Murder in the rectory
Murder in the Vicarage (original title The Murder at the Vicarage ) is the tenth detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK in October 1930 at the Collins Crime Club and in the US at Dodd, Mead and Company later that year. In 1952 Scherz Verlag Bern published the first German-language edition in a translation by Melanie Steinmetz. In 2002 the same publisher published the new translation by Irmela Brender, which is still used today .
This book is the first novel in which Miss Marple investigates. Since December 1927, some crime stories with this character had already appeared in The Royal Magazine and The Story-Teller Magazine , but these were not published until 1932 in a book The Tuesday Night Club (original title The Thirteen Problems ). When she first appeared in a novel, Miss Marple solves the problem, but remains as a character in the background to the inspector and the pastor who is also investigating. That was to change with the following Miss Marple novels.
action
Rev. Leonard Clement is a parish minister in St. Mary Mead, a fictional village in south-west England. From his point of view, the novel is told from a first-person perspective. He jokingly wishes Colonel Protheroe, a disgust and most hated man in the village, death when he wants to check his accounts again because he suspects the embezzlement of church funds. Then Protheroe is found murdered in Clement's study and Lawrence Redding, a painter who has his studio in the extension, takes responsibility. The whole thing becomes more confusing when the wife of the colonel and lover of the painter, Anne Protheroe, makes a confession. Inspector Slack soon has to deal with no fewer than seven suspects, including the cheeky daughter of the dead man, the young pastor's wife, Pastor Clement's nephew and, last but not least, the pastor himself. Mrs. Lestrange, who has recently moved to St. Mary Mead and is considered mysterious, as well as the archaeologist Dr. Stone and his secretary are suspected. Miss Marple, a friendly, somewhat gossipy old maid who likes to watch birds with her binoculars, sees a lot and finally exposes the murderer (s) - it is actually the painter Lawrence Redding and his lover Anne Protheroe. Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew, helps uncover the secret of Dr. Air stone.
Figures in murder in the rectory
- Miss Jane Marple, old-young amateur detective
- Rev. Leonard Clement, the parish priest of St. Mary Mead
- Griselda Clement, his wife
- Dennis, his nephew
- Mary, the Clements maid
- Ronald Hawes, Vicar
- Colonel Lucius Protheroe
- Anne Protheroe, his second wife
- Lettice Protheroe, his daughter and stepdaughter Annes
- Mrs. Lestrange
- Lawrence Redding, a painter
- Dr. John Haydock, the village doctor
- Colonel Melchett, the district police chief
- Inspector Slack
- Dr. Stone, an archaeologist
- Gladys Cramp, his secretary
- Mrs. Price Ridley
- Mrs. Hartnell
- Mrs. Wetherby
- Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew
Reviews
The Times Literary Supplement of November 6, 1930 raises the various questions both who might have killed Protheroe and why and concludes: “For a detective story the only mistake is that it is hard to believe that Protheroe really did that quickly and was quietly murdered. In all three locations, library, garden and village, Miss Marple can see and hear everything; and she learns everything and draws the worst possible conclusions. Three other 'Parish cats' (wonderfully portrayed) live in the three neighboring houses. It is Miss Marple who in the end unmasked the murderer, but one suspects that in reality she would have done it earlier ”.
The Nov. 30, 1930 review of the novel in The New York Times Book Review notes: “The talented Miss Christie is far from her best in her latest detective story. It adds little to their fame in the detective novel field. ”Criticism goes on that Christie“ introduces the local sisterhood of the maidens with a lot of gossip. A little bit of it is enough and the average reader tends to get tired, especially with the lovable Miss Marple. "The critic sums up the plot and concludes:" The solution is a clear anti-climax. "
Film adaptations and stage versions
The Murder at the Vicarage (1949, theater adaptation)
In 1949 the novel was adapted for the stage by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy. The official biography claims the adaptation was made by Christie himself. Whatever the truth about the authorship, Christie loved the play and attended rehearsals and the premiere.
It premiered on October 17, 1949 at the New Theater in Northampton, then moved to the Playhouse Theater in the West End Theater in London, where it premiered on December 16. This play is Miss Marple's first portrayal outside of her novels. She was played by Barbara Mullen. Directed by Reginald Tate, who also played Lawrence Redding. The play ran for 126 performances until April 1, 1950.
Film adaptations
The novel was filmed four times for television, first in 1970 in German for ZDF, directed by Hans Quest with Inge Langen as Miss Marple.
In English, there were two films for the consequences of Miss Marple TV series, first in 1986 for the series Miss Marple the BBC with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple and Paul Eddington as pastor. In 2004 the novel was filmed in the ITV series Agatha Christie's Marple with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, Tim McInnerny as pastor, Derek Jacobi as Colonel Protheroe and Janet McTeer as his wife.
In 2016, a French television film from the series Agatha Christie: Small Murders / Murderous Games , the 14th episode of the second season, was released under the title The Protheroe Case , the plot of which was greatly modified.
The film from 2005 (original title Keeping Mom ), also called Murder in the Vicarage , has no connection to the novel.
Important English and German language editions
- 1930, first edition, in the United Kingdom, by Collins Crime Club (London)
- 1930, first edition, in the United States, by Dodd Mead and Company, New York
- 1952, German first edition: Murder in the rectory, translated by Melanie Steinmetz, published by Scherzverlag (Bern)
- 2002, new translation by Irmela Brender
The novel first appeared as a serialized novel in the Chicago Tribune in fifty-five episodes from Monday, August 18, 1930 through Monday, October 20, 1930.
Recurring minor characters
The pastor couple Leonard and Griselda Clement, who seem a little unworldly, appear as marginal characters in other Miss Marple novels, for example in Die Tote in der Bibliothek and 4:50 p.m. from Paddington . The character of Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew and successful writer in London, is introduced here for the first time and becomes an important supporting character in numerous Marple novels, who often puzzles, especially in The Tuesday Night Club .
dedication
The dedication of the book reads:
"To Rosalind"
The book is dedicated to her daughter Rosalind Hicks (1919–2004), daughter from her first marriage to Archibald Christie (1890–1962) and their only child. Rosalind was eleven years old when the book appeared.
Audio books
- 2003 Murder in the rectory with the original Miss Marple film melody. Read by Hans Kremer. Directed by Caroline Neven du Mont. Abridged version by Sarah Kilgariff. Translated from the English by Antoinette Gittinger. The Hörverlag Munich
- 2003 Mord im Pfarrhaus (6 CDs): unabridged reading. Speaker: Ursula Illert. Director: Hans Eckardt. Translation by Irmela Brender. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions. Marburg / Lahn
- 2013 Murder in the rectory (1 MP3- CD): unabridged reading. Read by Thomas Loibl. Translated from the English by Irmela Eisenhardt-Brender. The Hörverlag Munich
radio play
- 1970 Murder in the rectory : radio play by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation , adaptation and direction: Otto Kurth , with Erika von Thellmann as Miss Marple, Hans Quest , Ingrid Capelle , Elmar Wepper , Wolfgang Weiser , Edith Hancke , Hanne Wieder , Jürgen Goslar and others. a.
Web links
- The Murder at the Vicarage on the official Agatha Christie website
- Keeping Mum (1970) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Keeping Mum (2005) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions . Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 14)
- ↑ John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ↑ An American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ↑ a b German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ a b Revision in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ The Times Literary Supplement November 6, 1930 (Page 921)
- ^ The New York Times Book Review , Nov. 30, 1930 (Page 32)
- ↑ Morgan, Janet. Agatha Christie, A Biography. (Pages 269 and 271) Collins, 1984 ISBN 0-00-216330-6 .
- ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Audiobook (complete 2003) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Audiobook (complete 2013) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Murder in the rectory in the ARD audio play database