New Miss Marple novel sends Christie’s sleuth to the Alps

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New Miss Marple novel sends Christie’s sleuth to the Alps

The Guardian · 2 hours ago

A writer has been commissioned to write the first full-length Miss Marple novel in fifty years, reviving Agatha Christie's most celebrated detective for a new generation. This marks the first time Christie's family has authorised a continuation of the character, whose last case appeared in "Sleeping Murder," published posthumously in 1976, making this a significant moment in the legacy of one of literature's most enduring sleuths.

Miss Marple first appeared in a 1927 Christmas magazine story before making her book debut in 1930's "The Murder at the Vicarage," and went on to feature in twelve of Christie's sixty-six detective novels and twenty of her hundred and sixty short stories. With over two billion Agatha Christie books sold worldwide, Miss Marple remains a character rivalling even Hercule Poirot in readers' affections. The writer reflects on the character's radical ingenuity: an elderly spinster whose invisibility and profound understanding of human nature serve as her superpower, allowing her to see through society's pretences in ways more celebrated detectives cannot.

  • First authorised Miss Marple novel commissioned fifty years after the character's last case
  • Miss Marple pioneered "feminine intuition" as a legitimate detective method
  • Agatha Christie's works have sold over two billion copies globally

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Originally published by The Guardian as “I was asked to write a new Miss Marple, so I sent her to the Alps”.