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A Pocket Full of Rye

It started with a spot of tea. It ended in tragedy when the wealthy Rex Fortescue sipped his last cup, fell suddenly sick, and died. The only clue was the victim's 'pocketful of rye'. The murder seemed without rhyme or reason - until the shrewd Jane Marple recalled her childhood nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'. Murder though, is anything but child's play.
Year: 1953
Detective: Miss Marple
Location: England

Cast of characters

Jane Marple. Also: Mr. Ansell, Mr. Billingsley, Mr. and Mrs. Crump, Mary Dove, Vivian Dubois, Ellen, Albert Evans, The Fortescues: Adele, Elaine, Jennifer, Lancelot, Patricia, Percival and Rex, Miss Griffith, Mrs. Grosvenor, Inspector Sergeant Hay, Helen and Ruby MacKenzie, Gladys Martin, Inspector Neele, Miss Effie Ramsbottom, Gerald Wright

Publishing history

Publishing: First published in 1953 by William Collins Sons & Co. in London, and in 1954 by Dodd, Mead & Co. in New York. TV: The novel was adapted in 1986 by the BBC with Joan Hickson as Marple, and was also shown on PBS in the U.S.

Notes and reviews

Considered one of the best Marple mysteries, this book's ingenious plot has readers guessing until the very end. "Ingenious." - Times Literary Supplement. "The best of the novels starring Christie's… Marple." - New York Times.

Murder methods:

Two Poisonings.
One Strangling.

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