The fantastic tales of Miss Marple

I have always been a fan of the grim murder mysteries on televisions; not for their countless bloody murders but the excitement of trying to follow the clues and find the killer. Some may be more enthralling than others but one that is sure to captivate viewers is the classic tales of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Based on the adventures and discoveries of Miss Jane Marple ITV's second episode of the new series, Murder is Easy (Sunday, 8pm) was a complicated and twisted tale that lead Miss Marple to the door of terrified locals residents, countless victims and an unlikely killer.

The tale started when the lady detective meet distressed Whychwood-under-Ashe resident Miss Pinkerton on a train to London where she was about to visit Scotland Yard after a spate of unusual deaths in her village. After hearing of Miss Pinkerton's 'accidental' death before she got the chance to tell all led to Miss Marple paying the residents of Whychwood a visit. She soon became friends with the dashing former policeman Luke Fitzwilliam and together the pair are faced with the task of unearthing the killer before they strike again.

But more local villagers soon start to meet their fate; including GP Mr Humbleby and maid Amy leaving Miss Marple with another case to unravel. The impressive cast, including Sylvia Syms (Miss Pinkerton), Shirley Henderson (Honoria Waynflete) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Luke Fitzwilliam) create a set of brilliantly mysterious and masked characters, each with a secret or two to tell.

But the star of the show once again is Miss Marple herself, Julia McKenzie. After the departure of Geraldine McEwan and the end of the last series the sleuthing shoes of Miss Marple were larges ones to fill but McKenzie has been a fine replacement so far. McKenzie's Miss Marple has the inquisitive wit and gentle charm that let audiences follow and support the character through the many cases that befall her. In truth she may just be a nosey, yet extremely observant and clever old lady but just like her predecessors McKenzie makes the character endearing and watchable.

Along with the fine cast comes an enthralling story that draws you further in as you too try to solve the case; making the two hours of programming draw to a speedy conclusion. The show twists and turns, becoming to confusing to follow at times yet too engaging to stop watching.

Like most murder mystery programmes I watch I like to follow the best I can and make my guess at who the killer really is, unlike last week's A Pocket Full of Rye I was correct in guessing that reserved Honoria Waynflete (Shirley Henderson) was in fact the culprit. But this hunch was based on completely the wrong conclusions as a back history of assault and adoption began to unravel.

The genre of murder mysteries may be popular, our television screens graced with all manner of sleuthing detectives but when it comes to family entertainment, superb casts and twisted tales few can match the marvellous cases of Agathe Christie's Miss Marple.

Picture from The Sun