A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

I read A Pocket Full of Rye during a pretty stressful time of year, and as always, Christie delivered as a comfort read.

This Miss Marple novel has a particularly intriguing hook: the intertwining of murder and nursery rhyme, a pattern Christie uses to unsettling effect. The title comes from “Sing a Song of Sixpence,” and the book plays cleverly, and pretty darkly, with that connection.

This story feels a little colder than some of Christie’s other narratives as many of the characters are unlikeable, which gives the mystery a sharper, more cynical edge.

The book leans into Miss Marple’s reflections on wickedness and cruelty.

One aspect I really love is Miss Marple’s fierce advocacy for Gladys, a maid whose role is crucial to the plot. Marple is also able to comment on marriages in an interesting way.

The central premise is classic Christie: a wealthy, widely disliked man, Rex Fortescue, is found murdered, with a handful of rye in his pocket. Almost everyone has a motive, including his two embattled sons, yet the clues point in strange, nursery-rhyme-like directions. The red herrings are satisfying, the twists work, and ultimately the psychology behind the culprit’s actions feels convincing.

Published in 1953, A Pocket Full of Rye is a brisk, cleverly structured, and quietly unsettling Miss Marple mystery. Not the warmest of her books, but definitely one of the more psychologically interesting, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

One word: cynical.