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Agatha Christie

4:50 From Paddington: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries, 7) Paperback – May 3, 2022

by Agatha Christie (Author)

4.5 5,543 ratings

Book 8 of 12: Miss Marple Mysteries

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“The great mistress of the last-minute switch is at it again. . . . Even the experts have given up any attempts to out-guess Miss Christie.” —The New Yorker

In this beloved classic from the Queen of Mystery, now with a new beautiful series look, a woman witnesses a murder while peering through the window of one train into another train passing . . . and only Miss Marple believes her story

For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. She watched on as the body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs. McGillicuddy’s friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case. How could there be, with no corpse and no one missing?

Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of this mystery, and help unmask a murderer.

Book 8 of 12

Miss Marple Mysteries
Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

May 3, 2022
Dimensions

5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0063214083
ISBN-13

978-0063214088
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From the Publisher


	MOVING FINGER	MURDER AT THE VICARAGE	4:50 FROM PADDINGTON	NEMESIS	MARPLE TWELVE STORIES	AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL


	BODY IN THE LIBRARY	POCKET FULL OF RYE	THEY DO IT WITH THE MIRRORS	A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED	A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY	MISS MARPLE

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Of all Christie’s detectives, it’s Jane Marple who best understood what can drive ordinary people to the extraordinary act of taking a life.” — S. J. Rozan, Edgar Award-winning author

“The great mistress of the last-minute switch is at it again…. Even the experts have given up any attempts to out-guess Miss Christie.” — New Yorker

“Precisely what one expects: the most delicious bamboozling possible in a babble of bright talk and a comprehensive bristle of suspicion all adeptly managed to keep you much too alert elsewhere to see the neat succession of clues that catch a murderer we never so much as thought of.” — New York Herald Tribune

“A model detective story, there is never a dull moment.” — The Times (London)

“The suspense is agonizing.” — Daily Mail (London)

About the Author

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (May 3, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063214083
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063214088
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #366,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,146 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)
- #9,370 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #12,305 in Women Sleuths (Books)

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4.5 5,543 ratings

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Agatha Christie

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Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie began writing during the First World War and wrote over 100 novels, plays and short story collections. She was still writing to great acclaim until her death, and her books have now sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. Yet Agatha Christie was always a very private person, and though Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became household names, the Queen of Crime was a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.

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Flora Smith

Highly recommend this store

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book was shipped very quickly. I received it the same week I ordered it. And it is in near perfect condition. It was listed as good, but actually looks like new. I haven't read the book yet, but I am very impressed with the seller.

I expect to love the book, it is Agatha Christie after all.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023

Verified Purchase

... And not just the train lol. Another terrific mystery from the Queen. I didn't see this one, either. Author is too good at hiding the perpetrators.

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

Small Backstory:

Elspeth McGillcuddy is riding on a train and is admiring the view out her window when another train passes she sees a man choking a woman then sees the woman fall, but by the time she gets up to take a closer look the other train is already gone.

She begins to wonder if what she saw was "real" but when she tries to find out details about the other train and comes up with no body Elspeth decides to discuss it with her friend Miss Marple and let her investigate the crime as with there being no body how can anyone say that there was a crime.

That is about all I can give on a small backstory without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more than you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading author, Agatha Christie! Yes - I know it is shameful really to never have read her books with her being the Queen of Mystery, but I figure better late than never and so here I am reading my first book by her.

I really enjoyed this story and even though I read the book out of sequence I realized that it doesn't matter as the books are all stand alone. I thought the pacing of the book was fast and once the character, Miss Marple becomes involved the story picks up speed as the mystery deepens within the story and I was rattling my brain trying to figure out who the mystery killer was along with who was the mystery victim!

The suspense of the story kept me on the edge of my seat and I would find myself reading chunks of the story with hours going by as the mystery surrounded me. I am so thankful that I finally decided to jump into a book by Agatha Christie. It was my first but it won't be my last! Giving this book four "Train Terror" stars!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

An Engaging Mystery Chock Full of Characters

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

I've never read much Agatha Christie, and don't really know why. Now that I have a Kindle, I plan to stock up on this author whenever I see a good price ! According to the blurb at the end of the book, Christie is the "most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare." That fact alone is proof that she has a universal appeal.

I won't recap much of the plot here, as the product description is sufficient for that purpose (and I certainly would not want to leak any spoilers.) The action commences immediately, and the murder occurs within the first pages of the book. But, there is no body, and the witness, the doddering spinster Elspeth McGillicuddy, is not considered credible by the authorities. However, she convinces her good friend, Miss Marple, that she did indeed witness the strangulation of a woman in a passing train. Miss Marple does a bit of preliminary sleuthing to determine where the body might have been tossed off the train. Then she hires a competent younger woman, Lucy Eyelesbarrow (her new understudy perhaps?), to take the house manager position at the estate of the Crackenthorpe family. The estate is near the railway line where Miss Marple presumes that the body would have been disposed of.

We meet the Crackenthorpe family members, all of whom seem to be waiting for the patriarch to kick off so they can get their hands on their share of the estate. Christie has a fine way of sketching out new characters with a brief, succinct description that provides you just enough information to decide how they fit into the picture that she is painting. None of the Crackenthorpes are particularly admirable, with the exception of Emily who seems to be trying to hold the whole estate together single handedly. Other murders start to pile up, but since Christie didn't stir up much sympathy towards those victims, their passing is not tragic.

A lot of Miss Marple's sleuthing appears to occur offstage, and when she finally swoops in to reveal the true murderer, it all seems a bit forced and hurried. However, up until then I found the mystery quite engaging, and the comings and goings of all the characters kept me turning the pages (or rather hitting the forward button) rapidly.

One aspect of Christie's writing that I especially enjoy is the interesting names - Griselda, Eyelesbarrow, McGillicuddy, Wimborne, Quimper, Crackenthorpe, et al. The unique names help you to remember the many characters that inhabit the book.

I will certainly be looking for more in the Miss Marple series, and am sure that I am well on my way to becoming an Agatha Christie fan

7 people found this helpful

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Patto

Lots of poisonings — and Christie does them so well!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2021

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First there’s a murder on a train, glimpsed by an old woman, friend of Miss Marple. Later, there’s the discovery of the body. And finally, a good number of the characters are mildly, or fatally, poisoned. The solution of the crimes was a complete surprise to me.

Agatha Christie is known for her way with poisons. She’s meticulously accurate as to effects, dosage, etc, thanks to her war work in a hospital pharmacy, where she learned all about drugs and poisons from arsenic to curare to digitalis. Over the course of all her murderous plots, more than 30 of her characters died of poison. And the poisons vary impressively.

So poison with surprising results is part of the fun in this book. But the most fun is Miss Marple. She’s become too old and frail to run around investigating on her own, so she hires a remarkable young woman who’s doing highly paid temporary work as an elite domestic superwoman. Lucy is delightful. In fact, every page of 4:50 from Paddington is a delight.

I’m re-reading all of Miss Marple with deep pleasure. The books are even better the second time around.

8 people found this helpful

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Vicky C.

Love the Queen of Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

A bit tedious in parts but well worth muddling through the tedious parts to get to the twist in the end. In typical Christie fashion this mystery has a very surprising ending. I'm pretty good at figuring out "Who dunnits" but this one took me totally by surprise. Enjoy!

One person found this helpful

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Cheryl

Better than I was expecting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this read. It’s a little old-fashioned, the language really dates it especially when they mention shillings but the story itself was good and stood up well today.

Despite there being a murder it is not in any way a grisly book, there are no graphic details and it’s all very cosy and sweet, which is odd really I suppose.

I had no idea who did it and why etc and Miss Marple certainly kept her cards close to her chest but I like that, it gives us a chance to think about the events ourselves and maybe come to our own conclusions or make a guess.

Personally I have always been put off these books as the Miss Marple character to me sounds like some interfering old woman who’s a bit too smug. But I enjoyed it and I would read another.

Good fun, not amazing but an enjoyable read with a good storyline and some nice twists. A decent pace throughout kept my interest going. A solid 4*/5

margaret woolfenden

Good service and value

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2023

Verified Purchase

Fulfillment of order to the letter, highly satisfied

Paul S

Really great opening to this murder mystery but overall I found the story a little disappointing.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

Forty or so years ago I used to commute daily from Brighton to my place of work in London. I spent my time on the train reading and this is where I first read the novel '4.50 from Paddington'. Even then, in the early 1980s, the novel was 25 years old but did not seem that dated, in part because some of the rolling stock that Agatha Christie uses to set the dramatic opening for this story was still in use. In those days, some carriages had compartments that were connected to each other by a corridor while others had compartments that were totally self contained and not connected to any of the other compartments that made up a carriage, making it only possible to enter or leave them by the external doors when the train was in a station. So when, as the story begins, the elderly Mrs McGillicuddy briefly spots a woman being strangled in one of these self-contained compartments in a train that was briefly running parallel to the one she is on, she alerts the guard in her train of what she has seen. But when the other train is stopped at the next station, no dead body is found and the assumption is made that Mrs McGillicuddy must have imagined the scenario. However, her friend. Miss Marple, has more faith in Mrs McGillicuddy's claim and sets out to determine if a murder has occurred, and if so, how the body could have disappeared?
After this great opening however, the pace of the story slows down somewhat. Miss Marple is too old and frail to conduct the investigation so she asks Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a much younger woman to help her. As a result, Miss Marple only occasionally pops up in the story. The police also appear to play a minor role in the investigation, often relying on the evidence that is uncovered by Lucy.
The plot itself becomes a little complex given the number of characters in the story, many of whom have things to hide about their past. In addition, it is very difficult to spot any of the clues as to who is the villain before the final reveal (which may appeal to some budding armchair detectives who enjoy a challenge but which will no doubt irritate others who missed those relevant clues that are few in number). Of course there are plenty of red herrings to lead us astray!
One aspect of this story I found intriguing was the occasional observations made about social issues of the time (e.g. the drop in the number of people entering domestic service as a career; the level of taxation that wealthier people in society were having to pay; suggestions that some men were finding it difficult to cope with the rise of a younger set of independent women who did not conform to the mores of an earlier age, etc.). I had not noticed this in any of Agatha Christie's preceding novels, so she either covered it more subtly in her earlier novels or perhaps I was spending too much time trying to determine 'who dunnit' to notice it!
Finally, one aspect that lessened my overall enjoyment of this story was how much 'coincidence' occurs in the plot which, for me, affects its credibility.
So, while the premise is really promising, the story left me feeling a little disappointed upon finishing it. I enjoyed the interesting observations of life in Britain in the late 1950s and some of the humorous dialogue. However, I felt there were too many red herrings & reliance on coincidence in the plot for my liking.

Kindle Customer

As

Reviewed in Australia on May 30, 2023

Verified Purchase

As usual thoroughly good read. Miss Marple is a great and instinctive thinker. Ms Christie is real storyteller and I have enjoyed many.

FictionFan

24-carat Golden Age...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

When Elspeth McGillicuddy glances out of the window of her train carriage, she can see straight into another train that is running parallel to her own. As a blind flies up on the carriage opposite her, she is horrified to see a woman being strangled by a tall, dark man. Unable to do anything to prevent it, she reports it to the conductor. He suspects she's just been napping and has dreamt the whole thing, but he's a conscientious man so he reports the matter at the next station. However, no body is found on the train, and there the matter would probably have rested, but for the fact that Mrs McGillicuddy was on her way to St Mary Mead to visit her old friend, Jane Marple. Miss Marple knows Mrs McGillicuddy is a sensible woman with no imagination, so believes that she saw exactly what she claims. Feeling too old and unfit to snoop around herself, Miss Marple asks Lucy Eyelesbarrow to hunt for the body and so Lucy takes a job at Rutherford Hall...

This book gets a little criticism for not really having many clues or much actual detection element in it. It's never quite clear how Miss Marple arrives at the solution, other than her extensive knowledge of human nature. That's not to say that the solution is unclear; it isn't – it makes perfect sense. But the route to it isn't as well defined as Christie's usual.

But regardless, this is still one of my favourite Christie books. I love Miss Marple as a character, even more than M Poirot and his little grey cells, and she's on top form in this one. She gives us some nice village parallels to shed light on the characters of the suspects; she twinkles affectionately at both young Inspector Craddock and Lucy; she does a bit of gentle match-making; and she gives us some classic Delphic pronouncements that leave the reader as beautifully baffled as the other characters.

For me, one of the major joys of Christie's books is that they manage the difficult feat of being full of corpses and yet free of angst – a trick the Golden Age authors excelled in and modern authors seem to have forgotten. She ensures that the soon-to-be victims deserve all they get, being either wicked, nasty or occasionally just tiresome. The dearly-departed's relatives always take a stoic attitude to the death of their parents/spouses/siblings/children which, while it might not be altogether realistic, is certainly considerably more enjoyable than two hundred pages of descriptions of grieving, sobbing, wailing and general tooth-gnashing. In Christie novels, the emphasis is on entertainment – a mystery and a puzzle to solve, rather than an attempt to harrow the soul.

Apart from Miss Marple herself, there are two things that make this one particularly entertaining. Lucy Eyelesbarrow is a great character – a strong, independent young woman, making a success of her life in this post-war world. With the difficulties of getting domestic servants, she has seen an opportunity for herself in being the ultimate housekeeper, and is hugely in demand by ladies everywhere who need help in running their homes. She can and does demand exorbitant wages and never stays anywhere for more than a few weeks, but during those weeks she makes life wonderfully carefree for her employers. So Emma Crackenthorpe of Rutherford Hall jumps at the chance to have her at a reduced rate for a while, to help out with her elderly old curmudgeon of a father and her assortment of brothers and brothers-in-law when they descend on the house en masse for a visit. And it's not long before several of these men have recognised Lucy's unique attractions...

Then there are the two boys, Alexander, the son of a deceased Crackenthorpe sister, and his friend Stodders, both visiting during the school holidays. These two remind me a little of Jennings and Derbyshire, or perhaps like terribly polite and well brought up versions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. No counselling for these children! No, indeed! When a corpse is discovered, they don't get traumatised, they get out there looking for clues! In which pursuit they are aided and abetted by a bunch of adults who seem to think it's quite normal, healthy even, for boys their age to be fascinated by all things murderous.

Wonderfully entertaining, full of humour, great plot even if the clues aren't quite fairplay, and a little bit of possible romance to spice things up. Great stuff!

5 people found this helpful

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