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

During the pandemic, under house arrest whiIle trying not to get sick, I have been revisiting the authors that introduced me to Libraries! The very first book I checked out was "The Red Roan Pony" by Will Smith (because my much older brothers had loved it), and upon my second visit, several by Agatha Christy. Her books made me love reading AND Libraries. By my junior year in H.S. I had read my way through our small town library, including "Guide To Greece" by the ancient Greek guy who wrote the first travel book...I think his name was Passaneus, though I'm not spelling it correctly. I'll be trying to find that again too. It was wonderful.

Okay. I love Poirot just as much as the next insanely fanatic (or just plain) Agatha Christie reader. But Miss Marple is really just as cool, if not cooler than the I-am-not-French-I-am-Belgian Poirot. Poirot at least had the benefit of having been trained in police work when he was still in Belgium. Miss Marple has no such benefit and, as she continuously reminds one and all, lives and has always lived (presumably) in a quaint village in England called St. Mary Mead. That being said, she also is not long in reminding the same audience that people are basically the same no matter where one resides. Evil. And she proves this time and time again.Whether it is in her village, on vacation in the Caribbean, with Sir Henry Clithering or her nephew Raymond, in the country or on a bus tour, Miss Marple is always a step ahead of her fellow adventurers and two steps ahead of the guilty party. All this without dropping a stitch (yes, she knits).This particular collection is an excellent introduction and/or addition to the library of any mystery buff. If you have read Christie before (probably Poirot) and haven't read anything including Miss Marple, again, I say this would be an excellent choice. As good as Christie's novels are (and they are stupendous), I must say her short stories may outstrip them in eloquence. Perhaps because of, rather in spite of, their brevity.Also, if you enjoy the stories, you can then watch the BBC series that were made from them (and Miss Marple's novels). Many are on Netflix and most are on Amazon (although not necessarily Amazon Prime). The BBC series have different actresses that took on the title role (unlike the Poirot series that all feature David Suchet) and each actress brings her own unique talents to the character. I enjoyed all of them.There were also some movies made years ago starring Margaret Rutherford that were changed into comedies. I think she actually pole vaults in one of them. A definite watch for the die hard fan, but a more casual viewer should probably steer clear.

I read this collection of short stories decades ago. Enjoyed them then and enjoyed them now.For those who criticized character development--Well, they ARE short stories. Only so much depth can be put into so few pages. The author's decision to repeat the setting (A group of friends sitting around recounting and solving mysteries.) gives more opportunity to get to know characters than most short stories allow.For those who like to solve the mysteries they read, remember--these were written in a different century and with an English setting. Some facts that would have been known to readers back then, may not be known to you now. When you get to the reveal, you may feel a bit cheated if you forget that fact. Those who were contemporary to the writing, would have had all they needed to solve the whodunit.If you keep the time and setting in mind, they are nice little brain teasers, especially for long-tome Christie fans.

In the Forword, Agatha Christie wrote the Miss Marple shines brightest in short stories. I agree with her. At first, I had a hard time with the first several stories. They were so slow. However, as I continued reading the collection I was drawn into the dramas. The first 13 stories involve two different groups of friends who take turns telling a mystery to the others to solve. The only two characters which are in all thirteen stories are Miss Marple and Sir Henry. The other people try to sove the mystery after it is shared. Miss Marple always speaks last and is the only one to solve the mystery based on a village comparison. The rest of the short stories come from other collections of Christie stories. I especially enjoyed the story where the lawyer and his client come to her to help them figure out who killed the client's wife as he is about to be arrested. I would recommend this to all Miss Marple fans!

I love mystery novels and Agatha Christie brings them to life. It is such a joy to sit, curled up on the couch, and read her wonderful works. Miss Marple is one of Agatha's fine works that makes you smile while reading about one of her cases because you can just picture this little lady that seems so grandmotherly working on a case and no one has a clue as to how smart she really is. Most people would just brush her advice and clue rendering aside because of how she outwardly appears to them while in reality she is on her way to solving the mystery. I absolutely love how Agatha shows how Miss Marple progresses in the mystery until she solves it. I recommend these works to everyone who loves a good mystery.

Very, very interesting stories. These are detective stories with a difference. Miss Marple is not one of those detectives who search for clues with a magnifying glass or collects cigarette ashes or samples of mud or goes about in disguise tailing somebody. Miss Marple is not even a licensed detective. She is a simple village woman who happens to be extremely observant and of course intelligent. Her main interest is human nature. By comparing a crime with a similar village incident, Miss Marple is able to point similar human traits in both cases and then unerringly zeroes in on the criminal. This is sweet detective fiction as opposed to the blood, gore and grime detective fiction. I really felt bad when I started to read the last story in the collection. But like my favourite detective Sherlock Holmes' stories, I am going to read Miss Marple's stories again and again for their unending pleasure.

I was so pleased to find this book, I have always been a big fan of miss marple. It was lovely to read her first stories most of which I have not heard before. One thing before u buy this book the miss marple stories don't start until about half way threw, the other short stories are still worth reading, but not what I bought the book for. On reflection I would still have paid the same price for the miss marple stories so don't feel hard done by the price I paid.. and it was rather nice to see how agatha Christie writing progresed to miss marple.

I'm enjoying the stories but the "Miss Marple" name is slightly miss leading. She does feature in some of the stories but most of the book is actually the "and Mystery" side - lots of Agatha Christie Mystery short stories featuring other characters. Christie didn't write as many Miss Marple short stories as she did Poirot stories, but this book was more expensive than the Poirot collection and is slightly disappointing as a it features arguably less good quality stories overall. Having said that, Christie is Christie and even at her worst, the plots are clever and engaging.

So pleased to add this to my collection. A great addition. A must for any Christie lover and an absolute must for a Miss Marple aficionado. As has been mentioned, there are mysteries here which do not involve Miss Marple (in fact, less than half feature her - those that do feature her are conveniently highlighted in bold in the Index in Kindle edition) but it's all good solid Christie and, as such, an absolute pleasure. In hardcopy format this is quite the tome..kindle format makes for a much more pleasurable reading experience (and it won't knock you out if you drop it in the night!!). Pure Christie, well collated and a bargain price for an amazing collection.

Rather like the 'Complete Poirot Short Stories' the TV adaptations deviate somewhat from this original, so I was keen to reacquaint myself with it, and I wasn't disappointed.I can't say that I'm especially a devout Agatha Christie fan, but this is a good light read.For those who say that these are not Miss Marple stories, please read them again as they are the originals. The TV adaptations most definitely are not. For example, Miss Marple does not appear in Christie's story "The Pale Horse", but she is central to the TV adaptation.

The title of the book suggests rather more appearances of Miss Marple than there were. Out of fifty five stories only eighteen featured her and then she was noticeably absent for the most part. Whilst I understand that this was the way Agatha Christie presented her I do feel the title is a misnomer. 'A collection of short stories with the occasional presence of Miss Marple' might be more accurate.The stories, as to be expected from Miss Christie, were enjoyable and showed life in a different time. Highly recommended reading despite the disappointment of very little Miss Marple.