Hi folks, stay in here and today I'm going to be doing a review of Miss Marple's final cases by Agatha Christie. So as you can tell, this is the last book in the Miss Marple series, so good old Jane Marple's getting on a bit, even though I think even when she's introduced, she's kind of a middle-aged to elderly woman. This is coming off the back of the moving finger, which is the last Agatha Christie book that I wrote, and I'll try and remember to link to that below. And in that book, Marple didn't really play too much of a part in the stories, whereas in this book, she definitely does. One of them is even told from her point of view as well. So, did it, did it, did it. I'm going to read you the blurb before we get started. Miss Marple always makes a point of taking an interest in other people's affairs, though nothing engages her curiosity, quite as much as sudden death, scandal, blackmail or murder. A wounded man in a church, buried treasure, a fatal riding accident, a corpse and a tape measure, a girl framed for theft, a suspect with a dagger, all cases to be relished by the astonishing Miss Jane Marple. This collection includes a bonus, the Miss Marple story, Green Shores Folly, and two additional mysteries, the dress makers doll and inner glass darkly. This book then has nine short stories in. They are, it's interesting because they really do like gallop along. They feel almost like a full novel is opposed to a short story, and I think only Agatha Christie can really pull that off. I'm not going to go into each and every one of the short stories and what they're about, partly because I don't entirely remember, but some of them that stick out to me. So, sanctuary was quite a long one. That's the one that opens out with, and that focuses on the idea of, you know, going into a church and claiming sanctuary. There's the tape measure murder, which follows some tailors. There is the dress makers doll, which is absolutely terrifying, and Green Shores Folly as well was quite interesting. It's a tale of kind of intrigue. So, I've made a few notes, as you can see, by my stickies, and I'm just going to go through, and then I'm going to give it my rating at the end. In that first story, so in sanctuary, which like I said, is about somebody seeking sanctuary in a church. The church is actually in a place called Chipping Clegghorn, and I just think that's a delightfully British name. There's lots of delightfully British names in this. I mean, Miss Marple herself lives in St Mary's Mead as well, so if you like British place names, you'll like this book. I put here as well, even in the first story, a lot happening very quickly, but it really does work, and that's... I wrote that specifically about the first story, but it's a theme that continues throughout the collection. It really just barrel along, and I mean, again, it took me maybe two, three days to read this, because I was just enjoying it so much. And again, one of the nice things about short stories, I know not everyone's a big fan of the format, but for me, I like short stories because you feel like you're making a lot of progress. You can read two or three short stories in a day easily, and I just find it, especially with something like Miss Marple, it's just a really nice way to see a new side of the character, I think, as well. They were talking about somebody's Uncle Henry, which story's this in? In Strange Jess, they're talking about Uncle Henry, who used to be a bit of a practical joke, and Miss Marple says, fond of young people too, but inclined to tease them a little, if you know what I mean, used to put bags of sweets where a child just couldn't reach them, and then somebody says, I think he sounds horrible. Oh no, did, just an old bachelor, you know, and not used to children. Sounds like me. And yeah, his, that story was interesting, actually. I did see the twist coming in the end of that one, but it's basically about an old chap who dies, and then Miss Marple kind of helps his inheritance to find what he did with his money. So there's a character in the case of the caretaker. There's a character called the Murgatroyd. Misses Murgatroyd, actually, not the Murgatroyd. Oh no, she is. She's referred to as the Murgatroyd, as well by one of the characters. That's her nickname. Just, again, what a name. I like Agatha Christie's names. It's something in my own, I wrote a detective novel of my own, and I've tried to do a little bit of a homage to that, using names like Chumley, all these old British names. I think they're great. There is also, throughout this, there are a few of the characters' names. I think in Agatha Christie's work, her character names have a lot of significance, and in the past, I've kind of glossed over them. There's a character called Mary Higgins, and I wondered if that's a nod to Mary Higgins' clock. And she was a contemporary at the time. I mean, this was first published. This was first published in 1979. And Mary Higgins' clock was very much active at the time. So I kind of can't help wondering whether Agatha Christie used that name deliberately. And it happened again a little later on, as well. What was the other one? Yeah, that very end story. There's a character called Raymond, Raymond West, and he's a novelist. So there's this little phrase. He's got an alibi, said the Inspector. I always think alibi is a definitely suspicious. Maybe, sir, said Inspector Welsh. You're talking as a writer. I don't write detective stories, said Raymond West, horrified at the mere idea. And I love that. I think that's very meta. Obviously, Agatha Christie, as a crime writer, would write that. But also, I can't help but wondering whether Raymond West is actually Raymond Chandler. And then, in, but what was the one, what was this one called? The Creepy Doll Story. The dressmaker's doll. There was a character in that called Miss Groves, and my girlfriend's surname is Groves. So all of the character names were just jumping out of me in this book. And that story is actually, it's not really even a crime detective story. It's almost a supernatural story. And it's very different to the rest of them. I'm very creepy, as well, but I really enjoyed it. Not want to read if you are scared of Creepy Dolls, though. Yeah, in Green Shores Folly, which is one that was added, I think, to this edition. So I'm going to get shot with a bow and arrow, which is not the usual method of murder, is it? But, um, equally, there's a character and it called Mr. Fletcher, as well. And straight away, I was thinking, that's suspicious, because obviously a Fletcher makes arrows. So I was wondering about the significance of that name, but at the same time, I didn't know if it was a double bluff. So it was, uh, it was interesting. And I'm not going to tell you how that turned out. But again, I think if I were to reread this, I definitely would pay more attention to each of the character names, because I think they were very much used for her own entertainment, almost. I think there's a lot of stuff in the character names that I probably didn't even pick up on that made her laugh when she wrote it. And I think that's cool. So all in all, then, rating time, Miss Marple's final cases. For me, I think this was even, I'm going to, I'm going to give it the rare honor. This was a five out of five. I loved all of the stories in this. I liked the variety of the stories. Agatha Christie is obviously a master of the craft, but this was written towards the end of her career when she had years and years of practice as well. It's just very tight, very gripping, a pleasure to read. And I recommend reading this, even if you're new to Miss Marple, it's probably quite a good place to start, I think, because none of it, you don't have to read the books in order. And that's what I think is great about Agatha Christie's work. Maybe you might get a little bit more out of it if you do, but personally, I just dip in and read them. And, yeah, I really enjoyed this. Hardly recommended. Go out and buy it if you haven't got it already. So thanks a lot for watching. Don't forget to leave a comment to let me know whether you've read this book or whether you've read any Miss Marple, any Agatha Christie at all. I'll take that. And in the meantime, don't forget to hit subscribe and stick around for more videos. I'll see you soon. Bye.