• The Murder at the Vicarage

  • A Miss Marple Mystery
  • By: Agatha Christie
  • Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,081 ratings)

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The Murder at the Vicarage  By  cover art

The Murder at the Vicarage

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
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Publisher's summary

The Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie’s first mystery to feature the beloved investigator Miss Marple—as a dead body in a clergyman’s study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide.

Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death.

Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone—even in the vicar—wishes he were dead. And very soon he is—shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the killer.

©1930 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Featured Article: The Essential Guide to Agatha Christie


Agatha Christie is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, with more than 2 billion books sold. She's also the most translated author in history, and her stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for longest initial run. (It has been running at the St Martin's Theatre in London for 68 straight years!) Whether you're a longtime reader or new fan, this list offers some of the best Agatha Christie books to listen to—and a handy guide to the author herself.

What listeners say about The Murder at the Vicarage

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Grant's Performance

I'm only writing to say that of the hundreds of books I've listened too on Audible, Richard E Grant's performance stands out as one of the all time greats. He captures the sensibility of place, character subtleties and has incredible command of distinctive voices. I'd recommend this to anyone.

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34 people found this helpful

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Fun story

This is a really fun story, but make sure you get the right version! Richard E. Grant does a good job narrating, but before getting this version I bought a two for one version (Murder at the Vicarage/The Mysterious Affair at Styles) which had a horrendous narrator! She didn't ever pause or change her inflection when going from one character to the next or back to the general narrator! So make sure you buy the version with Richard E. Grant narrating because he does a fantastic job.

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25 people found this helpful

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Christie's Story+Grant's Performance = Great Book!

Would you listen to The Murder at the Vicarage again? Why?

I would certainly listen to it again. The story was brilliant and had me second guessing everything I thought. The clues were all there, but I missed them. I enjoyed trying to piece them together, and the brilliant humor that Christie manages to weave into her books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really loved the vicar and his wife both! They were great characters and had lots of commentary and humor. All of the characters,m however, were wonderful.

Have you listened to any of Richard E. Grant’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes! I would have to say that this was just as brilliant as the first one to which I listened, "The Moving Finger". He has a wonderful range in his characters and, once again he has proven that he understands Christie's style of writing. It is often hard to fall in love with a book when you aren't reading it yourself, but Mr. Grant makes this possible by his wonderful interpretation.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Running a church can be murder"

Any additional comments?

A definite must-read!!!

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18 people found this helpful

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Narrator Ruins It

Would you try another book from Agatha Christie and/or Richard E. Grant?

I would not buy another audiobook with Richard Grant as the narrator. He adores putting emphasis on completely innocuous words and phrases and making things sound sinister at the wrong moment. I'm buying the book with another narrator.

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16 people found this helpful

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An Remarkable Performance, Most Memorable

I have come to Agatha Christie late in my long, mostly literary reading life. Sometimes something a little light, but a little less light than Wodehouse is just the thing. Christie's craft has been analyzed and praised and parroted by admirers for almost a century, so here I will raise my glass to Richard E. Grant's lively performance. He lights up each character with a distinctive voice and personality, never failing to catch the wry humor and droll perspective on class attitudes and "human nature" that suffuses Christie's oeuvre. His performance is so compelling, I find myself recalling lines from his performance in my day-to-day encounters with real-world "human nature," a great help in dealing with everything from bad food to nosy prigs and pretentious prats. #SmallTownLife #Nostalgic #Humorous #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

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14 people found this helpful

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Grant slays the narration

Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries tend to have so many characters and plots that I need to re-read chapters to keep track of who did what. With Mr. Giant’s phenomenal and varied narration, however, each character is unique and memorable. Bravo!

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7 people found this helpful

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Superb Narration by Richard E. Grant

I usually listen to Agatha Christie mysteries with half an ear and not much deep interest in the psyche of the characters. Richard E. Grant has changed that. He inhabits each character so thoroughly, shifting without artifice from voice to voice, accent to accent, attitude to attitude with incredible facility. He brings , even mundane interactions to life. I don’t know if it’s the reading alone but the plot too was full of complexity and surprises, one of Christie’s best. This might be the rare mystery that I listen to again. Bravo to Richard E. Grant for this wonderful performance.

Update: Returning three years later to say I just listened to the book again and found it as engrossing and delightful as the first time. Thank you, Richard E. Grant!

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7 people found this helpful

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Loved it

Great narration and a super story. I thought I didn’t like the Miss Marple books based on my teenage memories but I’m definitely enjoying them more as an adult. Lots of understated humor.

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Great first book but series not for the sensitive

Since this is the first in the series, I want to warn people. There are consistent racist themes, and derogatory language. Not excessive or aggressive, but you'll notice it often throughout the series, across many contexts and characters.

The books where written at a time of social unrest and change so it's hard for me to believe the offensive language and themes are simply reflections of their time. The idea some of it was wrong wasn't entirely unheard of at the time.

I liked the books a lot but after 4 it became hard to ignore, and knowing in later books it would continue to be an issue kind of spoiled some of the fun for me.

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An intriguing time in prewar England.

So nice to go back to a time when Britain was a cozy spot where everyone knew each other and intelligent Miss Marple could figure out dreadful murders.

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