My favourite is A Murder is Announced but I love them all. I love Poirot too, but Miss Marple is my favourite of Agatha Christie's characters. I also love the Joan Hickson adaptations. Not a big fan of any of the other adaptations, particularly when they put her in non-Miss Marple stories.
I was disappointed in Sleeping Murder. It was an enjoyable read but easy to figure out, with spotty characterization. My top favorites in order are A Murder Is Announced, The Moving Finger, The Murder at the Vicarage and 4:50 from Paddington, and A Pocketful of Rye.
I am quite a bit older than you are so nostalgia is important to me. I pretty well agree with your list as I like murder at the vicarage and Caribbean Mystery a lot. I would put the vicarage first as it is very funny indeed and I love Leticia and Griselda beyond all reason!
Fantastic ranking! You were the one who got me into A Caribbean Mystery after I saw your review, and now it’s one of my favourites too. My ranking from worst to best would go something like this: 12) They Do It With Mirrors 11) A Murder is Announced (I apologise! Just found it a bit dull...maybe I’d enjoy it more having now seen the film) 10) The Moving Finger 9) Nemesis (a creepy one!) 8) Sleeping Murder (it annoyed me because, like you said, no essence of finality!) 7) The Murder at the Vicarage (I agree with you, a fantastic countryside tale) 6) The Body in the Library 5) 4:50 From Paddington 4) At Bertram’s Hotel (I’m biased here: I absolutely adore the ITV version, so by the time I got around to reading it I just gobbled it up) 3) A Caribbean Mystery (thanks entirely to your recommendation) 2) A Pocket Full of Rye 1) The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side (one of Agatha Christie’s best endings, in my opinion). Thanks so much for this wonderful video!
I haven't read all of them just yet, just about 8, I think. My loose top four are Murder at the Vicarige, A Murder is Announced, A Carribbean Affair and 4:50 from Paddington. Especially the first two have such great and funny character moments. The Carribbean Affair has the exotic vacation vibe I enjoyed in some Poirots as well. And 4:50 from Paddington is one I listened to a lot as an audiobook while doing weekend trips to this charming crime/mystery themed hotel in the Eiffel. My next Marple I will probably read is Nemesis.
Nemesis,The Murder At The Vicarage and A Murder Is Announced.I love the creepy fact of A Murder Is Announced and Nemesis and the simple fact of The Murder At the Vicarage
I love this video! Miss Marple is my all-time fav!! I've read these hundreds of times (between actual reading and audiobook, not exaggerating - lol!) My grandmother got me into AC books when I was 10, so I've been able to love them for almost 40 years. Here's my order: (fav to least fav) Sleeping Murder A Murder is Announced Caribbean Mystery Nemesis The Mirror Cracked 4:50 to Paddington The Moving Finger A Pocket Full of Rye The Body in the Library Murder at the Vicarage They Do it With Mirrors At Bertram’s Hotel I loved seeing your order so much! Thank you for sharing, Lil! :D
Really interesting! I think my favourite is A Murder is Announced. However I would put Nemesis in my top 3, although I agree it is a bit dark and doesn’t have the cosy vibe! 😀 My least favourite is They Do It With Mirrors.
I also love Miss Marple but my favourite has to be the Thursday club/ thirteen problems which started out, I believe, as short stories but I love how she always got them right
I'm so glad that I found your channel at the start of my Agatha Christie reading journey! I try to read your favorite Agatha Christie novels since then, and now they are my favorites as well 💜 Thank you for describing them in such a beautiful way 😍
Oh such an interesting video! I’ve only read 7 Miss Marple books so far and my favourite is 4:50 from Paddington (might be biased because I adore the Margaret Rutherford version so much), then (cheating because I know it’s short stories) The Thirteen Problems, Murder at the Vicarage, The Moving Finger and A Murder Is Announced (I cant decide which one I prefer), The Body in the Library and then Pocket Full of Rye.
Hi Lil, I read all of this so long ago yet they all sound familiar. I’m almost at the end of Pocket full of rye. I’ve been savoring it slowly because one I’m enjoying it and two, I know you said the ending was special. There are so many likable and unlikable characters in this one and it’s quite dramatic as well. Miss Marple is really upset about one of the murders and I like when she shows her emotions so openly. The best part is that I don’t remember this Book as much as the others. Great video. Aloha
Good list and ranking. Nice job. My only significant argument would be around "Nemesis" which I enjoy way more than you. And I'd bump "Body in the Library" into my top 3. You mentioned the Character Dolly Bantry as one you enjoy. In the Geraldine McEwan TV series of Marples, Joanna Lumley really brings that character to life.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the best of all her books. I had never read a mystery up to that time that surprised me as much. A number of mystery book critics back in the day were angry with her when the book was published. I thought it was very clever.
I also love, love, love Miss Marple! My least favourite is Nemesis. My top 4: 4. A Caribbean Mystery; 3. Sleeping Murder; 2. The Body in the Library; 1. The Murder at the Vicarage. The others are hard to place.
I still have Nemesis to read but my favorite Miss Marple was 4:50 from Paddington, I love the complexity of the mystery there. And I also really love The Body in the Library but I guess I like all of them!!
Iam reading all 12 Miss Marple novels this year, one book each month. Just finished the Moving Finger. After reading the book for more than half, I have checked for a few times if this is a standalone or Miss Marple case? A bit disappointed because she only appeared in the very last part! So far the first two were wonderful. Really enjoyed.
My favourites are A murder is announced (which I put among AC very best) and A movie Finger. While I enjoyed Caribbean, I think that by the way it is written, the story could take place anywhere, even Saint Mary Mead. It's precisely a cozy mystery, developed near the beach. The location is not taken advantage of, like in other stories that take place in the Middle East.
I have yet to read Nemesis and Sleeping Murder. Rankings so far: A murder is announced Murder at the vicarage The mirror crack'd from side to side 450 from Paddington The moving finger(too rushed and short, would be a top 2 or 3 otherwise) The body in the library They do it with mirrors A pocketful of rye At Bertram's Hotel(it's weird but I loved a few things in the end, it was different) A Caribbean Mystery(dunno why it didn't click with me)
Lots of people liked Sleeping Murder. I just thought it was okay, but a little primitive and easy to figure out. I would skip Nemesis and read other Christie Mystery books instead. But if you need a cure for insomnia, go read Nemesis.
I still need to buy some miss marples as my collection isn’t complete. I’m not a big fan of poirot book only a few of them, but I love miss marple. My main faves are a murder is announced, sleeping murder, Caribbean mystery and nemesis. Nemesis was the first miss marple I’ve fully read many years ago now. I get what u mean with it starting slowly and a bit difficult to get into but I love the premise xx
Here’s how I would rank the Miss Marples I’ve read: 1. Body in the Library 2. 4:50 from Paddington 3. A Murder is Announced I know you didn’t like 4:50 because of the lack of Marple, but I LOVED Lucy Eyelsbarrow. Also, I haven’t read A Mirror Crack’d, but I’ve seen several adaptations of it. I anticipate that will be my favorite Marple once I do read it.
Ps can u please tell us more about the miss silver books u mentioned or is there already a video. I may try a kindle version of it to see if I like them xx my goal for 2021 is to read more and so far I’m doing very well and have read evil under the sun. Which I’m glad I have read since both the film and tv episode do not completely follow the whole book though I understand why the film took out Linda’s main storyline at the end and changed her age.
@@lilsvintageworld fabulous!!!! Thank you I love books and am very nosey about what other books other ppl have and read. I can’t wait to get my new book shelves in our living/ dining room which will create more space for more books. I shall look out eagerly for the new video and probably re watch your bookshelf tour. Love bookshelf tours xx
My favorite is 1 A Murder is Announced 2 Murder is Easy 3 The Mirror Cracked 4 Pocket Full of Rye 5 They Do It With Mirrors 6 Why Didn’t They Ask Evans
Of the twelve, I particularly *disliked* Caribbean Mystery (populated by cliche characters and shameless red herrings), They Do It With Mirrors (poor example of a closed-circle/house party mystery) and Nemesis (The solution is painfully obvious then the revelation is dragged out). Those are also the ones I have never re-read or re-watched the TV adaptations/films of. Some of the others are guilty of being somewhat flawed by similar complaints but to a lesser degree. Otherwise, they may have more charming character sketches to ease the pain and soften the edges. The murderer in A Murder is Announced is easy to deduce from early on. The storytelling and the cast of characters made it bearable most of the way. Paddington and Moving Finger are cursed by a scarcity of Jane Marple yet manage to be decent stories. Bertram's Hotel, unlike Caribbean Mystery, does a better showcase of Jane bringing her small-village POV and sleuthing expertise on the road. I think the idea is to show that her tiny village is a microcosm of the larger world as long as one has the gift of Jane Marple's scalpel-sharp observation of the human psyche.
I didn’t care for The Moving Finger for the same reason. I feel like it would have been an amazing book without her. The storyline is good, but all of the characters end up looking stupid. Miss Marple is in the book all of five minutes and solves the murders in an area she never visits. The characters just tell her what they know, and she solves it. PS: Jerry basically commanded Megan to be with him also makes this book less than great.
I really enjoyed The Moving Finger for its storyline and the narrator's point of view. It had interesting characters and a funny unexpected love story. I have re-read this one many times.
