The Thirteen Problems

[Susan]

This is actually the second published Miss Marple volume and is a collection of stories published in 1932. This will be an 'extra' read for February.

[LovesMysteries]

Does anyone's edition of "Thirteen Problems" has a
foreword written by Christie? I believe it's in the 1953 Penguin edition. I don't know if the foreword was first written in 1953 in that edition way after the book was published or if it was first used in 1930 and reprinted in the 1953 edition.

[Jessica-sim]

Yes, I do have a (rather lovely) foreword by Christie in my edition. It seems like the foreword was written for the 1953 Penguin edition.

[Jill]

Just over half way with this and loving Miss Marple. Trying to put the actors out of my mind and recreate the Miss Marple that I had in mind when I read about her in my early teens.

[Judy]

I had that foreword in my edition too - interesting how Christie says that some of her readers want her to just write Miss Marple books and not Poirot ones, and some demand the opposite!

[Jill]

Finished this book and throughly enjoyed it. I would say I don't normally enjoy short stories, but this was very good. It built the character of Miss Marples, to give an understanding of her methods of detection, so in the following books we would realise how believable she would be.

[Jessica-sim]

About to start the 6th mystery of the Tuesday Night club, looking forward to Miss Marple presenting one! Will it be a village mystery? What will her esteemed nephew make of it?

I'm really enjoying these stories and they are a perfect size for my commute.

[Susan]

i rarely like short stories either, but I did enjoy these very much.

[John]

I agree with Jill. Most enjoyable, making a coherent whole - group of six, another group of six, then a humdinger of a 13th. I laughed a lot!

[Judy]

I enjoyed the stories but must admit they haven't stuck in my mind very well - within days of finishing the book, what I mainly remembered was the atmosphere and the group of people discussing their theories, with Miss Marple bringing out her clever comparisons with people in St Mary Mead!

I'm wondering if the individual stories are less memorable than those in collections by some other authors, such as Conan Doyle and Sayers?

[Susan]

I think the atmosphere was very important, wasn't it? This idea of Miss Marple, sitting by the fire, solving every mystery thrown at her. It did set the scene and implant her character in your mind...

[Lady Clementina]

Susan wrote: "i rarely like short stories either, but I did enjoy these very much."

These were very enjoyable- I don;t read very many either but do enjoy the Sherlock Holmes ones as well.

[Susan]

I have only ever read one Sherlock Holmes book and that was years ago, so I can't really recall it now.

[Judy]

In her short introduction to this book, Agatha Christie suggests that Miss Marple might be better suited to short stories than full length novels. She says "I think that she is at her best in the solving of short problems; they suit her more intimate style".

Just wondering what anyone else thinks about this? I enjoyed the short stories but must say so far I've enjoyed the novels even more!

[Lady Clementina]

Judy wrote: "In her short introduction to this book, Agatha Christie suggests that Miss Marple might be better suited to short stories than full length novels. She says "I think that she is at her best in the s..."
Me too- the characters are better developed in a sense and of course, its fun picking up (or trying to) the clues.

[Susan]

I personally always prefer novels, but I know short stories were huge, especially between the war. I've read memoirs by writers such as Alec Waugh (whose father was a publisher) and he mentions short stories as a writers 'bread and butter.' For me, though, there is no contest and novels offer much greater depth.

[Lady Clementina]

Susan wrote: "I personally always prefer novels, but I know short stories were huge, especially between the war. I've read memoirs by writers such as Alec Waugh (whose father was a publisher) and he mentions sho..."

For weeklies and magazines, these would be perfect - plus from the readers' pov, if one didn't have very much time on hand, reading a short story whenever one did would have been good entertainment.

[Judy]

I still find they are great for reading on the bus etc - just long enough for the journey!

[Lady Clementina]

Judy wrote: "I still find they are great for reading on the bus etc - just long enough for the journey!"

Also perhaps during one's lunch break.

[Susan]

Yes, I do sometimes like 'kindle singles' for the same reason.

[Adrian]

Judy wrote: "I still find they are great for reading on the bus etc - just long enough for the journey!"

Or in my case, just long enough to finish (at least) a story a night, (given I read the book in 4 days, it obviously must be more than 1 a night oops).

I really enjoyed the stories, remembering only 2 from my read of years ago, but in common with most, do enjoy the novels more. Now where did I put my copy of The Body in the Library

[Susan]

The best thing about my kindle is that even I can't lose books on it! I can never locate anything in my house - I need a search function...

[Jackie]

I found "Miss Marple the Complete Short Stories" at the library and will start reading it tonigh; I believe the first section is the same as The Thirteen Problems.

in general, I prefer a novel length but we shall see how I like these.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm about to start. I have a complete short stories, so I'm just going to post the list of the thirteen problems ones - just to help me keep track!

The Tuesday Night Club
The Idol House of Astarte
Ingots of Gold
The Bloodstained Pavement
Motive vs. Opportunity
The Thumb Mark of St. Peter
The Blue Geranium
The Companion
The Four Suspects
A Christmas Tragedy
The Herb of Death
The Affair at the Bungalow
Death by Drowning

No Christie introduction with mine.

[Lady Clementina]

Susan wrote: "The best thing about my kindle is that even I can't lose books on it! I can never locate anything in my house - I need a search function..."

Ha ha- me neither- especially since I packed everything for the house to be painted last year. I'm reading Howards End with another group but still haven't found my copy. I'm going ahead and downloading an e copy for the time being.

[Susan]

We are discussing individual stories on the spoiler thread, but we're only on the second story, so plenty of time for anyone to jump in :)

[Marcus]

I'm also about to start. I will use a book that contains all Miss Marple short histories.

[Jackie]

so far I have been staying out of the spoiler thread while I'm reading

[Leslie]

I read Thirteen Clues for Miss Marple several years ago -- is this the same as The Thirteen Problems?

[Daniele]

Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "I'm about to start. I have a complete short stories, so I'm just going to post the list of the thirteen problems ones - just to help me keep track!

The Tuesday Night Club
The Idol House of Astarte..."
I am eagerly awaiting my copy to arrive. couldn't find it anywhere where i live except in french (I am in US).

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Leslie wrote: "I read Thirteen Clues for Miss Marple several years ago -- is this the same as The Thirteen Problems?"

Hi Leslie - I've listed the titles in message 24 - it looks like some are the same, some are different. :)

[Judy]

I found something about Thirteen Clues for Miss Marple in a wiki discussion page - this seems to confirm that it isn't the same book but some of the stories are the same, while some are later stories. How confusing!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mi...

[Leslie]

Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I read Thirteen Clues for Miss Marple several years ago -- is this the same as The Thirteen Problems?"

Hi Leslie - I've listed the titles in message 24 -..."

Thanks Carol!

[Susan]

Oh, sorry, Leslie. I did reply to your earlier message, but I am not sure if you read it. I think they are different books.

[Marcus]

I'm reading The Thirteen Problems in the book called "Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories", HarperCollings e-books. The summary identifies the short stories and indicates it's origins, i.e., the book from which it belongs. The book also has the foreword by Agatha Christie, with its interesting remarks about Miss Marple conception.

[John]

Yes, Marcus, I have the paperback version, which has the 13 stories from The Thirteen Problems, the other 7 Miss Marple short stories, and 34 other mystery short stories. There are two other volumes of Christie short stories in the series, one with Hercule Poirot, and one with 'detectives and young adventurers.' Each has a useful complete list showing first publication and book publication, in both USA and UK. All good stuff.

[Ellen]

I got the Complete Stories on my Kindle and read the first story last night. Short stories are a lot of fun. I really like them. It's a shame they seem to have fallen a bit out of favor.

[Everyman]

Jackie wrote: "I found "Miss Marple the Complete Short Stories" at the library and will start reading it tonigh; I believe the first section is the same as The Thirteen Problems...."

I just got the same book yesterday, and yes, the first section are the thirteen problems. (Unlucky number!!)

[Lady Clementina]

Everyman wrote: "Jackie wrote: "I found "Miss Marple the Complete Short Stories" at the library and will start reading it tonigh; I believe the first section is the same as The Thirteen Problems...."

I just got th..."The Lemony Snickett books play on the number too- thirteen books in the series, each with thirteen chapters.

[Judy]

Just came across this nice photo of the very first Miss Marple short story, The Tuesday Night Club, in The Royal Magazine, complete with an illustraton:

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/m...

Is this how you imagine her? I think it's a good picture although I can't help thinking Miss M should really look exactly like Joan Hickson!

[Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review)]

That makes me see why they cast Margaret Rutherford - but for me Joan Hickson IS Miss Jane Marple :D

[Marcus]

Sounds pretty similar to what I draw in my imagination. An old lady with an unpretentious demeanor but clever enough to solve distinct mysteries.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Judy wrote: "Just came across this nice photo of the very first Miss Marple short story, The Tuesday Night Club, in The Royal Magazine, complete with an illustraton:

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/m...-..."

I always imagine Miss Marple as fluffier looking. But I also give her a more "modern" hairstyle than was likely!

[Marcus]

Wisdom from our friend, Miss Jane Marple: "... there is nothing more cruel than talk, and there is nothing more difficult to combat. When people say things behind your back there is nothing you can refute or deny, and the rumours go on growing, and no one can stop them".

[Susan]

Well, in the early stories, she is described as being covered in lace and yes, sort of 'fluffy,' but shrewd. I see her as quite bird like - trim and neat and proper.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Even though she looked different from my visualisation I did like Joan Hickson as Miss M. Amazing eyes!

[Judy]

I've noticed the site I linked to, about an exhibition at the British Library, says the first short story was published in 1929, but the Wikipedia page about Miss Marple says 1927 - I'm guessing that is right as it is very detailed and has original publication details for every short story.

That means Miss Marple made her debut the same year as Miss Climpson in the Wimsey stories, with Miss Silver following on a couple of years later!

[Susan]

According to the Agatha Christie site:

Miss Marple first came into being in 1927 in The Tuesday Night Club, a short story pulled together into the collection The Thirteen Problems. It was first published in the December 1927 issue of Royal Magazine. Christie never expected Miss Marple to rival Poirot in the public’s affections but since the publication of The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, Marple's first full length novel, readers were hooked.

So, it seems the British Library are incorrect.

[Judy]

Thanks, Susan, that confirms the date. The article I linked to is from an online magazine and the wrong date might just be a typo by the author - nice piece, though, with some great book covers. I really want to read The Female Detective!

[Susan]

Looks interesting, Judy.