The 6th story is The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman, narrated by Johdi May. This story is set in Oxford and includes a clever twist. Featuring stories from Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse and Ruth Ware. More recently, M.C. Beaton selected her own successor in Rod Greene. He's carried on both the Agatha Raisin series and the Hamish Macbeth novels.

The majority of Miss Marple’s original cases took place in the domestic sphere, in houses and stately homes to which she was invited by her many old friends and relatives. The crimes involved were often examples of the classic ‘country house mystery’ that Agatha Christie excelled at crafting, and a number of the contributors to Marple have followed a similar approach, also to excellent effect. For instance, in The Second Murder at the Vicarage, Val McDermid pays tribute to the first novel to feature Miss Marple and has long-suffering clergyman Reverend Leonard Clement discover the body of his former maid in the kitchen of the vicarage. The bad news, of course, is that they're not stories penned by Agatha Christie herself. Sadly, it's been more than 45 years since Agatha Christie passed – meaning that unless somebody unearths a treasure trove of unpublished works, we're not getting any more originals. No idea when any of the stories begin and end - have to stab around 30 odd chapters hoping not to hear the ending first. Would titles of the stories be too much too ask?! Miss Marple solves many crimes in her quaint village of St. Mary Mead, but she also often travels to visit childhood friends, or when accompanying her nephew, Raymond West and his wife, Joan on their journeys. The audiobook is read by an exciting cast of 12 actors, including Adrian Scarborough, Adjoa Andoh, Ramon Tikaram and Miriam Margoyles. Find out moreThe collection started strongly with a mystery that references many Christie stories. It also felt very inkeeping with the classic style of the original novels. The Mystery Of The Acid Soil by Kate Mosse - Miss Marple encounters a stranger on a train, and becomes caught up in a young woman's disappearance. This one was incredibly slow moving, and not all that engaging. Forgettable. 2/5.

A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper Collins, Harper Fiction, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Marple: Twelve New Stories for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. As with all short story collections, some resonated more than others, and I am not going to rate them all individually but there are a few standouts that I DO want to mention, as they were my personal favorites! And, you can be sure that she will wear tweed, do some knitting and gardening, and have tea or Cherry Brandy, and sometimes even tea with Cherry Brandy which both go surprisingly well with village GOSSIP! The 11th story is The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse, narrated by Celia Imrie. I loved both the story and the narration.

The Mystery of the Acid Soil was good, although not as good as the other 3 I've mentioned. It seemed a little silly, although it was very well constructed as a story, with believable characters. Although the amateur sleuth of more mature years is now a common feature of crime fiction, Miss Marple was a marked departure from the popular image of a detective when first introduced. As an elderly unmarried female of moderate means, she was regularly overlooked and underestimated, allowing her to pass unnoticed and use her remarkable powers of observation and inference to ferret out the guilty party whenever a crime occurred in her vicinity. In addition, she had an unrivalled understanding of human nature, which she developed through spending nearly her whole life in the same small village.The Disappearance, which is the last story, has a style that feels closest to Agatha Christie, and Miriam Margolyes does an excellent job of narrating. Probably the best of the lot. She's the only one who nails Miss Marple. All of the others read her as basically an old woman, but she injects a bit of herself into Marple, bringing her alive. She also does the other characters very well. The story is also great.