Marple: Twelve New Stories – Various Authors

Published By: HarperCollins
Pages: 384
Released On: 15/09/2022

This collection of twelve 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 own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

· Naomi Alderman
· Leigh Bardugo
· Alyssa Cole
· Lucy Foley
· Elly Griffiths
· Natalie Haynes
· Jean Kwok
· Val McDermid
· Karen M. McManus
· Dreda Say Mitchell
· Kate Mosse
· Ruth Ware

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This book could have been so bad. Agatha Christie is a one-off, her characters created with such love and passion and detail, could we trust other authors to do her justice? I am also not a huge fan of short stories, so the book had a lot of work to do before I’d even opened it.

But I am glad to say that it was excellent, and this may finally have been the short story collection that sways me.

Whilst I’d heard of most of the authors for this book, I hadn’t read writing from many of them before, but even so, you can clearly see that they’ve kept their own distinctive voices, but they’ve given a nod to the great Agatha Christie…you can read her voice in these stories too.

Whilst there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, overall it was fabulous. And whilst I read this in the height of summer, it feels like it would be perfect for snuggling up with in front of a fire on an autumnal evening.

I liked how, why the stories were standalone, there were several characters who popped up in more than one, so it almost felt like chapters in a longer, linked story which was a nice touch.

All of the stories are set in the traditional Miss Marple era; I’d love to read a story or two set in present time – it would be interesting to see how she might adapt or change her approach to crimes. It would also be interesting to see how she would be received in modern time.

Like I said, it’s unsurprising that I liked some of the stories more than others but I’m quite surprised to say that I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them, and I would have been quite glad to read some more. I think Agatha Christie would have been thrilled with them.