Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories: A Miss Marple Collection

It's nice to have some short mystery stories to read before going to bed. Agatha Christie is a favourite author.

I first discovered Agatha Christie a long time ago when I was ten or eleven years old. Through the years (more years than I want to admit!) I have read and reread her books to the point where I can often remember who the culprit is. Still, Dame Agatha is a always treasure and, since it had been a few years since I have read her short stories, I eagerly dived into “Miss Marple The Complete Short stories”.As I said, I have read Agatha Christie’s works many times, but I still enjoyed rereading these short stories (and wish there were more). I have always gone back-and-forth as to whom I like best, Hercules Poirot or Miss Jane Marple, but I have to admit Miss Marple has a special place in my heart. You just have to love how this sweet, innocent, somewhat flustered little old lady manages to outwit everybody else when it comes to solving mysteries - every single time. For the most part the short stories are very clever although when they are all in one collection you begin recognizing common themes - people do spend a lot of time impersonating other people for example - and one title unfortunately gives away the identity of the killer. Still, there are some nice twists and turns in many of these stories. Some of my favorite stories in this collection are “The Bloodstained Pavement”, “The Blue Geranium”, “The Case of the Perfect Maid”, “Tape-Measure Murder”, “Greenshaw’s Folly”, and “Sanctuary”.Through the years, I have read many mysteries by many other authors but Agatha Christie will always be my favorite. She was one of the best at what she did and this collection of short stories is no exception. Well done!

This book collects all the short stories starring Agatha Christie’s famous elderly spinster detective Miss Marple.The most important thing to know about them is that in three out of four short stories, nothing is really at stake. There is no murderer to be caught or punished because the murderer has already been caught and punished. In the majority of the stories, Miss Marple is sitting around in a group of friends who are telling each other about murder cases they’ve encountered for which they know the solution and are challenging their friends to solve it.The format of these stories hearkens back to the armchair detectives of the 1910s and 1920s such as Baroness Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner. While the stories don’t have much suspense, the puzzles are interesting and Christie gives Miss Marple’s friends enough characterization to keep them interesting while also working a nice dose of charm and humor into the discussion of the case.In many of the early armchair stories, Miss Marple is somewhat reminiscent of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown in his earliest stories. She sits back and leaves most of the conversation to the younger people only to contribute the actual solution at the end. In many ways, she seems like anyone'stereotypical grandmother or elderly aunt, though perhaps more honest as Miss Marple not only admits to gossiping but defends the practice. However, she has an amazing mind that has taken in all she has experienced while living in a small village and used it as a frame of reference for understanding human behavior, including the criminal crime.Of course, there are some stories that deviate from the armchair format and and are more traditional detective stories. I enjoyed these more. My favorite was, “The Case of the Perfect Maid” which has Miss Marple investigating a case of a maid whose career is in trouble after leaving the employee of two strange sisters under a cloud of suspicion. I also found “Sanctuary,” which has Miss Marple assisting in the investigation of man who died in a church to be very enjoyable.Overall, while I’m not a huge fan of pure puzzle mysteries, I found myself thoroughly entertained by this volume. It’s a testament to the genius of Agatha Christie that these stories are so entertaining. Also for 20 Miss Marple short stories, the book is very economically priced either in paperback or as an ebook.

Ms. Marple is great, a beloved character and as wonderful as lady Agatha herself! Will read the stories over and over again!

There were a number of Miss Marple short stories in the book.I liked reading one, putting the book aside, and later reading another.Quite enjoyable..

Well-formatted paperback, nicely designed. Featuring all the Miss Marple short stories and the Author's Intro to The Therteen Problems.

Agatha Christie always seems to me serviceable, rather than great, especially when her plots depend on such shallow psychology. However, she had a genius for creating detectives, all of whom are memorable. I find myself recalling even the obscure ones like Mr. Parker Pine and Mr. Harley Quinn. For me, her most interesting is Miss Marple, the little spinster who has hardly left her village and who has a mind that can comprehend and endure evils that would make the more worldly in her circle (mainly, her nephew Raymond West, an "advanced" novelist) blanch and gape. Miss Marple usually finds a parallel of whatever crime in a seemingly irrelevant character from her village, usually of stunning triviality. Years before Hannah Arendt talked of the "banality of evil," Agatha Christie made the concept rather clear. "Wickedness" (as Miss Marple would call it) is not only harmful, it also runs along rather stupid lines.It's been nearly 40 years since Christie died. Most of the stories in this collection were written in the Twenties and Thirties, and they still hold up. *Of course*, Miss Marple's world never really existed. *Of course*, the characters are mostly pasteboard and the prose functional, rather than a joy in itself. But in the realm of the cozy, Christie still rules. If you want grit, read Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, or Ian Rankin.

Good book.

This is a must book for your Miss Marple collection I have them all and this is the last one to complete. They are so much fun to read. I highly recommend them

É divertido de ler, mas o Poirot é melhor.

As advertised, book was delivered on time, good packing, nice quality. Stories are very good for the age and time it was written. Miss Marple related stories are about 20 stories only and all are excellent. Recommend to any avid mystery enthusiast.

Ich liebe Agatha Christie. Liest sich so weg, obwohl man die Geschichten ja bereits zur Genüge kennt.

Het boek kwam helaas gescheurd en gevouwen, blz17 tot en met 40.