Une poignée de seigle

Wealthy businessman Rex Fortesque is universally loathed. Thus, when he is murdered - poisoned - there's plenty of suspects. However, who had the means to poison him? Miss Marple is following the case in the newspapers and starts to see a link to a nursery rhyme, suggesting that more murders will follow.

Another intriguing Miss Marple mystery. The means and motive are quite clever and not at all obvious. Some very interesting characters too, well played - both Miss Marple staples.

The conclusion does feel a bit rushed and left-field though and the plot not entirely watertight towards the end. These would be the only negatives.

I absolutely love the Joan Hickson Miss Marple mysteries. They are clever and well made, and Joan Hickson is for me the definitive Miss Marple. A Pocket Full of Rye is a wonderful adaptation, and my second favourite of the Miss Marple adaptations after A Murder is Announced. The photography, scenery and costumes are truly lovely, and the music is superb. The script is often thought-provoking and the story is faithful, well paced and clever. My only minor criticism is that they could have developed Gladys a little more, but this is very minor. The acting across the board is of high calibre, Joan Hickson coming of best being absolutely terrific as Miss Marple. Overall, wonderful and one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I liked this "Pocket Full of Rye" with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. I have seen the one with Geraldine McEwen which I think is a great Miss Marple but the movies are put together different and I liked this one better.

One actor who I like is Peter Davison, at first I did not recognize him. Peter plays Lance son of the father that is rich and is murdered. This is a 1985 movie and Peter Davison plays in "The Last Detective" a series on British TV in which he is a detective and also plays in a series called "Campion".

As in most Agatha Christies stories there are a lot of knots to tie to find out who the killer or killer are. This is one of those movies.

I enjoyed it.

At first, the first murder in "A Pocketful of Rye" seems pretty straight forward. A rich man dies at work and it seems someone gave him poison 2-3* hours earlier. So, you assume someone in his will is responsible. But his unfaithful wife isn't...as she is poisoned next. But when a maid is killed...well that seems to make no sense. Then Miss Marple realizes the way they died were related to the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Six Pence". Who's possibly next and who is behind all this? And, why choose that or any nursery rhyme?

This is a most entertaining series...one that is well worth seeing. Well written and quite enjoyable.

*In most shows, a poisoned person dies within seconds of receiving the poison. I read up on this...and that never happens...even with cyanide. So, having the first person die hours after receiving the poison is actually very realistic as many poisons take hours to kill.

JOAN HICKSON was an excellent Jane Marple and this is definitely one of the better TV works of Agatha Christie's A POCKET FULL OF RYE. The clever plotting uses a nursery rhyme (one of Christie's favorite ways of linking a complex set of clues to a murder), and gives a nice assortment of suspicious characters a chance to make the perfect sort of red herrings.

The mystery gets underway as soon as Rex Fortescue is killed. He's a rich, nasty old man who has a fortune tied to some nasty business in his past, and enough enemies to make everyone a likely suspect. Crisply acted and played in elegant British fashion by an assortment of reliable British supporting players, it keeps you interested in solving the crime along with the baffled inspector, who is no match for Miss Marple.

Hickson is perfectly cast as the wise old lady and makes the character seem as though Christie had her in mind for the role.