Myth Happens

Not only is 4.50 from Paddington (1957) one of my favourite Christie’s, it’s also the one I have re-read the most, and it also has one of my favourites among her characters.



On the train to see Miss Marple, her friend Mrs. McGillicuddy observes a man strangling a woman on a train that is temporarily beside her own. She and Miss Marple report the crime, but as no body is found, the police dismiss it all as a dream. Miss Marple, of course, thinks otherwise. She figures out that the body must have been thrown out of the train on the Crackenthorpe estate, and manages to get help from her friend Lucy Eylesbarrow, who gets a job at Rutherford Hall as a housekeeper.The Crackenthorpe family is a fine collection of Agatha Christie tropes. The elderly family father who keeps a thigh rein on his money. The spinster caretaker, the bohemian artist, the successful businessman, with a wife from a noble but poor family, and lastly the never-do-well son. There is also the daughter who died young, but her husband, the war hero, is around. Another son died in the war, and the dead daughter has a teenage son who sometimes visits. To complete the picture there is also the family doctor who seems very interested in the spinster daughter. Lucy manages to find the dead body secreted away in a barn, and then she and Miss Marple need to find out who she was, and also which one of the many men having access to the estate who is the murderer. Needless to say Miss Marple figures it all out, through there a couple of more murders before that happens.


It’s a pretty solid Christie mystery, but a large reason why I love this book is because of Lucy Eylesbarrow. She’s an attractive woman in her early 30s who, despite being a highly gifted academic, decides to have a career as a short time housekeeper. She’s very good at her job, and is therefore in high demand and is very expensive. I love that Christie, though Lucy, points out that taking care of a home is actually a job that requires a number of talents and hard labour. Whenever I feel household chores are just a drudge, I always feel more motivated after re-reading 4.50 from Paddington, because Lucy thinks doing chores are fun. Lucy also proves to be an excellent detective, and she and Miss Marple make a very good team. I’ve always felt it’s a pity Lucy never returns, she would have made a good returning character.


Mild spoilers below the cut.

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Overall I think Christie does a good job with the characters in this book. Yes, they are a selection of her stock characters, but they still have distinct personalities. Like Emma, the spinster daughter, who isn’t at all down trodden, and clearly has her own life and interests, even if she lives a life as her father’s caretaker. Mrs. McGillicuddy, who we only see at the beginning and the end of the book, is still a real human being, and I think it’s a testament to Christie’s skill as a writer that even if Mrs. McGillicuddy is so briefly described, you are still left with a real person. Someone who isn’t very imaginative, who may not be very generous with money, but who still has a large family who loves her, and close friends who look forward to seeing her.

I’ve seen two adaptations of this book. One from 1987 with Joan Hickson. She was a marvellous Miss Marple, but this particular adaptation is one of the weakest in her Marple series. I don’t mind that there are some cuts and changes in the cast, but several of the characters have significant changes to their characters, and none for the better. I’m especially annoyed with how Lucy is portrayed. On the other hand the one from 2004, part of the Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, is one of the better episodes from that series, even if I don’t think Geraldine McEwan is the best Miss Marple. There are some changes in this adaptation as well, for example Inspector Craddock is made into a relative to Miss Marple.Not that I mind, especially as he is played by the ever charming John Hannah.