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Miss Marple believed her friend was not imagining whole thing. When the police found no evidence of the crime Miss Marple began to investigate for herself. She located the most likely place a body could be disposed of, a large estate owned by the Crackenthorpe family and arranged for a confederate, Lucy Eyelesbarrow to work for the family.

The Crackenthorpe family is another of Christie's large dysfunctional families dominated by a disagreeable father (Luther), downtrodden daughter (Emma), ambitious son (Harold) and a pair of blacksheep - the artistic Cedric and the slightly crooked Alfred. Two other siblings have died, Edmund and Emma. Emma's husband, Bryan and son, Alexander are also part of the household.

The body is found, more murders commited, the culprit unmasked and the true motive revealed in dramitic fashion by Miss Marple.
Along the way romance flourishes and leaves the reader with an unanswered question.

The family is very much like characters from similiar families in other books, (HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS, A POCKET FULL OF RYE, CROOKED HOUSE and others). This, coupled with the various titles this story has had over the years - WHAT MRS. McGILLICUDDY SAW, EYEWITNESS TO MURDER and MURDER SHE SAID, could lead a reader to think they had read this one before. Do not pass this one by, it is worth reading for the delightful Lucy Eyelesbarrow alone!


Title Correction   February 26, 2004
This is a good Christie and fun to read, as most are. This little note is to all the American reviewers who despair the apparent title change from "What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw' to '4:50 from Paddington'.

Fact is that 4:50 is the the original title, as written by Dame Agatha. The rather lurid 'Mrs McGillicuddy' title is an American imposition. So for those to descry the idiocy of publishers and silly name changes...look to your own garden.


Joan Hickson reads one of Christie's best   September 23, 2003
In the 1961 mystery-comedy "Murder She Said," Margaret Rutherford plays a feisty version of Miss Marple (an interpretation that infuriated author Agatha Christie) who takes a job as a domestic to solve a murder she saw committed as her train was passing another. Rutherford shared a scene or two with another character actress named Joan Hickson, who was to play Miss Marple in a series of television mysteries that were far more faithful to their originals than were the films. So if you have already seen the two dramatic treatments of "4:50 From Paddington" or (as it was called over here) "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw" and love comparisons, you might want to make a triple one with what Christie actually wrote by either reading the book itself or hearing an authoritative reading of it by Joan Hickson herself on an Audio Partners set on 5 audio cassettes or on 6 CDs.

In a houseful of potential murderers, the very interesting Christie character named Lucy Eyelesbarrow takes a position in order to find the body. As one commentator mentions, she is Christie's strongest independent woman to date and possibly in all of the mysteries. So where Rutherford simply was given a fatter role, the original story is that of Lucy with some fancy brainwork by Miss Marple, of course.

A very good entry in Audio Partners readings.


Three great dames make a terrific story   October 15, 2002
In this classic Jane Marple story, Joan Hickson, who portrayed Jane Marple perfectly on the BBC series, wonderfully dramatizes all the parts in this fascinating murder mystery. Elderly Elspeth McGillicudy witnesses a murder on the 4:50 train from Paddington Station. She reports it but no one believes her as there is no body to be found. When she tells her old friend, Jane Marple the story, Jane does believe her and re-enacts the so-called crime to see how and where the body could have been hidden. When Miss Marple pinpoints the most likely spot, she engages the young Lucy Eyelesberry to take up a post at that place, Rutherford Hall, to look for the body. The ensuing story is one of the best of Agatha Christie's with Jane Marple taking an important, though supporting role to the plucky Lucy. Not only does she find the body but she engages all the members of the dysfunctional family and serves as a foil to ferret out information about motives and alibis. Of course, all family members remind Miss Marple of someone in her village of St Mary Mead but that is the charm of the story and character. Elspeth McGillicudy does enter the plot again at the end and is instrumental in identifying the murderer.

This audio book is just perfect for a long car trip or even for many short commutes. I couldnt wait to get back to my car and engage the traffic because I so looked forward to Joan Hickson, Miss Marple and Lucy. Highly recommended.