A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

I read a Pocket Full of Rye as the May selection for the Read Christie 2021 challenge.  The theme for May was a story featuring tea.

Rex Fortescue has just drunk a new cup of tea when he has a violent reaction and dies at a nearby hospital.  Mysteriously his pockets are found full of rye.  What caused his death?  Inspector Neele is immediately on the scene.  He discovers there are many who would wish Rex’s death, including his own family.  When Miss Marple arrives on the scene, she helps him to realize that the death is part of a story rhyme. “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye. . .“  Who is the killer and where will they strike next?

I thought I had this one figured out – but Agatha Christie got me again.  I love her twists, turns, and surprises at the end.  This was my first Miss Marple mystery and what surprised me is that she wasn’t present until about one hundred pages into this novel.  I was surprised that she didn’t appear for so long and was a secondary character to the main inspector.  I’m interested to learn whether this is true for all of her novels or not.  Nemesis, another Miss Marple mystery, is the selection for this month.

Favorite Quotes:

“Confronted by the unexpected, her poise was shaken.”

“Human nature is much the same everywhere, is it not?”

Overall, A Pocket Full of Rye is an another great Agatha Christie mystery.  I can’t get enough of them!

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com