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illiandantic
3.0 out of 5 stars Where the Heck is Marple?
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2014
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I guess I'm getting frustrated with Agatha Christie and her "Miss Marple" series. "The Moving Finger" is the third in that series. I have no idea why. "Why what," you ask? Well, why it's called a "Miss Marple Mystery," I answer. There is no reference to Miss Marple until the end of Chapter 9 (about 69% of the way through the book -- and note that the book ends where my Kindle says 93% complete since there's the usual filler at the end). She makes her first appearance in the next chapter where she says a handful of sentences of no special import and then disappears until about 80% through where she makes a couple of more pronouncements. Then, she's done (except for her recounting what really happened at the end). But, wait, there's more. Not only is there no Marple here, the book isn't even written in same style or tone as the previous two books: it's written from the perspective of an outsider, has no common characters, and is in a different village (town). About the only thing in common with the previous books (specifically, "The Murder at the Vicarage") is that reading it feels like nothing more than living through the petty backbiting and gossiping of a small town. If the writing hadn't been technically decent (though I cringed at the "character" of the protagonist), I'd have rated it lower. But, even though I'm not happy with the Marpleness of the book, I guess I'll be charitable and rate it at an OK 3 stars out of 5.

The novels featuring Miss Marple are:

1. 
The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple Mysteries)
2. 
The Body in the Library (Miss Marple Mysteries)
3. 
The Moving Finger: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
4. 
A Murder Is Announced: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
5. 
They Do It With Mirrors: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
6. 
A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
7. 
4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple Mysteries)
8. 
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (Miss Marple Mysteries)
9. 
A Caribbean Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
10. 
At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple Mysteries)
11. Nemesis: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
12. Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple Mysteries)
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Jane
5.0 out of 5 stars Great as always from Agatha Christie
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2020
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The Moving Finger

This is one of Miss Marple's mysteries where she does not make an appearance until close to the end. You follow the story through the eyes of Jerry and his sister Joanna as they move to the small village of Lymstock.
Jerry is recovering from a plane crash and needs the small-time village life. Of course, this does not last long as anonymous letters are making the rounds. The letters are nasty but the murder they lead up to is worse.
Who can find the murder among the village characters? Enter Miss Marple. A great mystery as always from Agatha Christie.
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Joyce
5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you guessing
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2019
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is an easy read that has a charming setting and we'll delineated characters. With a whole town full of people to choose from, the question is who is writing the poison pen letters. Later in the book there is a death and then a murder. The story arch is just terrific! Who is it that has turned the sleepy country town into chaos? You won't be disappointed in the outcome.
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Michael Haywood
2.0 out of 5 stars Slow and uninteresting
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2017
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The plot is pretty basic and straight forward. There's no real originality among the characters. It's an incredibly boring book and does not do well to maintain your interest. Also, Where the heck is Miss Marple? She doesn't appear until you are nearly 3/4 done with the book and even then she's disappears for many pages and only reappears to solve things real quick and explain things to the reader. Such a disappointment of a book, This is the last Miss Marple book I'm gonna read.
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LizaJane
4.0 out of 5 stars Read by Joan Hickson
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2014
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This is a review of the recorded book. The story is narrated by Jerry Burton, a young flyer who is recovering from a crash. Unfortunately, the producers decided to have it read by Joan Hickson, an elderly actress who has played Miss Marple on the screen. She has a very well-bred and elderly voice, with some slurring of the words, as though Miss Marple had drunk a couple of sherries. This is disappointing, as in the case of "Murder on the Links," where the story is narrated by Hastings, but read by a young woman with a sprightly voice. It detracts from the listening experience.

The book was a favorite Christie, with a very likable young hero and his sister (a "flapper,"), going to stay in a village in the country while he recuperates from his injuries. Then the poison pen letters start to show up, and murder follows. There are some wonderful characters, especially the vicar's wife, a strange woman who frightens people with her peculiar insights,s and a young girl who moons about, unwanted by her family. Miss Marple appears only in the last quarter of the book, and penetrates through the fog of suspicion to the truth behind the letters. (I've never been a fan of Marple---imagine living next door to someone who surveys the activities of her neighbors through binoculars in the guise of bird-watching!) There are two different romances in the novel, and Christie does an excellent job of presenting a believable hero, the young man who narrates the story.
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Miss T
5.0 out of 5 stars Anonymous letters in suburbia..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2020
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The Burton's Jeff and Joanna, brother and sister, move to Lymstock for him to recuperate following a rather debilitating injury. Seeking peace and quiet to aid his recovery they seem to stumble into a shocking situation.

Anonymous letters keep appearing, almost everyone has received one, including the Burton's. But none of them seem to be based on any truth which is unusual in itself.

Then the local solicitors wife commits suicide over one and everything becomes a little more serious. Jeff is determined to find the guilty party before anything else goes wrong but it takes a visiting Miss Marple to piece together the evidence and save the day.
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Intheamazone
5.0 out of 5 stars There's Nothing Quite Like A Poison Pen....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2017
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An Agatha Christie classic whodunnit in the true sense of the word and a classic in the study of character, class and human observation with a good dose of humour thrown in. Evil strikes the village - in the shape of poison pen letters. Who is distributing these and why? Suspicion falls in all directions. A colourful cast of characters and plenty of local gossip. Rather a cameo appearance for Miss Marple in this one - but wonderfully done nonetheless. Marvellous, enjoyable and certainly not to be missed.
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Damaskcat
5.0 out of 5 stars The Moving Finger
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2012
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Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna lease a house in the country to enable him to recover from serious injuries. He has been ordered to lead a quiet life with no upsets. At first life in the village seems idyllic - the locals are friendly and call on the newcomers welcoming them into their circle. Then Jerry receives an anonymous letter which suggests that his sister is not really his sister at all but enjoys a closer relationship to him. It is only when he hears that others have had anonymous letters that he starts to wonder what is going on.

When the wife of a local solicitor receives a letter and is found dead things become serious and the police take a hand. This is a complex mystery and will keep most readers guessing until very close to the end of the story. I loved the characters - especially Jerry, who narrates the story, and his sister; Megan - daughter of the dead woman; the local doctor Owen Griffiths and his sharp tongued and efficient sister. The book is well written and carefully plotted. My only criticism is that Miss Marple doesn't appear until about the last third of the book when she comes to stay with the vicar and his wife.

I think this must be the quintessential poison pen mystery and few authors have tackled the subject with success - Dorothy L Sayers in Gaudy Night being one of the exceptions. Patricia Wentworth's Poison Pen to my mind falls flat when compared with The Moving Finger though it is still an interesting story.
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M. King
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent if not predictable.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2020
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Felt this one was a bit too predictable and it’s a bit much calling it a Miss Marple story when she’s hardly in it.

The cynic in me says that she may have been added at the last minute.

But, as usual, it’s a good little yarn with some decent characters.
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A Grumpy Young Woman
5.0 out of 5 stars You can't fail with Agatha Christie!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2016
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Agatha Christie is such a well known and well loved author and recently I have discovered why. The first book I ever read by her was 'Then there were None' and since then I have been hooked.

This book is the fourth in the Miss Marple series and this time it is not based in St Mary Mead. I love how this allows us to look at a different set of characters, and see another village!

This starts with a series of anon letters and we are guessing who has done it before any murder takes place, fantastic and full of suspense, but still a little cosy. Would certainly reccommend.
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