Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by Naomi Alderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
Twelve different contemporary female crime writers come together to write short stories recreating Agatha Christie’s Miss. Marple. There are some good ones and some attempts to reconstruct Miss Marple. I would say, none of them had Christie’s charm, but their own.
1.Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley – 4 stars
Miss Marple visits Mrs. Prudence, an old school friend and solves a mystery of town’s opera singer. It was good and had a bit of Miss Marple feel to it.
2.The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid – 3 stars
Mary, former maid, ends up dead on the kitchen floor of the Vicarage. It was a good plot but felt a bit clumsy to me (if compared to Miss. Marple books), but nevertheless It was a fine read.
3.Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole- 2 stars
It was nothing like our old Miss. Marple. Raymond, Joan, and Miss Marple are in Manhattan to watch a drama based on Raymond’s book. And an attempt to murder brings out Miss. Marple’s deduction skills to find the culprit.
4.The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes – 4 stars
A long time after the war, Mr. Weaver has returned to his wife and son at St. Mary Mead. But then a Pig Keeper called Martin is found dead after having an argument with Mr. Weaver. And Mr. Weaver was arrested. But Miss. Marple has a precise idea on what actually happened here. It was a well written plot and I liked it.
5.Miss Marple’s Christmas by Ruth Ware – 4 stars
Miss. Marple is visiting Dolly Bantry at Christmas along with Raymond and Joan. But Colonel Bantry has also invited tiresome Carltons. Soon a set of pearls belonging to Mrs. Carlton goes missing. And suspicion fall on Bantry’s servants which puts pressure on Colonel Bantry to pay up for the missing pearls. Miss. Marple has some thinking to do to solve the crime. It had a very cozy feel and one could feel Ruth ware really likes these mysteries.
6.The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman – 1 stars
Miss Marple, as an invited guest for the Founder’s Day lunch at Oxford (not acceptable at all, what is she even doing there!!). And a very rude man who is the head of some departments falls dead at the dinner table. All around the table are suspects as almost everyone of them had a motive/grudge against him. I didn’t like it a bit. It was more like Poirot than Miss. Marple.
7.The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok -3.5 stars
Miss Marple is travelling to Hong Kong on a ship called Jade Empress. She is introduced to an elderly man as a dance partner. But soon he is dead and in a day his companion is also found stabbed. Finally the Man’s daughter is the one who gets arrested for both the murders as she is the one who has the most benefits from the deaths. But Miss. Marple feels that the girl loved them both and could not have killed them. Miss. Marple sets out to find the real murderer. It was a good story, had a feel of Miss. Marple except maybe her travelling to Hong Kong.
8.A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell – 2.5 stars
Miss. Marple is attending a wedding where a unknown woman falls dead but the groom’s parents insists that she has only fainted and will be on her feet in no time. No one is sure on who she is and what is her connection to the wedding. Or are they lying? It was ok-ish read. I just found the (view spoiler)[ a poisonous tree at the beach of st.Honore (hide spoiler)] a bit bizarre.
9.Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths – 1 star
I have read Elly Griffiths other books and I have liked them all. But this one is a total Nay. The story reminded me of Elly Griffiths and nothing about Miss. Marple. Nothing. An author is staying at a retreat to get over his writer’s block. But he finds himself around strange circumstances and gets confused , questioning his own sanity. Finally, Miss. Marple is able to give some explanation on what is really happening.
10.The Murdering Sort by Karen McManus – 4 stars
Miss. Marple’s Niece, Nicola is invited to her friend’s birthday party. Diana’s grand father is a bit paranoid and suspects each family member on endangering his life. And he dies during the party and each family member is a suspect. It was a good mystery.
11.The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse – 4 stars
During a train travel, Miss. Marple’s travel companion shows his concern on his lady friend’s disappearance. Miss. Marple is further intrigued after hearing the death of this Lady Companion’s mother’s death and her doctor’s death within days. But Miss. Marple is sorting out the mystery slowly but in time. It was a fun mystery with a good plot. Liked it.
12.The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo – 5 stars
I am a fan of Leigh Bardugo on her fantasy series. But I never knew she could write Miss. Marple so well. This was the only story (for me) which came near to the real Miss. Marple books. Loved it.
Dolly Bantry, calls Miss. Marple to come back from London to sort out a mystery. A young man is gone missing just a week before his wedding and some jewels have gone missing. Miss. Marple do find out what has happened and does find out the truth.
It was almost there but not completely. I have very mixed feeling on the stories and summing up it is an enjoyable read.
Happy Reading!!
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