Miss Marple doesn’t appear until this mystery starts drawing to a close. Instead, the first-person narrator is Jerry Burton, a Londoner recuperating in the countryside with his attractive sister, Joanna. They are unsettled when they receive a poison pen letter—and then the letters, which are going around the village, lead to murder. The police are doing everything they can but it’s not until Miss Marple arrives that the correct unlikely suspect can be brought to justice. Meanwhile, romance is in the air for Jerry and his sister, in keeping with Christie’s penchant for matchmaking among her characters. ( )

Vies with Sleeping Murder for the title of my favourite Aggie! Great love story with a murder thrown in. Re read after a half-way decent adaptation shown on TV (most of the TV adaptations are so heavily adapted they may as well be new stories!). ( )

No good at all, despite Christie having thought this was her best work. It had potential, but did not nearly achieve it.

And where was Miss Marple? The cover of the book indicated that this was a "Miss Marple Mystery," yet she didn't appear until page 130 or so (in a 200-page edition) and only then to come in a say how the crimes too place. Of what use was she? Commercial only, no doubt; popular series are easier to sell, I think, than something completely new. ( )

Jerry Burton is an aviator from London who is recovering from injuries he suffered in a crash landing and his doctor has recommended that he remove himself from the hustle and bustle of London and lease a house in a quiet little village for a few months. So, Jerry and his sister Joanna come to Lymstock, rent a cottage, and set about becoming acquainted with the other villagers. But there is turmoil just under the placid surface of this tiny bucolic spot and a series of anonymous letters start being delivered to nearly everyone in the village, accusing them of horrible secrets and activities. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else and things are brought to a boil when one of the letters causes the wife of the local barrister to commit suicide. But things only get worse when a kitchen maid in one of the cottages is found murdered. The vicar's wife asks a good friend of hers to come visit and Miss Jane Marple arrives and works her "nothing new under the sun" magic, lining up the clues that were right in front of everyone all along.

Great read! Miss Marple only appears in the final quarter of the book and the story is told from Jerry Burton's POV, so we aren't allowed to see the workings of this good lady's logical mind, only the results. But it was still a great story. ( )

I haven't read this yet, but this book is leatherbound, hard cover. Possibly for Sale?