The Miss Marple series is a collection of crime fiction and mystery novels, first published as a short story in 1927. It is written by Agatha Christie, a world-renowned English author. This series consists of 14 books and focuses on the main protagonist, Miss Marple.
Miss Marple is an elderly woman who lives in the village of St. Mary’s and doubles as an amateur detective. Miss Marple, along with Hercule Poirot, is one of Agatha Christie’s best characters. Christie’s step-grandmother and Aunt Margaret West inspired the character of Miss Marple.
Marple becomes gentler and more modern as the series progresses. She enjoys solving difficult crimes with the help of her keen intellect. Miss Marple encounters different incidents during her stay at St. Mary Mead. This forces her to confront the dark aspects of human nature. Miss Marple can be seen relying on her good relationship with the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner. She does this to get relevant data when she needs it.
Miss Marple is well aware that she is frequently a target, but no matter how scary the situation, she doesn’t stop until she solves the case.
Miss Marple Books in order
Miss Marple Series
Miss Marple
- The Body in the Library (1942)
- The Moving Finger (1942)
- A Murder is Announced (1950)
- They Do It With Mirrors (1952)
- A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
- 4:50 From Paddington (1957)
- The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962)
- A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
- At Bertram’s Hotel (1965)
- Nemesis (1971)
- Sleeping Murder (1976)
Miss Marple Collection
- The Thirteen Problems (1932)
- 13 Clues for Miss Marple (1966)
- Miss Marple’s Final Cases (1976)
- Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985)
Similar authors
- The Millennium series by Stieg Larsson follows Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. The first is an asocial computer hacker with a perfect memory. The second is a journalist and publisher at the Millennium magazine.
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn follows the world’s most twisted marriage. The plot centers on a feminist psychopath, her disappearance, and her misogynist husband.
See also: Jacqueline Winspear Books in Order and Richard Jury Books in Order.
Most recommended books
- The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1) (4.06 Goodreads score)
- A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #5) (4.00 Goodreads score)
- The Tuesday Club Murders (Miss Marple, #2) (3.91 Goodreads score)
- 4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple, #8) (3.96 Goodreads score)
- A Pocketful of Rye (Miss Marple #7) (3.90 Goodreads score)
Latest releases
The last and final Miss Marple book is called Sleeping Murder and was published in 1976.
Movies based on the series
The first television adaptations of the series were successful but displeased by the author. She sat down and wrote another book in the series, which she gave to Margaret Rutherford. Murder She Said was released in 1961 by MGM and starred Margaret Rutherford. The second film was released in 1963.
Book summaries
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone–even in the vicar–wishes he were dead. And very soon he is–shot in the head in the vicar’s own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the killer.
The Body in the Library (1942)
It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing evening dress and heavy make-up, which is now smeared across her cheeks.But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry? The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery… before tongues start to wag.
The Moving Finger (1942)
The indomitable sleuth Miss Marple is led to a small town with shameful secrets in Agatha Christie’s classic detective story, The Moving Finger. Lymstock is a town with more than its share of scandalous secrets—a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir.But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says “I can’t go on,” but Miss Marple questions the coroner’s verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone—as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.
A Murder is Announced (1950)
The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which read: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.’ Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the pointed time when without warning the lights go out
They Do It With Mirrors (1952)
Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in Stoneygates, a rehabilitation center for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when someone shoots at the administrator. Although he is not injured, a mysterious visitor is less fortunate—shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and must use all her cunning to solve the riddle of the stranger’s visit … and his murder.
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his “counting house” when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.Yet, it was the incident in the parlor which confirmed Miss Marple’s suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme.
4:50 From Paddington (1957)
For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs. McGillicuddy’s friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case — for there is no corpse, and no one is missing.Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of the mystery, and help unmask a murderer.
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962)
The quaint village of St Mary Mead has been glamourized by the presence of screen queen Marina Gregg, who has taken up residence in preparation for her comeback. But when a local fan is poisoned, Marina finds herself starring in a real-life mystery—supported with scene-stealing aplomb by Jane Marple, who suspects that the lethal cocktail was intended for someone else. But who? If it was meant for Marina, then why? And before the final fade-out, who else from St Mary Mead’s cast of seemingly innocent characters is going to be eliminated?
A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
As Jane Marple sat basking in the tropical sunshine she felt mildly discontented with life. True, the warmth eased her rheumatism, but here in paradise nothing ever happened. Then a question was put to her by a stranger: ‘Would you like to see a picture of a murderer?’ Before she has a chance to answer, the man vanishes, only to be found dead the next day. The mysteries abound: Where is the picture? Why is the hotelier prone to nightmares? Why doesn’t the most talked-about guest, a reclusive millionaire, ever leave his room? And why is Miss Marple herself fearful for her life?
At Bertram’s Hotel (1965)
At Bertram’s Hotel the intrepid Miss Marple, on holiday in London, must solve a deadly mystery at the end of a chain of very violent events.An old-fashioned London hotel is not quite as reputable as it makes out to be.…When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she’s looking for at Bertram’s Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service, and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly-polished veneer.Yet, not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day.…
Nemesis (1971)
Even the unflappable Miss Marple is astounded as she reads the letter addressed to her on instructions from the recently deceased tycoon Mr. Jason Rafiel, whom she had met on holiday in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery). Recognizing in her a natural flair for justice and a genius for crime-solving, Mr. Rafiel has bequeathed to Miss Marple a £20,000 legacy — and a legacy of an entirely different sort. For he has asked Miss Marple to investigate…his own murder. The only problem is, Mr. Rafiel has failed to name a suspect or suspects. And, whoever they are, they will certainly be determined to thwart Miss Marple’s inquiries — no matter what it will take to stop her.
Sleeping Murder (1976)
Sleeping Murder, the indomitable Miss Marple turns ghost hunter and uncovers shocking evidence of a perfect crime.Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a “perfect” crime committed many years before.
The Thirteen Problems (1932)
The Tuesday Night Club is the name for a varied group of guests who challenge each other to solve recent, and not so recent, crimes. It begins one evening when the group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and the conversation turns to unsolved crimes. Over the weeks, we learn about the case of the dripping bloodstains, the thief who committed his crime twice over, the message from the death-bed of a poisoned man who talked of a ‘heap of fish’, the strange case of the missing will, and a spiritualist who warned that ‘Blue Geraniums’ meant death.Pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the ‘Tuesday Night Club’. But don’t forget that Miss Marple is present. Sometime later, many of the same people are present at a dinner given by Colonel and Dolly Bantry. Another set of six problems. Even later there’s a thirteenth. Can you match Miss Marple’s performance?
13 Clues for Miss Marple (1966)
Thirteen interesting short stories featuring the elderly Miss Jane Marple.It’s all here: a man dies in church, dying words, a ruinous legacy, secret past haunts of a beautiful woman, a brother and sister caught in a web of evil from England to the Continent, a bouquet spelling death –The stories are: 1 Tape-Measure Murder, 2 Strange Jest, 3 Sanctuary, 4 Greenshaw’s Folly, 5 Perfect Maid, 6 Caretaker, 7 Blue Geranium, 8 Companion, 9 Four Suspects, 10 Motive v. Opportunity, 11 Thumbmark of St Peter, 12 Bloodstained Pavement, and 13 Herb of Death.
Miss Marple’s Final Cases (1976)
First, there’s a mystery man with a bullet-wound who is found in a church…then, the riddle of a dead man’s buried treasure…the curious conduct of a caretaker after a fatal riding accident…the link between a corpse and a tape-measure…a girl framed for theft…and a suspect accused of stabbing his wife with a dagger. There you have six gripping cases. There’s one more, a surprise. They have one thing in common – the astonishing deductive powers of Miss Marple.
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985)
Jane Marple is from the village of St Mary Mead and applies her skills of observation and deduction to a wide variety of mysteries. Several of the supporting characters appear in many of these stories, including her nephew Raymond West, Dolly and Arthur Bantry of Gossington Hall, and Sir Henry Clithering formerly of Scotland Yard.
