This first story was told by the vicar's perspective, and had a murder at the vicar's home, the Vicarage. If you aren't familiar with these terms, a vicar is a priest, and the vicarage is his home, usually the parsonage. The murder victim, Colonel Protheroe, was a very disagreeable man, and a very deaf man. Upon announcing that he is investigating the embezzlement of funds from he church, he states the time and place of his meeting with the vicar. However, the vicar is called away to a home that never made the call, and the vicar arrives back home to a dead man in his study. Throughout the story, there is a plethora of suspects and no lack of motive. It is the alibis that Miss Marple finds herself working out. Now a supposed sleepy, "nothing ever happens here" village is overturning secrets left, right, and over center. Who killed Colonel Protheroe, why, and will St. Mary Mead ever be the same again?
I loved Miss Marple. She was a lady throughout the whole thing. However, she wasn't as nosy as her friends. That's what makes her so good at what she does. She listens, but she observes and compares. She is the counterpart to Sherlock Holmes without the ego. The rest of the village was what I expected. The constable who thinks he knows the area better than the older woman because he is a cop. And the older woman who actually know the village but misinterpret the signs. Together, they are what make St. Mary Mead, St Mary Mead.
The only problem I had was the personality of the vicar. He come off as slow-witted and close-minded. The ladies of St. Mary Mead would call him "unworldly", and that seems like the best description. He wasn't cruel or too judgmental. He just didn't seem to grasp the significance of some of his conversations or even the situations he found himself in. It made me a little sad for him. Other than this one fact, I have to rate the novel 5 out of 5 stars.
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