The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple

Hart has done a careful job of sifting through all of Agatha Christie's stories and novels devoted to Miss Jane Marple to piece together this ""biography'' of the spinster detective. The book opens with a description of Miss Marple's hometown, St. Mary Mead, a village south of London. The reader is introduced to many of the residents, from the Vicar to the fishmonger's delivery boys (all of whom are named Fred). From the Marple works Hart extracts references to the detective's past, and reconstructs her girlhood and the genesis of her career. The author also follows Miss Marple through the 1930s and World War II, and describes her appearance and personality, daily routine, travels and relationships with relatives and friends. Though the casual reader of Christie mysteries may think this is a bit precious, Miss Marple zealots will find it charming, and a suitable companion to The Collected Stories, reviewed above. U.K. rights: Laurence Pollinger; translation rights: Dodd, Mead. December 2