Reviews with content warning for Death - Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

Read all twelve short stories in a couple sittings, enjoyed most of them. Favourites were Miss Marple's Christmas and Murder at the Villa Rosa.

Evil in Small Places - 2.5 stars
The Second Murder at the Vicarage - 3
Miss Marple Takes Manhattan - 4
The Unravelling - 5
Miss Marple's Christmas - 5
The Open Mind - 4
The Jade Empress - 4.25
A Deadly Wedding Day - 4.25
Murder at the Villa Rosa - 5
The Murdering Sort - 3.5
The Mystery of the Acid Soil - 4.25
The Disappearance - 4.25

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought these little mysteries were very fun, but it did make me realizes that my favorite part of a mystery is the build-up where you get to know the characters and start suspecting people. These moved a little too quickly for that, which I totally get. I just think they're not my style. But the writing was good!

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tashtasher's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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alex_delart's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Its such a fun romp! It was great to see what all the different authors did with Miss Marple, or even when one of them experimented with having the main voice be a different character. Every story is self contained with some recurring characters showing the passage of time. Some stories had more satisfying resolutions than other's but they all had a high level of charm and quality. This book also can function as a way to find a new author one might not be super falimiar with, and may inspire one to read their books next!

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shouldireadthis's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Overall, ratings this 3.75 stars as an average of each of the individual stories. Individual ratings below.

1. Evil in small places by Lucy foley

4.25 stars

Pretty traditional Marple tale; usually don’t enjoy Lucy Foley’s books but I think having source material here to reference meant the story was more to my liking - eg. It didn’t have to be outlandish or shocking or overly complex, it could just be a good marple tale and this delivered that - enjoyable and good example of how to deliver a story that is short but still impactful.

2. The second murder at the vicarage by Val McDermid

4.5 stars

Enjoyable, traditional Marple story, the ending was a bit abrupt though, we didn’t get any insight into the killer’s relationship and some of their reasoning behind their initial act. Generally Marple is her usual self and the story is told from the vicar’s perspective.

3. Miss Marple takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole

2 stars

Didn’t feel like Miss Marple at all really, aside from just character names. Quite bizarre plot, in which no murder occurs. Star added due to the interesting twist in terms of ‘culprit’ but otherwise it’s a fairly weird and boring read comprising of aimless wandering around Manhattan and a visit to a lacklustre theatre. Not my favourite story.

4. The unravelling by Natalie Haynes

3 stars

I liked the twist/reveal on this but I’m afraid I was bored by the story for the first half, it just didn’t really appeal to me as a mystery I suppose.

5. Miss Marple’s Christmas by Ruth Ware

3.75 stars

This was classic Miss Marple style although no murder which was slightly disappointing. Nothing overly complicated about this one but still somewhat enjoyable.

6. The open mind by Naomi Alderman

4 stars

Relatively interesting, enjoyable and engaging setting, central mystery/murder and some intriguing characters. Set slightly later in 1970 which was a bold move but didn’t take away from the story really.

7. The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok

4.75 stars

This was a delightful tale with a few twists, a rich setting and some good character development in the time - I especially liked Mudan. A classic nod to Marple and some nice commentary and political themes throughout. Very enjoyable!

8. A deadly wedding day by Dreda Say Mitchell

5 stars

Really great plotting, great characters, great references to Miss Marples’ time in the Caribbean. Overall a fantastic story, the best one in the anthology.

9. Murder at the villa rosa by Elly Griffiths

2.5 stars

Tries to be different and doesn’t quite succeed. No murder happens and there isn’t much that compels you to read. The setting is gorgeous though and descriptions lovely.

10. The murdering sort by Karen McManus

3 stars

A very enjoyable story (similar to knives out or inheritance games) but lacking a bit of the essence of Marple - indeed Miss Marple barely features.

11. The mystery of the acid soil by Kate Mosse

4 stars

A decent, enjoyable Miss Marple mystery with everything you’d want: quiet village, a few suspects, some murder and gardening.

12. The disappearance by Leigh Bardugo

4 stars
Quite difficult to rate; probably a story that could have done with more space to be told - feels like including this as a short story isn’t really giving it or the characters justice - it needs a full length novel. Makes sense also as to why this one appears at the end. Overall, the characterisation is mostly traditional and true to Marple, including the setting. I think the ending definitely needed more expanding as it is largely glossed over (I think to reduce the severity of the situation) and how this might affect different characters in the tale, and lead to different consequences.

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