agatha christie marple the murder at the vicarage

In fact, it was just earlier that very day that the vicar had remarked that anyone who murdered the colonel would be doing the world a favour! He’s a bullying husband to his second wife, Anne, an overbearing father to Lettice, his daughter, a tough magistrate meting out harsh judgement to the criminal classes of St Mary Mead, antagonistic to anyone whose morals he deems to be lax, and an exacting churchwarden, always on the look out for wrongdoing amongst the church officials and congregation. 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.Colonel Protheroe is one of those men nobody likes, so when he’s shot dead in the vicar’s study the list of suspects is long. 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. 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

The mystery sets up a series of threads and false trails which Miss Marple and the vicar attempt to unravel. 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. ’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!’ 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….

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. Looking at people suspiciously as cats often do. Nice analogy which gives the impression of female felines wandering about the place, creeping in every nook and cranny looking for clues. Now, in this village they call St Mary Mead live the “Parish cats” otherwise known as Miss Marple and her friends. 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.

Agatha christie marple the murder at the vicarage