No idea when any of the stories begin and end - have to stab around 30 odd chapters hoping not to hear the ending first. Would titles of the stories be too much too ask?! The Mystery of the Acid Soil" by Kate Mosse (5 stars)-A really good story that definitely evokes the best of Miss Marple. I loved the idea of her meeting a curate and getting caught up in his story of a young lady that he knows who has gone missing. I also loved the solution since I didn't put two and two together. Penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors, including 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, this is a new collection of short stories featuring legendary detective Jane Marple. But my problem is none of them were Miss Marple stories. They just weren't. There was none of the subtle brilliance, none of the creeping horror at having a mirror held up to my own face that I've come to feel are hallmarks of Christie's work. Because none of them are written by her. I enjoyed the writing of each author, and I appreciated their creativity and their effort to pay an homage to one of my top favourite authors.

Only three stories in this collection were worth reading. The ones that were fine enough to read were written by Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, and Karen M. McManus. The other nine didn’t even have a well written or good enough mystery that made reading the story worth my time. Each of the authors has Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple down to the t of her hat pins. They manage to make her mannerisms and voice so similar to each other’s versions, you really wouldn’t know this was an anthology. The only defining quirk, if I can call it that, is the way each author’s own preferred setting comes in and gives our heroine a new experience, in many cases. While it may offer little in the way of startling revelations, where Worsley’s book excels is in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie’s life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious. She makes the case that, despite the author’s outwardly conservative views, Christie “ could be described as a ‘covert’ feminist”, and her clinching evidence is the enduringly popular character of Jane Marple; the later Marple novels “all express Agatha’s view of a Britain that has gone wrong, but in which a single old lady can still be a force for good”. A collection of new Marple stories, told by a range of authors, that offers a new perspective on one of Agatha Christie's most beloved super sleuths. Below I'll give a break down of each short story and my overall feelings.The Unraveling" by Natalie Haynes (4.5 stars)-Honestly this reads very well and it reads like a short story that Agatha Christie would have written. The only reason why I gave this one half a star is the solution was pretty obvious and I think Christie would have done more dis-direction if she had written this. While some of the stories may have been “fine”, all this collection of stories did was prove that Miss Marple could only be written by Agatha Christie. Jane Marple is a famous fictional detective and one of my favorites, so I had to dive in and catch up with her through the words of these twelve authors. I love how Christie always combined light and dark, had very dysfunctional families, and always had a motive unique to the character. Christie's novels are unique and just FUN with that feel good feeling. A novel by: Agatha Christie, Alyssa Cole, Dreda Say Mitchell, Elly Griffiths, Jean Kwok, Karen M. McManus, Kate Mosse, Leigh Bardugo, Lucy Foley, Naomi Alderman, Natalie Haynes, Ruth Ware, Val McDermid In 1927, the world was introduced to St. Mary Mead's most famous spinster, Miss Jane Marple, in a short story published in The Royal Magazine. It would be another three years before she appeared in a full-length novel, The Murder at the Vicarage.

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.I absolutely loved this collection. Each chapter (apart from the the introductions) are the individual stories and are introduced at the beginning of each Chapter.

Look, like I said, there's nothing in here that's too terrible (I mean Val McDermid's is probably the laziest since she just takes an existing Miss Marple novel, literally titles it The Second Murder at the Vicarage and calls it a day) but there's also nothing here that's really any kind of honest homage to Christie. Karen McManus, the author of the YA series One of Us Is Lying just writes another one of those with Miss Marple mashed into the story. Alyssa Cole, who I genuinely adore, writes a really fascinating dissection of racism and the federal theater program in 50's era New York that's way more interesting than the non mystery Miss Marple just kind of falls over. I learned from the introduction that in 1927 Miss Jane Marple first arrived on the scene, and her final appearance was in Agatha Christie's last novel in 1976 - the year that Christie died. That's quite a legacy and how amazing that twelve different authors came up with a new story for her! The Jade Empress was the first story that made me think, "I haven't wasted my money." Really, up until that point, I was not enjoying these new stories very much. The narrator also did a good job.About the Book A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. The 12th story is The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Miriam Margolyes. I loved the descriptions of the people and the surprise ending. I felt quite bereft when I finished listening and had to leave Miss Marple behind. Favorite quotes: I'm afraid . . .' I stopped, not feeling entirely comfortable delivering my news among the gladioli and the dahlias and the talk of romance.

Since its publication in the United Kingdom, it has been issued in the USA, Germany, Israel, Holland, Poland and France and is due to be published in Italy, Hungary and Croatia. Authors featured in this collection, Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse and Ruth Ware. Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott. The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman - Miss Marple gets invited to an Oxford dinner where she meets a particularly obnoxious scholar. This was just a bit bland overall, and not helped by my dislike of books about academia. The mystery elements felt a bit pointless. 2/5. Agatha Christie, 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

🍪 Privacy & Transparency

A Deadly Wedding Day was the first story where I actually felt anything for the characters. It's read by Cathy Tyson, and she has a voice that's just made for audiobooks. I could listen to her forever. My only niggle was that in all the adaptations (audiobook, radio dramatisation and TV adaptations) of A Caribbean Mystery, the island of St Honoré is pronounced as "Hono-ray". Here, it's pronounced "Hono-ree". It's a VERY minor point but it did annoy me. As usual, it would have been useful to have to included titles in the audible version so you knew which story is in which chapter as some of the stories have a chapter to themselves and some are split over multiple chapters. I have attempted to include this in my review. I hope it helps someone enjoy the audible version slightly more. For example; Elly Griffiths gives Jane Marple a mystery in an Italian hotel called Villa Rosa (Elly Griffiths fans will probably get the reference). Jean Kwok takes her on a cruise to Singapore, and Alyssa Cole takes her to Manhattan. Each of these trips are thanks to the generosity of the recurring nephew. The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok - There's a murderer aboard The Jade Empress, and the death is steeped in Chinese superstitions. I liked this one, although on reflection it's not entirely memorable. I liked the broadening of cultural references but it probably could have gone further. The mystery was well thought out, but thr ending does let it down a bit. 3.5/5. This charming collection by HarperCollins is set to publish on September 15, 2022 and should satisfy fans of “Miss Jane Marple” old and new!!