"'I told you we had met before,' said Miss Marple to Lucy. 'Sir Henry Clithering is his godfather - a very old friend of mine.' 'Would you like to hear, Miss Eyelesbarrow, what my godfather said about her - the first time we met? He described her as just the finest detective God ever made - natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil. He told me never to despise the...er elderly ladies. He said they could usually tell you what might have happened, what ought to have happened, and even what actually did happen! And...they can tell you why it happened. He added that this particular-er-elderly lady - was at the top of the class.''

England, 1957 and travelling by train, Miss Marple's friend Elspeth McGilliCuddy is shocked to witness a man strangling a woman on a passing commuter train from Paddington. Whilst she tells Miss Marple and reports it to the police, no body is found and there's no one to verify what she saw. But Miss Marple believes her friend and enlists the help of experienced and renowned housekeeper, Lucy Eyelesbarrow to start work at nearby Rutherford Hall, which lies close to the railway line. Miss Eyelesbarrow is soon getting to know the Crackenthorpe family, three adult brothers and a sister, a brother-in-law and his son and an elderly and miserly patriarch. When Miss Eyelesbarrow discovers the body of a woman in a barn on the estate, murder is afoot, but who was the woman and why was she killed?

This is classic country house murder with a twist, involving a missing body and a passing train. It sees Miss Marple, grumbling about her age and infirmity, overseeing the investigation carried out by the wonderfully drawn, Mary Poppinsesque Miss Eyelesbarrow, pretending to be her niece. A rather cinematic (it has of course been adapted for both film TV) set-up, all the main characters are fascinating and engaging, with excellent names like Dr Quimper, McGillicuddy and Crackenthorpe. There is surprisingly little of Miss Marple, but intelligent and diligent Miss Eyelesbarrow is a worthy stand-in. There is humour, red herrings, the potential for romance, lovely moments of post-war history (food and drink, tax, job and money struggles) and details of life at Rutherford Hall. There is not, however, much opportunity for readers to test their detection skills, because despite having seen the Geraldine McEwan TV adaptation, I failed to remember or guess whodunit! This is one of the more accessible and enjoyable Marple mysteries, which I read for September's #curiousaboutchristie22