The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery

I sincerely hope the Miss Marple books come to more closely resemble the collection of short stories with the same character, as I enjoyed that collection much more than this. 
Perhaps the formula suffers in trying to make it novel length. 
The drawn out nature of setting up the mystery and gathering clues, the impressive amount of tiresome if not downright unlikeable characters who can't get to the point, the rampant classism in discussion of servants and the poor, the police force who, instead of being congenial or full of harmless bluster, are repeatedly misogynistic and ageist in their estimations on the faculties of women and especially little old ladies...Elderly women who do themselves no favour, or are characterized poorly, in transparently having nothing better to do than spread gossip and get in other people's business, whilst the young women all seem to fall into the trap of acting like vapid, callous twits at one point or another. Not even Miss Marple escapes a negative cast by a certain lurid fascination with the mystery at hand, though certainly more of her would have been better than following the vicar around. I wonder how much Agatha Christie was confined to the formulae and popular attitudes of the day.  I think a publication from 1930 may be hampering my judgement - if this wasn't so gratingly historical in attitude, I might judge it better. 
I have not given up on this author or this series, but the next Marple book may determine whether I take a break and give a Hercule Poirot book a try.