The Murder at the Vicarage

A Miss Marple Mystery

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Richard E. Grant

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.

©1930 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Christie's Story+Grant's Performance = Great Book!

Would you listen to The Murder at the Vicarage again? Why?

I would certainly listen to it again. The story was brilliant and had me second guessing everything I thought. The clues were all there, but I missed them. I enjoyed trying to piece them together, and the brilliant humor that Christie manages to weave into her books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really loved the vicar and his wife both! They were great characters and had lots of commentary and humor. All of the characters,m however, were wonderful.

Have you listened to any of Richard E. Grant’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes! I would have to say that this was just as brilliant as the first one to which I listened, "The Moving Finger". He has a wonderful range in his characters and, once again he has proven that he understands Christie's style of writing. It is often hard to fall in love with a book when you aren't reading it yourself, but Mr. Grant makes this possible by his wonderful interpretation.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Running a church can be murder"

Any additional comments?

A definite must-read!!!

Highly recommend

The narrator is captivating with his many voices and accents. This is of course the first book in the Miss Marple series, and I had expected her to play a more prominent role throughout the first half of the book. However, I guess that's to be expected since they are just introducing us to the character. This is my first Miss Marple book as well and I'm looking forward to the next! The book is told from the point of view of the Vicar, which gave me some serious 'Father Brown' vibes.

Great storyline, good narration

I at first wasn’t sure if I liked this book. It’s not my first Agatha Christie but it’s my first Miss Marple. I didn’t care for the narrator’s voice at first, and didn’t like that the book was written in first person. I also didn’t care much for most of the characters (including the vicar). But as the book went on, the plot became more and more interesting, and the narrator grew on me. He’s not my favorite, but he did a good job at the many different voices. I don’t really care for first person narrative, but it did work in this book, and the mystery was very engaging. By the end it was difficult to put the book down, and I even grew a little fond of some of the characters (I of course did like Miss Marple, and a few other characters grew on me as well). Overall it was an enjoyable listen and I’m looking forward to the next Miss Marple book!

Narrator Richard E Grant is superb, as always

A delicious mystery, dazzlingly delivered by Richard E Grant. His voice individualizes every character and brings out all the humor. Audible, put him under contract and Fate will thank you!

Mrs. Marple's Great Intro

I love all things Agatha Christie and this is no exception. I finished all the tales of Hercule Poirot and so I'm so excited to meet Miss Marple. Interesting style- not as wild of a character as Poirot but just as keen!

Richard E Grant - narrator 👍

Always liked this Christie’s story but especially R E Grant as narrator, (heard another version & wouldn’t buy it), excellent & soothing voice, will check other novels that he narrated.

I enjoyed this book

Something about it I could not put down I couldn't stop reading it I enjoyed listening to the book. the narrator was very good!!

Terrific

Both Mrs. Christie and Miss Marple have outdone themselves, not to mention the reader. Worth every penny.

Marvelous Intro to Miss Marple

Wonderful story - pure Christie - you’ll love it and not want to put it down till the very end - then you’ll want to read/listen to the next in the series

Best Agatha Christie I’ve listened to yet…

I loved this story from beginning to end, so many little details, such quaint and endearing characters, tidy but not completely predictable…. The narrator also made a big difference I would suspect… His voice and repertoire of characters helped the story come to life in my mind. This and “Secret Adversary” have been surprise hits with me…