The Murder at the Vicarage & The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Written by Agatha Christie

Narrated by Richard E Grant and Hugh Fraser

TWO BESTSELLING MYSTERIES IN ONE GREAT PACKAGE! 

THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE

The Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie’s first mystery to feature the beloved investigator Miss Marple—as a dead body in a clergyman’s study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide.

Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death.

Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone--even in the vicar--wishes he were dead. And very soon he is--shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the killer.

 THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES

Hercule Poirot solves his first case in the Agatha Christie novel that started it all, now in a fully restored edition that features a “missing chapter” along with commentary from Christie expert John Curran.

Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorp and how did the murderer penetrate and escape from her locked bedroom? Suspects abound in the quaint village of Styles St. Mary—from the heiress's fawning new husband to her two stepsons, her volatile housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary.

With impeccable timing, and making his unforgettable debut, the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on the case.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Oct 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062253026

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Reviews for The Murder at the Vicarage & The Mysterious Affair at Styles

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Miss Marple is such a wonderful idea. She's smart, but overlooked by society who's willing to use her skills without giving her any credit. Lucky thing she didn't decide to go over to the dark side, eh?

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's been a long time since I've read an Agatha Christie, and somehow I had never got around to this one (she wrote over 80 novels.) What I remembered about Christie was her incredible plots and twists, but I didn't remember her for great style or characterizations. Well, she may not be an Austen or a Faulkner (or a Sayers), but she is incredibly fun to read--smooth, well-paced, a fine observer of human nature and witty. This novel published in 1930 was the first mystery with Jane Marple. Narrated by the vicar, Len Clement of St Mary Mead in "Downshire," he describes the indomitable sleuth this way: Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle appealing manner. Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two, Miss Marple is much the more dangerous. Underestimated as an old bitty, a inconsequential spinster who "knows nothing of life," Miss Marple hides under her unassuming manner sharp observations and an even sharper mind. Moreover, by the end of the novel I was quite fond of the vicar and his wife. If you haven't read Agatha Christie, you're missing something special, although I wouldn't number this one as one of her best. Of the novels by her I've read, the ones that are my favorites include Death Comes at the End (set in Ancient Egypt), And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

[readingknitter01 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

very old fashioned-I don't care all that much for the story from the Vicar's perspective

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Agatha Christie I’ve read in full, rather than listen to the BBC audio production. Right from the start, you are reminded that Christie is a master. The best way to describe her story-telling is 'effortless'. You’re instantly pulled into the story, and charmed by her characters, from the vicar’s unusual wife to the Colonel’s spoiled and shallow daughter, to the visiting artist, to the overly observant elderly ladies of the village. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, but she isn’t the narrator. Instead, we are told the story by the village vicar, Len Clement. Miss Marple is seen a little as the village busybody, though she is usually right. There’s a lot of red herrings thrown into the story, and I actually fell for a rather subtle one. Again, mastery!

[arielfl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Marple entry into the cool down with AC read along this summer. I think that I would have liked it better if I hadn't read the 4:50 from Paddington first. This was the first book to feature Miss Marple. I feel that Christie got a little tighter with her story lines on down the line. This was the first AC book that I read where what it seemed was really what it was which was a twist in itself I guess. The narrator of this book was not Miss Marple but the Vicar of the town of St. Mary Meade who finds Colonel Protheroe dead in his study. The setting of St. Mary Meade is important in the later books because it is where Miss Marple claims to have become an expert on psychology by studying it's inhabitants. I did love the character of the Vicar and his little snide remarks in his head especially about the maid and her lack of house keeping skills. Of course I love Miss Marple too though I do feel that she is more fully developed in later books. I especially love her wittiness in the short stories. This book should be read to experience the beginning of Miss Marple but the central mystery pales in comparison to some of the other Christie novels.

[tapestry100 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie's first book to star one of her greatest literary creations, the indomitable Miss Jane Marple. Miss Marple may appear to be your typical "little old lady," but her powers of observation, honed from living almost her whole life in the small village of St. Mary Mead and giving her an acute insight into the human condition, prove to the match of everyone in the village, police included, when it comes to solving the murder of Colonel Protheroe.When you get right down to it, there isn't much to the story. It is a fairly typical Christie mystery, making you think you know the conclusion until she pulls the rug right out from underneath you when she reveals the mastermind behind the murder. The murder in question is that of Colonel Protheroe, a not-much-loved member of the village, who is found murdered in the vicars writing room. There are plenty of people with motives, and plenty bits of misdirection, but it is up to Miss Marple to put the pieces together and discover the identity of the true culprit before it's too late. A fun little read with an endearing character in Miss Marple, the whole story is wrapped up with a nice and tidy ending. Not a bad choice if you're looking for an easy mystery read.

[loriephillips · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Agatha Christie novel, but it won't be my last. Colonel Protheroe, a very unpopular "pompous old brute', is found murdered at the vicarage of the small village where he lives. There is a large cast of characters, most of whom have a motive for the murder, so it's unlikely that the reader can figure out who the culprit is. I found this book to be as charming and droll as the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

[mossjon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first Miss Marple novel (and actually the first one Agatha Christie wrote using that character). I enjoyed guessing, second-guessing, third-guessing and then just scratching my head at the end. I have many unanswered questions, which I can live with (I'll have to, won't I?), but I'm still glad I read this quaint village mystery, quite the tempest in a tea pot.

[simonw11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Plot and characters were contrived but I was suprised how enjoyable a read it was. I will be reading more Agatha Christie I think.

[dirtpriest_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great mystery with a great twist to it. I guess that should be expected, but the ingenuity of it is so impressive. Reading the Christie mysteries is like eating a bag of those awesome orange Circus Peanuts candies. With a Hires root beer in a glass bottle.

[nelliemc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic Ms. Marple -- what's not to love?

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From the murky world of Philip Marlowe in Los Angeles, to a little British village. I hadn't read any of the Miss Marple books -- I began with a Poirot one -- and thought I'd start from the very beginning. Miss Marple was certainly more likeable than Poirot -- a busybody character, with her nose in everybody's business, but without Poirot's more odious eccentricities. She's kind of fun. It's interesting how, in both Agatha Christie books I've read, the narrator is at a distance from the detective who actually solves things. I thought the vicar, the narrator of this story, was sweet -- and I was actually glad about the little bits about him and his wife, and at the end. I got to like a few of the characters quite a bit, and hope that they're recurring in the later Miss Marple books.

Agatha Christie's pretty good at misdirection -- I changed my mind about who was the culprit several times -- but I imagine you get used to that, reading her work. I don't think I'll look to her work for great subtlety, but it's fun for a quick read.

[aliciamay_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is the introduction to the wise and demure Miss Marple. The most loathed man in the village is murdered in the Vicar’s study. There are multiple suspects (seven according to Miss Marple) and the police are misled by false confessions, seemingly useless input from the village busy-bodies and a few random incidences that may or may not be related to the murder. But of course Miss Marple is able to overcome these obstacles and solve the case. This mystery kept me guessing and there were some great characters. And let’s not forget about the idyllic setting of a quaint English village abounding with gardens. While I found Miss Marple endearing and clever, Poirot still remains my favorite Christie detective.

[thehistorychic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read for Profiling Mysteries/BoutofBooks 5.0 (Kindle Freebie circa 2009)Overall Rating 4.00Character Rating 4.25Story Rating 3.75First Thought When Finished: Miss Marple is a HOOT!What I Thought of the Case: I will admit that the case started out a little slow for my liking but I think this has to do with this being a first in series. The first quarter was spent on introducing the characters. Once the case started though it was such a fun ride. Miss Marple is both very smart and a bit of a busy body. I love that Agatha Christie wrote her to be both. The case took a few twists and turns. With Agatha you are always on your toes never quite knowing where the story is going to lead.What I Thought of the Characters: Miss Marple is a hoot! She is a fantastic combo of nosy busy-body coupled with one smart cookie. The rest of the town appears to either love her dearly or dreads her amazing observational skills. I would be scared of her quite frankly but secretly wish I could catch half the things she does!“I really believe that wizened-up old maid thinks she knows everything there is to know. And hardly been out of this village all her life. Preposterous. What can she know of life?” I said mildly that though doubtless Miss Marple knew next to nothing of Life with a capital L, she knew practically everything that went on in St. Mary Mead."My dear young man, you underestimate the detective instinct of village life. In St. Mary Mead everyone knows your most intimate affairs. There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.Final Thought: This was my first Agatha Christie book but it won't be my last. I loved the old fashioned case solving that can really only be found in the classics!

[mmyoung_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Murder of the Vicarage is the first of the Miss. Marple mysteries although from the way in which she is introduced in this book there is little hint of the fact that for many readers Marple will become inextricably linked with Christie. Marple does not narrate the book, the actions are not seen through her eyes and the narrator is not her sidekick. Her presence hovers at the edge of many scenes and she is the principle actor in few of them. So far most of Christies female narrators have been young while her narrators are middle-aged although this changed slightly with Katherine Grey in The Mystery of the Blue Train. It was in that book we first heard about the village of St. Mary Mead -- although it seems to reasonable but little the St. Mary Mead of this book. All the same with this book we see Christie beginning to explore the possibilities of ordinary village live as a background for murder. As Marple herself points out, many people do not have the opportunity to set off on adventures and so if they want to find things to interest them they must look to the events and people around them.The murder itself in this book is of the highly graphed and planned out type but the solution is actually more psychologically grounded than have been most of Poirot’s. There are a surprising number of three dimensional characters in the book and there is at least as much enjoyment in reading it as a Austen-like exploration of love among the no longer young gentry as for the solution to the crimes.This book will be an especially enjoyable read for anyone who finds the heavily stereotypical characters of Poirot a little hard to take and wants a good natured look at life among the lesser gentry in English villages between the wars

[markatread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Colonel Lucius Protheroe arrives at Vicar Clement's house at the argreed upon time but the vicar has been called out to visit a parishioner and by the time the vicar returns to the vicarage, Colonel Protheroe has been shot in the back of the head in the Vicarage study. At least "seven or eight people" could have committed the murder by Miss Marple's count and Inspector Slack,Colonel Melchett, Doctor Haydock and the vicar all talk to almost everyone in town and try to make sense of the tangle of clues and red herrings. Agatha Christie even gives the reader 3 drawings so all the arm chair detectives can try and solve the case as well, but as always it is Miss Marlpe that sees all the clues correctly and figures out the solution to the mystery. Agatha Christie had written several short stories in which Miss Marple appeared but The Murder at the Vicarage, was her first novel with Miss Marple. The vicar is the narrator and he and his wife, Griselda, are much more clearly developed than Miss Marple is. In fact, Miss Marple is not the central character at all and the person we know from having seen her on TV and read other books about her is not really the person that is in this book. It seems clear that Ms. Christie did not have a clear picture of who Miss Marple was at this point and as a result did not write the second Miss Marlpe for another 12 years. But while Miss Marple was not the centeral character in the book, she is the star of the book, the one who takes her "hobby of observing people" and uses it in an "important" crime and solves the mystery.

[madamejeanie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Colonel Lucius Protheroe is very likely the most disliked resident of the sleepy little English village of St. Mary Mead, and when he is found dead, shot through the head, in the vicar's study, there is quite a list of possible suspects. Was it the young wife (who was having an affair with a local artist), the daughter (who led an extremely restricted life under her father's iron thumb), the poacher recently sentenced by the Colonel, the mysterious Mrs. Lestrange whose appearance in the village had set tongues to wagging, or perhaps even the vicar himself? Keen eyed Miss Jane Marple lives next door to the vicarage and not much gets past this shrewd old lady. When there are two improbable confessions to the crime, it will be up to her keen observations and logical mind to help Inspector Slack solve this perplexing whodunit.This is the first Miss Marple mystery, written in 1930 and just as intriguing today as it was then, I'm sure. It's told from the perspective of the vicar, which surprised me a bit, and Christie's wit is sharp as a tack throughout. It's no wonder she has so many fans. I found this book to be very good, but not spectacular.

[catym_14 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When the Revd Leonard Clement is called out a sick parishioner, he is rather surprised to discover the parishioner is not sick and he wasn't called - but still more surprised when he returns home to find a body in his study. Still, even if the police don't seem to making much headway in their investigation, his next-door neighbour Miss Marple soon has a very strong idea who did it...I think this is one of Christie's better books, although not the best and perhaps not one of her better murder plots. It's a longer book than some, and as a result there is more to it. There are some good subplots, and (perhaps because this was the first full-length Miss Marple novel) there is a lot of background and context which is just taken for granted in some of the later books. The first-person narrative is interesting, and both the narrator and the rest of the village are well-drawn and well-developed characters. A good mystery - and one of the few where the (1986) film matches the book for quality. (I have obviously watched the film too many times, though, because I could hear Joan Hickson uttering every one of Miss Marple's lines in my head - and hear Paul Eddington doing the same for the vicar.)

[veracite · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For some reason I spent a lot of this book thinking that the Vicar had done it. But then I remembered that it was another book she wrote with a narrator-villain.

[mramos_710291 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book which we read about Agatha Christie's Miss. Marple. Jane Marple has an abiding interest in human nature and an eye for detail that makes her an excellent detective. In this book Col. Protheroe is found shot to death in Reverand Clements Study (sound like the game clue,). There are several possible suspects, the police grow frustrated while our Miss. marple watches and waits. There are enough twist and turns in the clues to makes us find the wrong killer.....But we see the truth as it is explained. A delightful murder mystery.

[davidabrams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No one, it seemed, would shed a tear if Colonel Protheroe died. Loud, obnoxious and ill-tempered, Protheroe made it his business to disturb the peace of the quaint English village of St. Mary Mead, the setting for Agatha Christie’s 1930 mystery Murder at the Vicarage. I’m not spoiling anything by telling you that, yes, boorish Protheroe gets his comeuppance early in the pages of Murder at the Vicarage. The list of suspects is soon as long as the fabled arm of the law. For starters, there’s Protheroe’s unhappy wife who’s lately been caught in an amorous embrace with the handsome artist Lawrence Redding. There’s Redding himself, who wants nothing more than to whisk Mrs. Protheroe away from her red-faced, vein-popping husband. Then, too, there’s the fact that Redding owns a 25-caliber Mauser pistol. There’s the colonel’s daughter, Lettice who, despite her produce-sounding name, is no wilting leaf. She’s bright, ambitious and anxious to get her hands on her inheritance. Plus, she's been having her portrait painted by Redding, much to the displeasure of her father. Miss Protheroe, it seems, does her afternoon sittings clad only in a bathing suit…with nary a swimming pool in sight. And then there’s the vicar himself, Leonard Clements, who narrates the story and guides readers through the mystery. Dame Christie stirs up some delicious delights when, in only the second paragraph of the novel, she has the vicar announce to the reader: I had just finished carving some boiled beef….and on resuming my seat I remarked, in a spirit most unbecoming to my cloth, that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service. Later, of course, he regrets those words. But by then, the plot is so tangled, so full of suspects that he’s just one of many in the usual Christie line-up. As with many of her intricately committed (and just-as-intricately untangled) crimes, the reader is politely asked to keep pace with all the clues, thank you very much. No dozing, reader; no letting your attention wander over to the Internet, please; stay with the rest of the group and keep your eyes peeled. Well, I kept my eyes peeled like an orange and I was still blindsided by the denouement. I’ve yet to solve a Christie mystery from my armchair. I doubt I ever will. That’s not the point of reading her delightful novels. I turn the pages because I can get swept away into the oh-so-veddy-proper world of the quaint English hamlet, populated with a full spectrum of colorful characters. Other writers like P.D. James have done similarly well in the genre, but it’s always Christie I go back to time and again for the quintessential British mystery. No one kills characters better than the twinkle-eyed Agatha. And no one solves mysteries better than her long-running (and long-knitting) sleuth Miss Jane Marple, the white-haired, gossipy spinster who makes her first appearance on the page here in Murder at the Vicarage. A keen observer of human nature who wields a pretty wicked knitting needle (by the way, who wears all those sweaters she keeps churning out?), Miss Marple sees evil everywhere she looks with her china-blue eyes. In this, her debut, Miss Marple doesn’t take center stage until near the end of the book (the vicar, by virtue of his first-person point of view, dominates the narrative). In fact, if you were to judge by the first reference to the endearing old biddy, you might think Christie had no intention of writing sixteen other mysteries featuring Miss Marple. Here’s how she’s first described by the vicar’s wife: ‿She’s the worst cat in the village,‿ said Griselda. “And she always knows every single thing that happens—and draws the worst inferences from it.‿ In her autobiography, Christie confesses: I cannot remember…what suggested to me that I should select a new character—Miss Marple—to act as the sleuth of the story Murder at the Vicarage. Certainly at the time I had no intention of continuing her for the rest of my life. I, for one, am glad she did. Just think, if there’d been no Miss Marple, the world would probably have a lot more murderers on its hands. It would almost certainly have a lot less sweaters.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this is the first novel in which Agatha Christie has Miss Marple, a snoopy smart old spinster, as a character. An unliked man with a wife who does not like him and is in love with an artist, is shot in the vicarage library. The vicar is the "I' character, and is an admirable person. The book moves along fairly sprightily, and while when one has finished the book it does not appear as a great story, I do not regard reading it as a mistake. It is the 9th Christie book I've read and I think I have read her best ones.

[victorianrose869 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

July 16, 1999Murder at the VicarageAgatha ChristieThe very first Miss Marple mystery, though told from the point of view of the local St. Mary Mead vicar, not Miss Marple herself.A local resident, not a popular fellow, is found murdered in the vicar’s study, on an evening when the vicar was supposed to have met him there. By his hand lies a just-started note. The man’s young, beautiful wife is having a love affair (unconsummated) with a local artist who’s renting a studio on the vicarage property, so she is the primary suspect, as is her lover. Miss Marple, who lives next door to the vicarage, is a nosy busybody who irritates and illuminates at the same time. She annoys everyone with her apologetic observations that knock out the Inspector’s theory of the murder, but the vicar can’t help but be fascinated by her shrewd intelligence. She catches the tiny details no one else does, such as the time printed at the top of the note, and the incongruity of what’s actually written. It never seems strange or sinister until Miss Marple points it out.

[revurban · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is, in my opinion the best written and plotted book by Agatha Christie. The dialogue is droll, the characterizations (particularly that of the vicar and his wife) are well constructed, and the plot moves along at a good pace. Unlike many Christie books, this one doesn't reveal too many outlandish surprises at the end. It's a great read!

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Miss Marple mystery. In typical Christie fashion, this one is excellent and leaves you hanging until the end. I adore Miss Marple!

[barnaby_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Miss Marple book, and it is one of the best. It is the classic murder mystery, set in a rural, peaceful village, that holds dark secrets under its covers.

[riverwillow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first Miss Marple, and possibly the best, as a solver of crime she was just so unexpected especially as her mind goes so low. There are so many twists and turns to this plot.

[dltucker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first of the Miss Marple tales, and the first I have read. A murder is committed (of course!) and there are too many suspects with too many motives and few alibis.There's a fair bit of social commentary in this story, which I felt added some depth to the telling. Miss Marple establishes herself as an astute observer of human nature, and unravels the murder.

[musicmom41 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Jane Marple novel and is classic Christie. Her specialty is complex plots and mysteries within mysteries and this is a prime example of her craft. She is also often ingenious in her selection of narrator—in this case it is the Vicar. Although sometimes is seems a little improbable that the police would confide in him—especially Inspector Slack—his selection as narrator adds a vivid dimension to the story and because of his vocation it is very plausible that the inhabitants of the village would confide in him. It gives a masterful way of getting confusing data to the reader.

[nicola26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this one! I thought it started off great and for the first half of the book I could not look away. I love the vicar's personality- he's so to the point and really witty, too. He made me laugh several times over with his observations about the people in the village. He was just a really fun character. I also enjoyed all of his interactions with his wife- just really amusing.

Miss Marple was an interesting character but despite the fact that the series is named after her, I thought she was seriously in the background! She only appeared every so often and wasn't really involved until the end. I thought that was a bit odd but the vicar did just fine as the the main character in this one.

The main reason I don't usually read mysteries is because I'm too impatient and I did lose my patience with this one a bit towards the end. Nothing to do with the book though- just my own personal preference when reading.