The Moving Finger Moves On is a cozy mystery set in Lymstock, a small English village where gossip travels faster than the post and murder feels almost indecently out of place. Told in first person by Jerry Burton, it follows his life with his fiancée Megan after the events of Christie’s The Moving Finger, as they settle into village routines, plan a wedding, and try to recover from past trauma. That quiet life is disturbed by a new death at a house party, an old poison, and a fresh tangle of suspects, with Miss Marple arriving as the calm, watchful centre of the storm. Underneath the whodunit puzzle, the book explores relationships, especially Megan’s growth, Joanna’s marriage, and Jerry’s slow realisation that love is not the same as possession.

The writing keeps the easy, conversational tone of a Golden Age detective story, yet it slips in modern touches, like Megan’s frustration with dresses that lack pockets or the way people talk about investments and cruises. I liked being inside Jerry’s head: he is observant enough to carry a mystery plot, but also flawed and a bit blinkered, especially about Megan. The choice to let him narrate a cozy mystery means we get more emotional texture than pure puzzle, and I found that grounding. At the same time, the prose stays simple and clear, so the pages move quickly. I never felt lost in the cast, even though village mysteries can sometimes turn into a blur of names and motives.

What I liked most was how the book uses the tools of a classic cozy mystery to talk about identity and agency. Megan’s love of Latin and maths is not just a quirk; it becomes a way to show her sharp mind, her right to a life beyond “the girl who was once in danger,” and her shift into someone who goes to university and studies what she loves. The kitten, the extra dog lead, the broken and un-broken phone lines, even Jerry’s dream of birds and needles, all feel like gentle symbols of control and freedom, of who is being led and who holds the lead. I enjoyed how Miss Marple recognises Elsie’s performance as a kind of acting, almost like costume changes in a village play, and how that idea of “who you are in public” runs through the book. The story balances comfort and tension in a way that feels right for a cozy mystery.

The mystery is satisfying, the clues are fair, and the solution fits the emotional logic of the story as well as the facts. If you enjoy classic whodunits, village gossip, and Miss Marple quietly seeing everything, this will feel like a warm return to familiar ground. And if you like your cozy mysteries to come with a real emotional arc, especially around a woman finding her footing and a couple learning to love each other as equals, this book is very much for you.

Pages: 78 | ASIN : B0CW1KL6LY