A Pocket Full of Rye: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie, the 6^th Miss Marple novel. Keep reading to find out what we thought of this novel and if you should read it or skip it!

A Pocket Full of Rye Summary

Rex Fortescue is found dead after drinking his usual tea in the morning and his death is ruled a homicide. An autopsy shows that Rex was poisoned by taxine, a poison that can be obtained from a yew tree. In Rex jacket pocket, there is rye and nobody knows why Rex had it on him. 

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Neele interviews the different family members and tries to figure out who benefits from his death. Returning from Kenya are Lancelot and his wife Pat, the son and daughter in law of Rex. Lancelot had a fallout with Rex but is appears that they made amends over the past six months. 

When another murder takes place, Miss Marple gets involved in the case and tries to figure out who is the murderer and what is the motive. She has her suspicions and realizes that whoever is committing the murders is referencing an old song. Can Marple solve the murder before anyone else is murdered?

Commentary

A Pocket Full of Rye was released in 1953 and in the U.S. the following year. Like some other novels by Christie, it was named after a nursery rhyme. Overall, I enjoyed the novel but I felt like Christie does cheat in this novel by making the most likely suspect fit the bill of the murderer. It is easy to guess who the murderer is considering all the events that take.

But Christie keeps trying to misdirect and it felt a bit too obvious in this book. The murder mystery in this novel is intriguing but if it wasn’t a Christie novel, I wouldn’t have given it much thought. While it isn’t Christie’s best work, it is still an enjoyable read.

Few authors can take a nursery rhyme and make a whole plot out of it. But Christie has done it before and it leads to a different type of novel but with all the fun elements of a Christie mystery.

Conclusion

As I come closer to finishing the Miss Marple series, I am realizing that Christie’s mystery novels are often simple and a lot of them repeat the same stuff. Reading them back to back may not be the best idea. But this novel does help pass the afternoon and is worth checking out if you are a Christie fan. Happy reading!

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