A Pocket Full of Rye: B2
Written by Agatha Christie
Narrated by Gabrielle Glaister
4/5
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About this audiobook
Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English.
Rex Fortescue, the boss of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his office, when he suffered a painful and sudden death. When the police checked the victim’s pockets, they found grain.
Miss Marple knows one of the servants in Rex Fortescue’s house and comes to help solve the mystery. She soon starts to suspect that she is dealing with a case of crime by rhyme …
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.
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Reviews for A Pocket Full of Rye
37 ratings22 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Polizeiinspektor 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).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pleasant as usual... nothing deep, nothing depriving you of sleep.... just a great listen for a lazy afternoon!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I think this is Christie's best book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A 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...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A 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. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When 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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Murders 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rex 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."
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although 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
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very 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. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Same old good Agatha Cristie book. Easy read and impossible to be put down. I really missed reading the Agatha Cristie books :D
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rex Fortescue dies after a seizure at his office. The doctor determines poison to be the cause of death. Because of onset time, suspicion falls on those in the man's household. Inspector Neele arrives to question suspects. Two more deaths occur. Miss Marple, who read about the deaths, arrives to assist the inspector by doing what she does best--poking her nose in the household affairs. A nice complex mystery with a literary allusion to the nursery rhyme in the title. I listened to the audio version read by Richard Grant who did a great job.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a beautifully done murder mystery with an amazing puzzle, excellent characters and a perfect solution.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Miss Marple so very much :)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A very hot day, very sleepy, some Agatha Christie the perfect reading material. They are all very unpleasant people but the mystery and use of "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is fun!