Book Review: Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories cherry picks all the Miss Marple stories from four of Agatha Christie's collections. Oddly, the second Miss Marple book, The Tuesday Club Murders (1932, aka The Thirteen Problems), rather than being a novel consisted of thirteen short stories, all suited to Miss Marple's particular method of detection. She doesn't need to be right on the scene (similar to Mycroft Holmes or Nero Wolfe) and always finds some reminiscent situation ("the village parallel") to enlighten the present dilemma. "Human nature is much the same in a village as anywhere else." After that early flurry, however, Miss Marple appeared in only seven more short stories, spread over three anthologies, all of course collected here. Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories makes a convenient basket for these works, although having all the stories back-to-back reveals a bit of the formula in Christie's writing and shows how often they turn on a single (far from obvious) point. The stories are none the worse for their periodic simplicity and some could easily have been expanded into full-length novels had the author chosen to do so. The length and variety of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories makes it an immersible and enjoyably extended experience for the reader. The perfect small gift for the Agatha Christie aficionado of your acquaintance. [4★]
No comments:
Post a Comment