51 pages • 1 hour read
Murder at the Vicarage
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Published in 1930, Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie’s first novel featuring the elderly detective Miss Marple. The character first appears in a 1927 short story entitled “The Tuesday Murder Club.” In Murder at the Vicarage, unpopular bully Colonel Protheroe dies from a gunshot wound in the study of St. Mary Mead’s Vicarage. All suspects have an alibi, including the victim’s wife and her lover, who each admits guilt to divert suspicion from the other. Humorous Vicar Leonard Clement narrates as he observes the police and counsels his flock, all the while watching his neighbor, Miss Marple, fit the pieces together to solve the crime.
This version references the 2011 HarperCollins EPub Edition.
Content Warning: The source text contains outdated and potentially hurtful stereotypes, caricatures, and minor violence.
Plot Summary
In a fit of temper at lunch, Vicar Leonard Clement wishes Colonel Protheroe dead. Protheroe boorishly insists on auditing church accounts because a parishioner insisted someone pilfered her money from the offering. Clement’s wife Griselda and his teenage nephew, Dennis, tease him. He notes Griselda’s youth, beauty, humor, and carefree nature make her unfit as a vicar’s wife, especially during tea at their house for the elderly ladies, who gossip about young, attractive artist Unlock all 51 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Agatha Christie
