The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village's quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants—all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrives from an unexpected quarter. The vicar's houseguest happens to be none other than Jane Marple. ( )

I found it bizarre that Miss Marple appeared in page 225/300 and had a virtually nonexistent role in the plot until the penultimate chapter where she explained the solution to the murder.
( )

So I've listened to a few of these Marple books now and she's not the narrator, and shows up as a consultant almost half way through the novel. Odd way to tell a story, but apparently endemic to the structure of many of the Marple books. Of the ones I've listened to, this and the first one (Murder in the Vicarage) I've enjoyed the best so far. Breezy, well writen entertainment. Off beat, even after all these years. ( )

with all the adaptations going around, it's sometimes hard to remember if you've actually read the book or not

This is a Miss Marple story, though she does turn up late and is hardly in the story at all.

This is a story of Burton (and his sister) taking a house in the coutry after his flying accident. Soon they have received a poison pen letter accusing them of not being brother and sister, and not long after this people start dying. Burton has most of it worked out, even if he doesnt realise it, before Miss Marple arrives and ties everything up into a neat bow.

Once again, a short neat little story and a quick read to while away an afternoon or two ( )

A brother comes to a small country village with his sister to recover from a flying accident, seeking peace and quiet, but finds a town where all is astir from a batch of anonymous hate mail going around. It seems silly to the siblings at first, but when first one then another villager dies, things get serious.

Oh, this is a good one. Told from the point of view of the brother, I didn’t realize it was going to be a Miss Marple mystery until almost the end, when she gets called in by an old friend to help solve the case. I was fumbling around with guesses right up until the end. ( )