Why a Booktrail?
1930s: The first Miss Marple and the start of some of the most classic murder mystery stories in the world
Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple)
What you need to know before your trail
Miss Marple is a little old lady who lives in the quaint and quiet village of St Mary Mead. Only thing is, this is no little old lady and this certainly isn’t a quiet village! There is murder afoot for one and not only that it’s taken place at the local vicarage!
The victim is one Colonel Protheroe, the magistrate whom everyone in town hated. But who hated him enough to shoot him through the head?Miss Marple sets out to find the killer amongst a community where everyone seems to have a motive.
Travel Guide
Welcome to St Mary Mead. The quaint and quiet little village which is home to a number of quirky Christie characters which are introduced here and appear in other novels in the series.
Now, in this village they call St Mary Mead live the “Parish cats” otherwise known as Miss Marple and her friends. Nice analogy which gives the impression of female felines wandering about the place, creeping in every nook and cranny looking for clues. Looking at people suspiciously as cats often do.
The church is supposed to be the centre of the community but when a murder is committed there, this shakes up the village to its core. The vicar and his wife, Leonard and Griselda Clement, are the pillars of this community where comments over the roast beef are the words which start a murder investigation….
’Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,’ declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ‘would be doing the world at large a service!’
This village is full of characters as you might expect a quaint little village to include – there’s the nosey parkers, the little old ladies, the poachers, grouchy old men and a colonel who everybody really disliked.
The mystery sets up a series of threads and false trails which Miss Marple and the vicar attempt to unravel. But it’s the snapshot of a village in times gone by, an English village in the countryside with a church at its centre which enwraps you in a cosy glow with tea in a china cup to enjoy while you sleuth away…
St Mary Mead
Miss Marple lives in this fictional yet delightful village which is situated some 25 miles from London and close to the fictional towns of Much Benham and Market Basing according to the novels. In the television adaptation of the novels, the village of Nether Wallop (it’s as if Agatha Christie named it herself) is the inspiration and setting for the stories.
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