4:50 from Paddington vs The Murder at the Vicarage: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Marple, Jane Marple, Women detectives, Investigation, England, Murder
4:50 from Paddington
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Agatha Christie’s audacious mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. For an instant the two trains ran together, side by…
The Murder at the Vicarage
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Murder at the Vicarage (1930)is the first Miss Marple mystery book by Agatha Christie. Miss Jane Marple is a village busybody who applies human nature to crimes. Colonel Protheroe, magistrate universally despised, was…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate 4:50 from Paddington highest: 4:50 from Paddington 4.2 · The Murder at the Vicarage 4.0.
- The Murder at the Vicarage has the widest readership — 222506 ratings behind its score.
- 4:50 from Paddington has the bigger screen life — 5 adaptations on record.
- 4:50 from Paddington runs the darker storyline; The Murder at the Vicarage stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| 4:50 from Paddington | The Murder at the Vicarage | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (222506) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (56) | 3.9 (348) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (187) | 4.5 (64) |
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Reception
| 4:50 from Paddington | The Murder at the Vicarage | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 187 | 222506 |
| Editions | 140 | 127 |
| Film adaptations | 5 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 198900 |
| Reading it now | — | 8101 |
| Written reviews | — | 10364 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5435 | 6364 |
| Pages | 262 | 288 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: 4:50 from Paddington or The Murder at the Vicarage?
4:50 from Paddington has the higher combined reader rating across sources (4:50 from Paddington 4.2/5, The Murder at the Vicarage 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: 4:50 from Paddington or The Murder at the Vicarage?
4:50 from Paddington is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: 4:50 from Paddington (262 pages, ≈ 4 h 51 m); The Murder at the Vicarage (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m).
Which is harder to read: 4:50 from Paddington or The Murder at the Vicarage?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — 4:50 from Paddington: Moderate; The Murder at the Vicarage: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
4:50 from Paddington: 5 film adaptations; The Murder at the Vicarage: no film adaptation on record.