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    A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery
    A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery
    A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery
    Audiobook6 hours

    A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Richard E Grant

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In Agatha Christie’s classic, A Pocket Full of Rye, the bizarre death of a financial tycoon has Miss Marple investigating a very odd case of crime by rhyme.

    Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his “counting house” when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.

    Yet, it was the incident in the parlor which confirmed Miss Marple’s suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 26, 2013
    ISBN9780062265814
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie (1890–1976) is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the bestselling novelist of all time. The first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, she published eighty mystery novels and many short story collections and created such iconic fictional detectives as Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. She is known around the world as the Queen of Crime.

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    Reviews for A Pocket Full of Rye

    4.5/5

    168 ratings37 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      A most interesting fact about my interpretation of detective books is that I'm not able to appreciate and rate with the consensus how good the outcome of an investigation is. Many people swear by the cleverness of the murderer's alibi. Not me; it's not a deliberate choice, I simply can't appreciate the subtlety of a water tight crime. The way I see it, is that if the journey is good, and if there are startling revelations, and if I can put a face to a well depicted character, then the said book would have fulfilled its purpose of providing me with a roller coaster ride. A Pocket Full of Rye does more than tick all the boxes.I did notice two jarring notes in this very entertaining book. First time ever, has Miss Marple been described as tall. I never imagined her as beyond 5 feet 10 inches, tops. Almost all female characters are regularly said to be tall. One impossible explanation that occurred to me was that the author somehow had the word ringing in her brain, and wrote the entire book in one sitting. The more plausible reason was that it was a reference to something from her life. She deliberately planted the word tall throughout her book. Anyway, I'll never imagine Miss Marple as taller than average, because she was old and she must have shrunk somewhat. Elementary, my dear.The second thing concerned the last sentence in the book: "...successfully reconstructed an extinct animal from a fragment of jawbone and a couple of teeth." That was a haphazard phrase thrown in making the last line look very abrupt. Moving on, I'd like to say that this Inspector Neele person is a super Lestrade. He is allowed one generous, clever deduction, and that was the blackmail of Jennifer Fortescue by Mary Dove. I also thought it was too much that the author made of Mary an accomplice to thieves. Too much going on, I would have liked Mary Dove to remain impassive to the end. Perhaps the author, having pitted Neele's wits against Mary's impassiveness, just had to make the Inspector put one over Mary Dove.Despite these middling things, I had great fun reading this mystery. This book is greater than the sum of its parts. The letter and photo scene near the end provided a vital clue but was also poignant. It was a little piteous to see tears in Miss Marple eyes.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Agatha Christie for beginners. Point One: don't trust anyone recently returned from the colonies. Point Two: anyone who buys a new pair a nylons is going to die.To criticise Agatha Christie of being formulaic is like criticising Anne Rice of being obsessed with sexually ambiguous vampires. The truth of the charge can't be denied but the accuser is missing the point. The genius of Agatha Christie lies in threading a believable motive through a morass of misdirection. Her murders work, not because they are particulary realistic or 'gritty' (the adjective of the hour for contemporary crime writing) but because they place incredible events in a mudane and credible setting. The fact that she got away with using the same narrative structure over the course of hundreds of novels, without her twists becoming transparent or her books lacking that vital page-turning ability is testament to her very great skill. Perfect sofa reading for those who enjoy sudoku, mulling over the poularity of Miley Cyrus or any other of life's great enigmas.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Very good, especially so because it's one of only a handful of Christie books that shows a servant with a life besides serving. More often than not, Christie's servants barely have a name (when it can be remembered), much less a personality fleshed out beyond the stereotypical uneducated emotional girl who either stole something or saw something. I found the end particularly moving in that regard - here and I believe for the first time, the police enters a servant's room to search her belongings and Miss Marple has a strong connection to this character which leads to a very bittersweet finale. The murderer made a lot of sense personality-wise and I thought Mary, the housekeeper, was quite an incredible character. Interesting plot too, I've always thought Christie's use of common proverbs and nursery rhymes to be really clever.
      Definitely one of her better ones.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      When her former maid is caught up in a triple murder case, Miss Marple arrives on the scene to lend a hand.Agatha Christie is always a bit hit-or-miss, but I'd classify this one as a hit. She always does her best work when she tackles smaller, family-oriented mysteries like this one. The story itself isn't anything special in a literary sense, but I had a durned good time with it! The murders are cleverly plotted, the characters are fairly well-drawn, the family dynamics are revealed in an interesting manner, and the sleuth is perfectly chosen. Miss Marple's trademark blend of keen observation, scatterbrained social referencing and spot-on intuitive leaps works very well within this tight little mystery. Her insights help illuminate the facts in a way that makes sense but still provides the reader with some surprises.Definitely recommended to fans of old school mysteries. This book would be an excellent way to spend an afternoon or evening.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This is a mystery based on the nursery rhyme 'Sing a song of Sixpence.' I'm just not a fan of Christie and this particular book is dryer than most.
    • 5/5
      The story is full of suspense with a surprise ending and superbly read by Richard E. Grant!
    • 4/5
      Another underrated little master work by the maestro of mystery, full of fascinating characters and brilliant plot twists.
    • 4/5
      Although this is a Miss Marple story she does feel as if she has been crowbared into the plot, but its still a fun read and we get to see Miss Marple as an angry avenger of the dead, a role she takes on to great effect in A Caribbean Mystery and Nemisis
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed listening to this book. Classic Miss Marple. Loved how the detective respected Miss Marple and her opinions. Nettle realizes that people would be more willing to talk to her.
    • 3/5
      Polizeiinspektor Neel ermittlet in Sachen Giftmord in wohlhabenden Kreisen. Seine Untersuchungen machen gewisse Fortschritte, aber entscheidende Hinweise liefert dann erst Miss Marple, die spät im Roman erscheint und auch nur gelgentlich in Erscheinung tritt. Es ist ein solider klassischer Wer-ist-der-Mörder-Kriminalroman, der dem Leser/der Leserin einige Möglichkeiten zur Spekulation bietet. Gelungen ist die Beschreibung der Verhältnisse im Hause des reichen Unternehmers. Die Beziehungen der Damen und Herren einerseits untereinander und zu den Angestellten sind der eigentliche Kern der Geschichte. All dies ist gut konstruiert und beschrieben und wird durch einige witzig-bissige Kommentare begleitet. Der Kriminalfall selbst ist eher unspektakulär. Unglücklich ist die Übersetzung des Titels ausgefallen (im Original: A Pocket full of Rye).
    • 5/5
      Same old good Agatha Cristie book. Easy read and impossible to be put down. I really missed reading the Agatha Cristie books :D
    • 5/5
      I think this is Christie's best book.
    • 4/5
      Pleasant as usual... nothing deep, nothing depriving you of sleep.... just a great listen for a lazy afternoon!
    • 4/5
      First I liked the fact that Miss Marple was not that involved in this book, mostly the CID Neel and it was his going around talking to everyone that made the story better for me.

      A rich eccentric businessman is dead by poison at this office (found with a handful of Rye in his pocket), but the poison used was one with a delayed reaction.... so someone tampered w/ his breakfast. He wasn't mean nor tightfisted toward his family, just suddenly making bad business decisions and was known to cheat in his dealings to get what he wanted.

      Two other murders take place which seem to be mimicking the nursery rhyme..... The wife (eating bread & honey) and Miss Marple's former housemaid, Gladys (in the garden, but not hanging out the clothes).

      The year prior, blackbirds baked into a pie, and four on the old man's desk...... The Blackbird mine deal......

      Family & household members seeming to be whom they might not be, with hidden pasts.

      As I said, Miss Marple wasn't in evidence as the main character, so it made the story much more enjoyable for me. Good plot twists!

    • 4/5
      Rex Fortescue is poisoned one day in his office but the type of poison used and when it must have been administered mean that suspicion falls on those at home rather than anyone in the office. Christie is very good at creating an atmosphere of deep unease and 'something wrong but can't quite put my finder on what' in what should otherwise be a well-off upper middle-class household. Miss Marple arrives to assist with this one fairly late in the day and is described as 'tall' in defiance of every TV adaptation (never noticed this before).The link to the nursery rhyme feels less contrived than in some of Christie's other books (possibly because it's deliberately done by the murderer to cast suspicion elsewhere)."I don't believe this was ever a happy house. I don't believe anybody was ever happy in it, in spite of all the money they spent and the things they had."
    • 4/5
      City businessman Rex Fortescue has a nice cup of tea at the office, and dies of poisoning. The peculiar points to this are the poison used, and the fact that the dead man's pocket had grains of rye amongst the contents. Inspector Neele sets about investigating the dead man's household, which provides a good selection of potential suspects. Alas, one of the best suspects is next on the murderer's list, and then there's a third death.Miss Marple doesn't appear until nearly half way through the book. Her interest in the matter is the housemaid who was murdered, who happened to be one of the many girls Miss Marple has trained as a maid over the years. When she arrives to provide information on the girl's background, Inspector Neele recognises her as someone who has a great deal of common sense and the ability to get people who wouldn't dream of talking to a policeman to reveal secrets to her. The resulting interplay between Neele's investigation and Miss Marple's investigation is most entertaining. Neele's no fool, even if he's happy to play one in public, but it's Miss Marple's experience of human behaviour that allows them to unravel who, how and why.Well plotted, with one or two twists on the resolution of the red herrings which make them interesting little tales in their own right, rather than just a distraction from the true identity of the murderer.
    • 4/5
      I love Miss Marple so very much :)
    • 4/5
      A good Miss Marple mystery. Though Miss Marple is not mentioned in it as often as I'd expect. At the center of a mystery is a very unpleasant family. They are not very likeable characters. The plot twists got me again, and the murderer turned out to be someone I did not want it to be! The very last page is priceless. Reading the last page made the whole book worthwhile. Don't know how Christie does that...
    • 4/5
      This is standard Christie fare, which of course means great fun and plenty of false leads as to the identity of the killer. We find an interesting puzzle built around a poisoning.
    • 4/5
      A Pocketful Of Rye (1953) (Miss Marple #7) by Agatha Christie. Here is a delightful but deadly take on the child’s nursery rhyme. It goes, “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.” But Dame Agatha has again taken something familiar from childhood and twisted it to her own dark ends. Rex Fortescue is the king of his family and his business, but he ends up at work, dead, poisoned that morning at breakfast. His second wife, twenty years younger than he, his two sons, one returned from Africa just after the murder, and their wives, and Rex’s daughter Jennifer, are the main cast of likely suspects, along with several family servants. In charge of the case is Inspector Neele and while he starts out on possibly the right path, his footing is taken away when his chief suspect becomes body #2. To his rescue comes kindly, frail Miss Jane Marple. She has read about a portion of the murders that has greatly upset her and so she is determined to become part of the investigation. While the police are skeptical at first, Miss Marple uses her charms to inveigle her way into the family, uncovers several secrets and delivers the surprising solution to the puzzle. This last bit is mostly speculation as there is a great lack of evidence, but later she receives confirmation of her ideas.This is another charming story with a confusing set of circumstances which lead to a very good read. Not the best, but four stars plus none the less.
    • 5/5
      This was an intriguing story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    • 3/5
      A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
      3 stars
      This 1953 work by Agatha Christie is a Jane Marple murder mystery and based on a nursery rhyme. It’s a entertaining who done it and a quick read as Christie’s novels usually are. This story is about the Fortescue family and involves Inspector Neele investigating the poisoning death of Rex Fortescue soon followed by the death of his young, second wife and a household staff. This family is best described as quoted (from Alice in Wonderland) by Inspector Neele as “they’re all very unpleasant people”. Ms Jane Marple comes into the book a little over half way through. She really doesn’t feel like she fits in the investigation but together, Neele and Marple flesh out the murderer. This is the first Jane Marple mystery for me.

    • 3/5
      An unpleasant man is murdered, followed by his unpleasant wife, leaving behind a dysfunctional family full of suspects. Miss Marple eventually appears and solves the case. Competently done but not one of my favorites.
    • 3/5
      The cruel poisoning of their patriarch shocks an upper-class family, but it’s only the beginning…

      Agatha Christie sure loved a good gallery of grotesques. As in the superior "Hercule Poirot’s Christmas" (of which this novel is highly evocative), "A Pocket Full of Rye" lets a murderer loose amongst the upper class and, in doing so, reveals their inherent greediness and unpleasantness. I’m not personally enamoured by blood and gore, but there was something freeing during the ’50s and ’60s, when Christie was able to become a bit more gruesome with her crimes, and when she set about examining the darker side of human nature. All of the characters in this novel are intriguing, if soulless, and there’s more misdirection than you can shake a stick at.

      As for the title… I was tempted, at first, to say that using a nursery rhyme indicates an average novel that Christie decided to bolster with a slightly contrived structure. However, I realised that no less than three of my all-time favourite Christies incorporate a rhyme, so it can’t be as simple as that. Suffice it to say that while the nursery rhyme is used creepily, it never amounts to all that much.

      Marple ranking: 6th out of 14
    • 4/5
      When Rex Fortescue is discovered to have been murdered by poison in his office, Inspector Neele of Scotland Yard is quite sure he knows exactly who's behind it. But when two more members of Fortescue's household are also found dead, Neele is suddenly left quite perplexed. When Miss Marple arrives to aid the investigation due to her knowledge of one of the victims, the astute insights of the innocuous-looking old woman are likely to set everything on its ear.Yet another thoroughly satisfying Miss Marple outing. As ever, she had me fully stumped on the whodunnit and her ability to create fantastic characters who feel utterly real from the moment they appear on the page is astounding. Christie continues her run of being unable to disappoint.
    • 3/5
      Murders are tied to a nursery rhyme in A Pocket Full Rye, a Miss Marple Mystery. I found the story interesting, but the ending, surprising as it was, lacked meaning. Definitely not a favorite from the Queen of Crime.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed Murder with Mirrors, so I jumped right into the next Miss Marple mystery as soon as I finished it. And, I was not disappointed. Rex Fortescue dies while in the office at his firm. He was poisoned by taxine, a derivative of the Yew Tree. Weirdly, some grains of rye are found in his coat pocket. Rex’s 30 year younger wife Adele is the prime suspect. However, the day prodigal son Lancelot returns home, Adele dies from Cyanide poisoning and the young maid is found strangled. Inspector Neele is hard at work on the case when Miss Marple arrives – she knew the maid, Gladys, and could perhaps throw some light on the matter. It is she who zeroes in on an old children's rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence” wherein the pocketful of rye and other clues come in. There are several suspects including Rex’s sons, their wives, the house manager Miss Dove, and even the maid’s boyfriend. Money was a motive for killing Rex, but why the wife and maid?The mystery here was solid, but what I really enjoyed most was the scandalous, family drama. The conclusion was also interesting in that the culprit is identified by Miss Marple & the Inspector but is not classically revealed. They know who it is but cannot prove it – leading to an epilogue that wraps it all up. My only minor complaint, and it is one I have found in many of the Miss Marple mysteries, is that her appearance is highly contrived. And, as with many mysteries from this era, the police investigator welcomes her (a complete stranger) and shares details of the case with her. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief if this were a modern mystery, but it’s manageable for the time it is set and was written in. And Miss Marple is delightful, so I can live with a little contrivance.
    • 5/5
      Loved the narrator. Lots of red herrings make it hard to guess "who dun it".
    • 5/5
      Great performance, a joy to listen to! Agatha Christie is the queen of crime, so clearly the story is intricate and suspensful.
    • 4/5
      I'm not a huge Miss Marple fan, but I liked this episode in her series. That's probably because she wasn't involved that much in the story. She tended to slow the plot down when she did appear, but since it wasn't that often, the story kept my interest. I loved the inclusion of the nursery rhyme into the murder. But my favorite part of the story was how it ended. Nicely done, Ms. Christie.