The 13 Problems
A Miss Marple Short Story Collection
By Agatha Christie Ulverscroft Large Print, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-44480-239-9
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Reviewed by Auggie Moore - July 9, 2010
While technically a collection of short stories, The Thirteen Problems actually has more of the feel of being a serial novel. This book consists of thirteen interrelated short stories. Written by Agatha Christie, all of these stories feature the amateur detective from St. Mary Mead, the lovable and grandmotherly Miss Marple.
The stories in this collection can be divided into three main parts. Part one, which consists of the first six stories in this collection can be gathered under the umbrella of the Tuesday Night Club. As the name suggests, this club meets every Tuesday night. At these meetings, the participants tell a variety of mystery stories, which, of course, are solved by Miss Marple. The second part consists of the next six stories. Rather than taking place at a 'club meeting' these stories take place at a dinner party (mostly attended by the same people who showed up for the club meetings) at which the guests relate various mysteries. Once again, Miss Marple solves them all. The third part consists of a single, and the last story in this collection. In this story the host of the dinner party, Sir Henry Clithering, formerly of Scotland Yard, asks Miss Marple to help him solve a murder - which she does.
The mysteries in this collection consist of a nice assortment of murder and puzzle mysteries. All are finely told, and Miss Marple's solutions are all logical and well conceived. Full of memorable characters and enough twists and turns to keep your head turning, these stories will keep your brain engaged throughout the book. The stories contained in this collection include:
The Tuesday Night Club
The Idol House of Astarte
Ingots of Gold
The Bloodstained Pavement
Motive v. 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
While you might pick up this book thinking to read only one tale, don't be surprised if you find yourself reading the entire book in one sitting!
The 13 Problems can be purchased directly from Ulverscroft.
Click Here for a complete list of all the books written by Agatha Christie.
Related Reviews:
Miss Marple's Final Cases, by Agatha Christie.
First, the mystery man in the church with a bullet-wound...then, the riddle of a dead man's buried treasure...the curious conduct of a caretaker after a fatal riding accident...the corpse and a tape-measure...the girl framed for theft...and the suspect accused of stabbing his wife with a dagger, and more...
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, by Agatha Christie.
A collection of six Christmas-themed short mystery stories. Five feature indomitable Belgium detective, Hercule Poirot and one Miss Jane Marple.
