The Murder at the Vicarage

This was a fantastic and comforting reread of one of the early Marples.

Colonel Protheroe was never beloved by any of the inhabitants of St Mary Mead and more than one person had cause to wish him dead. When he is found by the Vicar shot in the head in the study of the Vicarage, suspicion turns on any number of people in the village who had motive and opportunity. Of all the old cats in the village, it is Miss Marple, neighbour to the Vicar, who takes the most active participation in the case.

The writing style felt a little... almost basic sometimes. The sentences were short and to the point, but I think it's this that makes Christie such an easy and comforting read, and such an accessible classic. It's really the plot and the amount of weaving together storylines and motives that makes any Christie novel stand out. I haven't read this one in years and I thought I had a vague memory of who the culprit was - I was completely wrong! Not only that, I had also completely forgotten how all the red herrings in the story were resolved and it was fun revisiting this mystery with completely new eyes.

For Christie's detectives, I've always preferred Poirot over Miss Marple, but in so doing, I think a lot of the Miss Marple cases don't stand out in my memory as much so they're definitely still worth revisiting. Miss Marple isn't bad, but I just take issue with her philosophy that everything follows some kind of pattern that has already been done before. It's not inherently false, but a lot of the parallels she makes also feels a little too convenient.