Out of the three I've read (The Body in the Library, 4.50 from Paddington and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side), I actually liked The Mirror Crack'd the most. I love Miss Marple's annoyance at being cooped up and fussed over by Miss Knight, it certainly added a lighter touch to the novel.
Plotwise, "The moving finger" is the best Miss Marple book, in my opinion. However, "A murder is announced" has some of Christie's best and most multi dimensional characters and is a fun book all around. So I choose "Murder is announced" with "Moving Finger" a close second.
Out of the three I have read: The Body in the Library, Sleeping Murder and Nemisis. I enjoyed them all!!! However in terms of the plot and the solution I think Sleeping Murder is superior, I enjoyed Nemisis and The Body in the Library in terms of characters and settings: A coach tour and a libray/ nice hotel. And with Nemisis Miss Marple is always on every page which is not the same with the other two novels because she may dissapear for a chapter or two. As well as that the suspects were interesting in The Body in the Libray and there were only six of them instead of 9-12 which was different.
Sleeping Murder is one of my Favourites that is to say it is in my top 3 Miss Marple books along with 4.50 From Paddington and A Murder Is Announced, I like the Plot in this one more than the other 2 you mentioned, only slightly though, SPOILER ALERT!!! I like the Cold Case Aspect in Sleeping Murder and the annolitical (If that is the right word) of going about and finding the other suspects
Now I think that about The Moving Finger and I much prefer the Harmon's to the Calthorpe's but I do like Jerry more than Giles and Jerry's sister to Gwen
I quite liked The Thirteen Problems, they are 13 short stories where a group of people tell a whodunit, at the end of the story the other guests have to work out who did it and how. The reason why I liked the short story collections is because I quite liked how Miss Marple trounced the all!!!
I find Sleeping Murder incredibly scary. The recurring quote about those hairy hands she saw as a child through the bannister, and the thread of additional imprints left from her childhood that slowly reveal themselves, really frighten me. It just shows that you never know at what point a deja vu will suddenly take a horrible twist. So I disagree with @youngmrquin; I found it quite up to par with Christie's usual. Having just re-read 4:50 from Paddington, I loved what I always hope to find with A.C. - not just a marvellous whodunnit, but also a very British book - this one is full of all the tips Mary Berry uses on The Great British Bake Off - how to keep sandwiches fresh (damp cloth), tasty meals to serve the family, and many nuances and cultural references. Truly, there's much to learn from her! My absolute favorite Miss Marple might just be At Bertram's Hotel. There are so many rich characters there and interesting angles: mother-daughter, the love triangle, Bertram's facade, daughter- close friend, doorman-mother. And the moral of the story - is it truly possible to preserve the past, and is it worthwhile? I loved the ending, though it's always more fun when the policeman is either completely antogonistic to Miss Marple, or turns out that he's her godson and already knows all about her.
Your Post explains just what Agatha Christie's Books and this site is about, I don't find Sleeping Murder Scary at all but I find your description fascinating, I love 4.50 From Paddington in fact for me they tie in 1st place with A Murder Is Announced, Paddington Is just a Cracking Good read, It has this cozy Atmosphere, wonderful Characters and a very Comfortable feeling which sucks you in and takes you off your Guard.
I agree I have learnt a lot from Agatha Christie, on subjects like Geography, History, Mythology, Shakespeare, Literature and not to take things at face value.
I think I must like the more rural books more than others because At Bertram's Hotel Isn't in my top 3 but nor is it in my bottom 2 because it has Rich Characters and the Plot is like most of Christies work Wonderful.
@HelenLemon, I liked The Thirteen Problems not just because Miss Marple constantly outshone them, but because we gradually see Raymond's and Joan's relationship develop - and of course, Miss Marple was quite aware all the time! While NOT everyone in the books like Raymond West, some considering him pompous..., he's very kind to his aunt throughout the books, so it's nice to see this "behind the scenes" as it were.
I think Raymond comes over as Patronizing, Yes he does give his Aunt a Holiday but I am sure he thinks he is being nice to the dear old duck which is sickening also giving her a Holiday npow and again means he doesn't pay that money in Tax.
I can really picture him: he comes into a room, knowing full well that he's a well-known author, and makes some remark about the wonderful atmopsphere of the room. Or makes some short, provacative statement and waits for someone to pick up on it and ask him to explain it. So yes, probably rather patronizing, a bit pompous maybe, but not intentionally mean. And he does treat his aunt, and pay for her care when she's ill (tax purposes or not, Miss Marple always considered it very nice of him, and if she thought he was only doing it to dodge the tax, she'd have said...). Joan seems to have quite enough spunk to deal with him, and to get her way when she wants, so I think it's a good match.
Yes perhaps the Tax Dodge bit was a bit too Twenty-First Century although I don't think she would have said if she thought it a tax dodge, people don't bad-mouth their Relatives to people outside the family, He isa the sort of person to go up to a person and say I am Raymond West even though the person probably knows or else they wouldn't be wherever they are when Raymond says it, Celebrities do that, Go up shake your Hand and say "Hello I am ... even though the person is there because the Celebrity is, I fel Joan was unfairly Treated in the BBC version of Sleeping Murder, I felt that was how Jane in The Thirteen Problems should be portrayed.
A Murder Is Announced is my favourite Marple. I have lost track of the number of times I have read that book. I also think that the BBC Joan Hickson adaptation is perfectly cast throughout, and cannot be improved upon even though it's now approaching 30 years old. I was not too impressed with the recipe for Delicious Death that was created for this site a couple of years ago though. I made it but have always thought of Mitzi's cake as being more like a sachertorte
I have just looked up sachetorte, I don't remember seeing the recioe you mentioned on this site but I agree with you, Mitzi is obviously making a Sacertorte and I imagine that is what Patrick is eating I the book and in the BBC version which I have watched many many times and I have read the book about 7 Times, I also have the Audio Cassette with June Witfield and Ian Lavender. :-)
I think it's "A murder is Announced". It's a very clever plot. It's a quite surprising ending. You start reading it and you can't stop until you know who the murderer is and why s/he did it. Miss Marple, as usual, is marvelous and very clever. This book is outstanding!
I didn't read the most of miss marple to be honest I only read 2 of her novels plus her short stories.however my favorite is 4.50 from Paddington I just loved everything about it but one thing makes me ask when miss marple said the last sentence " do you?" it makes me wonder who did the maid end up with?
My favourites are A Murder is Announced and The Body in the Library. I love the murders that take place when the murderer is apparently somewhere else.
Comments
I quite liked The Thirteen Problems, they are 13 short stories where a group of people tell a whodunit, at the end of the story the other guests have to work out who did it and how. The reason why I liked the short story collections is because I quite liked how Miss Marple trounced the all!!!
Having just re-read 4:50 from Paddington, I loved what I always hope to find with A.C. - not just a marvellous whodunnit, but also a very British book - this one is full of all the tips Mary Berry uses on The Great British Bake Off - how to keep sandwiches fresh (damp cloth), tasty meals to serve the family, and many nuances and cultural references. Truly, there's much to learn from her!
My absolute favorite Miss Marple might just be At Bertram's Hotel. There are so many rich characters there and interesting angles: mother-daughter, the love triangle, Bertram's facade, daughter- close friend, doorman-mother. And the moral of the story - is it truly possible to preserve the past, and is it worthwhile? I loved the ending, though it's always more fun when the policeman is either completely antogonistic to Miss Marple, or turns out that he's her godson and already knows all about her.
Your Post explains just what Agatha Christie's Books and this site is about, I don't find Sleeping Murder Scary at all but I find your description fascinating, I love 4.50 From Paddington in fact for me they tie in 1st place with A Murder Is Announced, Paddington Is just a Cracking Good read, It has this cozy Atmosphere, wonderful Characters and a very Comfortable feeling which sucks you in and takes you off your Guard.
I agree I have learnt a lot from Agatha Christie, on subjects like Geography, History, Mythology, Shakespeare, Literature and not to take things at face value.
I think I must like the more rural books more than others because At Bertram's Hotel Isn't in my top 3 but nor is it in my bottom 2 because it has Rich Characters and the Plot is like most of Christies work Wonderful.
Sleeping Murder and A Murder is Announced have always been my favourite Agatha Christie Miss Marple novels.
My favourites are A Murder is Announced and The Body in the Library. I love the murders that take place when the murderer is apparently somewhere else.