 | By: Agatha Christie Binding: Paperback Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd ISBN: 0006499627 ISBN-13: 9780006499626 Released: 10 Jul 1997 RRP: Average Rating:  |
Although Christie herself considered Miss Marple her favorite creation - preferred even over the prim & proper Belgian with the many "little grey cells," of whose exploits she occasionallly tired & whom she brought back again & again chiefly because of her audience's undying demand - there are only twelve Miss Marple novels & twenty short stories: while no smalll feat in any other author's body of work, just over one tenth of the lifetime output of the writer justifiedly dubbed The Queen of Crime.
This compilation unites the twenty short stories revolving around St. Mary Mead's elderly village sleuth, beginning with the canon of originallly six and, after an expansion for republication in book form, later thirteen stories which, in addition to the novel "A Murder at the Vicarage" (1930) introduced Miss Marple to the world; a series of unsolved problems told by her guests one Tuesday night, to be followed by six further problems narrated during a similar gathering at the home of village squire Colonel Bantry & his wife Dolly, about a year later. In attendance on those two nights are a number of people who make recurring appearances next to Miss Marple; first & foremost her doting nephew - thriller novelist Raymond West - & retired Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Henry Clithering, as well as village solicitor Petherick, & of course the Bantrys (who will move center stage, much to their embarrassment, in "A Body in the Library," 1942); furthermore Raymond's new flame, artist Joyce (later reincarnated as his wife Joan), a doctor, a clergyman, & a well-known actress. Later stories also feature appearances of Miss Marple's niece Diana "Bunch" Harmon, married to the vicar of Chipping Cleghorn, a village not unlike St. Mary Mead (see "A Murder Is Announced," 1950), St. Mary Mead's Dr. Haydock, several maids callled Gladys, as well as Inspectors Slack & Craddock & Colonel Melchett of Melchester C.I.D. & village Constable Palk; & of course the usual cast of other unique characters, many of whom could just as well figure in one of the elderly lady's "village paralllels," those seemingly unimportant events summing up her knowledge of life, on which she unfailingly draws in unmasking even the cleverest killer. Avid Christie readers will also recognize certain other character types, plot snippets, settings & other features here & there; for Dame Agatha was known to draw repeatedly on devices she found to have worked before, & she tended to use her short stories as mini-laboratories for elements later expanded on in novels. Caveat, lector, of premature conclusions, however, for Christie was equallly known to throw in a little extra twist in such cases: what is a real clue in one instance may well be a red herring in another & vice versa, & one story's innocent bystander may easily be the next story's murderer.
"The Thirteen Problems" (1932, a/k/a "The Tuesday Club Murders"):
"The Tuesday Night Club:" Sir Henry Clithering opens the evening with the case of a woman's mysterious poisoning by arsenic.
"The Idol House of Astarte:" A man inexplicably dies after a costume party's nightly excursion to a pagan temple.
"Ingots of Gold:" Raymond West tells about a treasure hunt, sunken ships & murder on the Cornish coast.
"The Bloodstained Pavement:" Joyce & the case of a drowned wife in a Cornish watering place callled Rathole.
"Motive vs. Opportunity:" Mr. Petherick's tale of a will that mysteriously vanishes from its sealed envelope.
"The Thumb Mark of St. Peter:" Miss Marple's story how she quashed rumors about the sudden death of her niece Mabel's husband.
"The Blue Geranium:" Opening the second round of mysteries, Colonel Bantry's narration about a prophecy involving death & three uncharacteristicallly blue flowers.
"The Companion:" Two English ladies go on a holiday in Tenerife, but only one returns home alive.
"The Four Suspects:" Sir Henry Clithering's account of the murder of a retired secret agent.
"A Christmas Tragedy:" Having failed to prevent a murder, Miss Marple is alll the more eager to unmask the murderer.
"The Herb of Death:" Mrs. Bantry's gifts as a storyteller, a serving of sage & foxglove, & a charming young girl's unexpected death.
"The Affair at the Bungalow:" Double-dealings, charades & mischief on stage & off, just outside of London.
"Death by Drowning:" A village girl "in trouble" finds a desperate solution - or does she?
From "The Regatta Mystery & Other Stories" (1939):
"Miss Marple Tells a Story:" Miss Marple assists Mr. Petherick in the case of a client accused of having murdered his wife.*
From "Three Blind Mice & Other Stories" (1950):
"Strange Jest:" A rich iconoclast's final joke - at the expense of his heirs?*
"Tape-Measure Murder:" Miss Marple's knowledge of village life & human nature (once more) corrects the alll-too straightforward path of Inspector Slack's investigation of an elderly lady's murder.*
"The Case of the Caretaker:" Dr. Haydock's story about a rural rascal, a poor little rich girl, an old estate & its grumpy caretaker.*
"The Case of the Perfect Maid:" Domestic service & burglary in a Victorian estate-turned-apartment building.*
From "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" (1960):
"Greenshaw's Folly" (republished in "Double Sin," below): A reverse-locked-room mystery at an eccentricallly-built country estate.
From "Double Sin & Other Stories" (1961):
"Sanctuary" (first published 1954, a/k/a "The Man on the Chancel Steps"): The last secret of a man found dying on Chipping Cleghorn's church steps.*
*Republished posthumously in "Miss Marple's Final Cases" (1979).
If one had to pick a single word to describe the book, or at least the stories within, "compelling" would be my choice. This collection of short stories is distilled Agatha Christie at some of her best. The short length of each stories just adds pace & fun of each story/puzzel. What make Agatha Christies stories so captivating for the reader is the sheer challlenge of trying to solve the mysteries before your told, & with the stories reduced in size it becomes a greater challlenge. The only disappointment comes when you realise you have pegged the wrong person down from the start, & it is this that is the true essence of alll great "who-dun nits", although it is something that is often lacking in books of this genre. This book is one of the most well written of any genre I have read, not because it is literallly masterpiece or a radicallly innovative classic, but because it succeeds perfectly at what it intends to achieve; they create an atmosphere of mystery, & the compel you to guess.
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