A Pocket Full of Rye
A Miss Marple Mystery
-
-
4.5 • 270 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
In Agatha Christie’s classic, A Pocket Full of Rye, the bizarre death of a financial tycoon has Miss Marple investigating a very odd case of crime by rhyme.
Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his “counting house” when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.
Yet, it was the incident in the parlor which confirmed Miss Marple’s suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It hardly seems possible for anyone to best Hugh Fraser's savvy audio performance of Christie's Hickory Dickory Dock, but Rosalind Ayres produces an amazing range of voices and accents to create her own one-woman full-cast audio book. After the death by poisoning of wealthy Rex Fortescue, others in the household are murdered in ways that mimic a Mother Goose rhyme. Ayres's Miss Marple is well-mannered, polite and even diffident. Ayres seems to be mocking stereotypes of British accents. Percival, the elder son, is stuffy and nasally clogged. Lancelot, the younger son, is ironic and cavalier. Ayres can slip effortlessly from one accent to another, as when the lofty voice of Rex's secretary collapses into the low-class accent of an East Ender after she discovers her boss's body. The greatest mystery in this 1953 novel is why any mid-century father would name his children Lancelot and Percival. Though the story lacks action and enough Jane Marple for Ayres to develop, her performance is a delightful romp for any Christie fan.
Customer Reviews
The Brilliance of Miss Marple.
I am making my way through all of the Marple and Poirot books. While I had initially decided not to bother with the books I had seen adapted for the two series, I had a change of heart after remembering that they do take license with them.
A Pocket Full of Rye was followed close enough and I was surprised by the elements that weren’t. This story hit close to home for Miss Marple and it brought out her warrior’s instincts quite brilliantly. Inspector Neele was mostly up to the task and was most gracious about looping dear Jane in.
The Dame did a good job of planting the red herrings to a most poignant conclusion.
Pocket full of rye
Best ever.
Marple So So
A good story but not the best of Marple.