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This exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery gathers together in one magnificent volume all of Agatha Christie's short stories featuring her beloved intrepid investigator, Miss Marple. It's an unparalleled compendium of murder, mayhem, mystery, and detection that represents some of the finest short form fiction in the crime fiction field and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans. Described by her friend Dolly Bantry as "the typical old maid of fiction," Miss Marple has lived almost her entire life in the sleepy hamlet of St. Mary Mead. Yet, by observing village life she has gained an unparalleled insight into human nature - and used it to devastating effect. As her friend Sir Henry Clithering, the ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, has been heard to say: "She's just the finest detective God ever made" - and many Agatha Christie fans would agree.… (more)
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Miss Marple Short Stories
Agatha Christie
Illustrated by Andrew Davidson
Introduced by Stella Duffy
Poisoning, bloodstains, cups of tea and knitting – a superb collection of detective stories featuring the unassuming Miss Marple.
When a group of friends in a small village – artists, writers and clergymen – decide to tell unsolved mysteries to each other at Miss Jane Marple’s house, they expect little in the way of a contribution from their elderly host. So when she lifts her eyes from her knitting to deduce the truth about a case of domestic poisoning, they are flabbergasted. As the stories in this collection are told – disappearing bloodstains, the cryptic last message of a poisoned man, a spiritualist who predicts death – Miss Marple’s reputation grows, and before long she is being asked for help by the police. This complete collection features all 20 short stories, including ‘The Tuesday Night Club’, ‘A Christmas Tragedy’ and ‘The Case of the Perfect Maid’. They are neatly encapsulated by Henry Clithering’s cry at the solution of ‘Ingots of Gold’: ‘Miss Marple, you are wonderful!’
In her introduction, detective novelist Stella Duffy praises Christie’s fine use of language and dry social commentary, which may take some readers as much by surprise as the ingenious solutions Miss Marple points out.
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Bound in blocked buckram
Set in Monotype Bell
312 pages
Frontispiece and 7 colour illustrations
Plain slipcase
9˝ x 5¾˝
ABOUT AGATHA CHRISTIE
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and is the author of over 80 works, including detective novels and short stories, 19 plays, and six novels published under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published in 1920 and introduced the world to Hercule Poirot, who would become one of the most popular fictional detectives since Sherlock Holmes (as would another of Christie’s sleuths, the amateur detective Miss Marple). In 1952 her play The Mousetrap premiered in London’s West End and has run continuously ever since. Christie’s books have sold more than two billion copies in over 100 languages (said to be outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare), and have been adapted many times for film and television. She was made a dame in 1971, and died in Oxfordshire in 1976. In 2013, she was voted the greatest crime writer of all time by the Crime Writers’ Association.
ABOUT ANDREW DAVIDSON
Andrew Davidson studied graphic design at Norwich School of Art and then at the Royal College of Art. He is known for his use of traditional engraving and printing methods. Davidson also paints traditionally, using gouache, and prints block-colour illustrations with wood blocks. He works with French or Japanese paper, engraving on English boxwood and printing the blocks on an 1859 Albion hand press. He has worked with publishers including HarperCollins, Transworld, Faber and Faber, Random House, Penguin Books and Oxford University Press, and also with Shell, BP, Rolex, the All England Lawn Tennis Association, Amtrak, Railtrack, Cunard, Mitchell and Butler, Shepherd Neame, Highland Distillers and the National Museums of Scotland.