The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

This month’s theme for Read Christie 2026 is ‘Best According to Agatha’, with the option of choosing any of the books on Christie’s own list of her top 10 favourites which she compiled in 1972. My choice was easy as the only one I hadn’t already read was The Moving Finger. First published in 1942, this is a Miss Marple mystery, although Miss Marple herself doesn’t appear until near the end. The book is narrated by Jerry Burton, a pilot who has been injured in a plane crash. He and his sister Joanna have decided to rent a house in the small market town of Lymstock so he can get away from London for a while and finish recuperating in peace and quiet. However, life in Lymstock proves to be much less quiet and peaceful than he’d expected! Almost as soon as they arrive, Jerry receives an anonymous letter containing the accusation that he and Joanna are not brother and sister. Knowing this is untrue, they aren’t too concerned and destroy the letter, but later learn that several other people…