Book Club

Marple Stories

Christie never intended Miss Marple to rival Poirot in the publics affections, but this spinster sleuth soon proved a hit with the public.  Here's the place to discuss her stories - but beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Miss Marple story, don't worry - more will be added shortly.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

A Pocket Full of Rye

Jemma 25 Sep 09 at 3:52 p.m. GMT

The deaths of Rex Fortescue, his wife and his maid pretty much follow the rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence and Miss Marple is intrigued by this. It's pretty easy to see why a rich financier might be killed but why would his maid by murdered too - and by such horrible means? Inspector Neele is going to find out but doesn't realise that he is going to have the help of the redoubtable Miss Marple who gently nudges him in the right direction, 'Have you gone into the question of blackbirds?' she asks him.

The crimes in this story are investigated by Inspector Neele who only makes one other appearance in a Christie novel (Third Girl). He's a well-written policeman so should Christie have included him in more of her novels? Was she particularly drawn to this rhyme (she used it in two other stories) because of the potential for murder methods? What do you think?

Login or register to add posts and reply

18 replies

Reverse order

lakambini 24 Jun 11 at 4:44 p.m. GMT

xrysoula

Hello from Greece to everyone, I have just signed in.

I find "A pocket full of rye" the most intriguing of Miss Marple 's novels.My personal favorite in this series, by far.Did any of you guess who the murderer was? 

In this book, I especially enjoyed the character of Mary Dove as the housekeeper.Quite different from all of Christie 's housekeepers I ' ve met so far (!), she gives a very fresh and interesting breeze in the plot.

In general, although the particular novel follows the very same pattern as many- murder within a certain house, everyone having a motive and being a suspect- I believe that this one stands out as tryly exciting and original. 

Please forgive any grammar or verbal errors. It 's been more than a decade since I 've written in english.

Mary Dove reminds me of Lucy Eylesbarrow - except prettier and a bit unscrupolous :D I didn't like it that it was Lance -- his wife Pat is such a dear. Tsk tsk

Mr_Graves 07 Oct 10 at 7:24 p.m. GMT

I thought this novel had some really great ideas, and certainly had its originalities. For example, I loved the nursery-rhyme theme- books with this basis are such fun to read. I also enjoyed Inspector Neele. He is a very likable character, unlike so many of AC's policemen. But anyway, the point is: I liked this book. However, I did feel that it was rushed at the end. We suddenly got told who did it, and then it was straight off with Marple. Whatever happened to Elaine and Gerald? 

But overall, this was enjoyable for me, and I enjoyed guessing.

xrysoula 22 Sep 10 at 6:59 a.m. GMT

Lone_W

"I, too, am usually dissapointed when I guess the solution, however, I still think that playing fair and giving out clues is necessary. The main point of a mystery plot, for me, is the feeling of surprise and inevitability, and fair cluing ensures inevitability. A surprising final that feels arbitrary can't be satisfying."

Well, of course within reasonable borders, Lone Wolf. I 'm not a fan of solutions that seem to come out of nowhere, either.

Pongo, I agree. That scene where Gladys' body is discovered made me shiver. It was a very good adaptation in general, I think, although the ending was completely different.

Pongo 17 Sep 10 at 12:33 p.m. GMT

If I may, I would like to add some comment about the Joan Hickson adaptation, which should be heralded whenever possible.  

SPOILERS BELOW

My understanding is that the first Joan Hickson Marples are The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, A Murder is Announced, and A Pocket Full of Rye.  Of these three, I would say that the "best of the bunch" is A Murder is Announced.  But, Miss Marple in A Pocket Full of Rye really holds such screen presence.  When she appears on the screen, she exudes an almost sixth sense that tells her that Gladys is in danger.  When she arrives at the scene of Gladys's death, she goes into that wonderful bit with the Bible verses.  "Where a testament is...." She brings with her a palpable sense of divine retribution, and is a welcome addition to this otherwise bleak and dark household.  I especially loved Joan Hickson's anger when she talks about the "cruel, contemptible gesture" that was the clothes peg.  Miss Marple becomes an true advocate for the weak and helpless here, perhaps more so than any other Marple story, and she becomes victorious against the evil "Albert Evans".  

Pongo 16 Sep 10 at 9:51 a.m. GMT

SPOILERS AHEAD...!

I have read through the comments posted here, which have all been excellent.

While I enjoy all of the Marple stories and novels, there are some that I enjoy more than others.  A Pocket Full of Rye would go, sadly, closer to the "not as enjoyable" end of that spectrum. 

I think I am most in agreement with MissQuin in that I find this to be one of the least engaging of the Marple books.  First, the Fortesque Family members themselves are not very sympathetic.  There is no real way of connecting with any of the characters like there is, say, with a book like Taken at the Flood or even After the Funeral.  There are no redeemable features to this family at all. 

That being said, I must say that the last chapter of this book is up there with some of AC's best writing.  AC decides to end this book on a downbeat note, focusing on youth that is on the verge of happiness but whose hopes have obviously been dashed during the novel (poor, stupid Gladys...).  If people say that the opening chapter of The Body in the Library is AC's finest opening chapter, then the last chapter of A Pocket Full of Rye must be her finest closing chapter. 

Gladys herself is a fascinating figure, in my opinion.  A perfect embodiment of pathos, a character who wanted something that could never have been possible for her, and a character who is cruelly taken advantage of by others of the world.  She was someone who would seem to be one of the rare instances where Miss Marple was UNABLE to assist the youth (compare her to, say, Cherry or Gwenda and Giles Reed). 

Lone_Wolf 16 Sep 10 at 5:54 a.m. GMT

"And that 's why I never comment her books from the aspect of "playing fair with the reader" and "giving out clues"."

I, too, am usually dissapointed when I guess the solution, however, I still think that playing fair and giving out clues is necessary. The main point of a mystery plot, for me, is the feeling of surprise and inevitability, and fair cluing ensures inevitability. A surprising final that feels arbitrary can't be satisfying.

HeiseiHolmes 15 Sep 10 at 10:25 p.m. GMT

Aww, it seems that someone scared Krimi off, perhaps with a kind of cold reception?! (That's to be said in icy-death-tones, by the way.)

xrysoula 15 Sep 10 at 3:17 p.m. GMT

Oh, I 'm a 100% with you on that, kagee. I don 't mind at all being tricked by AC! In fact, the few novels in which I managed to guess the truth, where her most indifferent and disappointing ones. And that 's why I never comment her books from the aspect of "playing fair with the reader" and "giving out clues". To me, reading a new AC book is not a game of hide and seek - it 's just one of the pleasures of my life.

kagee 13 Sep 10 at 8:03 p.m. GMT

xrysoula,  your last observation drew me in.  Exactly!  I haven't read all her books (apparently including this one, though maybe by an Americanized title) but maybe 25 of them, and they all surprise me! Of course I rpefer to just enjoy and be surprised, so I don't play detective myself.

kagee also brand-new, and American to boot,

xrysoula 30 Jun 10 at 8:06 a.m. GMT

Indeed they are, which makes it even harder to make out who the really bad guy is.Perhaps in this particular novel, Lancelot 's sympatheticness and his affection towards his wife, in comparison to his brother 's awful behaviour, should have risen our suspicion early.It 's amazing how I 've read so many of her novels, and still she manages to surprise me!

Lone_Wolf 29 Jun 10 at 11:49 p.m. GMT

xrysoula

Hello from Greece to everyone, I have just signed in.

I find "A pocket full of rye" the most intriguing of Miss Marple 's novels.My personal favorite in this series, by far.Did any of you guess who the murderer was? 

I didn't, though the reveal lacked the surprise for me - I was at the point when I regarded every character with a name as a possible murderer, regardless of his actions, so Christie really needed to introduce some truly masterful deception to surprise me. Christie also employed the "what seems to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold turns out to be just a Jerk" characterization twist in

SPOILER

SPOILER

SPOILER

Hiсkоry Diсkоrу Dоck. It's amusing to note that, in addition to having a charming rouge flavor, the culprits in both novels have girlfriends named Patricia.

The remerkable unsympatheticness of the majority of the characters is also worthy of note. Christie's characters are usually more likeable.

xrysoula 29 Jun 10 at 11:11 p.m. GMT

Hello from Greece to everyone, I have just signed in.

I find "A pocket full of rye" the most intriguing of Miss Marple 's novels.My personal favorite in this series, by far.Did any of you guess who the murderer was? 

In this book, I especially enjoyed the character of Mary Dove as the housekeeper.Quite different from all of Christie 's housekeepers I ' ve met so far (!), she gives a very fresh and interesting breeze in the plot.

In general, although the particular novel follows the very same pattern as many- murder within a certain house, everyone having a motive and being a suspect- I believe that this one stands out as tryly exciting and original. 

Please forgive any grammar or verbal errors. It 's been more than a decade since I 've written in english.

HeiseiHolmes 24 Feb 10 at 6:14 p.m. GMT

Miss Marple is my number-one favourite but I also like the non-series books.

MissQuin 24 Feb 10 at 6:12 p.m. GMT

Hello Krimi, a big welcome to the board. What country are you from?

I love Poirot and Marple best, but I also love Mr Quin and some of the none series books.

Lone_Wolf 24 Feb 10 at 4:28 p.m. GMT

Your English is strange. It's good enough for you to be completely understandable, but bad enough for you to realize that your post is off-topic in this thread - this thread is for discussion of one Marple novel.

And some of her non-Poirot-or-Marple stories are indeed quite good, like the famous "And Then There Were None" (also known as "Ten Little Indians", also known as "Ten Little N-words").

krimi 23 Feb 10 at 9:29 p.m. GMT

Hello everybody, i AM sorry because my english istn so well so i hope i can even just tell what i have to say and i hope you understand what i mean ;))

I like agatha christie very well i have begin to read her books when i was 15 years old... i took the books in our village library and then i cant stop reading her books, till i have read almost all versions  of her books...

I like the stories with poirot and with miss marple, but there were some stories with other chief charackter, i dont remember the title... do you like also these books from agahta christie, or only those one with miss marple or hercule poirot ?

MissQuin 23 Feb 10 at 3:46 p.m. GMT

This is my least favourite Miss Marple. I couldn't quite get to the end, so I skipped a chapter.

No I didn't really like any of the characters. The Fortescue family are horrible. Yet I know it wasnt a badly written book. I actually felt really sad about the Gladys letter to Miss M. I wouldn't have been effected if it had no power of feeling. But I didn't see the point of another nursery rhyme.

I thought the TV adapt was excellent. Nothing was too far away from the book. How old was Lance? I know in the TV version Rupert Graves must be a fair bit older than the character.

Lone_Wolf 27 Sep 09 at 11:05 a.m. GMT

I liked Neele. In general, the attitude to the police in the Marple books is more respectful then in the Poirot books - the latter have more of an "Ispector Lestrade" flavour, if you see what I mean.

What I disliked about the book was 90% of the characters being either unlikeable pricks from the very beginnig or revealed as unlikeable pricks in the end.

The identity of the murderer in that book is a case of "a (seemingly) Jerk With a Heart Of Gold turns out to be just a jerk", which is sometimes seen in AC books.

The rhyme in question has a pretty villanous backstory by itself - see here.