Miss Marple's last cases
Miss Marple's Final Cases (original title Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories ) is a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK in October 1979 at the Collins Crime Club . The collection was not published in the United States.
In Germany, the collection was only published in 2010 as the 46th volume of The Official Collection Agatha Christie published by the French publisher Hachette Collections . The individual stories had already appeared in German beforehand (see German first publications of the stories ).
The book contains eight short stories, six of which starring Miss Marple .
The stories
- The asylum (Original title: Sanctuary )
- A strange joke (Original title: Strange Jest )
- The pin (Original title: Tape-Measure Murder )
- The caretaker (Original title: The Case of the Caretaker )
The Pearl
Original title: The Case of the Perfect Maid
Edna, Miss Marple's young maid, tells about her cousin Gladys, who has lost her job. She worked at Old Hall with sisters Emily and Lavinia Skinner. One day Emily missed a brooch, but after a long search it was found. When Gladys broke a plate the next day, Miss Lavinia fired her.
Old Hall is a large Victorian house that has been divided into four apartments. In addition to the Skinner sisters, there is a wealthy, eccentric bird lover, a retired Indian judge with his wife, and a very young, newlywed couple in the house.
Miss Marple visits the Skinner sisters. Lavinia receives her and tells her that Emily is not well and that she must stay in bed. In the conversation, Miss Marple Lavinia Skinner asks to withdraw Gladys' resignation, but she refuses.
Through an agency, the sisters quickly find a new girl - Mary Higgins - even though many villagers are looking for staff in vain. In addition, this girl should also be a paragon of virtue with excellent certificates.
On the pretext of looking for contributors to the church festival, Miss Marple sets off again for Old Hall. There the new pearl opens the door, Miss Lavinia receives Miss Marple and Miss Emily can later only be heard scolding through the closed door. When leaving, Miss Marple first presents a sticky peppermint and then drops her handbag. In the end, she has a Mary Higgins fingerprint on her vanity mirror.
For ten days the whole village had to listen to the hymn of praise for Mary Higgins, on the eleventh she disappeared and with her the diamonds and furs of the young woman from the house. The judge and his wife and bird lover also lack money and jewelry. The Skinner sisters were also robbed. So the perfect housemaid was in all four apartments.
It quickly turns out that the agency doesn't exist and that the certificates are fake. Inspector Slack recalls a similar case in Northumberland a year ago.
A few weeks passed without Mary Higgins or the jewelry being found, when the sisters decided to move to London because they were dissatisfied with the medical care in St. Mary Mead.
A few days later, Miss Marple visits Inspector Slack, who does not like her and only receives her because he knows that his boss does not share his opinion. Miss Marple suspects Emily and Mary are the same person because no one has ever seen them together. The Skinner sisters had enough time to find out the habits of the tenants and to get prints of the keys. Then all they had to do was get rid of Gladys and commit their theft.
Miss Marple gives Inspector Slack the fingerprinted mirror, and he can prove anything.
- Miss Marple tells a story (Original title: Miss Marple Tells a Story )
- The dressmaker's doll (Original title: The Dressmaker's Doll )
- Mirror image (Original title: In a Glass Darkly )
Major expenses
- 1979, Collins Crime Club (London), October 1979
- 2010 first complete German edition The Official Collection Agatha Christie , Volume 46, Hachette Collections, Paris
First publications of the stories
The first publications of the stories in magazines are as follows:
- Strange Jest : Strand Magazine issue 643 , July 1944, entitled The Case of the Buried Treasure . (This was the last story Christie wrote for the beach .)
- The Tape-Measure Murder : Strand Magazine issue 614 in February 1942 under the title The Case of the Retired Jeweler .
- The Case of the Caretaker : Strand Magazine issue 613 in January 1941.
- The Case of the Perfect Maid : Strand Magazine issue 616 in April 1942 under the title The Perfect Maid .
- Sanctuary : October 1954 issue of Woman's Journal . The author wrote this story for the Westminster Abbey Foundation . The story was auctioned for a donation to help build the church. The magazine did not disclose the amount, but described it as considerable.
- The Dressmaker's Doll : December 1958 issue of Woman's Journal .
- Miss Marple Tells a Story was originally written not for magazine publication, but rather for radio reading. The 20-minute program was broadcast on May 11, 1934 on the BBC's national program . The story was printed for the first time on May 25, 1935 in the weekly Home Journal under the title Behind Closed Doors .
- Also In a Glass Darkly was originally designed for reading on the radio, but the information on the broadcast are contradictory. The story was printed in the December 1934 issue of Woman's Journal .
German first publications of the stories
- 1966 Die Mausefalle und other traps , the only authorized translation from English by Maria Meinert and others Scherz Verlag (Bern / Munich / Vienna) with:
- asylum
- 1981 It smells like murder, Miss Marple Scherz Verlag (Bern / Munich) with:
- It's a strange joke
- The pin
- The caretaker
- The Pearl
- Miss Marple tells a story
- 1983 Killer Flowers ; only legitimate translation from English by Edith Walter ...; Scherz Verlag (Bern / Munich / Vienna), later title Die goldene Kugel with:
- The dressmaker's doll
- 1983 murderous yarn , the only legitimate translation from English by Hella von Brackel and Günter Eichel; Scherz Verlag (Bern / Munich / Vienna), new title from 2006 Das Mädchen im Zug and other strange cases with:
- Mirror image
Web links
- Miss Marple's Final Cases on the official Agatha Christie website.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 16)
- ↑ Volume 41 The official collection of Agatha Christie on pressekatalog.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The mouse trap and other traps in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ There is a smell of Miss Marple murder in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Murder flowers in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Mördergarn in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ The girl on the train and other strange cases in the catalog of the German National Library
