Mackenzie’s wife taught her children to seek revenge on Rex.

This entitled Rex to full ownership of the land, though he thought it was worthless. Rex returned home, however, leaving MacKenzie to die. It turns out that Rex found the land on which the mine resides with a Mr. The addition of the blackbird motif hints at the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” When Inspector Neele follows Miss Marple’s lead, he finds that dead blackbirds have been left on the property, a pie stuffed with dead blackbirds was found, and that the name of Rex’s mine in east Africa is the Blackbird Mine.Īs with Christie’s other novels, the plot soon thickens after the nursery rhyme connection. Miss Marple then asks Inspector Neele if he has queried the suspects about blackbirds.

The inspectors learn that the taxine was ingested via marmalade, and later find a fresh jar of marmalade thrown out in the yard. Gladys is found later, having been strangled (a clothespin is found on her nose). After he arrives, his stepmother, Adele, who is the main suspect in Rex’s death, dies from cyanide poisoning. Rex’s son, Lancelot, arrives at Yewtree Lodge, supposedly at the invitation of his father. The facts they have to go on are as follows: Rex’s cause of death is poisoning by taxine (a substance derived from yew trees) Rex died during breakfast a large amount of rye was found in his pocket. Later, Inspector Neele agrees to work with Miss Marple. Inspector Neele, a Scotland Yard detective, is in charge of the investigation, but when Miss Marple arrives at the Fortescue home as a character witness for Gladys, she is invited to stay by Rex’s sister-in-law, Miss Ramsbottom. Gladys learned her trade in the employment of Miss Marple.

One of the servants, Gladys Martin, is being questioned. Rex Fortescue, a prominent London businessman, is found dead after drinking his morning tea at Yewtree Lodge, the family home. Specifically, the phrase “a pocket full of rye” comes from “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” The story centers on Miss Marple as she assists in investigating the murder of Rex Fortescue, a London businessman. Moreover, the title of the novel follows another repetitive theme of many of Christie’s novels: It is based on a children’s nursery rhyme. The main character is Miss Marple, an exceptional detective who appears in many of Christie’s other novels. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1953 and the following year in the United States. A Pocket Full of Rye is a work of detective fiction by famed British author Agatha Christie.

A pocket full of rye agatha christie