Although the first full-length novel with Miss Jane Marple as the detective was published in 1930 (Murder at the Vicarage), the character initially appeared in print in a series of 6 short stories Christie wrote for a magazine in 1928.  In 1932, an additional 6 stories were added, and the compilation was published as The Thirteen Problems (UK) or The Tuesday Club Murders (US).

This episode focuses on two stories within the collection: The Thumb Mark of St. Peter and The Blue Geranium.  Both stories involve poisoning and have been mimicked or reproduced in some interesting true crime cases.

For the full blog post, visit www.christiesmysteries.com.

Resources:

• Christie, Agatha.  An Autobiography.  New York: HarperCollins, 1977.
• Christie, Agatha.  The Thirteen Problems.  London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1932.
• Harkup, Kathryn.  A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie.  Bloomsbury Sigma, 2015.
• “Cyanide, inability to smell.”  Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man.  Accessed September 2, 2020.
• Egan, Timothy.  “Woman convicted of killing 2 in drug tampering.”  The New York Times.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/10/us/woman-convicted-of-killing-2-in-drug-tampering.html
• “Find an inmate.”  Federal Bureau of Prisons.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/
• Giles, Eugene, et al.  “Hydrogen cyanide and phenylthiocarbamide sensitivity, mid-phalangeal hair and color blindness in Yucatan, Mexico.”  American Journal of Physical Anthropology.  1968;28(2):203-12.
• Harkup, Kathryn. “The Christmas poisoner who murdered by the book…”  The Guardian.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2015/dec/24/agatha-christie-christmas-poisoner-murdered-by-the-book 
• “How does litmus paper work?”  Indigo Instruments.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://blog.indigoinstruments.com/litmus-paper-test/
• McFadden, Robert.  “Poison deaths bring U.S warning on Tylenol use.”  The New York Times.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/02/us/poison-deaths-bring-us-warning-on-tylenol-use.html
• “Stella Maudine Nickell.”  Murderpedia.  Accessed September 2, 2020.  https://murderpedia.org/female.N/n/nickell-stella.htm
• Young Kelly, et al. Anatomy & physiology.  XanEdu Publishing Inc, 2013.

Music:

• The Missourians Vine Street Drag, 1929
• The Varsity Drag, 1927
• Grapes by I Dunno, 2008
• St. James Infirmary by Alex Hill and his Orchestra, circa 1930