This brilliant short story collection was first published in 1932 in the UK by the Collins Crime Club under the title of The Thirteen Problems. Dodd, Mead published the collection in the U.S. in 1933 with the title The Tuesday Club Murders. The gimmick in these stories is that a group of people meet each Tuesday where one of the group tells the story of a murder they know about and the other members have to guess who committed the murder. Miss Marple is one of the group so you can guess who does the bulk of the problem-solving. Agatha Christie is an underrated short story writer. This stories in this volume are clever and play fair with the clues. If you haven’t read The Tuesday Club Murders you’re missing out on some of Christie’s finest writing.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Tuesday Night Club
The Idol House of Astarte
Ingots of Gold
The Blood-Stained Pavement
Motive v. Opportunity
The Thumb Mark of St. Peter
The Blue Geranium
The Companion
The Four Suspects
A Christmas Tragedy
The Herb of Death
The Affair at the Bungalow
Death by Drowning
Very interesting choice George – I don’t think I’ve read this particular collection though i think i’ve come across some of the stories in other anthologies. Some great covers there too – cheers.
Many Christie fans in Canada and England know this book as THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS, Sergio. This book proves Agatha Christie was a gifted short story writer.
I may have read this one one time, the premise certainly sounds familiar. I’m a real fan of her short stories, and nearly did a collection, but decided on a novel simply because I wanted to read one. Good choice, George.
Thanks, Rick! I have complete collections of Miss Marple and Poirot stories. I may have to dive into them in 2013. I’m a big fan of Christie’s short stories, too!
The early books by Christie were superior to the ones of later years, as with so many authors. This early collection was indeed a classic. In was published just two years after the first Marple novel (THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE) and some (all?) of the stories predate that book.
I almost picked Jackie’s favorite collection, THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN, to review but it’s been too long since I read it and I didn’t have a copy on hand to refresh my memory.
Good choice.
I’m sure you’re aware of the speculation that Agatha Christie may have had onset Alzheimer’s or dementia, Jeff. That goes a long way to explaining the dramatic fall-off of quality in her last few books.
Meanwhile, given how much I’ve enjoyed her short stories over the years (and the films of her plays and the film adaptations of her novels) I’ve read (and seen), I really should dive in further.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Agatha Christie was one of the great writers of the 20th Century, Todd. She created her own genre with Miss Marple and Poirot. Christie was prolific, but until the end of her career, the quality was high. I plan to work my way through the entire Christie oeuvre in the next couple of years.