The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie
The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

The Murder at the Vicarage
Original Classic 1930 Edition

Author: Agatha Christie

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 7 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2026


Synopsis

A furtive and bizarre murder in the vicarage of the quaint English town of St. Mary Mead has the authorities baffled. The victim is the disagreeable Colonel Protheroe, who is universally disliked.

“Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,” declares the the vicar, in whose study the colonel is found dead, “would be doing the world at large a favour!”

Many others in the village have said that they would like to see the colonel dead, but a number of people have a more specific interest in his death: the colonel’s young wife, Anne; her lover, the artist Lawrence Redding; Archer, a local man given a harsh sentence by the colonel for poaching. Even the colonel’s daughter, Lettice, desperate for money, says, “If only father would be decent and die, I’d be all right.”

These complexities lead to any number of dead ends for local investigators. The only one able to see through the many blinds and obscurities is Miss Marple, an elderly but sharp-eyed spinster.

In this, the first of sixteen Miss Marple novels and numerous short stories, Agatha Christie takes us through a maze of false leads and erroneous suppositions before the mystery is solved.

Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems.

The Murder at the Vicarage, first published in 1930, is one of Christie’s most popular books, displaying her genius as a master and innovator of the mystery genre.

Christie’s books have sold a billion copies in English and another billion in translations. She has been ranked as the most translated of all individual authors. Her play The Mouse Trap has been performed almost continuously in London’s West End since 1952.

Agatha Christie was born in Devonshire, England, in 1890, to an upper-middle-class family. Married twice, she had one daughter. For her achievements as a novelist, in 1971 she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). She died in 1976.

About Agatha Christie

What a daunting task to write about the most famous mystery writer, Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890 in England, where she was home schooled by her American father. It was an unusual way to be educated for the times. Her father did not want her to begin learning to read until age eight, but out of boredom, she taught herself to read by age five.

In his research, Curran found a plethora of information about Agatha. He outlines many of those interesting facts. Since there are so many, just a few will be mentioned here. Agatha could have been an excellent performer as a pianist, but she was much too shy to perform. She once had three plays running simultaneously in London. She traveled around the world in 1922, which would have been quite a feat back then. Agatha loved dogs. She has a rose named after her. She never did drink alcohol nor smoked. Her last public appearance was in 1974, at the premier of the movie, Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's name has appeared every day for 53 years in every newspaper with a West End London theatre listing. Her favorite flower was Lily of the Valley. The information about this illustrious author goes on and on. It is a great asset to readers that author John Curran wrote the definitive book about an iconic author. One other interesting fact was that Agatha met Archie Christie in 1912, married on Christmas Eve 1914, spending their honeymoon at The Grand Hotel in Torquay, but Archie returned to France on Dec 27th due to the War. Agatha and Archie fid not really experience married life until he was posted at the London War Office. Agatha has been quoted as saying only then did she feel that her married life truly began.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Charley on August 05, 2018

Loved it, very good read both stories were. Also enabled to see I am still good at working the endings out in advance. Can recommend.......more