Name: Yvette's review of Marple: Twelve New Mysteries
Item: Marple: Twelve New Mysteries
Rating: 3
Author: Yvette

A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Mystery’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. Naomi Alderman Leigh Bardugo Alyssa Cole Lucy Foley Elly Griffiths Natalie Haynes Jean Kwok Val McDermid Karen M. McManus Dreda Say Mitchell Kate Mosse Ruth Ware 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.

 Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

Nicole White

Underwhelming. I think the stories would have been better served as full length books like the original Agatha Christie books. There wasn't enough space to build intrigue in this format.

Yvette

I wish I enjoyed this more than I did, as I am a big Marple fan - both the show (particularly Geraldine McEwan's run) and the books. These stories were okay, but most were just passingly good. If Marple wasn't the name on the story, many of them could have been swapped for any detective. It was also very easy to see who had read the books and who had just watched the BBC shows - which I wasn't mad about, it was just very obvious to me as Ms. Marple is a very specific character. McEwan might be my favorite, but she's definitely not as true to the books in character. (I still loved her dearly though.)

My favorite story was Kate Mosse's "The Mystery of the Acid Soil", which I found very enjoyable. I would have rated that one at 4 stars. I also quite enjoyed "The Murdering Sort" by Karen M. McManus. I think that one was probably a little more like a Poirot story in feel, but very much in line with a story that could have been by Agatha Christie. Bravo to the two of them.

The Second Murder at the Vicarage: 2 stars

That brings my average out to 2.92 stars, so I'm rounding up to 3. Overall, not a bad book but not one I'm likely to go back to often.

Kirsten Simkiss

I wish I enjoyed this more than I did, as I am a big Marple fan - both the show (particularly Geraldine McEwan's run) and the books. These stories were okay, but most were just passingly good. If Marple wasn't the name on the story, many of them could have been swapped for any detective. It was also very easy to see who had read the books and who had just watched the BBC shows - which I wasn't mad about, it was just very obvious to me as Ms. Marple is a very specific character. McEwan might be my favorite, but she's definitely not as true to the books in character. (I still loved her dearly though.)

My favorite story was Kate Mosse's "The Mystery of the Acid Soil", which I found very enjoyable. I would have rated that one at 4 stars. I also quite enjoyed "The Murdering Sort" by Karen M. McManus. I think that one was probably a little more like a Poirot story in feel, but very much in line with a story that could have been by Agatha Christie. Bravo to the two of them.

Here are my star ratings by story:

Evil in Small Places: 3.5 stars
The Second Murder at the Vicarage: 2 stars
Miss Marple Takes Manhattan: 2 stars
The Unraveling: 3 stars
Miss Marple's Christmas: 3 stars
The Open Mind: 3 stars
The Jade Empress: 3 stars
A Deadly Wedding Day: 2.5 stars
Murder at the Villa Rosa: 3 stars
The Murdering Sort: 4 stars
The Mystery of the Acid Soil: 4 stars
The Disappearance: 2 stars

That brings my average out to 2.92 stars, so I'm rounding up to 3. Overall, not a bad book but not one I'm likely to go back to often.

I must admit that this is my first experience with the beloved Miss Marple, so it did take a bit of getting used to her solving methods, but once accustomed, the stories were utterly charming, quick and cozy. Although not my all-time favourite character, I'll definitely add some of Agatha's books to my tbr.

Kate B-L

Agatha Christie

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.

Untitled Marple Collection

Wonko the Sane

As with all short story collections, I found these a mixed bag. Each author had their own interpretation of the Miss Marple character, some of which were more convincing than others. There were some things I found very difficult to roll with, in particular American vocabulary and turns of phrase coming out of Miss Marple's mouth, such as "fix yourself some tea" in the final story. In my storied and misspent past I have dabbled in fanfiction (ahem) and one of the skills required is that of the mimic. Some of these professional authors definitely lack this skill, good as they may be with their own original works.

The twelve stories in this collection I will separate into 'OK,' 'Indifferent,' and 'Bad.'

OK

The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid - pretty good, perhaps a little short for the number of crimes it crammed in. One of the shortest pieces in the collection.

The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes - the solution came to Miss Marple in a satisfyingly Miss Marply way.

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware - the first in the collection that didn't involve a murder, which I felt was a strength. I wonder if murder is perhaps not too big a crime for a satisfying detective short story, particularly if it doesn't happen until halfway through.

A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell - assisted by the addition of a second sleuthing old lady for Miss Marple to bounce off.

The Murdering Sort by Karen M McManus - I felt the transatlantic setting was unnecessary (a lot of the authors in this collection seemed to have the same idea: using Raymond West to take Miss Marple away to another setting. By the third or fourth time, it got stale) but overall an enjoyable tale and a good point of view character.

Indifferent

Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley - the third person limited point of view really does make Miss Marple out to be a bit of a fool in this one. Not sure it was the best one to start with.

The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman - I really like Naomi Alderman and there was nothing wrong with this per se, but I worked out who the killer was before the murder even happened, which made for a less than satisfying detective story. I always feel it's better to be kept guessing.

Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths - It would have been better if she could have kept the twist going for longer; as it was this was a bit of a nothing story, as in 'nothing actually happened.'

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse - the gardening based key to the puzzle works well, but there was a bit too much rushing and bustling about in this one, and miss Marple was too physically involved for my taste.

Bad

Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole - this one has possibly the worst characterisation of Miss Marple of them all. Plus Americanisms in the narration and the dialogue - honestly, it really is so distracting and off-putting.

The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok - a murder on a cruise ship is a classic Christie premise, but I really can't accept Miss Marple doing Tai Chi in a Hong Kong park. Characterisation is so important when handling a beloved character.

The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo - I found it impossible, in the end, to accept where the author took the characters. Plus Americanisms again!

Overall, I found the most successful stories were the ones that didn't attempt to show us the inside of Miss Marple's head (a third party point of view proved to be a better gambit.) I don't think I would recommend the collection as a whole, which is a shame. A bit too patchy, and even the ones I thought were okay won't live long in the memory. Will doubtlessly sell plenty of copies, however, with Christmas coming up.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Thank you to HarperVoyager and NetGalley for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Nicole White &
Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

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