Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

EXCERPT: Taken from ‘The Second Murder at the Vicarage’ by Val McDermid

‘I’m afraid . . .’ I stopped, not feeling entirely comfortable delivering my news among the gladioli and the dahlias and the talk of romance.

I often underestimate the steel under the tweeds when it comes to my older female parishioners. ‘Mary’s not sulking, my dear. Mary’s been murdered,’ Miss Marple said, her tone entirely lacking in drama.

Miss Hartnell’s jaw dropped, revealing large yellow teeth that would have been more at home in the mouth of Colonel Bantry’s favourite hunter.

‘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.’

It appeared that the concept of never speaking ill of the dead fell into abeyance when the dead were of the servant class.

ABOUT ‘MARPLE: TWELVE NEW MYSTERIES’: 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 a dozen 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.

MY THOUGHTS: I love Miss Marple and largely enjoyed this collection of short stories involving my favourite knitting sleuth penned by both some of my favourite authors and some that were new to me.

The stories focus on Miss Marple’s ability to detect evil in the most ordinary of people with some surprising results.

The three stories that really stood out for me were:
Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley;
The Second Murder at The Vicarage by Val McDermid; and
The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo.
All of them five stars. These three seemed to have a little more substance and depth than the others, no mean feat in a short story! The others ranged from 3 – 4 stars, with only one at 2.5 stars.

If you are in the market for a collection of short stories in the mystery genre, you really can’t do better than Marple.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.1

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DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper Collins, Harper Fiction, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Marple: Twelve New Stories for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

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