Real Life of an MSW

The Tuesday Club Murders (1928, 228 pages) by Agatha Christie. I have a confession: I know who Hercules Poirot is, but not Miss Jane Marple. This book changed that. I have to say, she reminded me a lot of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). Miss Jane Marple is simply adorable, an old woman surprising everyone by solving all the mysteries and making them look like no-brainers with her wit, earning the respect of her peers. This was fun read! It is a book of short stories tied together by a group of friends that get together; the brilliant Scotland Yard detective, the honored old clergyman, the dazzling woman artist, the celebrated lawyer, the handsome young writer. All famous in their own ways, all haunted in their own ways, they start talking about mysteries with known endings that have happened to them, and they want to see if anyone in the group can guess the outcome. Each chapter is a new person telling their story for the group. While the final tale is quite different – Miss Marple goes to Sir Henry to ask him to investigate an apparent ‘suicide’ and find the real culprit, which she has already uncovered but has no evidence. I very much enjoyed this, although since each story was so short, it made it even harder to find the solutions but the “AHA” moments were worth trying.  Simply brilliant entertainment!