Scotland Yard

Yes, you're right about that. There is simply too much good stuff (now) on free channels to pay for anything, although I do have Amazon Prime for business purposes. But Tubi TV and the Roku Channel (among others) have all kinds of good stuff for free, although the commercials can get a little thick on some of these channels. FreeVee also has a lot of good stuff.

Currently they have the Hickson version of Marple on BritBox...where it has been for some time. They have various other good series such as Cadfael, Inspector Morse, Vera (which I know you like), Poirot, Maigret (Rowan Atkinson), as well as a ton of borderline mystery series, such as The Doctor Blake Mysteries (early season are acceptable), Hetty Wainthropp, Father Brown (Kenneth More), The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Shetland, and New Tricks. And lots and lots of what I consider unwatchable mediocrity. It's currently $8.99 a month. I've subscribed to it before and blew through what I wanted to watch in about six months or so.

I think I named the effect. You named the cause.

I finished "4:50 to Paddington" this afternoon. I actually forgot who the villain was. I thought it was Emma for a while. But then I remembered via Miss Marple's insistence that Mrs. McGillicuddy return to England, although she does not tell her why. But then I remembered what she was up to.

In this one, I would say we really don't have much of an idea for how Miss Marple figured it out. We are very much short-changed by Christie in this regard, so the ending seems rushed and a bit tacked-on.

And although I think it makes perfect sense in the TV episode, in the book it seems to make little sense why Lucy would stay on with the Crackenthorpes after the body is found. That part doesn't make sense and Christie's rationale for it is weak.

In the TV series, Lucy eventually falls for the son-in-law, Bryan Eastley (the ex WWII flyer). In the book, it's left up in the air whether she goes with Bryan or Cedric.

And the police action in this is rather lame. They have Bacon as the local detective and he adds zero to either the plot or the atmosphere. And certainly Detective Inspector Craddock from Scotland Yard is no match (in terms of charisma) for Slack. Craddock is also more or less a non-entity in this. He spends time questioning people but there isn't much interest in this.

Last night I started "Murder at the Vicarage." I'm to the point soon after the murder happened and they've arrested the artist who has confessed to it.

One yuge divergence from the Hickson episode is the vicar's wife. She's played as far more ditsy and incompetent than in the series. Plus (and I don't think this comes out in the series), she has a real dislike for Miss Marple whom she calls "that terrible Miss Marple . . . She's the worst cat in the village. And she knows every single thing that happens—and draws the worst inferences from it."

The scene early-on where a bunch of ladies are invited to tea at the vicarage (which includes Marple) is a funny one. They are a bunch of gossipy old ladies and the vicar himself (for some reason) is sitting in on their tea.

The vicar's wife does have a cutting sense of humor. Her husband asks her "What are you doing this afternoon, Griselda"? She answers, "My duty as the Vicaress. Tea and scandal at four thirty."

And, indeed, the ladies engage in a lot of gossip. At one point the ladies are talking about the single woman (Miss Cram) who has (scandalously) gone to work as secretary for Dr. Stone, several years her senior. "No nice girl would do it," said Miss Wetherby.

"Oh! My dear," said Miss Marple. "I think married ones are the worst." The reverend interrupts this dour gossip with his own viewpoint: "But surely in these days a girl can take a post in just the same way as a man does." The ladies don't agree. The Vicar's wife adds, "Don't you think that Miss Cram may just like having an interesting job? And that she considers Dr. Stone just as an employer?"

Now she gets the Marple treatment:



There's a bit of Mr. Kung in this Miss Marple. Finally, near the end of the tea at the conclusion of gossip about Lettice posing in her bathing suit for an artist, the Vicar says: "Don't you think, Miss Marple, that we're all inclined to let our tongues run away with us too much. Charity thinketh no evil, you know. Inestimable harm may be done by foolish wagging of tongues in ill-natured gossip."

Again, the Marple treatment:

The resemblance is sometimes uncanny.

I was just checking out the cost of a BritBox subscription. If you sign up for a year, it's 7.50 per month. But you can also do 30 days free. That would be more than time enough to check out Miss Marple which they advertise as "Gloriously remastered from 16mm film, see this series like never before." That might be a treat to re-watch some of these.

And certainly the version with Joan Hickson as Marple and Paul Eddington as the Vicar is superb in my opinion. It's likely better than the book. But I will still continue with the book and see how one compares with the other.

I finished Murder at the Vicarage this morning. Would I recommend this book? Well, knowing that a TV episode exists, I probably would recommend that instead.

The book is too long. The plot gets convoluted and goes nowhere for a while, circling and circling around to the same things, using the same devices. I think the Hickson episode does a nice job of pairing it down to the essentials.

What is interesting about the book is that the Vicar is the narrator of it. We see almost all of it from his point of view as he gets inserted into nearly every little element of the mystery somehow. In fact, the best parts of the book are his droll observations about all the characters around him.

Marple is, again, a relatively minor figure in this. That's not necessarily bad. But it is what it is. And Slack is even more brazen and obnoxious than anything in the series, although one can certainly catch actor David Horovitch channeling some of his worst.

The one badly-done thing, in my opinion, is the character of Christopher Hawes, who is the Vicar's curate. He's tied up in knots for some reason and all we get (in a novel) is a character who seems to over-act all the time. It could have been a better character.

The chattering old ladies are another good element. And the opening tea party is the height of that aspect. But I don't think Christie writes as deftly as she could. I think the old ladies are under-used. They could have been woven into the story better.

And the Vicar's wife and housekeeper (Mary) basically add nothing to the story, although both characters are worked in much better in the series. But it's a relatively short read. And those predisposed to Agatha Christie are going to love it.

Well, the book is at least on the short side. Even shorter is the next one I've started: The Body in the Library. I didn't think the TV episode was astonishingly good. But the interaction between Marple and Slack is superb. I'll see how the book goes.

I finished The Body in the Library. I thought it was a good read. Again, as with most things Agatha Christie, the explanations come fast and furious at the end and don't, at least to me, make all that much sense. And, really, Miss Marple does not delve deeply into her reasoning which seems sort of a cheat.

But as I read along, I remembered elements of the story from the TV episode. Even so, it's not a story I knew by rote and thus a lot of this unfolded somewhat as if new.

Let me write a condensed version of the plot, just to see if I've grasped it correctly. Obviously these are all spoilers.

A body is found in the library of the Bantrys at Gossington Hall. She's identified by Josie, her relative, and fellow dancer at the Majestic Hotel. She'd been strangled.

Now, let me lay it out: Josie is in on it with her husband (they are secretly married) who is the son-in-law of the rich Mr. Jefferson (his first wife had died in an accident). They first kill another innocent girl and dump the body in some young playboy's bungalow hoping to incriminate him.

But the reason for this murder is to create an alibi for their real target: Josies' cousin, Ruby, whom the rich Mr. Jefferson had taken under his wing and promised to will her most of his money. So they plant the body in the young playboys pad. But he comes home drunk, sees the body, and decides as a sort of joke (he's drunk is the excuse) to plant it in Gossington Hall.

Meanwhile they kill Ruby but make it look as if she's gone out for the evening and never returned. And, of course, both Josie and her husband were in the lounge or dance hall of the Majestic with perfect alibis. Ruby had been drugged by Josie when she went upstairs to check on her at midnight (Ruby was tardy and was supposed to be dancing in a show). She stashed her in her room and probably kills her there as well. No one had bothered looking in Ruby's room when they sent someone else up to find the tardy Ruby.

Later, Josie takes the body, puts it in a stolen car, douses it with gas, puts clothes on Ruby taken from the other murder, and rolls it down a quarry. The aim is to make people think this is the other murdered girl. Alibis are complete.

Inspector Slack is in this but there is zero conflict between him and Marple and has a very minor role. I think they do it up better in the TV episode. And, again, I think the TV episode does loads better at evoking the personalities of all involved, although the plot is still convoluted and messy. But whatever. It's Agatha Christie.

And if you didn't understand my plot summation, no worries. I'm not sure I understand it myself. However, I think having that one body moved from one guy's pad to Gossington Hall was a bit too much plot-wise.