~ 4:50 from Paddington – A Review

This week has been rather busy for me, so I don’t have much time for posting. At least I had the time to get this one up! For Christmas, my family blessed me with a few new books. I had been wanting to try reading some of Agatha Christie’s works, but since they aren’t in the public domain and I don’t have access to a library right now, I had been unable to do so. For Christmas, I received three of Mrs. Christie’s books and the first one I read was 4:50 from Paddington.

The Author:
Agatha Christie was born in September of 1890 in Devon England. Her first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in 1920. Interestingly, it was published first in the United States, and several months later, made it’s debut in England. Mrs. Christie was married twice; first to the unfaithful Archibald Christie, then to Max Mallowan. She had one daughter with her first husband. Mrs. Christie wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short stories. The author is best known for those featuring Miss Jane Marple and Private Detective Monsieur Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie died in January of 1986 at the age of 95.

Technical Details:
4:50 from Paddington was first published in England, in the year of 1957 by Collins Crime Club. In the same month, Dodd, Mead and Company, published the book in the United States under the title What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!. Harper Collins published the copy I read, in 2011. The book contains 27 chapters and fills out 271 pages. The book is a simple paperback, without even a table of contents.

The Story:
Elspeth McGillicuddy, a respectable Scottish woman, just finished her Christmas shopping. While traveling to her friend’s house on the 4:50 train from Paddington, Mrs. McGillicuddy is terrified to witness the murder of a young woman when another train passes beside her. When she tells the conductor what she saw however, he doesn’t believe her. Mrs. McGillicuddy’s age and the evidence that she had just awakened from a nap, make him believe that she dreamt the entire thing. Still distraught over what she has witnessed, the woman tells her friend, Miss Marple, everything she saw. The two women decide to go to the police, but what is their surprise when the Inspector informs them two days later that there is no trace of a murdered woman anywhere to be found! Not in the train, not on the tracks, nowhere! The police are giving up on the case. Miss Marple decides to investigate. Bringing in the assistance of Miss Lucy Eyelesbarrow, Miss Marple begins an investigation, starting with Rutherford Hall. Lucy is a housekeeper, young, energetic and resourceful. Miss Marple can think the case through, but she’s certain her doctor would never approve of her doing much in the way of investigation. Lucy gets a position at Rutherford Hall and begins to become acquainted with the several interesting occupants, but can she accomplish her mission? Can she find the body of the young murdered woman, without drawing suspicion and possibly endangering herself? Can the woman’s death and identity be proven – before too many people get hurt?

The Writing Style:
The book began quite slowly, in my opinion. The style was difficult to follow for probably the first two chapters. Even after that, the writing was a bit choppy, but it flowed much better than the beginning. The story in itself however, was interesting enough to keep the reader going, regardless of the style. If a sentence ended on a painful note, the desire to know the ending was strong enough to keep me from shutting the book.

The Characters:
Most of the characters were well done. Lucy and Miss Marple were perhaps the best, along with the two boys, the eldest living son of Mr. Crackenthorpe (owner of Rutherford Hall) and Brian Eastley. A few of the male characters in the story were underwritten; Alfred Crackenthorpe and Doctor Quimper for instance. For being such a large part of the book, it seemed you should have come off with a better idea of their personality and character, but I didn’t.

My favorite character. Hmm… I liked the two schoolboys, Alexander and James. Lighthearted and friendly, as well as intelligent and well behaved. Other then those two, I would probably choose Lucy. She was likable and I loved how capable she was at her housework!

Caution: There is some mild language in this book, but if I’m remembering correctly, it was only used in two, maybe three different places. A few of the things discussed, while spoken of discreetly, elicit a warning; I would recommend this book to young adults, but not for children to read on their own.

Conclusion:
Overall, I enjoyed 4:50 to Paddington, and despite it’s flaws, might even read it again sometime. The mystery was engaging and surprising.

To the KING be all the glory!