The Tuesday Club Murders

This is a set of thirteen short stories set within a framing device of Miss Marple talking with some of her local friends in St Mary Mead, including her author nephew Raymond West, and later to different guests at a dinner party. Needless to say, she is able to solve every crime without getting out of her chair. In her Foreword, Christie says that Miss Marple "is at her best in the solving of short problems; they suit her more intimate style", whereas "Poirot...insists on a full length book to display his talents". I think this is right, and in her full length novels, Miss Marple often gets lost in the plot driven action of the other characters, whereas I thought these stories are pretty much all good, tight pieces of writing, with the show more exception of the rather confusing Affair at the Bungalow (though that was probably partly due to the nature of the character narrating it). These stories were originally published in magazines in the late 20s/early 30s and collected in this book in 1932. show less

When one utters the word "detective" or "sleuth", what is the image that comes to mind? A studious gentleman with monocle wandering about with a magnifying glass? A trench-coated, lantern-jawed, hard-boiled individual prowling the back alleys of dark America? Or... a little, pink old lady sitting in the corner, trying to catch up on her knitting?

For fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, the third image is as valid as the first two.

This unlikely detective relies on her intimate knowledge of human nature, having had "the opportunity to observe it at close quarters" in a village like St. Mary Mead, to solve mysteries. She compares the love affair of her nephew Raymond West with that of the milkman and the maid: and when the show more self-important, intellectual, avant-garde novelist is shocked that he could be compared to such a lowly individual, Miss Marple says affably that "everyone is very much like" everyone else. It is this predictability of human nature that the old lady draws upon to arrive at her conclusions.

The Thirteen Problems contains two sets of six stories each in the same format. A group of individuals are relaxing with drinks after dinner in a cosy British parlour. Each of the people tell a story - a real life mystery the solution to which only he/ she knows - and the others have to guess. The idea is mooted by Raymond, who is initially incredulous that his aunt wants to "play" at all. However, his incredulity changes to bewilderment and grudging admiration ( a sentiment shared by others at the gathering) when Miss Marple emerges the winner each and every time, by comparing it with a village parallel.

One of the members of the gathering is Sir Henry Clithering, retired Commissioner of Police. He and Miss Marple are the common factors in the second set of stories, where the parlour is different and the participants are different. However, Miss Marple comes up trumps once again. Sir Henry leaves with lasting respect in his mind for this "finest sleuth" in the world.

Which is why, in the last story, he prepares to take on the task Miss Marple has entrusted him with: save an innocent from punishment for a crime which he has not committed. Armed with the foreknowledge of the name of the person Miss Marple thinks is the murderer, Sir Henry is able to succeed. The story ends with the significant sentence:

Miss Marple had been right again.

Yes, it has indeed become a habit for this little old lady.

***

Everyone would have their own favourites in this collection; mine are The Idol House of Astarte and The Blue Geranium. However, each one is a gem.

This book is a masterpiece of the genre. show less

I enjoyed the format of the stories - a group of friends sharing their mysteries and a little competition to see who can figure them out. Miss Marple is a superhero with her insight into human nature and her ability to see beyond the illusion. I also enjoyed little glimpses of characters who play bigger parts in her Miss Marple novels.

«Miss Marple si intrufolò così silenziosamente nella mia vita che quasi non mi accorsi del suo arrivo. Scrissi una serie di racconti per una rivista, immaginando che in un villaggio sei persone si riunissero per raccontare qualche caso rimasto insoluto.»
È la stessa Agatha Christie a parlare così della prima apparizione di Miss Marple nella sua autobiografia. E questi “casi insoluti” sono proprio i “13 problemi” raccontati in questo libro. Per ogni morte misteriosa, per ogni efferato delitto, per ogni enigma insolubile, la dolce e mite vecchietta ha un aneddoto di paese che glielo ricorda, e questo le permette di arrivare alla soluzione. Perché la natura umana è sempre la stessa, e in un piccolo paesino la si può show more osservare come al microscopio.
Adoro Agatha Christie, e sinceramente non so dire quale dei suoi due investigatori più famosi sia il mio preferito, se Poirot e appunto Miss Marple. Certo è che questo, tra i suoi, è uno dei miei libri preferiti, che ho letto più di una volta, e ho proprio in questi giorni riletto col solito piacere, nonostante purtroppo mi ricordassi benissimo di tutti gli assassini! ;)

http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodileggere/165 show less

I (re)read this book for two reasons: I belong to a group reading Agatha Christie's oeuvre in order of publication, and it fit a Halloween Bingo prompt - 13. Either one of those reasons would have been a good enough excuse to read this charming little collection of Miss Marple showing everyone up.

13 short stories: the first 6 of which share a common tie of being stories told at the Tuesday Night Club, an impromptu gathering where each person tells the tale of a mystery that went unsolved at the time. The next 6 stories are tied together in a similar way, as stories all told around the dining table one evening. The last story is a 'stand-alone' although it relies on the friendship established in the previous stories between Miss Marple show more and Sir Henry Clithering.

Without exception, each story is excellent. Some are more excellent than others; in my opinion, The Blue Geranium is the absolute stand-out, though Motive vs Opportunity comes close. The weakest was probably the last, for me, Death by Drowning. It's solid, but in comparison, duller than the previous 12 stories.

I have a confession to make about Agatha Christie's books: I dislike both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. I find that in the longer books Miss Marple tends to natter on a bit too much and plays the "old spinster" and "aww shucks" hands a little too strongly. Hercule Poirot is just ... an amalgamation of the worst traits of Holmes and Dupin is as close I can come to a description. I don't find him as comical as most.

However, these short stories offer the perfect dose of Miss Marple: for almost all the stories, her participation is relegated to the end, so the simpering is contained. I also really tried, while reading these, to re-imagine Miss Marple in my mind by remembering the subjectivity of the descriptor 'old' and the stereotype of 'spinster'. Yes, Miss Marple has white hair and knits, but I know many a 50-60 year old that has white hair and knits. I don't recall her age ever being mentioned in the books I've read so far, so perhaps I dislike Miss Marple because of popular portrayals, combined with current attitudes about the adjectives that Christie used 100 years ago, when they covered broader spectrums.

I was partially successful; it was a struggle. Ingrained conceptions die hard. Fortunately I have a lot of books ahead of me to use for mental re-programming. Now if only I could figure out a way to like Poirot... show less

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie features Miss Jane Marple as she astounds the guests at a pair of dinner parties when they each relate a mystery and the other guests try to guess the solution. In all cases Miss Marple, relating the facts to her knowledge of human nature, is the one to come up with the right answer.

Reading very much like a collection of short stories, each chapter consists of a separate incident and then the solutions are surmised. The people involved in this intriguing game are mostly members of the upper middle class and among them one can find a doctor, a lawyer, a mystery writer, a vicar, an actress and a retired Scotland Yard Inspector. Of course at first they mostly dismiss Miss Marple, leaving her to sit show more in a corner with her knitting, but as she repeatedly comes up with the right solution, they learn to give her the respect and admiration that this unlikely sleuth deserves.

I am a big fan of Miss Marple and I enjoyed this collection very much. My admiration for Agatha Christie and her abilities as an author were extended even further by the deceptive simplicity of these stories and how they were melded together into such a unified compilation. show less

Nel mio viaggio estivo di conoscenza dei lavori di Agatha Christie non poteva mancare Miss Marple: come primo approccio non sono rimasta troppo impressionata. Come nel primo romanzo dedicato a Poirot, anche qui la penna di Christie non mi è sembrata all’altezza del suo talento: evidentemente doveva ancora prendere le misure del suo personaggio.

Miss Marple non mi è sembrata un mostro di simpatia: piuttosto saccente, di quelle che aspettano che tuttə abbiano detto la loro e poi – sdeng! – calano l’asso nella manica, prendendola pure alla larga! È proprio una di quelle vecchie comari che popolano la provincia, quelle che siedono tutte insieme, ti salutano amabilmente quando passi loro lavanti e poi spettegolano a tutta randa. show more Non sono sicura di apprezzare il genere – almeno per qualche altro decennio.

La scusa che dà il via a questa raccolta di storie è un gioco che sa molto di provincia annoiata: giochiamo a risolvere misteri! E in questo gioco non c’è trippa per gatti, né per il commissario, né per il pastore, non per l’avvocato e nemmeno per lo scrittore, la pittrice o il dottore: è Miss Marple, che ha una conoscenza enciclopedica dei fatti (e dei pettegolezzi) della provincia, ad avere il database mentale di casi umani più vasto dal quale attingere per fare le sue ipotesi. O forse è meglio dire, per spiegare i fatti.

Non tutti i racconti mi sono sembrati ben riusciti allo stesso modo (il primo, per esempio, mi ha indotto a chiedermi se in epoca vittoriana facessero sempre le torte con i cosini di zucchero candito sopra), ma nondimeno è stata una lettura estiva piacevole e capisco perfettamente perché vada forte in questa stagione. show less