There were different expectations for men or something. His treatment of young Megan isn’t always easy to take so you might have to keep reminding yourself that it was a different time. Although, he isn’t exactly the greatest of men. He’s also not as good of a sleuth as she is and watching him blunder through the investigation is a great change of pace. He’s not quite the outsider that Jane would have been but he’s also not enough of a resident to have any obvious bias. Seeing this play out through the eyes of Jerry means that you’re in the midst of the drama. She barely registers in this novel and I think that’s probably a good thing. Can Jerry figure out who it is or will he need a little help from a certain little old lady?Īlthough, if you’re a Marple fan, don’t get too excited. Eventually, the letters cause one villager to commit suicide and everyone begins speculating on the identity of the guilty writer. Letters arrive and reveal outlandish and vicious accusations about all of the residents. Then the first letter arrives and Jerry quickly learns that a mysterious figure has been tormenting the village for months. At first, it seems like the perfect place to be. The pair move to Lymstock to allow Jerry to recuperate following a plane crash. Who could have guessed that life in a sleepy little village could end up being so dangerous?Ĭertainly not Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna.

With all of those venomous letters flying about, it would only be a matter of time before the bodies started piling up. It’s not a wonderful hobby but it is the perfect way to start a murder mystery. Yes, it took longer to hit the target but it was the same anonymous rush for the person who sent it. Before strangers were able to make wild allegations against you without much fear of reprisals, there was the poison pen letter. It’s certainly quite a fitting one for the age of social media. Reading them is a really great counterbalance for the crappy few months we’ve been having.Įven though it barely counts as a Miss Marple The Moving Finger definitely has quite an irresistible premise. That could be considered weird considering her books are so full of awful people but her books are like a warm hug. I don’t reread enough anyway and Agatha always makes me feel better about the world. But that won’t stop me going back to the books I love. Of course, my inability to stop buying books and increasing my TBR really put those plans to bed.

I’d secretly wanted to read them all before them because 71 books in 12 months seemed more than doable. My original hope was to have as many finished as possible before October this year. I’m still continuing with my plan to try and read at least one Agatha Christie novel per month.

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie