Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The upside, however, is that the stories come from some of the most talented women in modern mystery and crime fiction. Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Marple: Twelve New Mysteries A collection of new Marple stories, told by a range of authors, that offers a new perspective on one of Agatha Christie's most beloved super sleuths. Below I'll give a break down of each short story and my overall feelings.
The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus - Miss Marple's precocious relative takes up the family mantle as a friend's grandfather is murdered. This was another story that centered a main character that wasn't Miss Marple, however unlike the previous tale I found this one quite endearing, and more of an homage - a passing of the torch. It reminded me a lot of Enola Holmes. 4/5.Elly Griffiths is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway and Brighton mystery series, as well as the standalone novels The Stranger Diaries,winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, The Postscript Murders,and Bleeding Heart Yard. She is the recipient of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award.She lives in Brighton, England. Alderman was educated at South Hampstead High School and Lincoln College, Oxford where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She then went on to study creative writing at the University of East Anglia before becoming a novelist. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! Bringing a fresh twist to the hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, these twelve esteemed writers have captured the sharp wit, unique voice, and droll ingenuity of the deceptively demure detective. A triumphant celebration of Christie’s legacy and essential reading for crime lovers, Marple is a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains one of the most famous detectives of all time." [3] Short stories in the Collection [ ] In 1927, the world was introduced to St. Mary Mead's most famous spinster, Miss Jane Marple, in a short story published in The Royal Magazine. It would be another three years before she appeared in a full-length novel, The Murder at the Vicarage.
A novel by: Agatha Christie, Alyssa Cole, Dreda Say Mitchell, Elly Griffiths, Jean Kwok, Karen M. McManus, Kate Mosse, Leigh Bardugo, Lucy Foley, Naomi Alderman, Natalie Haynes, Ruth Ware, Val McDermid While some of the stories may have been “fine”, all this collection of stories did was prove that Miss Marple could only be written by Agatha Christie. 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. 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. The Mystery of the Acid Soil was good, although not as good as the other 3 I've mentioned. It seemed a little silly, although it was very well constructed as a story, with believable characters.
Join the conversation
While Agatha Christie eventually grew tired of Hercule Poirot, describing him as ‘an egocentric creep’ and devising a deeply divisive ending for him, she retained her affection for the far more personable Miss Jane Marple. From her first appearance in The Tuesday Night Club, a short story published in 1927, through to her final appearance in the 1976 novel Sleeping Murder, Miss Marple solved a host of crimes over the course of 12 novels and 20 short stories, often while sitting in an armchair and knitting. 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. The Jade Empress" by Jean Kwok (1 star)-So here's the thing. Agatha Christie had some racist commentary about Asians and even Jewish people in her works. I like the idea of Miss Marple taking a cruise to Hong Kong. I just don't believe it's something that Miss Marple would even have done. And though the book takes her frowning at people for saying racist things, I don't think Miss Marple as Christie wrote her would have even batted an eyelash. The story doesn't even work for me either because in the end, Kwok just takes another Christie story and makes this the same type of solution.
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.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: I think this collection did several things well: it's a nice mix of the refreshingly new and the comforting old, and it varied in type of mystery from murder to more.
Look its not that any of these stories is especially terrible. In fact a few A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell in which Miss Marple solves a particularly nasty poisoning at a wedding with the help of a friend who's basically her Caribbean doppelganger and The Disappearance where someone very close to Miss Marple (and familiar to anyone who's ever read one of her books) is responsible for the death of a nefarious young man, were clever and engaging enough to keep me guessing. There are only 3 of these stories that I liked unreservedly, The Jade Empress, A Deadly Wedding Day, and The Disappearance. Those stories had good plots and, importantly, good narrators. Other stories had bad plots and good narrators, or good plots and bad narrators. The Mystery of the Acid Soil comes close, but it's not quite there.The Second Murder at the Vicarage" by Val McDermid (4 stars)-McDermid obviously read and took notes on Murder at the Vicarage and this second story follows the same type of narration in that book. We follow the local vicar who finds another dead body in his home. Miss Marple is spoken of in more glowing terms (which makes sense after he has gotten to know her) and she goes about doing things that the vicar doesn't know about until she's ready to reveal. And just like the first book ended, you find out who did it and why and things are tided up. Can’t wait for Agatha Christie, Alyssa Cole, Dreda Say Mitchell, Elly Griffiths, Jean Kwok, Karen M. McManus, Kate Mosse, Leigh Bardugo, Lucy Foley, Naomi Alderman, Natalie Haynes, Ruth Ware, Val McDermid Marple release? Planning to get hold of Marple? Already have your hands on Marple? Looking forward to other Marple upcoming books? Review of last story--FYI, Miss Marple wouldn't be okay with murder, no matter who did it. I think the last story totally mixed up Marple with Poirot.
Great Deal 
New Comment