries now incorporate both adult and children’s sections within one library. Nevertheless, the thrill of that day remains with me.
What would I choose? In fact I chose one book by Agatha Christie and a Sherlock Holmes one by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (only to discover when I got home that a visiting relative told me one was much better than the other, but refused to tell me which! I now think he was being a little snooty about Dame Agatha …)
Did he have good reason? Well this is not her best crime novel, although it is certainly enjoyable. It features a murder on a train, one of Agatha Christie’s favourite devices, since it is a variant on the locked room mystery, with the added spice of locomotion. British fans of her books would have a good idea of what was about to occur when they read the title 4:50 from Paddington, as Paddington is one of the largest railway terminal stations in London. Their appetites would be whetted for a murder mystery similar to “Murder on the Orient Express” - two decades earlier, and with Hercule Poirot as detective - in 1934. However an international reading audience of 1957 may not have been as conversant with London railway stations as they are now, so the author’s American publishers decided not to risk this title, but instead call it “What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw!, complete with arresting exclamation mark. Instead of heightening the intrigue for British audiences though, this title may well have conjured up sleazy ”What the Butler Saw!” seaside coin-in-the-slot Victorian peepshows, or French farces. At any rate Collins publishers decided on discretion, and later British editions always have the original title 4:50 from Paddington.
The story begins in a gripping way, with the murder taking place very early on. Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy is on the train from London, setting off to visit her friend Miss Jane Marple in St. Mary Mead. At one point on the track her train passes another, running in the same direction. We know from one of the titles, (and by the genre we are reading) the sort of thing she is likely to see which would merit an exclamation mark in 1957. These were times well before the almost mandatory use of exclamation marks in current textspeech. Mrs. McGillycuddy is of course horrified, and reports this to various officials, but after taking a look at her lurid reading material, and noting her age, they put her down as a dotty old lady having a vivid dream as she indulged herself having a snooze for forty winks.
However, Miss Marple knows that her friend is an honest woman - and has no imagination at all - so that what she reports as having seen must be the literal truth. She insists that the police follow this up, which they do to the best of their ability, but since there is no evidence to bear out what Mrs. McGillycuddy was so sure she had seen, they inevitably come to the same conclusion as the railway guards and officials. Mrs. McGillycuddy has gone off on holiday abroad by now, but Miss Marple is still cogitating.
She is feeling the effects of old age by now, and is no longer as sprightly as she once was, although her mental acuity remains as sharp as ever. Miss Marple has quizzed her friend closely, and knows exactly which train she took.
Those who have ever travelled by train in Britain or Europe may wonder about the likely topography of the route taken by the 4:50 from Paddington. Agatha Christie herself researched this quite closely before she wrote her novel. The Paddington line serves the stations to Devon. However there must be a possibility of two parallel tracks at some point on the line, unless we are to believe that the entire scene was some sort of mirrored reflection (which is not beyond the bounds of possibility; this author has used this device before after all.) There must also be somewhere for .
Agatha Christie found all this in the real life Abney Hall, the splendid Victorian mansion belonging to the Watts family. Agatha Christie spent many Christmasses and holidays there with her best friend and sister-in-law Nan Watts. So she transposed this hall and its environs to Devon, and fictionalised it as the slightly down-at-heel “Rutherford Hall”. The lodge has since been demolished, and only the gates are left standing, but the description of Rutherford Hall in the opening chapters fits this perfectly. In addition, a Victorian map of the estate of Abney Hall show the proximity of two railway lines; the London and the North West lines. One of these has since been lifted for economic reasons, but when Agatha Christie originally wrote the novel, they were there, adjacent to Abney Hall.
In 1961, four years after the book was first published, MGM decided to begin a series of Miss Marple films, kicking off with 4:50 from Paddington, which they renamed “Murder, She Said.” It had a strong cast, led by Margaret Rutherford, despite the fact that Agatha Christie herself said that although Margaret Rutherford was a “fine actress”, she bore no resemblance to her own idea of Miss Marple. Agatha Christie had seen her own ideal incarnation of Miss Marple; a young woman at the time, but who would be perfect in the future when she eventually grew older. It was a young woman playing a maid on the London stage, and her name was Joan Hickson.
And of course Joan Hickson did indeed go on to play Miss Marple for the BBC, not only in a dramatisation of 4:50 from Paddington in 1987, but also in dramatisations of every short story and novel Agatha Christie wrote with Miss Marple in; the entire canon. Plus Joan Hickson actually had a small part in this first 1961 film “Murder, She Said”, playing Mrs. Kidder.
The 1987 adaptation with Joan Hickson is my preferred one, and I have watched it many times, even though it differs from the novel itself in a few key places. Sometimes this is to enable a smooth continuation of the television series, such as adding Inspector Duckham and the recurring characters from the BBC television series, Inspector Slack and Sergeant Lake, and making Detective-Inspector Dermot Craddock, Miss Marple’s godson rather than Sir Henry Clithering’s. There is no Both of these threads are inventions of the 1987 BBC film, plus there is one which is lifted straight from the 1961 film: . The two young boys also feature more largely in the adaptation, , and at the end, Miss Marple openly expresses her views about an upcoming marriage, which she does not do in the novel.
However, none of these minor story changes affect the plot line adversely in my opinion, and it is surely to its advantage that Miss Marple is played by the author’s own personal choice of actor.
The BBC also dramatised the novel as a single 90-minute episode for radio, which was first broadcast in March 1997. June Whitfield played Miss Marple, and went on to act the part in further dramatisations; I feel she acts the part authentically.
There is one remaining dramatisation, by ITV in 2004 for the series “Marple” starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. When it was shown in the US, the title was changed to “What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!” This adaptation contains several major changes from the novel, which diverge from the novel so much that it is almost a completely different story! I shan’t bother to enumerate them, since the entire series of “Marple” seems to be staged differently from Agatha Christie’s intention, with the actors playing their parts in such a droll, knowing way that the entire production seems camp. Some viewers like this, but it is not in keeping, in my view.
Margaret Rutherford also played her role for laughs, although she was well received enough to reprise it for 3 further films of Agatha Christie’s novels. I very much enjoyed it at the time … not quite as early as 1961, as at that time English local cinemas used to show films which had been released a few years before. I had never read an Agatha Christie novel, but I knew the name, so accordingly in the long school holiday one summer, still entitled to a child’s 6d. ticket, I took the bus (or perhaps walked) on my own to the local cinema to see “Murder She Said!” I loved it, ripply pink curtains rising over the black and white screen and all, and from then on determined that I would visit the cinema as often as I could. Again, such solitary pleasures are probably denied to today’s children, in a world full of fears for them, both real and imaginary.
My rating of four stars is in part an affection for this novel, rather than an objective rating. In fairness it probably should stay at my default of three stars. There are huge coincidences, for instance knowing a detective inspector at?Scotland Yard personally (Dermot Craddock, who first met Miss Marple in “A Murder is Announced”?and was also to work with her in "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side"). Not only that, but also in this case she has a great-nephew, David, who works for British Railways. Also, is it likely that Miss Marple, in these class-ridden novels, would know just the right sort of person to ? We are expected to believe that she and her brothers are all academic highflyers, and that she is a veritable mathematical genius, yet prefers to work hard at short-term grinding domestic labour, in order to have the money to go on holidays abroad. This seems to be a carefully contrived plot device, rather than a realistic and believable portrait of a young woman of the time. And (sorry Dame Agatha!) a couple of the changes in the 1987 film do seem to make the plot more plausible.
A fellow crime writer of the time, Anthony Berkeley Cox, (who wrote under the pen name of Francis Iles), wrote in “The Guardian” newspaper that he was disappointed. He admitted to a liking for the “sprightly stories” of Agatha Christie, but also looked for:
“detection: genuine, steady, logical detection, taking us step by step nearer to the heart of the mystery. Unfortunately it is that quality that is missing in 4.50 from Paddington. The police never seem to find out a single thing, and even Miss Marples (sic) lies low and says nuffin’ to the point until the final dramatic exposure. There is the usual small gallery of interesting and perfectly credible characters and nothing could be easier to read. But please, Mrs Christie, a little more of that incomparable detection next time.”
And the current mystery writer Robert Barnard seems to agree, saying that it:
“settles down into a good old family murder. Contains one of Christie’s few sympathetic independent women. Miss Marple apparently solves the crime by divine guidance, for there is very little in the way of clues or logical deduction.”
Nevertheless it is an entertaining read, with plenty of engaging characters, and a murderer who is cleverly disguised for almost the entire story. I have no doubt that I will choose it again, should I need a comfort mystery read (or watch) when I have the ’flu. As the critic of the “Times Literary Supplement” in 1957 said:
“Miss Christie never harrows her readers, being content to intrigue and amuse them.”
December 18, 2022
I took a sleeper train from Glasgow to London to read this book and I had to try and solve it myself before I reached the end of the line. Check out the video on YouTube:
August 2, 2022
TFW you really want a character to die or be the murderer but they don’t and they aren’t ?
This was a solid mystery, I just thought the evidence tying the villain to the crime was slightly weak.
This was a solid mystery, I just thought the evidence tying the villain to the crime was slightly weak.
October 19, 2021
"Standing with his back to the window and to her was a man. His hands were round the throat of a woman who faced him, and he was slowly, remorselessly, strangling her. Her eyes were starting from their sockets, her face was purple and congested. As Mrs. McGillicuddy watched, fascinated, the end came, the body went limp and crumpled in the man's hands." (PG. 9)
Miss Marple was here since the beginning and it was thrilling. Her friend witnesses a murder on a train opposite her. No one believes her especially the next day when no one has reported a missing woman. Miss Marple believes her but she needs to put a plan together.
As the plan comes together we meet a bunch of greedy, shady characters.
As always the ending is a complete surprise and wacks you in the face. Again, no clue as to who was the murderer.
Miss Marple was here since the beginning and it was thrilling. Her friend witnesses a murder on a train opposite her. No one believes her especially the next day when no one has reported a missing woman. Miss Marple believes her but she needs to put a plan together.
As the plan comes together we meet a bunch of greedy, shady characters.
As always the ending is a complete surprise and wacks you in the face. Again, no clue as to who was the murderer.
October 14, 2023
3.5/5
Szkoda, ?e w tej cz??ci tak ma?o panny Marple :(
Szkoda, ?e w tej cz??ci tak ma?o panny Marple :(
August 6, 2024
I hate to admit it. And yet I must. I skimmed an Agatha Christie novel.
I've read several of her books. In fact, her dark Egyptian tale, 'Death comes as the end" is among my top 50 books ever. But there is no way for me not to say the truth. I was bored. I skimmed most if it. I did not like it.
There wasn't anything wrong with this book at all. It's a cozy mystery, a "who done it."
The murder takes place on a train and is witnessed by another person on another train.
I read straight through to about 20 percent or so but it was not keeping my attention.
I wish it were possible to talk oneself into liking a genre. I have had this issue before with cozy mysteries. I try to read one, almost always I take to skimming.
I really don''t know why but I just do not care for the genre.
This cozy and sweet and interesting and -- it just did nothing for me.
Much of it was told, not shown. I also have to say that the book I referenced above, the one I adore, is much more my style.
I happen to adore historical mysteries ,particularly those taking place in exotic locations like Egypt.
I did want to see who done it. But that didn't even interest me all that much. I cannot give ANYTHING by her less than a three and I've no doubt fans of this genre will love and have loved this.
I think I'll give up on the cozy mystery genre.
I've read several of her books. In fact, her dark Egyptian tale, 'Death comes as the end" is among my top 50 books ever. But there is no way for me not to say the truth. I was bored. I skimmed most if it. I did not like it.
There wasn't anything wrong with this book at all. It's a cozy mystery, a "who done it."
The murder takes place on a train and is witnessed by another person on another train.
I read straight through to about 20 percent or so but it was not keeping my attention.
I wish it were possible to talk oneself into liking a genre. I have had this issue before with cozy mysteries. I try to read one, almost always I take to skimming.
I really don''t know why but I just do not care for the genre.
This cozy and sweet and interesting and -- it just did nothing for me.
Much of it was told, not shown. I also have to say that the book I referenced above, the one I adore, is much more my style.
I happen to adore historical mysteries ,particularly those taking place in exotic locations like Egypt.
I did want to see who done it. But that didn't even interest me all that much. I cannot give ANYTHING by her less than a three and I've no doubt fans of this genre will love and have loved this.
I think I'll give up on the cozy mystery genre.
May 24, 2017
Mrs Elspeth Gillicuddy is returning from Christmas shopping to visit her friend when a train, going in the opposite direction to the one she is travelling on, stops opposite her carriage and she witnesses a murder. Nobody believes her story, but, of course, the friend she is visiting is Miss Marple, who is very willing – not only to believe her, but to investigate.
Having deduced the likely place for a body to be left, Miss Marple involves the super efficient Lucy Eyelesbarrow to take work at Rutherford Hall, home to the miserly invalid Mr Crackenthorpe and his his daughter, Emma. Then she tasks her to investigate the grounds, to see whether she can discover the mystery woman that Mrs Gillicuddy saw strangled on a train.
This is one of the most enjoyable Miss Marple novels I have read. With Miss Marple ensconced in a nearby boarding house, Lucy embarks on her investigation. Mr Crackenthorpe rules the house by controlling the money given to his daughters and sons – businessman, Harold, artist, Cedric, black sheep, Alfred and his son in law, Bryan. There are possible heirs, a missing victim, poison, lots of clues and a great cast of characters. An excellent read, which confirms that Christie is, indeed, the ultimate Queen of Crime.
Having deduced the likely place for a body to be left, Miss Marple involves the super efficient Lucy Eyelesbarrow to take work at Rutherford Hall, home to the miserly invalid Mr Crackenthorpe and his his daughter, Emma. Then she tasks her to investigate the grounds, to see whether she can discover the mystery woman that Mrs Gillicuddy saw strangled on a train.
This is one of the most enjoyable Miss Marple novels I have read. With Miss Marple ensconced in a nearby boarding house, Lucy embarks on her investigation. Mr Crackenthorpe rules the house by controlling the money given to his daughters and sons – businessman, Harold, artist, Cedric, black sheep, Alfred and his son in law, Bryan. There are possible heirs, a missing victim, poison, lots of clues and a great cast of characters. An excellent read, which confirms that Christie is, indeed, the ultimate Queen of Crime.
June 30, 2017
So let's say you are an elderly Scottish woman. While you are returning from a day of christmas shopping in the city you happen to glance out the train window and see something quite unsettling in a neighboring train: A MURDER
No one else is around and when you report this terrible, unsettling crime you are met with severe skepticism. What is one to do? You've just seen a woman killed, you have no idea what the murderer looks like, and you are afraid you one will believe the rambling of a silly old Scottish woman.
Well, if you are Mrs. McGillicuddy (which I think we can all agree is an AMAZING name) you confide your fears to your good friend Miss Jane "I have caught so many more murderers than you" Marple. This dame knows how to get things done.
Witness never saw the murderer? Not a problem.
No body was ever found? Hardly an inconvenience.
No idea which train it was that the murder took place on? She has people for that
Too old to actually go sleuthing about? She'll just use her inherent awesomeness to convince an equally awesome woman to go undercover and prove my brilliant theory was right. she'll just chill on the background and let the youngfolks run about while carefully processing all the clues and catch YET ANOTHER murderer because she is that awesome (certainly more awesome than any of us will ever be. I haven't even caught one murderer).
But in all seriousness Christie constructed both a very neat murder mystery and some pretty fascinating characters to go along with it. She weaves a story of an overbearing patriarch, ungrateful and rather wretched children (well not all, most the majority of them), some mysterious letters, and a body whose origins are unknown. Like most of her mysteries I had no idea who the killer was and the solution to the murder was elegant and followed logically from all the information the reader has been exposed to.
Interestingly there was actually very little Miss Marple in this story. She shows up in the beginning, but, recognizing how old and frail she has become, enlists the aid of one Lucy Eyelesbarrow to do the footwork of tracking down Miss Marple's hunches. The chapters tell the story from different characters' perspectives and provides a wide view of the mystery for the reader. The plot is brisk but well paced and Christie does a wonderful job giving all of the characters depth and purpose. All in all a smashing mystery that was engaging and rewarding.
It should be noted I consumed this book in audio form. The narrator, , did a stupendous job with the voices. It was very clear from her tone, pacing, and accent what character was speaking at a given time and her voice in no way distracted from the story she was narrating. I would definitely listen to another Christie audio book if she was the one doing the narration.
No one else is around and when you report this terrible, unsettling crime you are met with severe skepticism. What is one to do? You've just seen a woman killed, you have no idea what the murderer looks like, and you are afraid you one will believe the rambling of a silly old Scottish woman.
Well, if you are Mrs. McGillicuddy (which I think we can all agree is an AMAZING name) you confide your fears to your good friend Miss Jane "I have caught so many more murderers than you" Marple. This dame knows how to get things done.
Witness never saw the murderer? Not a problem.
No body was ever found? Hardly an inconvenience.
No idea which train it was that the murder took place on? She has people for that
Too old to actually go sleuthing about? She'll just use her inherent awesomeness to convince an equally awesome woman to go undercover and prove my brilliant theory was right. she'll just chill on the background and let the youngfolks run about while carefully processing all the clues and catch YET ANOTHER murderer because she is that awesome (certainly more awesome than any of us will ever be. I haven't even caught one murderer).
But in all seriousness Christie constructed both a very neat murder mystery and some pretty fascinating characters to go along with it. She weaves a story of an overbearing patriarch, ungrateful and rather wretched children (well not all, most the majority of them), some mysterious letters, and a body whose origins are unknown. Like most of her mysteries I had no idea who the killer was and the solution to the murder was elegant and followed logically from all the information the reader has been exposed to.
Interestingly there was actually very little Miss Marple in this story. She shows up in the beginning, but, recognizing how old and frail she has become, enlists the aid of one Lucy Eyelesbarrow to do the footwork of tracking down Miss Marple's hunches. The chapters tell the story from different characters' perspectives and provides a wide view of the mystery for the reader. The plot is brisk but well paced and Christie does a wonderful job giving all of the characters depth and purpose. All in all a smashing mystery that was engaging and rewarding.
It should be noted I consumed this book in audio form. The narrator, , did a stupendous job with the voices. It was very clear from her tone, pacing, and accent what character was speaking at a given time and her voice in no way distracted from the story she was narrating. I would definitely listen to another Christie audio book if she was the one doing the narration.
March 6, 2016
Huzzah, I guessed the identity of the murderer correctly. I hit on his identity fairly early, when only one of the three murders had been committed. I didn't know anything else. Sadly to say, I couldn't guess the identity of the strangled lady. What propelled this book to 5 stars is the enormous interest I had for the first murder, which was evil in character but also very exciting to read about. Then there's the two basic murders of the brothers. They catch you unawares. They highlight the first murder and the final solution provided by Miss Marple seems to take too long.
Miss Jane Marple has the knack of solving cases which baffle Scotland Yard officials. How she does this may be explained, but cannot be taught. That's why we want to read every story of hers. People as old as Marple, who live in the same place and never travel much, don't have anything new to say. The quirky ability to reason sets her apart from other people of her gender, age, and class.
She gets help in this case via Lucy Eyelesbarrow - for me an unpronounceable name- who becomes her eyes and her brawn. Miss Marple doesn't have the body, or the opportunity to infiltrate the sprawling household where she expects a body is hidden. I thought all this arrangement was clumsy but necessary. Anyway I was soon engrossed in the intrigue. The author has the guts to prolong the suspense regarding the identity of the first body. The fact that she does this with ease while obscuring from the stage the presence of Miss Marple and instead concentrating on Lucy and Inspector Craddock, betrays her confidence in her writing.
Now, I'm wondering that this fragile, flickering, growing habit of mine to guess Agatha Christie's puzzlers can be strengthened. One trick is to eliminate most of the people who are pointedly probed as suspects. That's how partly I arrived at the correct solution. But another trick is to take a fact provided by the author. A big fact, an important fact that may be true or be a case of misdirection. You then have to decide if this important fact is true or if it's a red herring. Chances are that it will be untrue. If it's untrue then go against the direction to which the author is slyly trying to shoo you. It worked for me for this book. It may work regularly.
Miss Jane Marple has the knack of solving cases which baffle Scotland Yard officials. How she does this may be explained, but cannot be taught. That's why we want to read every story of hers. People as old as Marple, who live in the same place and never travel much, don't have anything new to say. The quirky ability to reason sets her apart from other people of her gender, age, and class.
She gets help in this case via Lucy Eyelesbarrow - for me an unpronounceable name- who becomes her eyes and her brawn. Miss Marple doesn't have the body, or the opportunity to infiltrate the sprawling household where she expects a body is hidden. I thought all this arrangement was clumsy but necessary. Anyway I was soon engrossed in the intrigue. The author has the guts to prolong the suspense regarding the identity of the first body. The fact that she does this with ease while obscuring from the stage the presence of Miss Marple and instead concentrating on Lucy and Inspector Craddock, betrays her confidence in her writing.
Now, I'm wondering that this fragile, flickering, growing habit of mine to guess Agatha Christie's puzzlers can be strengthened. One trick is to eliminate most of the people who are pointedly probed as suspects. That's how partly I arrived at the correct solution. But another trick is to take a fact provided by the author. A big fact, an important fact that may be true or be a case of misdirection. You then have to decide if this important fact is true or if it's a red herring. Chances are that it will be untrue. If it's untrue then go against the direction to which the author is slyly trying to shoo you. It worked for me for this book. It may work regularly.
August 23, 2020
Agatha Christie's writing and skill at plotting mysteries is such that her books stand up so well to time and still seem fresh today despite being published over 60 years ago.
This is one of my favourite Miss Marple novels, where her friend, Elspeth Gillycuddy swears she saw a woman being strangled in a train going past hers. However, as no body is later reported, no one believes her. Except Miss Marple of course, who sets about figuring where the body could have been dumped out of the train and comes up with a plan to look for it in the grounds of a country manor house. This is a well plotted mystery with a good dose of red herrings surrounding the identity of the woman and who could have killed her. (Note to self to re-read more Miss Marple mysteries in future.)
This is one of my favourite Miss Marple novels, where her friend, Elspeth Gillycuddy swears she saw a woman being strangled in a train going past hers. However, as no body is later reported, no one believes her. Except Miss Marple of course, who sets about figuring where the body could have been dumped out of the train and comes up with a plan to look for it in the grounds of a country manor house. This is a well plotted mystery with a good dose of red herrings surrounding the identity of the woman and who could have killed her. (Note to self to re-read more Miss Marple mysteries in future.)
February 26, 2020
"La verdad es que la gente forma una mezcla extraordinaria de heroísmo y cobardía".
January 4, 2021
Ambientado en Navidad y muy entretenido. De los mejores de la autora y la Se?orita Marpple adorable.
Muy recomendable.
Muy recomendable.
February 7, 2017
An enjoyable quickie. Fittingly, it's the sort of mystery quick-fix you could finish on a train, say London to York...or better yet, London to Paris!
In 4.50 from Paddington an old lady witnesses what she believes is a murder on another train traveling alongside hers. The police have nothing to go on besides her story and they're disinclined to believe her. In steps Miss Marple, that aged busybody. With the help of a young acquaintance, Marple strings together the evidence from the sidelines.
In fact, Marple appears in this book very little. Scenes play out, red herrings are dropped about the reader commingled with the real story, and Marple stitches them together or assists with helpful advice from afar before arriving on the scene to deliver the decisive blow in the end.
I believe this is only my second Miss Marple and as I said, it was quite enjoyable. Sure, it's a tad quaint in a "Murder She Wrote" way, but it's a nice change from the bloody-minded crime novels. I'd give it perhaps 4 stars if it had a touch more depth and ingenuity. But the premise is good and on the whole it's a perfect diversion for a short journey.
In 4.50 from Paddington an old lady witnesses what she believes is a murder on another train traveling alongside hers. The police have nothing to go on besides her story and they're disinclined to believe her. In steps Miss Marple, that aged busybody. With the help of a young acquaintance, Marple strings together the evidence from the sidelines.
In fact, Marple appears in this book very little. Scenes play out, red herrings are dropped about the reader commingled with the real story, and Marple stitches them together or assists with helpful advice from afar before arriving on the scene to deliver the decisive blow in the end.
I believe this is only my second Miss Marple and as I said, it was quite enjoyable. Sure, it's a tad quaint in a "Murder She Wrote" way, but it's a nice change from the bloody-minded crime novels. I'd give it perhaps 4 stars if it had a touch more depth and ingenuity. But the premise is good and on the whole it's a perfect diversion for a short journey.
September 18, 2016
Σατανικ? απλ?....μωρ? τρ?λα Μ?ρπλ μα? ?χει? π?ρει το μυαλ? ?
April 11, 2025
Well, I seem to be on a mission to re-read all the Miss Marples at the moment. When I finish I will rank order them, but for now, I will predict that this one will end up somewhere in the middle.
Miss Marple’s friend Mrs. McGillicuddy is traveling by train from London to visit Miss Marple prior to heading off to her son’s home in Ceylon for an extended Christmas stay. For a brief moment, her train runs parallel to another train headed in the same direction, and as she stares out the window, Mrs. McGillicuddy is shocked to see a man strangling a woman in the other train.
She reports this to the porter and the officials at the next train station, but is not believed, especially since no body is found. Miss Marple does believe her, though, since she knows Mrs. McGillicuddy to be devoid of imagination. She simply could not invent something like this. Miss Marple begins her own investigation, isolating an ideal spot along the train’s route to toss a corpse and then retrieve it later.
But that is as far as she can take it herself, given the limitations of her aging body. So she convinces a woman with an intriguing background named Lucy Eyelesbarrow to get herself hired as housekeeper at the estate closest to the drop spot. Lucy will search for a body along with any other clues to what might have happened. In the meantime, Miss Marple finds reason to visit her old maid Florence, who just happens to live in the nearby town.
The estate is really quite a fascinating site. It’s rundown since since the patriarch of the family living there won’t spend any money on upkeep, but that just adds to its potential as a location for hidden bodies or other clues. The main characters are pretty conventional: three sons, all unlike one another, a spinster daughter, and the widowed husband of another daughter. The teenage son of this man, along with his best friend, are spending the holiday there and their entertaining presence keeps things from becoming bogged down in the traditional country house whodunnit.
Before the tale is over, Miss Marple has summoned Mrs. McGillicuddy back from Ceylon, and (naturally) pulls together all the loose strings. As I said, not one of my favorite Miss Marples, but far from the worst.
Miss Marple’s friend Mrs. McGillicuddy is traveling by train from London to visit Miss Marple prior to heading off to her son’s home in Ceylon for an extended Christmas stay. For a brief moment, her train runs parallel to another train headed in the same direction, and as she stares out the window, Mrs. McGillicuddy is shocked to see a man strangling a woman in the other train.
She reports this to the porter and the officials at the next train station, but is not believed, especially since no body is found. Miss Marple does believe her, though, since she knows Mrs. McGillicuddy to be devoid of imagination. She simply could not invent something like this. Miss Marple begins her own investigation, isolating an ideal spot along the train’s route to toss a corpse and then retrieve it later.
But that is as far as she can take it herself, given the limitations of her aging body. So she convinces a woman with an intriguing background named Lucy Eyelesbarrow to get herself hired as housekeeper at the estate closest to the drop spot. Lucy will search for a body along with any other clues to what might have happened. In the meantime, Miss Marple finds reason to visit her old maid Florence, who just happens to live in the nearby town.
The estate is really quite a fascinating site. It’s rundown since since the patriarch of the family living there won’t spend any money on upkeep, but that just adds to its potential as a location for hidden bodies or other clues. The main characters are pretty conventional: three sons, all unlike one another, a spinster daughter, and the widowed husband of another daughter. The teenage son of this man, along with his best friend, are spending the holiday there and their entertaining presence keeps things from becoming bogged down in the traditional country house whodunnit.
Before the tale is over, Miss Marple has summoned Mrs. McGillicuddy back from Ceylon, and (naturally) pulls together all the loose strings. As I said, not one of my favorite Miss Marples, but far from the worst.
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