Book Review: Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

My Rating : 3.7⭐

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries is an anthology that comprises twelve short stories, featuring Dame Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple, the much-loved detective, and written by contemporary crime-fiction writers. Varied in approach and setting (including the fictional village of St. Mary Mead, London, the Amalfi Coast, Asia and the United States), this is a mixed bag as is most anthologies. While I did enjoy the collection as a whole, a few of the stories were particularly noteworthy:

In Miss Marple’s Christmas by Ruth Ware (4.5/5) the theft of a valuable string of pearls during a Christmas gathering at Gossington Hall puts a damper on the festivities. This story is truly reminiscent of Agatha Christie's signature style in terms of a closed room setting, multiple suspects, and a surprising revelation. A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell (4.5/5), has Miss Marple teaming up with her friend Miss Bella whose niece’s wedding becomes the scene of a murder. In The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok (4/5) we find Miss Marple on a cruise to Hong Kong during which two murders occur and the daughter of one of the victims is the accused. It is up to Miss Marple to figure out what truly happened. In The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus (4.5/5), Miss Marple and her great–grand-niece Nicola West work together to solve the mystery behind the murder of the grandfather of one of Nicola’s school friends. This story is set in the United States.

My ratings for the remaining stories are as follows:

• Evil In Small Places By Lucy Foley (3.5/5)

• The Second Murder At The Vicarage By Val McDermid (3.5/5)

• Miss Marple Takes Manhattan By Alyssa Cole (3/5)

• The Unravelling By Natalie Haynes (3.5/5)

• The Open Mind By Naomi Alderman (3/5)

• Murder At The Villa Rosa By Elly Griffiths (3.5/5)

• The Mystery Of The Acid Soil By Kate Mosse (3.5/5)

• The Disappearance By Leigh Bardugo (3/5)

I love everything Agatha Christie and while I have enjoyed her short stories in the past I prefer the novels because of the gradual unraveling of the mystery and the analysis of the characters involved, which is hard to do in a story that spans thirty-odd pages. Having said that, I do feel this collection is a fun read and must say that the authors have done a commendable job of crafting stories that are original yet reminiscent of Christie’s work (I loved the references to Miss Marple’s original stories), featuring characters and places both new and familiar. Overall, this is an enjoyable read that would appeal to fans of the original Queen of Mystery.