This was my second Agatha Christie read, and I gotta say, it didn't really grab me.

I found myself past halfway through the book without really caring who the culprit was or why.
It wasn't until the characters I suspected turned out to be innocent that things got interesting.

The ending totally blindsided me—I didn't see it coming at all! Although, I have to admit, just as they were about to catch the killer, I couldn't help but blurt out who I thought it was and why - and sure enough!

It was a fun read overall, but I didn't feel as invested in it as I hoped I would. ( )

3.5
money, money, money. i liked the characters especially lucy ( )

Charming, cozy mystery

I read my first two Agatha Christie this past year; both were Inspector Poirot mysteries. This is my first Miss Marple mystery. I adore the characters Ms. Christie introduces us to in her stories; Ms. Marple is delightful. Beyond that, I was a little less impressed with the unfolding of the mystery than I was in And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express, but I liked the character development better, and the characters themselves. ( )

Light fare in Agatha Christie’s comfort zone of defined characters, roles, and traits: everything is orderly and fits in, foul deeds and malign intentions included.
There’s little nuance or reflection, as the story is always moving neatly on. The key scene of this book, an assault witnessed through a train window from another train travelling alongside, is certainly memorable. Miss Marple is the detective of record, but barely features in this book, acting from a distance, and appointing here instead another capable and independent woman, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, to do the hands-on sleuth work. She does it, and the case is solved, the book resolved. ( )

A quick page turning read from Agatha Christie, featuring her Miss Marple character. I had seen the classic TV adaptation with Joan Hickson some years ago, which was a bit of a spoiler as part way through the book I remembered who the murderer was and how Miss M brought him to justice, but it was still interesting to see how it played out.

Elspeth McGillicuddy is an old friend of Miss Marple's and is on the 4.50 train from Paddington on her way to visit Miss M a few days before Christmas. She wakes from a nap to see a train alongside hers, traveling in the same direction. Then a window blind flies up to reveal a blonde woman being strangled by a figure in a dark coat with his back to Mrs McGillicuddy. In moments, the trains change speed and the murdered woman disappears, but Mrs McGillicuddy tells the guard who thinks she dreamed it, and then leaves a note with the station master. When she tells Miss M, they both visit their local police station the next day and report it.

Days pass and no body is found. Miss Marple does some sleuthing, using a map of the line, and takes the train that she has worked out must be the one her friend saw. She concludes correctly that the body has been thrown out in a particular place near to a particular estate and old house. As she is getting on in years, she enlists the help of a resourceful young woman, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, to go undercover at the house as an all-in domestic help (Lucy has a business doing this) and find the body, because the police have given up looking at this point, thinking it is a figment of an elderly lady's imagination.

The chief attraction of the story is the interaction of Lucy with the other characters at the house and her effect on the men there, who all end up proposing, even the cantankerous old father. The murderer is by no means easy to identify especially since there are a number of red herrings about the identity of the murdered woman. A number of appealing characters are featured including the young son of one of the possible suspects, and his close friend, who go searching for clues once the body is discovered. I also enjoyed the few scenes where Miss Marple appeared - because she isn't in that much of the book, we are either 'with' Lucy or the police inspectors who are investigating - and where she shows a positive zest in outwitting the killer. This is a 3 star to me as I would have liked more Miss Marple, but a satisfying read for all that. ( )