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Ms. Smartarse's Reviews > The Moving Finger
The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4)
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Ms. Smartarse's review
bookshelves: murder, mystery, early-xx-century, part_of_a_series
Aug 12, 2018
bookshelves: murder, mystery, early-xx-century, part_of_a_series
Lymstock is the quintessential definition of the peaceful English countryside: just ask any of its inhabitants. Everything is so utterly uneventful here, that one might be tempted to attribute its inhabitants' main cause of death to boredom, rather than old age. In other words: the perfect place for Jerry Burton's rehabilitation needs. Doctor's orders. So when the first libel-induced suicide happens, our hero is obviously first in line to flex his sleuthing muscles.
In true Agatha Christie fashion, we get one heck of a convoluted story, without too much action, but enough mystery to twist around even the most logical of us. Or is it just me, who's never able to guess the criminal? I especially enjoyed the grand reveal, when it turned out that I had never even suspected the culprit. Now that's what good murder mysteries are made of.
Yet with all its well-crafted mysteries, wild speculation, and half-way decent romantic subplots, my overall impression was still that of disappointment. This was supposed to be a Miss Marple novel! So why doesn't the lovable old lady make its appearance until the 80% mark?! Yes that's correct: EIGHTY.EFFING.PERCENT!!
Score: 3/5 stars
Objectively speaking, there's nothing tooegregiously wrong here. Except for the sudden flowery turn towards the end, but I'm willing to give it a pass. I have to, after finding myself shedding a tear or two at one point.
As much as I feel cheated, I kind of suspect the fault may lie mostly at my feet. I shouldn't have assumed stuff just because GR marks this book as being part of a series. *continues to sulk nonetheless*
==============
Review of Murder at the Vicarage
Review of The Thirteen Problems
Review of The Body in the Library
Review of A Murder is Announced
In true Agatha Christie fashion, we get one heck of a convoluted story, without too much action, but enough mystery to twist around even the most logical of us. Or is it just me, who's never able to guess the criminal? I especially enjoyed the grand reveal, when it turned out that I had never even suspected the culprit. Now that's what good murder mysteries are made of.
Yet with all its well-crafted mysteries, wild speculation, and half-way decent romantic subplots, my overall impression was still that of disappointment. This was supposed to be a Miss Marple novel! So why doesn't the lovable old lady make its appearance until the 80% mark?! Yes that's correct: EIGHTY.EFFING.PERCENT!!
Score: 3/5 stars
Objectively speaking, there's nothing too
As much as I feel cheated, I kind of suspect the fault may lie mostly at my feet. I shouldn't have assumed stuff just because GR marks this book as being part of a series. *continues to sulk nonetheless*
==============
Review of Murder at the Vicarage
Review of The Thirteen Problems
Review of The Body in the Library
Review of A Murder is Announced
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The Moving Finger.
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Reading Progress
January 3, 2016
– Shelved
August 5, 2018
–
Started Reading
"
August 12, 2018
–
70.37%
"Before I could say anything more, Mrs. Dane Calthrop nodded her head at me and said in a quick, confident tone: 'I'm going to see about it right away.'
And she went out of the window again.
I imagine those are ceiling to floor windows, but I can't help picturing something like the above. XD"
page
171
And she went out of the window again.
I imagine those are ceiling to floor windows, but I can't help picturing something like the above. XD"
August 12, 2018
–
Finished Reading
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47Time
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Sep 07, 2018 03:51AM
(snicker) Moving finger... I'm so immature...
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Yikes, 80%! Hmm, I hadn’t heard of this one of hers, but even with your somewhat lukewarm endorsement, I may still give it a try someday. And no, you aren’t the only one who regularly can’t guess the culprit. I read a lot of her stuff in my early twenties, and was constantly getting fooled—I loved it! :D
"This was supposed to be a Miss Marple novel! So why doesn't the lovable old lady doesn't make its appearance until the 80% mark?! "Admit it: you also expected a finger.
Here's the secret to Agatha Christie: They aren't a series at all. The only one that matters is their last appearance/finale book. From what I can remember, there is little to no connection. Maybe--just maybe--there is some progression in Nephew Raymond's life halfway through the Marple series, but really, none of it matters except Nemesis (read last!).
Carol. wrote: "Admit it: you also expected a finger."DUH! I was totally looking forward to the zombie finger...
47Time wrote: "What? There's no finger???"Not in the way I had expected, based on the title. :)
Carol. wrote: "They aren't a series at all."Oh interesting. I just sort of assumed that the books in the Miss Marple series, would heavily feature her. And then I started to try and remember how much of her there was in the previous books... and I couldn't remember. So now I know why. :)
And thanks for the reading order tip, I'll keep it in mind.
Tara wrote: "Yikes, 80%! Hmm, I hadn’t heard of this one of hers, but even with your somewhat lukewarm endorsement, I may still give it a try someday. "The lukewarm endorsement is entirely due to my unmet expectations. I wanted a lot of Miss Marple, and I barely got any. But perhaps if I had not tried to read it mainly to see Miss Marple in action, I would've had more time to enjoy the rest of the book.
Christie does do that a couple of time with both Marple and Poirot. It can be super-aggravating if you are looking for procedural-type or mystery-solving with a lead detective/investigator. I think sometimes it's about building up the atmosphere of the murder, but she may just have been toying with her fans.
Wow! Think I'm gonna read this book just to find out who the criminal is 😂
