REVIEW: 4.50 from Paddington

Book: 4.50 from Paddington

Author: Agatha Christie

Premise: Two trains side by side for a brief moment. In that moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy watches a man strangling a woman to death in the other train. She is the only witness, there are no suspects, and, most importantly, there is no corpse. Who, apart from her friend Jane Marple, would take her seriously?

I finally get Miss Marple books. With Poirot, you're sat on his shoulder while he solves the mystery. With Marple, you're off on your own but then you catch up with her and she nudges you onto the right track. Previously I've found this slightly disappointing, but not with this book!

What I loved about this book was the building up of the mystery. A woman is murdered on a train but there's no body. So we start with nothing. But, after investigation, Miss Marple works out its all connected to a house and so the mystery starts to take shape. There were lots of threads and red herrings as is usual in an Agatha Christie. I was surprised when the murderer was announced as I had my money on the wrong person.

Another cracker and I'm eager to try another Marple novel.