Hence Auden’s conclusion that the detective story, though a worthy genre, is a peculiarly Protestant form of magic: a fantasy of escape, built on the Socratic daydream that sin is ignorance.Īuden rightly describes the pattern that obtains in the huge preponderance of crime novels”though there have always been some that elude the easy escapist comfort.

With the almost miraculous aid of a detective who possesses superior powers of perception, the true criminal is caught and punished, as the community undergoes a catharsis that cleanses its partial guilt and restores its innocence. Various false clues and secondary murders cast suspicion on nearly everyone and thus reveal the falseness of the community’s innocence. Auden argued that the appeal of crime novels lies in their dialectic of innocence and guilt. A seemingly edenic community is discovered to have a murderer in its midst. A major departure for the book is the addition of a series of flashbacks to Miss Marple's youth and her love affair with a married soldier.IN HIS CELEBRATED 1948 essay on detective fiction, The Guilty Vicarage, W.H. In this adaptation, Miss Marple is portrayed as a close friend of Anne Protheroe.

Miss Marple is given an ankle injury during the course of the lead-up to the murder. This version eliminates the characters of Dr Stone and Gladys Cram, replacing them with Professor Dufosse and his granddaughter Helene, and the reclusive Mrs Lestrange becomes a lavish alcoholic named Mrs Lester. (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Jane Marple, recuperating at home from a sprained ankle, had a bird's eye view of all the comings and goings at the vicarage around the time of the murder and she gladly assists Inspector Slack in solving the crime. Lester with whom he clearly had some previous connection. There is also the vicar and his assistant, whom Protheroe suspected of stealing church funds. His daughter Lettice bridled under his strict rule. His wife Ann was having an affair with a local artist, Lawrence Redding. So, when he is found dead in the vicarage study, there is no end of suspects. All resent his superior and demanding attitude. Colonel Lucius Protheroe is probably the least-liked individual in St Mary Mead.

Murder in vicarage