4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie

 

I picked this book randomly, without expecting much from it. I am not a big fan of Agatha Christie. I have read her Nemesis, Sparkling Cyanide and a couple others whose names I don’t remember. I found them good but not exceptionally engaging. I liked the character of Miss Marple from Nemesis but wasn’t a big fan of her. So when I picked this one, I thought it would be a good time pass but nothing too demanding (actually I am still having my exams). 

It turned out that I was wrong about this one. I have never written a review of a mystery novel before, so I apologize in advance for any spoilers. Its very hard to discuss this one without taking away all the fun but I will try.

This novel is composed of a chain of extremely uncommon circumstances. Really its hard to digest the fact that all of them occurred in the same story. First, an elderly lady Mrs. McGillycuddy (no offences to anybody, I spent some time enjoying the name, trying to pronounce it correctly.. I don’t think I succeeded though) witnesses a murder taking place in a train running parallel to hers. Now it was extraordinary how the window curtain of that murder-train flew at the right time in front of the right person because Mrs. McGillycuddy was going to visit her friend who was none other than Miss Jane Marple, the Nemesis, the old lady with remarkable detective instincts.

So Mrs. McGillycuddy, being a responsible citizen, reports the matter to the authorities. However, no evidence of any murder was found. Now Miss Marple, on her own, starts investigating the situation. She makes quite an effort in travelling back and forth in the train. She gathers some ideas about what might have happened. She has a theory that the dead body of the victim was buried in a house. She then engages Lucy Eyelesbarrow, who is a "professional domestician" to get a job at the house and find the body, which she manages quite soon. Personally, I think Lucy Eyelesbarrow was an odd character although intelligent and pretty and graceful and all that but somewhat out of place. I mean are there really "professional domesticians"in England. Its an odd occupation to choose.

Then begins the search for the murderer. Local police and Scotland Yard get involved. The investigation part is mind-boggling. There is a twist and a turn on literally every page. It was impossible to put it down. The extraordinary events never fail to happen. At last, the most unlikely and good-natured person turns out to be the murderer. This, I think, is Agatha Christie's favorite result of any investigation. I must say that the murderer was also exceptionally intelligent.

But the most ironical part is that after all the efforts by police, it was only a question of a witness identifying a criminal which was arranged by Miss Marple based on her knowledge of how human brain works.

I really like Miss Marple's character. I liked her from Nemesis and I like her more now. Its funny how she relates very different people and draw conclusions about them. How she places herself in their place and predict what they would do. She makes it all so simple by saying that all her capabilities come from knowledge of human nature. It sounds somewhat like Sherlock Holmes's "nothing is ever new" philosophy. 

I enjoyed this novel very much and I am going to read more of Agatha Christie.