From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Thirteen Problems (Miss Marple, #0.5)

Agatha Christie

Start date: February 1, 2017

Finish date: February 28, 2017

Discussion: Group Challenges

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Group Challenges

* Oct 25: A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie
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* Oct 25: A Murder Is Announced (1950) - SPOILER Thread
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What Members Thought

Jan 03, 2016 Jessica-Robyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-crime, short-stories-collections

The Tuesday Club Murders was underwhelming. When it comes to Agatha Christie I just expect a little something more from her writing. This collection of short stories chronologically falls very, very early in the Miss Marple series and you can definitely tell that Christie is still trying to find just what Miss Marple is creatively.

The collection is framed by the idea that a group of friends, and regulars in the Miss Marple series, are all gathered together and decide to play a game. Each person The Tuesday Club Murders was underwhelming. When it comes to Agatha Christie I just expect a little something more from her writing. This collection of short stories chronologically falls very, very early in the Miss Marple series and you can definitely tell that Christie is still trying to find just what Miss Marple is creatively.

The collection is framed by the idea that a group of friends, and regulars in the Miss Marple series, are all gathered together and decide to play a game. Each person tells the others of a mystery that they have personal knowledge of and then the others have to solve the puzzle. Each story is told from the perspective of the teller through a narrative and then the group discuss the story afterwards. Needless to say, although this sounds like a great concept, the execution was painfully forced, especially in the first five stories. This conceit requires a that the reader suspend some of their disbelief. You just have to accept that pretty much every British person on the planet has intimate and exact details of some horrible crime and then you're good to go.

My suggestion if your planning on reading this collection would be to skip right to chapter six and start from there. I found the first five chapters to be the most lack-lustre part of the entire collection. It was a bad foot to start off on. However, from "Thumbmark of St. Peter" (Chapter 6) onward the stories get progressively better and better. I ended up really enjoying the rest of the collection. It felt more true to Christie as a writer and the mysteries began to really hold my attention.

After the first six stories the Tuesday Murder Club concept is abandoned (thankfully) and we abruptly transition to a dinner party that Miss Marple has been invited to. After the party the guests fall into the same situation as the Tuesday Murder Club where they each tell of a crime and then have the others deduce the outcome. This time the concept is entirely more successful. There's nice banter between all the different characters and the mysteries get more and more interesting with some real gems of creative storytelling.

While I was reading I considered this book to be a bit like a palate cleanser. It's very light, calm, and easy to put down and pick back up again. I was incredibly happy that I ended up enjoying this book in the end well enough to give it three stars, even if it is a little generous. ...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Becky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I enjoyed The Tuesday Club Murders. While short stories are not my favorite, I prefer novels to short stories, I still enjoyed Miss Marple. This one may best be enjoyed one story at a time. There really isn't a need to rush through these stories all at once. There are thirteen stories in all: The Tuesday Night Club, The Idol House of Astarte, Ingots of Gold, The Blood-Stained Pavement, Motive v. Opportunity, The Thumb Mark of St. Peter, The Blue Geranium, The Companion, The Four Suspects, A Chri ...more

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