THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE A Detective Story

First American edition, first printing, of Christie's first "Miss Marple" novel. With a map of the village St. Mary Mead as endpapers. 8vo, publisher's original gray/green cloth, the upper cover lettered in dark green within a vicarage archway design, the spine lettered in dark green. 319pp. An honest and appealing copy of a book rarely found in decent condition due to the depression era materials used in producing it. The book with a bit of toning and occasional mottling but far less than is typical. The binding solid with firm hinges, the cloth a bit mellowed and aged at the spine to a fairly uniform tan, very light wear to the tips or edges, in all an acceptable copy of a hard-to-find book.

Edizione: the first novel to feature christie's arguably most famous sleuth, miss marple. the grand dame of detective fiction would create novels and short stories featuring the amateur lady consulting detective for more than forty years. in this first novel the character of jane marple is somewhat different from how she appears in later books. this early version of miss marple is a gleeful gossip who expects the worst from everyone, in time the character would evolve into a much sweeter "little old lady".