Jane Marple and her sister grew up in a sheltered household from the upper middle class, supervised by a German governess. Their father seems to have been a canon of the cathedral, as well as two of their uncles, a canon of Ely and the other canon of Chichester.

At fourteen, she spent a short holiday with her Aunt Helen and Uncle Thomas, a retired admiral, in Bertram's Hotel in London. This stay in the hotel was so influential for her that she can still remember it clearly even many years later. Two years later, when she attended to a school in Florence, Italy, she learned to know the two Americans Ruth and Carrie Louise Martin who also went to school there.

Many years later, Miss Jane Marple lives in the fictional small sleepy village of St. Mary Mead in the equally fictitious county Downshire. The writer Agatha Christie has described her amateur detective Miss Marple as a cultured, tall, slender woman who looks a bit pale and fragile.

At the time of her first appearance, Miss Marple seems to have been about 65 years old. She wears her white hair pinned up under a black lace cap. She wears matching black lace gloves with half fingers. Her favourite hobbies include knitting, where she also wears her lace gloves. Moreover, she is very fond of gardening and it is also one of her favourite pastimes.

Miss Marple lives a small house with a beautiful garden in St Mary Mead. Because a professional activity is not known, it seems that she lives from the inheritance of her parents. This does not seem to be too high, so she must be somewhat frugal about her expenses. St. Mary Mead is a typical English village near the village of Much, where, due to the size of the place, the competent criminal investigation department is based.

Even those who believe that nothing happens in a sleepy English town, must be taught a lesson. In the course of about 40 years in this place, the following serious crimes were committed:

16 murders (2x by use of a fire weapon, 2x by drowning, 5x by use of different poisonous substances, 2x by strangulation and 5x by other cases)

4 murder attempts (by head injuries, poisoning or strangulation)

5 robberies

8 embezzlements

2 series of blackmail

When Miss Marple is sitting knitting in her chair, she looks like a friendly older lady. However, this is part of the show. In addition, she has a razor-sharp mind, through which she has made ??it possible to explain all the above crimes. She benefits from her innocent looks and the fact that she is an elderly lady is often underestimated.

In addition to her powers of observation, her phenomenal memory, and her interest in the details of village life offer useful information in crime-solving. Without further action, Miss Marple slithers into the investigation of a crime. Sometimes just one little remark draws her interest to a specific matter. Here, the amateur detective rarely penetrates a matter directly. She mostly goes around until achieving her goal.

Miss Marple investigated her first case as a member of the Tuesday evening club of the British magazine The Sketch. This panel, which was called the Tuesday evening club, meets in the vicinity of St. Mary Mead and deals with the elucidation of unknown crimes. Of course, on a purely hypothetical basis. Other members of the club Miss Marple's nephew, Raymond West, and his fiancee, Joyce Lempriere, the former commissioner of Scotland Yard, Sir Henry Clithering, the lawyer Mr Petherick, Dr. Pender, physician Dr. Lloyd, Colonel Arhur Bantry and his Mrs. Dolly and actress Jane Helier.

Although both the lawyer and the retired commissioner have been working very often with the investigation of crimes for professional reasons it was Miss Marple who could always explain the crimes discussed at the meetings of the evening service clubs.

Miss Marple's nephew, Raymond, takes good care of his aunt and is often concerned for her welfare. From time to time he also helps her financially and hoping to aid her health, he invites her often on holidays. Apart from her susceptibility to bronchitis and a weakened sight, Miss Marple is quite healthy for her age. Although she takes medication against bronchitis and treats her failing eyesight with medicine, she does not think much of pharmaceuticals. On the contrary, she swears by home remedies such as chamomile tea or camphor oil or other resources that have survived for many years from generation to generation.

Miss Marple Novels by Agatha Christie

The Murder at the Vicarage

The Body in the Library

The Moving Finger

A Murder is Announced

They Do It with Mirrors, or Murder with Mirrors

A Pocket Full of Rye

4.50 from Paddington, or What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, or The Mirror Crack'd

A Caribbean Mystery

At Bertram's Hotel)

Nemesis

Sleeping Murder