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Marple Books' Plots

Lone_Wolf 20 Mar 10 at 5:11 p.m. GMT

I like Miss Marple as a literary creation. The idea of a seemingly quiet and slightly irrelevant village spinster having a sharp mind and a great scent for evil strikes me as being very intriguing.

However, I find most books with Marple rather dissappointing and uninspired. 4:50 from Paddington is an archetypical example of it, with its "divine guidance" solution.

Sure, many Poirot and non-series books don't click for me also, but the are also some that I do like, and also some that are just brilliant.

I haven't read "A Murder is Announced", and "The Moving Finger" would've been good, had it not been marred by the fact that I've read it in Russian translation (AC in Russian is unreadable for me). "Sleeping Murder" was fine, but I wouldn't describe it as "brilliant". "Nemesis" had some good ideas, but was deeply flawed. Others were dissappointing for me.

So, does anyone else feel that Miss Marple was given few good plots and none of the brilliant ones?

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21 replies

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freako 24 Sep 11 at 8:22 a.m. GMT

I think that's in sharp contrast to the Poirot books, where sometimes (not always), he's able to get enough solid proof to take the case to the jury. Also, the Murder at the Vicarage.

Moderator2 23 Aug 11 at 9:45 a.m. GMT

Report buttons coming (back) soon - apologies for the delay - and thank you for telling us about spam.

SilverTyne 20 Aug 11 at 3:03 p.m. GMT

More spam. And no report button.

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Jul 11 at 12:14 p.m. GMT

Surely if the Moerators are Moderating they should be aware of the spammers or why have them

Christiefan1999 27 Jul 11 at 5:47 p.m. GMT

I agree when you say she's a good literary creation but I couldn't disagree more when you say some Marple books are "uninspired" and "disapointing". Each and every one of Agatha Christie's books, Poirot or Marple or any other detective, has an amazing plot behind them and are works of genius. I think all of Marple's plots are brilliant. I respect that you have a different taste in plots as me though. 

GKCfan 25 Jul 11 at 8:29 p.m. GMT

I think we just need to post and alert the moderators– hopefully they'll take care of the spam.

SilverTyne 25 Jul 11 at 8:16 p.m. GMT

Spammers again. And I can't find the report button. Anyone?

ErkutSoyer 16 Jul 11 at 4:44 p.m. GMT

I didn't read a Miss Marple novel.Which book must be my Miss Marple novel?

SilverTyne 16 Jul 11 at 8:22 a.m. GMT

Oh oh. Spam alert!

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Jul 11 at 4:38 p.m. GMT

I have read them both, A Murder Is Announced is Excellent, I am listening to Murder At The Vicarage Francis Matthes playes the Vicar and Immelda Staunton plays his wife, she also plays Mrs Summerhayes on my version of Mrs McGinty's Dead

John_X 16 Jun 11 at 8:54 p.m. GMT

If you havent read "A Murder is Announced " then you don't know how good Miss Marple really is. You should read it. Also, the Murder at the Vicarage.

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Jun 11 at 4:08 p.m. GMT

To answer your question kidsnextdoor, The Marple Books are Brilliant but can't be compared to the Tommy and Tuppence Books as those are Secret Service Spy Stuff.

KelvinIves 12 Jun 11 at 10:53 a.m. GMT

She is one of the most famous of Christie's characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The sketch magazine in 1926.

kidsnextdoor 11 Jun 11 at 11:45 p.m. GMT

I've never read any books about Miss Marple yet.  Are they as good as Poirot, Tommy, and Tupence?

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Jun 11 at 4 p.m. GMT

It is a sad day for True Agatha Christie Fans, Helen Hayes was American so that doesn't bother me, Instead of doing what they are doing they should be either making the Heroine someone who is a Fan of Agatha Christie especially miss Marple or a Decendant of one of the American Characters.

Kalina 10 Jun 11 at 8:40 a.m. GMT

Have you hearsd the news? Some news travels fast and jaws may drop just as quickly.  Breaking recently was the fact that Disney has done a deal and will 'reboot' the Miss Marple franchise.  This involves the casting of Hollywood actress <a href="http://bytesland.com/view/Jennifer-Garner-HQ-Pictures">Jennifer Garner</a> in the main role.  And yes, it is the role of Miss Jane Marple to which I refer. But the casting is not the main issue.  It's the concept.  For the Disney rebooted Miss Marple is a Marple revisited and redrawn: It's to be her younger self, it's to be modern day and finally it's to be set in America. Surely the magic of Marple lies in the fact she's a wise old woman, a keen observer of humankind with many years of quiet practice behind her! And taking all three together is simply a step too far(((

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Jun 11 at 3:50 p.m. GMT

I am afraid I can't help disagreeing with you, I love the plots of the books and don't find them disapointing at all with the exception of 'They Do It With Mirrors' which is the only one I didn't like, I was at a disadvantage as I saw most of the Hickson Adaptations before reading te books but this ddn't spoil my enjoyment at all, I felt some are better than others, my Favourites being '4.50 From Paddington', 'Sleeping Murder' and my absolute favourite is 'A Murder Is Announced', I liked 'The Moving Finger' but I thought it was spoilt by the addition of Miss Marple towards The End, Part of Miss Marple's Strength is that she only appears in 12 Novels and afew short stories, which is where I think Agath Christie went slightly wrong with Hercule Putting him in 33 Novels there wqas more chance of her writing one which wasn't as good as others, there are more Poirot books which I wouldn't automatically reach for.

Lone_Wolf 28 May 11 at 6:56 p.m. GMT

The above bit of spam is flattering, but it still fails.

Sittaford 27 Feb 11 at 4:22 a.m. GMT

I love the character of Miss Marple. Poirot is brilliant of course but because of her quiet nature i think Miss Marple's character has a much more subtle and beautiful touch to it. I agree that most of the plots she was given left me wondering how exactly she had come to that conclusion with the notable exclusion of A Murder is Announced. It is my favourite Christie novel and is very fairly clued. If you haven't read it you certainly should.

I also think that The Mirror Crack'd has such a beautiful ending. The conversation Miss Marple has with Mr Rudd at the end is so lovely and I feel that she had a lot of sympathy for him. When she quotes the poem in the last lines of the novel you understand how caring Miss Marple really is.

Lone_Wolf 21 Mar 10 at 4:49 a.m. GMT

It's not about hard evidence, more about logic. In Fivе Littlе Рigs, Poirot most likely doesn't have enough evidence even to start the case, yet his solution convices you and feels inevitable. Compare to Pаddington, where Miss Marple clearly solves the case by divine guidance, with no explanations as to why she was sure that the killer is the person whom she accused as being such. I'm surprised that few people mind it - only me, Barnard and a couple of reviewers at amazon.com.

GKCfan 20 Mar 10 at 8:11 p.m. GMT

I just read John Curran's new book, and he brought up a point that I've never noticed.  In almost every Miss Marple book, Miss Marple doesn't have enough hard evidence to lead to an arrest– she has to set a trap for the killer, or arrange circumstances so that the killer is caught in the act, with few exceptions.  I think that's in sharp contrast to the Poirot books, where sometimes (not always), he's able to get enough solid proof to take the case to the jury.