Rating: 
Summary: Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington
Review: I have been a lifetime fan of Agatha Christie, and I was fortunate enough to spend two years in London where I obtained an M.A. Degree at the University of London. I spent much of my time taking trains and undergrounds or "tubes" (subways in "American"), and I can testify that Agatha's book is faithful to trains and Great Britain in almost every detail and also in spirit. In fact, we are talking about one of the most educated nations in the world, whose university system is (along with those of France, Germany, and Belgium) the best in the world, in my opinion. British people really do search for knowledge much of the time where other people search for "ego trips" and bathing in the sun. The British subways in the 1950s and 1960s (when I was there) and when I returned to visit later were an incredible contrast with New York subways. In New York, you are lucky not to get mugged on a subway, and there is usually constant noise. In England, it would be very rare to get mugged on a subway and there is almost constant silence and respect for other people. This is what helped them get through World War 2, a spirit of concern for others and for knowledge and learning and a respect for others and for themselves. Long live the books and the spirit of Agatha Christie!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: I have read all of Christie's books and I must say I enjoyed this one the most. It was solved through actual detective work and not just some detective who percieved the solution through out. Miss Marple is my favorite of Christie's detectives and Lucy Eyelesbarrow is a very admirable young lady.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it a lot
Review: I liked this book a lot. Although there wasn't much suspense, except in the end, it was very good. I liked Lucy Eyelesbarrow a lot, and in this book I liked her better than Ms.Marple. I am thirteen years old and I have read 61 Agatha Christie books. If you are looking for lots of suspense and dead bodies, I'm sorry, but you won't find it here. It's not exactly Agatha Christie's most exciting book, but it makes up for it in characterization, and descriptive words and imagery.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I really enjoyed reading this novel, in fact my first from Agatha Christie. It was really good to read but I was somewhat disappointed at the end. It was not up to the theme of the novel.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Weaker of the Miss Marple mysteries...
Review: I think my title prettty much sums this book up!! Now, don't get me wrong, I love Miss Marple!! Hercule Poirot does not even come close in comparison!!! This book started out a bit slow...stayed slow...and ended slow. IN FACT... I might even go so far as to say that I enjoyed MURDER SHE SAID (the Margaret Rutherford movie based loosley on this book) a bit more than the book. (A RARE thing for me to say)!! A should read book but not a Must Read!!!
Rating: 
Summary: MMmmmm, Not very good!!!!
Review: I'd heard plenty of the great Agatha Christie,mystery writer supreme, and decided, with anticipation, to try a taste of one of her more celebrated novels. But, alas, disappointment. I was amazed at her stringy sentences and lack of any form of decent prose. Her basic descriptions, substandard inter-person dialogue and her tinpot characters. The plot hinged too much on coincidence, Mrs McThingyMeJig just so happening to see the murder and, simultaneously, just so happening to know the illustrious Miss Marple. And the ending!! Please!! Ms Christie is obviously from a different age and, in my opinion, far too middle/upper class to attempt to attack any form of crime/murder fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Murder Without A Corpse Challenges Miss Marple
Review: In "The 4:50 From Paddington" Agatha Christie gives us another in her long list of detective stories involving a large family at their estate. This is, in my opinion, one of the best, and begins when Elspeth McGillicuddy, a friend of Miss Marple's, is returning from Christmas shopping in London and on her way to visit Jane in St. Mary Mead. Her train is running alongside another one on a nearby track, and Mrs. McGillicuddy has an excellent view inside the parallel carriage of the other train. What she sees is the back of a man strangling a woman. No one believes Mrs. McGillicuddy since no corpse is found and no injured woman turns up at any hospital. Only Miss Marple believes her friend. Although Mrs. McGillicuddy is leaving for Ceylon to spend Christmas with her son, Miss Marple continues her quest to prove her friend's story. First she books passage on the same train and narrows the search for where a body should have been thrown to the area around Rutherford Hall, the large family estate of the Crackenthorpes. The family consists of the semi-invalided and grouchy Mr. Crackenthorpe, his daughter Emma, three sons, a son-in-law, and a grandson. At least four of the men are likely candidates for the strangler. Because Miss Marple is not young enough to physically search for the body in unknown territory, she engages Lucy Eyelesbarrow, one of Christie's most interesting female creations. Lucy quickly gains employment at Rutherford Hall as a domestic and busily does all the legwork for Miss Marple. Meanwhile, Jane Marple has taken up residence at a nearby home and advises and assists Lucy. In 1961, this became the basis for "Murder, She Said," the first of four films starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. Although it deviates from the book, most notably in the omission of Lucy, it is enjoyable and worth viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Joan Hickson reads one of Christie's best
Review: In the 1961 mystery-comedy "Murder She Said," Margaret Rutherford plays a feisty version of Miss Marple (an interpretation that infuriated author Agatha Christie) who takes a job as a domestic to solve a murder she saw committed as her train was passing another. Rutherford shared a scene or two with another character actress named Joan Hickson, who was to play Miss Marple in a series of television mysteries that were far more faithful to their originals than were the films. So if you have already seen the two dramatic treatments of "4:50 From Paddington" or (as it was called over here) "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw" and love comparisons, you might want to make a triple one with what Christie actually wrote by either reading the book itself or hearing an authoritative reading of it by Joan Hickson herself on an Audio Partners set on 5 audio cassettes or on 6 CDs. In a houseful of potential murderers, the very interesting Christie character named Lucy Eyelesbarrow takes a position in order to find the body. As one commentator mentions, she is Christie's strongest independent woman to date and possibly in all of the mysteries. So where Rutherford simply was given a fatter role, the original story is that of Lucy with some fancy brainwork by Miss Marple, of course. A very good entry in Audio Partners readings.
Rating:
Summary: Joan Hickson reads one of Christie's best
Review: In the 1961 mystery-comedy "Murder She Said," Margaret Rutherford plays a feisty version of Miss Marple (an interpretation that infuriated author Agatha Christie) who takes a job as a domestic to solve a murder she saw committed as her train was passing another. Rutherford shared a scene or two with another character actress named Joan Hickson, who was to play Miss Marple in a series of television mysteries that were far more faithful to their originals than were the films. So if you have already seen the two dramatic treatments of "4:50 From Paddington" or (as it was called over here) "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw" and love comparisons, you might want to make a triple one with what Christie actually wrote by either reading the book itself or hearing an authoritative reading of it by Joan Hickson herself on an Audio Partners set on 5 audio cassettes or on 6 CDs. In a houseful of potential murderers, the very interesting Christie character named Lucy Eyelesbarrow takes a position in order to find the body. As one commentator mentions, she is Christie's strongest independent woman to date and possibly in all of the mysteries. So where Rutherford simply was given a fatter role, the original story is that of Lucy with some fancy brainwork by Miss Marple, of course. A very good entry in Audio Partners readings.
Rating:
Summary: Three great dames make a terrific story
Review: In this classic Jane Marple story, Joan Hickson, who portrayed Jane Marple perfectly on the BBC series, wonderfully dramatizes all the parts in this fascinating murder mystery. Elderly Elspeth McGillicudy witnesses a murder on the 4:50 train from Paddington Station. She reports it but no one believes her as there is no body to be found. When she tells her old friend, Jane Marple the story, Jane does believe her and re-enacts the so-called crime to see how and where the body could have been hidden. When Miss Marple pinpoints the most likely spot, she engages the young Lucy Eyelesberry to take up a post at that place, Rutherford Hall, to look for the body. The ensuing story is one of the best of Agatha Christie's with Jane Marple taking an important, though supporting role to the plucky Lucy. Not only does she find the body but she engages all the members of the dysfunctional family and serves as a foil to ferret out information about motives and alibis. Of course, all family members remind Miss Marple of someone in her village of St Mary Mead but that is the charm of the story and character. Elspeth McGillicudy does enter the plot again at the end and is instrumental in identifying the murderer. This audio book is just perfect for a long car trip or even for many short commutes. I couldnt wait to get back to my car and engage the traffic because I so looked forward to Joan Hickson, Miss Marple and Lucy. Highly recommended.
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