Marple: Twelve New Stories: A brand new collection featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Miss Jane Marple, penned by twelve bestselling and acclaimed authors

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Some of the stories were disappointing. Some were badly edited, including errors of the reader although this just seems to be mainly just the one reader which is particularly annoying. Some of the stories were a bit politically correct to be a real Miss Marple but that is perhaps to be expected. Some of the stories were pitched in the usual timeframe and some authors tried to modernise Miss Marple. Miss Marple Takes Manhattan" by Alyssa Cole (1.5 stars)-This didn't work at all. Cole does include Miss Marple's nephew (Raymond) and his wife (Joan)but other than that, it didn't read at all like a Miss Marple book. The resolution to this didn't work for me at all either.

Evil In Small Places By Lucy Foley - Marple takes a detour to visit an old school friend and becomes embroiled in the mysterious murder of a former French singer. Because of course she does. A great closed circle mystery that has a very distinct beginning, middle and end. Is it entirely original? No. Is the killer really obvious? Yes. However this still retains that nostalgic feel of a good Christie story, and Marple is as sharp as ever. 3/5. Who doesn't love a good murder mystery? And nobody did it better than Agatha Christie. I attended a crime writers festival here in Sydney this weekend and I think that every author at every panel mentioned their admiration for Agatha and what she did for the genre all those years ago. Marple: Twelve New Stories, published by HarperCollins in Sep 2022 is a collection of short stories by twelve modern day writers who "reimagine Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery." [1] The collection is authorised by Agatha Christie Ltd and is seen as a means to introduce a new generation of readers to Agatha Christie's to the exploits of her famous detective Jane Marple. The collection is also marketed as Marple: Twelve New Mysteries (isbn: 9780063136052).While the 12 stories included in Marple all differ in terms of their setting, style and substance, they succeed in capturing the essence of Agatha Christie’s famous sleuth and crafting intriguing puzzles for her to unravel. Miss Marple’s determined nature and her passion for both justice and retribution remain the same, although this time round she is able to pass comment on more contemporary matters and express her belief in equality. Miss Marple has always been one of literature’s greatest amateur detectives, and it’s a real treat to follow her investigations once again. Age is cruel and crueler still to women. A woman becomes a ghost when she stops being worth looking at." It feels very exciting to allow this formidable selection of authors the opportunity to come up with new adventures and mysteries for Miss Marple. It is time for readers to rediscover Marple and I personally cannot wait to read the resulting stories. When & Where Can You Get Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware - It all gets a bit meta as Marple investigates a case of missing pearls, where the culprit may have taken inspiration from some detective stories. I liked this one a lot. It's clever and works well as a short story, with a simple mystery that's easily wrapped up yet still feels satisfying. Again it also has a touch of the nostalgia to it. 4/5. I enjoyed the writing of each author, and I appreciated their creativity and their effort to pay an homage to one of my top favourite authors.

The 12th story is The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Miriam Margolyes. I loved the descriptions of the people and the surprise ending. I felt quite bereft when I finished listening and had to leave Miss Marple behind. Favorite quotes: Miss Marple] knew that the younger people around her assumed that she had already crumbled and it did appeal to her as it would be so much easier than changing but she was self-aware. Miss Marple understood that she was not the crumbling type. She would have to go eventually as all people do but she hoped it would be in a blaze of glory like the burnt out buildings they past." Ms. Marple's Christmas" by Ruth Ware (3 stars)-I honestly got very confused reading this. It didn't make a lot of sense. But we get to see the Bantrys again in this one.A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. This book will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author included in the new publication will reimagine Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. I'm afraid . . .' I stopped, not feeling entirely comfortable delivering my news among the gladioli and the dahlias and the talk of romance. Murder at the Villa Rosa, Elly Griffiths ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this story did not have Christie’s essence (in my opinion) but the writing was very good Agatha Christie's great-grandson, James Prichard, acts as chairman and CEO of Agatha Christie Ltd. Of the new collection, he released the following statement: About the Book A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time. Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths - An author escapes to a picturesque Italian gateway to get some inspiration, and meets some very interesting people, including a certain Jane Marple. This felt very different in style to the others in the collection as Miss Marple is a secondary character although I liked the overall idea. 3.5/5. A Deadly Wedding Day was the first story where I actually felt anything for the characters. It's read by Cathy Tyson, and she has a voice that's just made for audiobooks. I could listen to her forever. My only niggle was that in all the adaptations (audiobook, radio dramatisation and TV adaptations) of A Caribbean Mystery, the island of St Honoré is pronounced as "Hono-ray". Here, it's pronounced "Hono-ree". It's a VERY minor point but it did annoy me. The Mystery of the Acid Soil" by Kate Mosse (5 stars)-A really good story that definitely evokes the best of Miss Marple. I loved the idea of her meeting a curate and getting caught up in his story of a young lady that he knows who has gone missing. I also loved the solution since I didn't put two and two together. The 3rd story is Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole, narrated by Adjoin Andoh. This one might just be my favorite. I really didn't expect to like it, as it was hard to imagine Miss Marple in Manhattan, but the dry humor was marvelous! Here are my favorite quotes:But my problem is none of them were Miss Marple stories. They just weren't. There was none of the subtle brilliance, none of the creeping horror at having a mirror held up to my own face that I've come to feel are hallmarks of Christie's work. Because none of them are written by her. Read by Alex Kingston, Adrian Scarborough, Adjoa Andoh, Imogen Stubbs, Alison Steadman, Jodhi May, Chipo Chung, Cathy Tyson, Ramon Tikaram, Tanya Reynolds, Celia Imrie and Miriam Margolyes. I have always enjoyed Agatha Christie books as well as the many films and television series over the years. I have read and enjoyed all of her novels so it is pleasing to read other popular authors pay a huge compliment to her memory by writing a Miss Marple story themselves. This made fascinating reading and was very entertaining throughout, I particularly enjoyed the stories by Ruth Ware, Elly Griffiths and Kate Mosse. Mary? Murdered? There must be some mistake, Jane. What motive could anyone have for murdering Mary? It's not as if she's got the brains to be a threat to anyone. Or enough personality to provoke a murderous thought.' If you are in the market for a collection of short stories in the mystery genre, you really can't do better than Marple.

The 11th story is The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse, narrated by Celia Imrie. I loved both the story and the narration. I think some authors managed to evoke Miss Marple and others I felt like they were just trying to do their own spin on the character and it just made me miss Agatha Christie. I learned from the introduction that in 1927 Miss Jane Marple first arrived on the scene, and her final appearance was in Agatha Christie's last novel in 1976 - the year that Christie died. That's quite a legacy and how amazing that twelve different authors came up with a new story for her! How do you inspire a whole new generation of readers to want to become acquainted with the original, elderly female amateur detective, Agatha Christie’s “Miss Jane Marple”? Twelve New Stories involving Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple? Purists will be up in arms. Me, I’m delighted my favourite crime authors took part. Thank you,NetGalley and the publishers, HarperCollinsUK, for a chance to read this book. It came out on Thursday. Marple: Twelve New StoriesOf course, although Miss Marple is most closely associated with the English countryside, Christie did sometimes transport the sleuthing spinster to more exotic locations, perhaps most notably in A Caribbean Mystery. As such, it’s only fitting that she also embarks on a number of trips in Marple. In Jean Kwok’s The Jade Empress, Miss Marple takes a cruise to Hong Kong to visit with her nephew, the successful novelist Raymond West. During the voyage she becomes acquainted with Mr Pang, a Hong Konger who is returning home after living for many years in England. When Mr Pang is murdered shortly before the ship arrives in Hong Kong, Miss Marple is determined to see justice done. As Clement wryly notes, “To have one murder in one’s vicarage is unfortunate; to have a second looks remarkably like carelessness, or worse.” The majority of Miss Marple’s original cases took place in the domestic sphere, in houses and stately homes to which she was invited by her many old friends and relatives. The crimes involved were often examples of the classic ‘country house mystery’ that Agatha Christie excelled at crafting, and a number of the contributors to Marple have followed a similar approach, also to excellent effect. For instance, in The Second Murder at the Vicarage, Val McDermid pays tribute to the first novel to feature Miss Marple and has long-suffering clergyman Reverend Leonard Clement discover the body of his former maid in the kitchen of the vicarage.