4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie [Review]

4:50 From Paddington (Miss Marple Mysteries #8) by Agatha Christie
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
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Date read: February 18, 2025

Miss Marple Mysteries
1. The Murder at the Vicarage
2. The Body in the Library
3. The Moving Finger
4. Sleeping Murder
5. A Murder is Announced
6. They Do It With Mirrors
7. A Pocket Full of Rye
8. 4:50 From Paddington - Paperback | Kindle
9. The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side
10. A Caribbean Mystery
11. At Bertram's Hotel
12. Nemesis
13. The Complete Short Stories

Agatha Christie
| Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs. McGillicuddy's friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case -- for there is no corpse, and no one is missing.

Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of the mystery, and help unmask a murderer.

Thoughts on 4:50 From Paddington: I liked this one a lot. Mrs. McGillicuddy saw something unbelievable which she has no proof of, but she's sure happened. While she does her due diligence and reports what she saw, she doesn't have much faith that anything will come of it. So she does what any self-respecting lady would do and makes sure Miss Marple is aware of what she saw.

Miss Marple, of course, believes her. When no body is reported, Miss Marple does some investigating on her own and puts together a scenario that is wild, but conceivable. Bringing in the wonderfully competent Lucy Eyelesbarrow to be her eyes (and feet) on the ground, Miss Marple sets her to looking for several specific things. When those things are found, well, Miss Marple then sets about putting together the clues on who did the deed.

Like I said, I liked this one. A crime that was only witnessed by happenstance and is brought to justice because of Miss Marple's dogged determination. *thumbs up*