The Thirteen Problems: Agatha Christie ****

Until relatively recently, I rather looked down my nose at Agatha Christie, but having now read the likes of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Five Little Pigs, I've realised there's a lot more to her writing than comes across in TV and film adaptations, so I recently picked up a copy of The Thirteen Problems from my local(ish) independent bookshop and was not disappointed.

This is the very first book to feature Miss Marple, but rather than providing a single, book-length mystery, this 1932 title includes 13 short stories. The premise is that six people are gathered in a house and each tells a story of a mysterious happening in their past, challenging the others to solve the mystery. The guests somewhat reluctantly include the initial host's elderly aunt Miss Marple, who ends up solving every mystery. (This is then repeated at a dinner party, plus an individual consultation, to make up the total of thirteen.)

What I found fascinating as a big Sherlock Holmes fan was that, whether deliberately or not, this does feel almost like a set of Holmes stories - but with the detective as different from Holmes as it's possible to be. Like the Holmes shorts, these stories give us an engaging mystery and its solution in relatively few pages. And the primarily first person narratives, as each person tells their story, plus a certain period style, is reminiscent of Dr Watson's narration of the Holmes stories.

There's a good mix of mysteries, including one with an intriguing timeline twist. The writing isn't as engaging perhaps as can be the case with the best of Christie's writing, but it's good enough - and there's an enjoyable challenge in trying to spot what really happened (I did occasionally, but not too often).

All in all, an excellent bouquet of mystery tales.

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