Marple, Miss Marple.

Miss Marple made a miraculous appearance in my life recently. Yes, yes, good old Miss Marple, the one who’s creator stopped creating her a long time ago.

Agatha Christie introduced Miss Marple in the short story The Tuesday Night Club in 1927, which was later included in the collection The Thirteen Problems (1932). The last novel featuring Miss Marple, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, though it was written during the 1940s.

If we consider the period from the first published story in 1927 to the last published novel in 1976, Miss Marple’s stories span 49 years. But, in terms of active writing, Christie wrote Miss Marple stories over approximately 20 years, considering Sleeping Murder was written around the same time as The Body in the Library (1942) but held back for posthumous publication.

Isn’t this fascinating!

And it gets even better! 45 years later (this book is published in 2022) since that last story was published, we are regaled with twelve new Miss Marple stories. Whaaat? I know! Mind blown!

I have a confession, I don’t really like it when other writers take over somebody’s creation and they write their own new stories with it, using the name and the love readers have for the initial characters and author.

While I am writing this I am specifically thinking of R.W.Green having taken over M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin character and writing new stories with her, but in a way hiding it. If you look at the cover below, which is a genuine cover:

You have in huge letters the name of the author we all know and love (those of us that do), then the name of the character, then the title in big catching letters and the actual author of the book is written in small, almost hiding in plain sight, print. So small that one can easily be fooled into thinking the book is actually written by M.C. Beaton.

Something like Abibas, Samsing, Subwey or KFG. But I digress. I have never read a book by Mr. Green, but he does have the approval of M.C. Beaton’s estate to continue using her characters, it is just my opinion that he is going about it in a misleading way. Anyway, let’s move on!

Back to our own main character, Miss Marple.

So, this book, is quite fascinating in that you have twelve good writers, proven in their own right, trying their hand at placing Miss Marple in twelve new stories.

I bought the book because I love, love Agatha Christie and her characters, including Miss Marple, because I like some of the writers that have contributed to the book, and because of an academic interest to see how they each went about it and compare their different writing styles while using the same character.

The writers that contributed are:

· 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

Some good names there, no? I think so!

It is truly fascinating to read and to see how each of these authors went about creating their stories. Some are better than others, but I will not say which, readers must make up their own opinion.

Is it worth the read? Yes, it is entertaining and it is so nice to have Miss Marple walk the earth again. It is fascinating to think how a character can have such huge impact that it can live on even after the death of their creator.

Not just live in the already written stories, but in new ones, having new adventures and opportunities.

Unlike the M.C Beaton case above, which seems more like an attempt to continue gaining, this book feels to be created out of passion for the characters and the author. It is honest and not pretending it is anything else but what it is.

For hardcore Miss Marple fans, some details might sound a bit like ticking boxes, maybe that is what they did, but even so, the stories are pleasant to read and it is really nice to run into Miss Marple again.

If you come across it, let me know how you liked it.