Status Updates From Marple: Twelve New Stories

"The Mystery of the Acid Soil" by Kate Mosse (5 Stars) - Miss Marple meets a Curate on the train and ekes out a mystery on the journey. This truly felt like an Agatha Christie mystery. I loved it! Perfect mimic of her characters, setting and writing while being a new mystery.

"The Murdering Sort" by Karen M. McManus - Miss Marple's great niece goes to the States and witnesses the murder of a Patriarch while he's testing the family. This feels exactly likr a McManus mystery but kept Miss Marple true to character. It mainly is from the eyes of a teen which keeps true to McManus' style, and I expected the solution but appreciated the writing.

"A Deadly Wedding Day" by Dreda Say Mitchell (4 Stars) - Miss Marple attends the wedding of a friend's niece and there is a death at the breakfast speeches. I thought this was fairly well plotted and Miss Marple really felt like herself. I enjoyed the solution though I got a bit mixed up with the who's who with the audiobook.

"The Jade Empress" by Jean Kwok (3 Stars) - Miss Marple is on a cruise to Hong Kong and a passenger is murdered. I didn't love this because it feels waaay too far for Miss Marple to travel. But I can't be mad at the mystery in general, though it felt rushed.

"Miss Marple's Christmas" by Ruth Ware (3.5 Stars) - A robbery in a country estate home during Christmas day with an interesting little solution. Miss Marple felt pretty well represented but I just don't love her nephew.

'The Open Mind' by Naomi Alderman (3 Stars) - A murder at a college formal dinner. Clever but the setting and characters felt a bit off.

'The Unravelling' by Natalie Haynes (3.5 stars) - another story that genuinely feels like it could have been a Miss Marple mystery, and naturally it's third person POV, focusing on Marple's friend Susan learning about a mystery and trying to understand how Miss Marple figured out the solution.

'Miss Marple Takes Manhattan' by Alyssa Cola (1 star) - Miss Marple goes to New York and does her thing except for.... it's just trash. Just so bad. Poorly plotted, poorly executed. It felt like the author wanted to write some different story but had to squeeze Miss Marple into it.

'The Second Murder at the Vicarage' by Val McDermid (4.5 stars) - So far, this is the most Agatha Christie-like in the writing style, portrayal of Miss Marple and the mystery setup. I really enjoyed this one because it harkens back to the O.G. 'Murder at the Vicarage'.

'Evil in Small Places' by Lucy Foley (3 stars) - Miss Marple is visiting her friend in another little town and she walks into the murder of a choir mistress. This was just okay. It was 1st person POV and I feel like it would have been improved by being 3rd person. The murder was a bit convoluded and unlikely, but it felt like a lot of information was withheld until the reveal.