This is a collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple written by top authors in their own right. The stories are written with many of the characteristics we have come to love but also the authors have put their own interpretation across making this an excellent read. Also enjoyed The Murdering Sort/ Karen M. Mcmanus, Murder at the Villa Rosa/Elly Griffiths, and Mystery of the Acid Soil/Kate Mosse. 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.

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. Overall, I was disappointed by the stories and the narrators. Some of the good narrators (Ramon Tikaram) were saddled with poor stories and some narrators spoiled what may have been good stories. Imogen Stubbs sounds like she arrived at the recording studio in a rush and was still trying to catch her breath. Alison Steadman was almost unbearable. She has such a shrill, screechy, histrionic voice. It was very unpleasant to listen to. I understand she's a "name" and so was probably meant to be a draw, but for me she was terrible. A lot of people will complain this isn’t perfect Agatha Christie, and they’ll be right. However, there was only one such author, and these writers are only meant to pay homage to Agatha Christie and her marvellous Miss Marple. I think they managed to do just that, some better than others.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. By the time we get Karen McManus, our main protagonist was thrust in a YA story, which seemed so weird. Although the amateur sleuth of more mature years is now a common feature of crime fiction, Miss Marple was a marked departure from the popular image of a detective when first introduced. As an elderly unmarried female of moderate means, she was regularly overlooked and underestimated, allowing her to pass unnoticed and use her remarkable powers of observation and inference to ferret out the guilty party whenever a crime occurred in her vicinity. In addition, she had an unrivalled understanding of human nature, which she developed through spending nearly her whole life in the same small village. Review of last story--FYI, Miss Marple wouldn't be okay with murder, no matter who did it. I think the last story totally mixed up Marple with Poirot.

Some of the stories were disappointing. Some were badly edited, including errors of the reader although this just seems to be mainly just the one reader which is particularly annoying. Some of the stories were a bit politically correct to be a real Miss Marple but that is perhaps to be expected. Some of the stories were pitched in the usual timeframe and some authors tried to modernise Miss Marple. 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! While the 12 stories included in Marple all differ in terms of their setting, style and substance, they succeed in capturing the essence of Agatha Christie’s famous sleuth and crafting intriguing puzzles for her to unravel. Miss Marple’s determined nature and her passion for both justice and retribution remain the same, although this time round she is able to pass comment on more contemporary matters and express her belief in equality. Miss Marple has always been one of literature’s greatest amateur detectives, and it’s a real treat to follow her investigations once again. Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley - Foley is a masterclass in herself, as one of Britain's most recognizable historians and a talented writer in her own right. This was obviously a perfectly characterized rendition of Marple. I don't think it brought anything inventive to the table, but it definitely captured Marple's core the best. 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.

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.

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. It was always going to be difficult to sum up a book with many individual authors, some of which are firm favourites. I am happy to say that I enjoyed most of them, 'The Second Murder At The Vicarage' by Val McDermid, 'The Mystery of the Acid Soil' by Kate Mosse and 'The Disappearance' by Leigh Bardugo in particular...these were all lifted by superb narration too. There were always going to be a few I didn't enjoy. Introducing her to a whole new generation of readers, each author reimagines Agatha Christie's Marple through their lens.This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their o While Agatha Christie eventually grew tired of Hercule Poirot, describing him as ‘an egocentric creep’ and devising a deeply divisive ending for him, she retained her affection for the far more personable Miss Jane Marple. From her first appearance in The Tuesday Night Club, a short story published in 1927, through to her final appearance in the 1976 novel Sleeping Murder, Miss Marple solved a host of crimes over the course of 12 novels and 20 short stories, often while sitting in an armchair and knitting. 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?! 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 upside, however, is that the stories come from some of the most talented women in modern mystery and crime fiction. Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Marple: Twelve New Mysteries