Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories
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| Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories | |
 Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition |
|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Not known |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Detective fiction Short stories |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
| Publication date | October 1979 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 140 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-002-31596-3 |
| Preceded by | An Autobiography |
| Followed by | Problem at Pollensa Bay |
Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in October 1979 retailing at £4.50[1]. It was the last Christie book to be published under the Collins Crime Club imprint although HarperCollins continue to be the writer's UK publishers.
The book contains eight short stories and did not appear in the US.
Contents |
[edit] List of stories
- Sanctuary
- Strange Jest
- Tape-Measure Murder
- The Case of the Caretaker
- The Case of the Perfect Maid
- Miss Marple Tells a Story
- The Dressmaker's Doll
- In a Glass Darkly
[edit] Literary significance and reception
Robert Barnard: "Posthumous collection, containing several good and good-ish Marple cases previously only available in the States. Also two supernatural stories, which Christie did not have the stylistic resources to bring off successfully."[2]
[edit] Publication history
- 1979, Collins Crime Club (London), October 1979, Hardcover, 140 pp ISBN 0-002-31596-3
- 1980, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback
- 1978, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, ISBN 0-70-892346-1
[edit] First publication of stories
The first UK magazine publication of all the stories has not been fully documented. The known listing is as follows:
- Strange Jest: First published in issue 643 of the Strand Magazine in July 1944 under the title of The Case of the Buried Treasure. (This was the final short story Christie wrote for the Strand.)
- The Tape-Measure Murder: First published in issue 614 of the Strand Magazine in February 1942 under the title of The Case of the Retired Jeweller.
- The Case of the Caretaker: First published in issue 613 of the Strand Magazine in January 1941.
- The Case of the Perfect Maid: First published in issue 616 of the Strand Magazine in April 1942 under the shortened title of The Perfect Maid.
- Sanctuary: First published in the October 1954 issue of Woman's Journal. This story was especially written by Christie for the Westminster Abbey restoration appeal fund of that year. The story was sold to the highest bidder with the funds going to the appeal. The Magazine did not state the sum that they paid but noted that it was "considerable".
- The Dressmaker's Doll: First published in the December 1958 issue of Woman's Journal.
Miss Marple Tells a Story was not written for magazine publication but was a special commission from the BBC for a series called Short Story as announced in The Times on March 27, 1934. It is further unusual in that the story was read out by Christie herself, in the manner of her previous broadcasts of Behind the Screen (1930) and The Scoop (1931). The twenty-minute broadcast took place on Friday, May 11, 1934 at 9.20pm on the National Programme.
No UK magazine publication of In a Glass Darkly has yet been traced but the story did appear in the US in Collier's Weekly in July 1934. The Daily Mirror of April 6, 1934 stated that In a Glass Darkly was being read out by Christie on BBC Radio that night as part of the Short Story series. However, the programme billings on the same page stated the broadcast was by Dorothy L. Sayers with a story titled Dilemma[3]. It is therefore possible that In a Glass Darkly was not written with the intention of magazine publication but for the BBC and was substituted by Miss Marple Tells a Story at a later stage.
[edit] References
- ^ Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 16)
- ^ Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie - Revised edition (Page 197). Fontana Books, 1990. ISBN 0006374743
- ^ The Daily Mirror April 6, 1934 (Page 24)
[edit] External links
- Miss Marple's Final Cases at the official Agatha Christie website
