13 Problems by Agatha Christie

Featuring: The Theme Of The Season "Magic, Mystery & Murders"

Just like Poirot’s compilation of early cases is called Poirot Investigates,13 Problems is Miss Marple’s collection.It is fascinating to see the character of Jane Marple to bear a faint semblance with Christie’s own grandmother, not only in terms of physical appearance, as she,too, was a pink & white pretty lady, but also the fact that despite living a most sheltered of the Victorian lives, Christie’s grandmother was intimately acquainted with the depths of human depravity; With her reproachful remark, she could make anyone feel incredibly naive and credulous.

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Thirteen Problems, thirteen “Unsolved Mysteries”; twelve of these short stories were incidents that had happened in the past and were presented to Miss Marple, in the form of a game. The cases, however, were not directly presented to her but she was the only one in the lot to be able to solve them. The plot begins with the “Tuesday Night Club”, a game being played for the purpose of entertainment. Six people, an author, an artist, an ex police commissioner, a parish, a solicitor and the “not so conventional detective”, each one of them is supposed to come up with a strange incident that has happened to them in the past and present it to others, for the rest to solve the mystery. Only the narrator knows the key to the lock of their story. The second version of the same game occurs again, at a different party where Miss Marple is invited and there is the common guest from both the parties, that is, ex-Scotland Yard commissioner, Sir Henry. This makes a pair of six stories, and the last one, well, that’s a surprise for the readers to discover themselves.

Miss Marple’s in-depth knowledge of human behavior and human psyche will leave you speechless,because for an old lady, she has quite a few tricks up her sleeve. Her technique is to relate each incident or the hypothetical or past cases with her known village parallels, and once the connection is found, the case is solved. It is because she truly believes that wherever one might be, people at the end of the day, always act the same way. Her experience with daily life is so extraordinary that something which might be trivial to others, something which might go completely unnoticed, might be the key to pull off the curtains from the case. It is actually funny how most people in both the parties tend to forget Miss Marple or simply refer to her as “Village Old Lady” behind her back or simply dismiss her by previously assuming that her idea of life is only limited to her village. Characters like St. Mary Mead, are the ones, who at the end of each story have a funnier reaction which is a mixture of bewilderment, but mostly shame.

It’s a pretty short & fun read, with enjoyable twists and turns. One is bound to love the sharp witted Aunt Jane with her amazing sense of humor and loaded sweetness. So, guys, stay prepared for strange stories and sinister tales, each one of them, beautifully concocted and I assure you, it is nothing but an excellent way to begin your journey with Miss Marple.

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