REVIEW: A Pocket Full of Rye

A Pocket Full of Rye
Author: Agatha Christie 

Miss Marple shines in this Agatha Christie Mystery! 

This story was first published in a very condensed version in the UK's Daily Express in 1953. In the US, it ran in the Chicago Tribune in serialized format in early 1954. The book was first published in the UK in 1953, and US publication followed in 1954. 

The title comes from the well-known nursery rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpence. I had to look up the words to the old rhyme. I hadn't heard it since we used to recite it while jumping rope on the playground when I was in grade school. As usual with nursery rhymes, it's pretty dark and gruesome. I don't think as kids we ever really thought about the meaning of the actual words. It just had a sing-song cadence that was perfect for timing jumping rope. Amazing how awful some of those old playground rhymes are as I look back as an adult. I researched a few and found that most refer back to really terrible historic events. I wonder why they got turned into children's rhymes? Odd choice! 

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened

The birds began to sing—

Wasn't that a dainty dish

To set before the king?

The king was in the counting-house

Counting out his money,

The queen was in the parlor

Eating bread and honey,

The maid was in the garden

Hanging out the clothes.

Along came a blackbird

And snipped off her nose.

I had an old paperback copy of this book on my shelves [Pocket Books, 1985, 239 pages]. The cover is bright purple...so definitely eye-catching!

As usual, I read from my paperback copy while listening to an audio book version [HarperCollins, 2013, 6 hrs 50 minutes, narrated by Richard E. Grant]. Grant did a great job of narration. At first it felt odd to have a man narrating a Miss Marple story, but as I got further into the story it made sense. First book I've listened to narrated by Richard Grant. Nice voice. He read at an even pace and did a good job of voice acting.  

The basics: A businessman is poisoned. Then two other deaths follow. The killer's biggest mistake? Killing a girl that Jane Marple cared about. Miss Marple shows up on site, angry at a disrespect shown to the dead girl, and is on the case to bring the killer to justice. 

Adaptations: 

1985 movie: A Russian movie, The Secret of the Blackbirds, is based on this book. 

Television: Miss Marple, featuring Joan Hickson as the elderly sleuth, adapted this story into an episode in 1985. Some characters were removed, and the ending was changed. I did not like the change to the ending. The end was perfect as Agatha Christie wrote it. Loved Joan Hickson as Miss Marple as usual, but found the changes to be unnecessary. 

Television: Agatha Christie's Marple, with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple, made an episode in 2009. [Season 4, ep 1] The episode added in some sexual content that I felt unnecessary, but stuck to the original ending. I found the original ending much more profound. I'm glad they stuck with it! 

Radio play: BBC Radio 4 presented an audio drama in 1995. The audio runs 1 hr 28 minutes. June Whitfield voices Miss Marple. I love these full-cast audio dramas! June Whitfield does such a great job portraying Miss Marple. Very enjoyable listen. 

I enjoyed this story. The plot seemed a bit far-fetched in places, but it definitely kept my attention from start to finish. Not one of my favorites, but I always enjoy Miss Marple!  

My old paperback has gone into the recycle bin. Moving on to the next!!