A Murder Is Announced

 A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie (read by Emilia Fox)

I was looking for something I had read before to listen to while I worked and also as a palate cleanser after the last two mysteries. I thought  that the fifth Miss Marple book would be just the thing. I was right. Since I've read and reviewed this her on the block before (HERE), I'm not going to rehash the plot or focus much on my reaction to it.  I'm going to give my attention to the narration/performance of Emilia Fox and my thoughts about listening to Christie's story again. 

Fox does such an excellent job providing a variety of voices for a fairly large cast of characters. There is never any doubt about which character is speaking and for the most part I think she gets the characters right. My two quibbles are with Miss Marple and Diana "Bunch" Harmon. The first quibble is more arbitrary--I will probably always hear Joan Hickson's voice in my head when it comes to Miss Marple and Fox's version of our elderly sleuth just doesn't match it closely enough. As for Bunch, she captures her muddled logic very well, but the voice qualities are just a little too precious. But these are minor issues in a performance that is so good overall.

Possible Spoilers Ahead! If you haven't read the story (or haven't seen one of the TV productions), then proceed with caution.

I was struck again by how very awful the murders in this story are and how despicable the murderer really is. Of course, murder is always awful, but these fictional murders seem to hit me in a different way from others. Miss Marple says that the grief shown over Bunny's death was real. But I don't believe that it's really grief over having committed murder--merely grief on the murderer's own behalf that they are so very alone now. No one left who knew them. Grief over their loss, not the loss of the actual person of Bunny. Murderers are so very selfish. There is a great depth of feeling in these characters--from Hinch's loss of Murgatroyd to Edward's devotion to Phillipa. This is one of my favorite Miss Marple mysteries for good reason. ★★★★

First line: Between 7:30 and 8:30 every morning except Sundays, Johnnie Butt made the round of the village of Chipping Cleghorn on his bicycle, whistling vociferously through his teeth and alighting at each house or cottage to shove through the lette box such morning papers as had been ordered by the occupants of the the house in question from Mr. Totman, stationer, of the High Street.

Last line: "How else would they know what's going on around here?"

***************

Deaths = 9 (one shot; one poisoned; five natural; one hit by car; one strangled)