The Thirteen Problems

The Thirteen Problems
Agatha Christie

The Tuesday Night Club is a venue where locals challenge Miss Marple to solve recent crimes…One Tuesday evening a group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and the conversation turns to unsolved crimes…The case of the disappearing bloodstains; the thief who committed his crime twice over; the message on the death-bed of a poisoned man which read ‘heap of fish’; the strange case of the invisible will; a spiritualist who warned that ‘Blue Geranium’ meant death…Now pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the ‘Tuesday Night Club’.

Copyright (#ulink_91af4fad-bcf3-5eca-9a61-c42c257d85ae)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Collins, The Crime Club 1932

The Thirteen Problems™ is a trade mark of Agatha Christie Limited and Agatha Christie® Marple® and the Agatha Christie Signature are registered trade marks of Agatha Christie Limited in the UK and elsewhere.

Copyright © 1932 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.

www.agathachristie.com (http://www.agathachristie.com)

Cover by crushed.co.uk (http://crushed.co.uk) © HarperCollins/Agatha Christie Ltd 2016

Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780008196523

Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780007422876

Version: 2017-04-12

Dedication (#ulink_5d28b65f-2844-51b8-b0a7-38d090cbc49a)

To Leonard and Katharine Woolley

Contents

Cover (#u59ee2382-8774-5467-a458-4b206326c48c)

Title Page (#ua9239ded-52de-58ad-813c-58837d60119a)

Copyright (#ue311518c-cbf1-51dd-a89d-0bcb16283418)

Dedication (#uc2aa26a4-2764-5107-9426-3f02585f57a1)

Foreword (#ucb82526d-2925-5bb2-8d63-aabe76d8bfa7)

1. The Tuesday Night Club (#u29a59097-72a8-59b9-8fea-bd8718c4de32)

2. The Idol House of Astarte (#udf20491a-b6db-5021-b1b4-82042d906a86)

3. Ingots of Gold (#u7c402a6e-b282-5065-a6f7-98c1161e3738)

4. The Blood-Stained Pavement (#u84c0470f-45cc-5d64-b3a1-209cce790317)

5. Motive v. Opportunity (#litres_trial_promo)

6. The Thumb Mark of St Peter (#litres_trial_promo)

7. The Blue Geranium (#litres_trial_promo)

8. The Companion (#litres_trial_promo)

9. The Four Suspects (#litres_trial_promo)

10. A Christmas Tragedy (#litres_trial_promo)

11. The Herb of Death (#litres_trial_promo)

12. The Affair at the Bungalow (#litres_trial_promo)

13. Death by Drowning (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Agatha Christie (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Foreword (#ulink_be198e6e-4eb0-58c4-bb4b-41935c9feb43)

These problems were Miss Marple’s first introduction to the world of detective story readers. Miss Marple has some faint affinity with my own grandmother, also a pink and white pretty old lady who, although having led the most sheltered and Victorian of lives, nevertheless always appeared to be intimately acquainted with all the depths of human depravity. One could be made to feel incredibly naïve and credulous by her reproachful remark: ‘But did you believe what they said to you? You shouldn’t do that. I never do!’

I enjoyed writing the Miss Marple stories very much, conceived a great affection for my fluffy old lady, and hoped that she might be a success. She was. After the first six stories had appeared, six more were requested. Miss Marple had definitely come to stay.

She has appeared now in several books and also in a play—and actually rivals Hercule Poirot in popularity. I get about an equal number of letters, one lot saying: ‘I wish you would always have Miss Marple and not Poirot,’ and the other ‘I wish you would have Poirot and not Miss Marple.’ I myself incline to her side. I think that she is at her best in the solving of short problems; they suit her more intimate style. Poirot, on the other hand, insists on a full length book to display his talents.

These Thirteen Problems contain, I consider, the real essence of Miss Marple for those who like her.

1953

The Tuesday Night Club (#ulink_5c61dd6b-2a52-596c-8db7-f41e4120010a)

‘Unsolved mysteries.’