electronic resource
English language
Published June 27, 2004 by HarperCollins.
E-book exclusive extras:1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on 4.50 from Paddington;2) "The Marples": the complete guide to all the cases of crime literature's foremost female detective.For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs McGillicuddy’s friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case—for there is no corpse, and no one is missing. Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of the mystery, and help unmask a murderer.
I was on the fence between 3 and 4 stars. I enjoyed the book, but the reveal was a bit anticlimactic. I decided that the character of Lucy Eyelesbarrow was worth an entire star.
The book starts normally enough. Elderly Elspeth McGillicuddy boards a train after a busy day shopping. Just as she is trying to relax, however, she sees a horrifying sight in another train as it passes by - a man is strangling a woman. Mrs McGillicuddy has a hard time getting anyone to believe her. The authorities cannot find the woman's body anywhere. The only one who does believe her is her old friend, Miss Marple, who agrees to help. However, Miss Marple is not as spry as she once was and needs some help this time. She retains Lucy Eyelesbarrow (described by another reviewer as a "professional housekeeper," which is a major understatement). This is not normally Lucy's kind of job, but it sounds interesting and she likes Miss Marple (who doesn't?) so she agrees to set out. It is determined that the most likely location for the body to …
The book starts normally enough. Elderly Elspeth McGillicuddy boards a train after a busy day shopping. Just as she is trying to relax, however, she sees a horrifying sight in another train as it passes by - a man is strangling a woman. Mrs McGillicuddy has a hard time getting anyone to believe her. The authorities cannot find the woman's body anywhere. The only one who does believe her is her old friend, Miss Marple, who agrees to help. However, Miss Marple is not as spry as she once was and needs some help this time. She retains Lucy Eyelesbarrow (described by another reviewer as a "professional housekeeper," which is a major understatement). This is not normally Lucy's kind of job, but it sounds interesting and she likes Miss Marple (who doesn't?) so she agrees to set out. It is determined that the most likely location for the body to have been hidden is Rutherford Hall, It doesn't take long for Lucy to become deeply involved in the lives of the Crackenthorpe family, who live at Rutherford Hall. In fact, Lucy fits in so well that she receives two marriage proposals (granted, one is from a young boy who wants a wife for his father, but still...) and two business offers, one of which sounds very dubious. And then there's the body she finds in a sarcophagus. And the the mysterious reappearance of Martine, a Frenchwoman supposedly engaged to or married to the eldest Crackenthorpe son, who was killed during World War II. Is the dead woman Martine? Things are getting very interesting. Two more people die before Miss Marple is able to unmask a cunning, dangerous killer, who is willing to do anything to get what they want.
