A Pocket Full of Rye (Miss Marple Mysteries)

Book Description

In this ingeniously plotted Christie classic, a child's nursery rhyme holds three clues to finding a cunning killer when a well-to-do household becomes infested with murder.

Customer Reviews:

Nursery Crime.......2007-09-12

"A Pocket Full of Rye" may perhaps be the best novel Christie wrote that features Miss Jane Marple. It is, at heart, a mystery with an ingenious setup that revolves around a familiar nursery rhyme. With murders happening aplenty and somewhat unexpectedly, this is a mystery that will keep readers on their toes until the very end.

When Rex Fortescue is poisoned, suspicion immediately falls upon his young, second wife, an unfaithful woman who definitely had a motive to kill her husband. As do several (if not all) of his family members. Yet when a second poisoning claims the live of Mrs. Fortescue, she is wiped out as a suspect, but someone else within the family is definitely confirmed as the murderer. Almost every family member, or someone connected with them, had something to gain from these two deaths. Miss Marple becomes involved because one of her old serving girls is the third murder victim, filling out the last two lines of the nursery rhyme. Miss Marple helps put the detective in charge along the right track, separating murder from pranks, and finding the heartless killer among the family ranks.

"A Pocket Full of Rye" is a fast-paced mystery, as are many of Christie's works, but it is spurred on by its unique story and a compelling cast of characters. As CID Inspector Neele says many times, every member of the Fortescue family is 'unpleasant', as are most of the people who work for them. As with other Christie works where Miss Marple helps out a detective, the mystery is solved but justice isn't necessarily served out in the end.

A Pocket Full of Sigh.......2007-04-08

First of all, I'd like to say that I've read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and it was excellent. I would highly recommend it! A Pocket Full of Rye however, just didn't do it for me. I had to persevere to get through those seemingly endless boring pages. The ending fortunately, tied up everything very nicely- and leave it to Dame Agatha to make it surprising! Aside from eh, approximately the last 30, pages I was incredibly unsatisfied. Ah well, I'm giving Three Act Tragedy a go... hopefully that one will be better.

Typical Christie....Awesome..........2006-11-28

Ok, there is little point reviewing an Agatha Christie mystery. It would be equivalent to saying that Kasparov plays a good game of chess, or that Mike Tyson hits hard. You just know that Dame Christie can spin a great yarn of intrigue, and this is no exception. Pocket Full of Rye beings with a dead body (with a pocket full of rye no less!) and suspects aplenty. As it turns out, almost everyone in the house had a reason for offing poor Mr. Fortescue. Then more murders occur, which by definition one would think would make the mystery easier to solve as there are less suspects. However, Ms. Christie is too clever for that, and much as in And Then There Were None, the reader is baffled until the very end.

My only [small] complaint is that Miss Marple is a relatively small part of the novel, and it would have been nice to see a tad more of her.

Relic113

A Pocket Full of Rye Review .......2006-02-17

Mr. Fortescue was sitting in his office, drinking his normal morning tea, when the secretary heard him screaming for his life. When ambulances finally arrived and got him to the hospital, he was dead. The diagnosis was that a poison, taxine had killed him. This can be found in yew berries, and Mr. Fortescue lived on Yewtree Lodge. His wife was the main suspect in the murder, until she also was murdered. Her lover, Mr. Dubois, was the suspect next. Just about everyone that knew the family was a suspect. On the same day that Mrs. Fortescue died, the maid, Gladys, died also. This is when Miss Marple came to stay at Yewtree Lodge. She worked together with Inspector Neele, even though they had completely different thought patterns about what had happened. Inspector Neele eventually came to the conclusion that Percival, the son of Mr. Fortescue, was the murderer. While staying at Yewtree, Miss Marple made her own discoveries, biased on what the family members had told her. Neele was wrong, and soon agreed with Miss Marple that the other son, Lance had killed his father. Even though Lance was in Africa during all of the murders, Miss Marple proved that he had come back in the summer and given Gladys taxine, while pretending to be her boyfriend. He told her that the taxine would make Mr. Fortescue tell the truth, so Gladys put it in his marmalade. The marmalade wasn't eaten for months later, so Lance was in Africa when his father died. This gave him a strong alibi. He also killed Gladys and Mrs. Fortescue. He lured Gladys outside, pretending to be her boyfriend again, and then strangled her. Then he came to the front door and met up with his wife, pretending to just have arrived. While have tea with his step-mother, he pretended to drop sugar in her tea, but it was actually poison. Inspector Neele would never have discovered any of this without Miss Marple. This book was written with a surprise ending. This was a good book, but it had too many characters. An interesting part was that the murders fit perfectly with a nursery rhyme. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a good murder mystery book.
The book was written so the person least likely to be the murderer turned out to be it. Lance was fired from his father's business, and moved to Africa. When his father was murdered, he was still in Africa. This made it seem nearly impossible for him to have committed three murders while being on a completely different continent. Percival, the other son was used as a distraction from Lance, and was portrayed as the murderer for a good part of the book. The MacKenzie's were also used as a distraction from Lance being the murderer. Mr. Fortescue left Mr. MacKenzie in Africa to die, so his family probably wanted revenge. All of these characters were used to make Lance seem less and less likely to be the murderer.
There were too many characters. The author created too many suspects, so it got hard to follow. There were maids and housekeepers and cooks and a lot of relatives all living at Yewtree. This made them all suspects, and they kept being brought up. This made it hard to keep up with what was going on in the murder being solved. Also, the book seemed to go on and on, going through all of the possibilities of where everyone was during the murder.
The murders were planned to fit a Mother Goose nursery rhyme. Miss Marple discovered that the murders perfectly fit the nursery rhyme about blackbirds. The people were killed in the same order and Mr. Fortescue was even killed with a grain of rye in his pocket. Gladys was killed with a clothes pin on her nose, to symbolize a bird snipping off her nose. The all seemed to be an odd plan the murderer was doing, until it was discovered that Gladys was killed before Mrs. Fortescue, which made it not fit with the rhyme anymore.
This was a very interesting book that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat the entire book. There are many twists and turns that keep you guessing on who will be suspect next. It is almost impossible to tell who the true murderer is until the very end. Paying attention while reading this book is very important, but the book is a great mystery book that would be good for almost everyone, as long as you're willing to keep up with all of the different characters that come in and out of the book.

A. Stone

A great mystery, one of the best ones ever written!.......2006-01-25

When a rich man dies under very mysterious circumstances, Miss Marple becomes interested. However, when she begins to really follow the details of what has happened, she quickly realizes that more murders are sure to follow. This is a very deep mystery, and only Jane Marple can find out what is really going on and why!

Jane Marple was the literary creation of that most famous of English mystery writers, Agatha Christie (1890-1976). For those of you unfamiliar with Miss Marple, she was your stereotypical elderly spinster-lady, who loves to gossip and grow her flowers. But, even more, she has a razor-sharp mind that she uses to solve mysteries, using her own brand of lateral thinking that allows her see clearer than anyone else around her.

This is actually Agatha Christie's sixth Miss Marple novel, written in 1953. (The first one was The Murder at the Vicarage (1930), and the second one was Sleeping Murder, which was written in 1940 but locked away to be published after Ms. Christie's death in 1976.) Overall, I found this to be a fascinating read. If you love a good mystery, then get this book - it is a great mystery, one of the best ones ever written. I give this book my highest recommendations!

A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries (Audio Partners))

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A Pocket Full of Rye: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries (Audio Partners))
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: The Audio Partners, Mystery Masters
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1572705574

Book Description

After wealthy financier Rex Fortescue’s sudden death, grains of rye are inexplicably found in his pocket. The coroner’s verdict is death by poisoning, yet only one of the dead man’s relatives seems upset. The others all have motives to want the old man dead. When two more members of the Fortescue household are murdered, Miss Marple enters the case. But is one bizarre clue — the pocket full of rye — enough to solve the strangest case of her career?

The Nursery Rhyme Murders: Including "a Pocket Full of Rye", "Hickory Dickory Death" and "the Crooked House"

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The Nursery Rhyme Murders: Including "a Pocket Full of Rye", "Hickory Dickory Death" and "the Crooked House"
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Dodd Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0396061818

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Pocket Full of Rye
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: HARPER COLLINS 0 PUB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0007208529

A Caribbean mystery ; A pocket full of rye ; The mirror crack'd from side to side ; They do it with mirrors

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A Caribbean mystery ; A pocket full of rye ; The mirror crack'd from side to side ; They do it with mirrors
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1856274233

A Pocket Full of Rye (A Jane Marple Mystery)

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A Pocket Full of Rye (A Jane Marple Mystery)

Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0671756273

Product Description

Fiction, Mystery, Jane Marple

Miss Marple Meets Murder Including: The Mirror Crack'd, a Pocket Full of Rye, at Bertram's Hotel, the Moving Finger

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Miss Marple Meets Murder Including: The Mirror Crack'd, a Pocket Full of Rye, at Bertram's Hotel, the Moving Finger
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Nelson Doubleday Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Murder is Announced (Miss Marple)

ASIN: B000H3ALZE

4:50 from Paddington / A Pocket Full of Rye: TWO MISS MARPLE DRAMAS (BBC) (BBC Radio Presents)

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Magnificent!

4:50 from Paddington / A Pocket Full of Rye: TWO MISS MARPLE DRAMAS (BBC) (BBC Radio Presents)
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0553525638
Release Date: 1999-05-04

Book Description

4:50 FROM PADDINGTON
When Elspeth McGillicuddy is the only witness to a brutal murder-for which not even a body is in evidence-it takes all of Miss Marple's remarkable ingenuity to discover the key to a secret which lies buried within a decaying country house.

A POCKET FULL OF RYE
With only one bizarre clue to the agonizing death of a wealthy financier, Miss Marple must unravel a mystery hidden in a child's nursery rhyme that is to prove one of the strangest cases of her life.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent!.......2001-06-12

Agagtha Christie is the queen of Mystery. There is nothing like listening to her wonderful stories unfold. I highly recommend this one for long drives. You will not be sorry.

Agatha Christie a Pocket Full of Rye (Miss Marple Mysteries (Audio))

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Agatha Christie a Pocket Full of Rye (Miss Marple Mysteries (Audio))
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Sound Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Taken at the Flood: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Mystery Masters)

ASIN: 0792737369

Agatha Christie Crime Collection: THE MURDER ON THE LINKS; A POCKET FULL OF RYE; DESTINATION UNKNOWN

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Agatha Christie Crime Collection: THE MURDER ON THE LINKS; A POCKET FULL OF RYE; DESTINATION UNKNOWN
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Lansdowne Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0701814489

Customer Reviews:

Clever and Amusing.......2007-05-07

I loved this book! Combining gods and computers. What a concept. The more you know about programing and/or hacking the more you will enjoy this. But it was not just a clever idea, it is a great read! Family conflict, the promise of romance if you live that long, great friendships, this story has it all. Kelly McCullough is a WRITER. I have already put the next book on my wish list and intend to add McCullogh to my list of authors that I must read.

Something missing........2007-04-24

On a technical level (no pun intended), this book is well-written, plotted, and structured. It had a pretty hefty theme of free will vs. fate, and it tends to dominate all else. Sometimes, I had the feeling that the characters' motivations for various actions had more to do with the theme than anything arising from their own natures. This includes the romance, and much of the male lead's behavior. The times he goes into flowery high court mode read false and contrived, as if he were reciting something he memorized but didn't really understand and wasn't all that interested in.

Strike one for romance.

There's a lot of hardcore net geekery (to a very casual user like me, anyway) that often made me skim long sections rather than read. That was something of an occupational hazard, I knew it was going to be a techno-magic fantasy. Still got boring.

The characters' appeareances were cliched (c'mon, pointed ears? Just because they were descended from the Fates? And how, exactly, did that happen? There's *nothing* in the mythology that indicates the Fates had consorts, so how exactly did they get these century-sprawling bloodlines?)

Strike two. It helps when the reader can understand the setting and the magic system.

Lastly--I honestly didn't *care* about any of the characters. I wasn't all that bothered by Fate winning, or Eris' predicament, or the fate of the young lovers. The hero was brash and daring because Hacker Heroes should be iconoclasts. The heroine was fierce and devoted and equally predictable.

It's an intelligent book, a decent read for the money, but I don't consider it a keeper.

Darn fast page turner. Loved it........2007-01-08

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and a very fast read. Excitement starts right away and the writer really invents a fun world of magic and tech. I love finding a great new writer and I look forward to the next one. Good stuff.

Metaphoric Abuse, Extreme Metaphoric Abuse.......2007-01-06

I'm going to start this review with a slight seque - long ago while I was taking a term off to work in a bookstore I decided I would write me a novel. It was a sarcastic in-joke kind of thing that lampooned many of my friends and was all doctored up with references to Norse legends. The good news is that it was never published and lies mouldering to this day in my secret cellars. The bad news is that I failed to contain the virus and it has gone and infected Kelly McCullough. In those days the height of technology was a 110 baud teletype, now we have 1 gigabit LAN drops. It never rains, but it pours.

McCullough uses two primary premises to fuel his plot. First of all, the real true universe is run by the whole cast of Greek gods. In particular, the fates, Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis. Secondly, ritual magic has been replaced by digital magic. The Fates have their own magical internet, Eris - the goddess of discord - has hers, and all the lesser godlets have goblin or troll familiars that feature the latest in flat screen monitors and cool keyboards. Ravirn, the central character, makes a habit of getting in trouble with his grandmother and her sisters. The kind of trouble that is likely to get his thread snipped if he doesn't watch out.

Well, as you might expect, Ravirn, college student and hacker, rarely watches out. Atropos asks him to debug a program for her, one that will severely alter the balance between chaos and law. In a rare flash of integrity Ravirn refuses and his great aunt sets about making his life hades. Ravirn and his trusty familiar Melchior jump from crisis to crisis, making it clear that, even though Ravirn is defending free will, he doesn't have a clue how to use it. He drags his best friend Cerice into the mess as well as a group best described as the league of forgotten familiars.

McCullough's premise is interesting and there are moments when the story rises to the bait and shows signs of becoming compelling. But the hacker/computer metaphor is literally worked to death, becoming a string of in jokes. If you're a geek the story might be fun but to the average reader the story becomes a blur of pseudo-magical command lines. Top that off with a whole cast of nouveau-cool Greek deity references and you have WebMage a novel a bit too in love with its cleverness. Light entertainment, but it lacks the oomph of the books from which it borrows. There is supposed to be a sequel, by which time I hope McCullough discovers that 'cute' and 'plot' are poor bedfellows..

Hacking into Fate.......2007-01-01

WebMage tells the tale of a young man in college who's studing computer science and is the descendent of Fate, specifically Lachesis. As a descendent of Lachesis and a computer geek, Ravirn is also a computer hacker, specifically of the gods. The book opens with Ravirn hacking into his Aunt Atropos and learning that she has a desire to end free will, something Ravirn doesn't want to see end. To combat Atropos, Ravirn needs to find a fault in the program and terminate it before Atropos gets it to work.

Mr. McCullough does a very good job of merging our current world with that of Greek mythology. The Fates are very real, the Furies bite at you, and Eris is the goddess of discord (as Mr. McCullough points out nicely, the hackers goddess). The fascinating thing in this series is that the gods and goddess's use computers to execute their magic, something that Mr. McCullough sells very nicely by having the gods computers being living trolls (mainframes) and goblins (laptops/pcs).

WebMage is a very solid 4 star book. Actually I'd say 4.5 stars. Mr. McCullough does a great job describing situations, his understanding of Greek mythology is also very good, I personally thought he did a great job of capturing their personality. The interplay between the characters flows and shows a very human touch. While I wanted to give this book 5 stars, I couldn't give it the additional star. I look forward to reading his next hi what I hope is a series.

Book Description

Becoming a stepfather means new relationships, new struggles, and new joys. Here's a commonsense, practical guide tht helps stepfathers ease into their new role. The author emphasizes how stepfathers must replace wishful thinking with realistic expectations. Suggestions for getting along with stepchildren and building lasting relationships, managing conflict, establishing authority, and communicating in a positive way are all included to help men fully enjoy the rewards of being a stepfather.

Customer Reviews:

Down from the Ivory Tower...real life uses.......2007-06-16

This book is well thought out...and that's the challenge.

Step dads want to know what to do now...not sit and read a long drawn out theory about step fathering and step kids.

I struggled through this book, because of the deep theory...like running in sand, struggling to get what I needed out of the book. Phrases like "...They may exploit this perceived unfairness to justify becoming more ruthless..."

What? Lets just say after a divorce, the patterns are interrupted and deal with them. Too many words get in the way.

There is a challenge to readers of this book to memorize statements and comments. That will make you appear fake...even if your intentions are right. Kids know. You job is to Connect! By being yourself.

With that said, Let me recommend you read Chapter 10, Chapter 13 and Chapter 25. Other chapters in the book are too much sand...too much theory.

Overall, if you want theory get this book. If you want something to use now, read chapters 10,13 and 25. Don't memorize it, be yourself and your kids will respond.

Really is a Five Star Book.......2007-02-17

I bought this book as a tool as I am blending my family with my new partner. I bought it for him to read, but it has been just as informative to me! It really explains things from the "step" father's point of view, and has helped me to realize the things I can do to help. It has also made me realize that all of the things happening in my little family are pretty normal. I highly recommend this book for a new stepfather, stepmother or even the biological parent that is blending his/her family!

Keys To Successful Stepfathering.......2006-08-09

Buy this if you are a Stepfather (or one to be)! I bought 3 books on the subject, but none came close to Pickhardt's book. He is on point. With loads of useful advice. I felt like he knew my exact family relationship with his examples. I wish I had bought this earlier in my relationship. Thanks to the author.

On the mark........2005-12-01

This book is right on the mark. It validated a lot of the emotions felt in this situation and explains how to deal with them positively. I would reccomend this book to any stepfather.

Extremely well written.......2004-12-12

I'm about to marry a wonderful woman who has 3 daughters, the eldest is almost a teenager. After a particularly trying weekend, I went to Amazon and bought 3 books on being a stepfather. The other books were okay. Then I read this book. Carl Pickhardt is very careful and thoughtful when choosing his words. Every word was there for a reason and carried enormous weight. The book was insightful, meaningful and accurate. The advice is valuable, but it is the thoughtful, no-nonsense insight behind that advice that is priceless. It is easy to read, but better than that, it grabbed my attention from beginning to end. I've made a note to reread this book every year. Good job Carl!

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Great food

Familie Recipies Migrated to American Style

A Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Family Recipes (Hippocrene Cookbook Library)
Ha Roda
Manufacturer: Hippocrene Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0781810817

Customer Reviews:

Great food.......2006-04-28

"A Vietnamese Kitchen" is a tribute to the author's homeland and heritage.

Ha Roda, born in Saigon, authored this cookbook which features her native cuisine, Vietnamese. Her aunt was a chef and inspired her to cook. After living numerous years in the United States, Roda decided to pen this book and share with Americans her heritage and adapting recipes to meet the American palate!

Americans first became widely aware of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Afterwards, there was a surge of Vietnamese immigrants to our country. This cookbook demonstrates the food of these people and a celebration of a wonderful culture.

The recipes in this book are tasty and easy-to-follow. Unlike a lot of Hippocrene Books (the Publisher), this cookbook does contain photographs. They are black and white photos of each recipe.

The chapters in this book are: Sauces & Condiments; Appetizers; Soups & Salads; Rice & Noodles; Stir-Fries; Kho Dishes; Meat & Seafood; Desserts; and Meal Planning. Some of my favorite recipes are: Pepper Steak, Vietnamese Vanilla Yogurt, Tofu Curry and Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup.

I really enjoyed Ha Roda's "A Vietnamese Kitchen". It showed me the similarities with other Asian cultures, as well as Vietnam's unique differences.

Familie Recipies Migrated to American Style.......2005-09-03

Vietnamese foods are a rather recent development in the United States. The Viet Nam war introduced thousands to the food, and the Vietnamese people who came to America after the war brought their foods with them. It has taken some time for Vietnamese foods to have become established as one of the authentic ethnic foods available over most of the country.

In part this time delay was caused by the availability of authentic spices. Either American spices had to be substituted for the traditional spices or the Vietnamese spices had to be either imported or grown here.

In this book Ha Roda, born in Saigon, has had to adapt the Vietnamese recipies to the American kitchens and cooking styles. She started with the basic recipies of her aunt Bac Kit, a retired chef. This book is a tribute to her family and to the Vietnamese that have been a welcome asset to American life as well as foods.

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