THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS
US title: THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS
Other titles: Reprinted as MISS MARPLE AND THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS (Penguin, 1953); also reprinted in part as THE BLUE GERANIUM AND OTHER TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS (Bantam, 1940).
UK publication: 1932 (Collins)
US publication: 1933 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Miss Marple
Genre: Short stories
Plot
summary and comments: A series of 13 short stories featuring Miss Marple.
In the first 6 stories, Miss Marple and her dinner guests (Raymond West,
her nephew, and his fiancee; Joyce Lempriere, an artist; Dr. Pender, the
vicar of St. Mary Mead; Mr. Petherick, a solicitor; and Miss Marple's
friend, Sir Henry Clithering, retired from Scotland Yard) form the Tuesday
Club, which meets every Tuesday night; at each meeting, a different member
propounds a mystery of which they have personal knowledge, and the others
do their best to solve it. In the second set of 6, the formula is repeated
at the country house of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry (the guests being Sir
Henry, Dr. Haydock, a famous actress, and Miss Marple). A separate story,
in which Sir Henry Clithering visits St. Mary Mead to stay with the Bantrys
and is drawn into a local crime investigation, was added for publication.
Miss Marple, naturally, solves every problem, never rising from her chair
until the last story (set, unusually, among the working-class).
Titles: The Affair at the Bungalow
The Blood-stained Pavement
The Blue Geranium; A Christmas Tragedy
The Companion; Death by Drowning
The Four Suspects
The Herb of Death
The Idol House of Astarte
Ingots of Gold
Motive vs. Opportunity
The Thumb Mark of St. Peter
The Tuesday Night Club.
::READERS REVIEWS::
"This
is by far one of my favorite works by Agatha Christie - a perfect example
of the "cozy" mysteries where the detective would solve puzzlers
from his/her armchair. The stories all get to show off Miss Marple at
her best. The action begins when six people form a "Tuesday Night
Club" aimed at solving various crimes that only they know the solution
to. Miss Marple asks to join in and rather condescendingly, the other
members allow her to participate. Each week, one member narrates a mystery
which the others try to solve. Ironically, it is Miss Marple that unerringly
leaps to the truth each time while the supposedly more worldly people
fail! Her explanation is that having lived in a small village her whole
life, she has developed a very good understanding of human nature and
is able to see patterns in crimes that leads her to the truth. There is
an air of gentle wisdom about Miss Marple that is a refreshing change
from Christie's other detective Hercule Poirot who can be insufferably
arrogant sometimes. The other nice thing is that while the stories start
out as a game, other players soon develop such great respect for Miss
Marple's mental abilities that they start coming to her for solutions
to unsolved tragedies. Each story is a little gem, full of atmosphere
with some pretty puzzling twists. If you like your mysteries more refined
and your preferred means of death arsenic in the teacup instead of a gunshot
wound to the head, this book is a must-read!"
"This
is one of the best books. Miss Marple is in fantastic form, and the cases
are really interesting,especially the one the clergyman narrates. The
book is about 13 mysteries each person in a group narrates, and the others
have to solve it.But only Miss Marple can solve them."
::YOUR OPINION::
