What Poirot novels do you think would be better suited to Miss Marple?

HerculeAndAchille

I read certain Poirots recently and realised how much better suited Miss Marple would have been as the detective.
Which ones do you think fall under this category?
(Before Christie purists, one of which I am, pick up the pitchforks - this is just speculation!)

WereAllMissMarple

I Think some Miss marple novels Would be more Interesting with Poirot in them. The mirror crack'd, for example, would Be quite good (set Outside st mary mead) with Poirot in it.

Tommy_A_Jones

I don't think any would be BETTER suited but I can see her at the Hotel in Evil Under The Sun and at Meadowbanks as a Governer who has to then solve a Murder, perhaps if you said which ones you think would be better suited to Miss Marple we can agree or disagree, the 2 which were turned into Films with Margaret Rutherford which had Poirot would have been good with Miss Marple Initially but I like the Films

Tommy_A_Jones

In some ways I am a Purist but not so much as I cant enjoy a Great bit of Hypothesis

HerculeAndAchille

I agree, @Tommy_A_Jones, but I also think some Poirots, such as The Clocks, could have been adapted to include Miss Marple. She could have been interested in one of the girls at Miss Martindale's (Edna, for example) - as she was in A Pocketfull of Rye - or an acquaintance of Millicent Pebmarsh (from volunteering at charity works at the blind institute [sounds like a Miss Marpleish thing to do, doesn't it?])

Or perhaps Miss Marple could have been involved in Cards on the Table as, a friend of Mrs Lorrimer or of one of the alleged murder victims (SPOILER), Anne Meredith's former employer perhaps.

What do you think?

Tommy_A_Jones

I think it far more likely that the Girl who runs out of the Beaurau Initially is attatched in some way rather than Edna, I might be wrong I don't recall 2 MM Books starting the same way like Poirot's did

Tommy_A_Jones

With regard to Cards On The Table, I don't remember her being a Bridge Player but It would have added symmetry but would she have got on with Ariadne?

HerculeAndAchille

I thought Mrs Oliver could be replaced by Mrs Bantry...

GKCfan

In Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks, we learn that Agatha originally envisioned Death on the Nile as a Miss Marple novel, but she eventually decided to make it a Poirot book.

ChristieFanForLife

@GKCfan, I was going to mention that but you beat me to the punch!

I'm glad Christie decided to have Poirot in it instead. With a high body count, I just can't see Miss Marple in the midst of all the bloodshed. A Caribbean Mystery suits Miss Marple better. Now maybe if there was a Mr. Rafiel in Nile than maybe . . . . but knowing what I know about Death On The Nile after the fact, Poirot is a better choice. 

Tommy_A_Jones

That would have been a Great Idea HerculeAndAchille or if not Dolly Dane Calthorp

GKCfan

Yes, it's interesting that Christie considered using Miss Marple in a book after only one previous Marple novel (plus some short stories) had been published.  Instead, Christie cast her (at the time) far more famous detective in Death on the Nile.  It took twelve years for Miss Marple to make another appearance after Vicarage.  After WWII, she'd start appearing far more regularly– a few times a decade in the 1950's and 1960's.  

There's no evidence that I know of, but I wonder if Christie incorporated bits of her initial plan for Death on the Nile into A Caribbean Mystery. 

Tommy_A_Jones

Perhaps Agatha Christie was still unsure how to write Miss Marple and so she stuck with Tried and Tested Poirot, If Miss Marple had been in Death On The Nile would one of the other Older ladies had to bow out, I must say that seems a shame, I would have liked to see Poirot replaced by Eileen and Bill or Frankie and Tommyor Anne and John perhaps each on Honeymoon

Tommy_A_Jones

I think Evil Under The Sun must be a Candidate, I think the Hotel Setting suits her and I think she would love the Area.

HerculeAndAchille

Certainly Tommy_A_Jones. I think she would get along well with the athletic spinster quite well - or strike up a friendship with Mrs Redfern or Miss Marshall.

Tommy_A_Jones

I don't think she would like Mrs Mrs Marshall but I do think she would get on with Mr Marshall, The Owner of The Establishment and of course The Vicar

Tommy_A_Jones

She would also enjoy thinking about Village Paralell's amongst the People at The Hotel and in Death On The Nile amongst The Passengers

HerculeAndAchille

@Tommy_A_Jones, by Miss Marshall, I meant Linda, not Arlena. And I certainly agree that she would get on well the vicar. She could also have been introduced in Sad Cypress as an acquaintance of Laura Welman's, or of Mrs Bishop.

Tommy_A_Jones

Oh yes, Sorry I thought you had her title wrong, I agree, The Vicar could perhaps have heard of her from Dr Lioyd or Rev Harmon or Rev Clement and asked about Vilage Parralels, I think if she had been in Sad Cypress it would have made for a much more enjoyable book for me.

tudes

@Tommy_A_Jones, although "Evil under the sun" would suited to Miss Marple. She would come along with Miss Brewster, the Gardeners and Miss Darnley, Poirot is perfect in this book. I think the plot suited Poirot's skills better than Miss Marple. I think the way the murder was committed fits much better the way Poirot's solves the crime. I can't picture Miss Marple doing all that things that Poirot did to solve the crime.

Tommy_A_Jones

Perhaps not so the Book would have been totally different, I really enjoy the Book the way it is but I can also see how by changing Characters theu would have been just as good or occasionally better.

tudes

I agree with you that Evil under the sun would be a great book with Miss Marple. But I think it would have been  different. 
I love this book. It's my favorite one. Maybe it's the reason why I'm so passionate in its defense.

Tommy_A_Jones

No one is knocking it Tudes, I was just playing the Game, I think It would be great if she went to The Hotel or on The Boat in Death On The Nile with Dolly, Bunch or Cherry.

tudes

That's fine! It's funny to think about Miss Marple and Dolly in Death on the Nile. I think Dolly would be play an important role in solving the crime. 

HerculeAndAchille

I'm inclined to think Rosalie Otterbourne might strike up an unlikely friendship with Miss Marple aboard the SS Karnak. Crooked House (which isn't, admittedly, a Poirot novel), with involvement from Miss Marple might be interesting. Raymond might know Magda, who he met at the London social scene - no doubt, both creatively inclined, and Mr West might introduce Miss Marple, in that way, to the family.

Tommy_A_Jones

I think you are Right Tudes, she would help Miss Marple like Hastings helps Poirot in other books, I can't see Miss Marple in Crooked House.

HerculeAndAchille

What other novels can you think of, Tommy_A_Jones? (Even Miss Marple novels that you think Poirot would fit better into)

Tommy_A_Jones

If we are moving on from Poirot books which could have Poirot to other Books which could have a different Sleuth I have always thought Ordeal By Innosense could have Poirot in addition to Calgary, After he leaves The Solicitor to see the Family the Solicitor could Phone Poirot and so when Calgary goes back to the Solicitor he is there and Poirot uses Calgary as a Hastings, I see no reason why Destination UNknown, and They Came To Baghdad can't have Anne Beddingfield instead of Victoria and Hilary, If Endless Night couldn't have Miss Marple it should have had Race, I think the Book needed a Recurring Character and if Suzy Blair couldn't have helped Race with Sparkling Cyanide then remove Race and put in Tommy and Tuppence.

Tommy_A_Jones

It would have been nice to see Ariadne at Meadowbanks perhaps on Prize day or a Governer, and Hastings could have been an Executor of the Will in After The Funeral and Hastings could have accompanied Poirot in The Hollow.

Tommy_A_Jones

It would have been nice if Hastings had turned up in Endless Night, he would have given the Book life.

ChristieFanForLife

Tommy_A_Jones said:

It would have been nice if Hastings had turned up in Endless Night, he would have given the Book life.

Hastings??? In Endless Night? Why not add Poirot to the mix then? I think the book is fine as it is with the characters Christie wrote.