Agatha Christie Lovers discussion

Originally published 1943. Features Miss Marple.

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets - a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate-mail causes only a minor stir. But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note said 'I can't go on'. Only Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Was this the work of a poison-pen? Or of a poisoner?

Here's the link to the previous discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I read it ahead of schedule.
This month I re-read 4 books by Dame Christie.
I have read everything she wrote, but translated into Portuguese.
Slowly I’m re-reading everything, but this time in English (I have all the books, hardcovers and ebooks).
Now, about The Moving Finger:
Although slow, it is quite entertaining.
I loved the first half of the book and I think it is the best part.
I did enjoy the storyline, the settings and the characters.
There are some good dialogues and good moments.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, as it felt rushed and it did not convinced me.
As for Miss Jane Marple, her participation is extremely small. Her part cannot even be called a supporting character.
Anyways, I’m glad that I decided to re-read this book. It’s not one of my favourite but it is still entertaining.
Happy reading everyone!
I hope that your experience with this one will not be disappointing.

I can't wait to re-read this one. It's one of my favorites if memory serves.

The start was very good,but then it became relatively boring.

Started it tonight, but not through the first chapter yet.

I am going to start to read it this weekend.

Finished the other day. I liked this one, though it does annoy one a bit when a book is touted as a “Miss Marple,” and she barely makes an appearance and is credited with solving the crime. In this particular book she doesn’t show up until halfway through chapter six of eight, and only one scene in each of the subsequent chapters. (view spoiler)[Also, while I had a feeling the culprit could be a man, I did not guess the correct one. (hide spoiler)]

Just finished the book. It was quite mediocre. And that 'love' story: sentimental fluff.

Finished it in the middle of the night. Miss Marple showed up so late that I even started thinking that I am reading wrong book of the month! However, I am not a fan of miss Marple, so it did not bother me. I am pretty sure I have seen TV adaptation of this book, because some details seemed very familiar. But the only thing I could remember about the solution was that the author of the letters was (view spoiler)[a man and not female as suspected (hide spoiler)], just not exactly who.

Sometimes I felt disturbed by the amount of interested towards women's looks. I agree that it is important to be clean and tidy as was told by others to Megan, but changing her appearance so that men would turn their heads to look at her was a bit too much.

I read the book in Lithuanian language and while answering the trivia questions I understood that part of the story in translation was not as clear as in original. (view spoiler)[Part of the solution was that Jerry was concerned about the suicide note and the note Joanna left at the phone. But in translation these notes did not have similar phrases. And the suicide note was translated so that I found it hard to imagine the full note it could be torn from. (hide spoiler)]

In regards to the suicide note, I don’t think the translation of that makes much difference. (view spoiler)[It wasn’t so much the words printed on it as the fact that it had been written on a scrap of paper. The scrap rather than a full sheet of paper was what bothered him, especially after seeing his sister’s note. It took him a while to figure out that that was a clue to figuring out who the murderer was. (hide spoiler)]

I really liked the narrator of the book and his own perspective on the story. I also loved that all of the suspects were the “strange” people of the town, but it actually just turned out to be the entitled guy that had been rude and unlikable the entire time. I loved Ms.Marple but I wish she had been more a part of the story. This was my first book with her as the touted headliner [I’m new to this club :) ]and it was kind of a disappointment that she didn’t play a bigger role.

The characters, setting, and mystery were all really fun for me and I found this to be pretty engaging read overall.

I really liked the character of Megan in this one. A lot of Christie's characters don't really stand out to me, but I think Megan is memorable.

Not my favourite Christie book. I was surprised that Muss Marple didn’t attend until late in the proceedings - almost too late. I wonder if Christie had planned that or was it a last minute decision to solve a writing difficulty?

Four star read for me.

It’s great fun, some good characters, though Miss Marple appears rather late. Also wish they had said what happened to the boys.

I finished Agatha Christie's The Moving Finger . It was originally published in 1942. It is a Miss Marple mystery but she is in only in approximately 20 pages. Set in a small English village with no discussion of WWII so Ms. Christie's head this book must have been set before the war. Essentials and men would not have been so available in England in 1942. I didn't much care for this one. Characters annoyed and I wanted more Ms. Marple.