FACTOID # 99: Thinking of becoming a teacher? Head to Switzerland. Teaching salaries there start at $US 33,000.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

FACTS & STATISTICS    Simple view

  1. Select countries to view: (hold down Control key and click to select several)

     

     

    Compare:

     

     
  1. Select fact or statistic: (* = graphable)

     

     

     

  2. (OPTIONAL) Compare to statistic: (both need to be graphable)

     

     

     

  3. View result as:

     

       
(OR) SEARCH ALL encyclopedia, stats & forums:   

Encyclopedia > The Thirteen Problems
The Thirteen Problems

Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
Author Agatha Christie
Cover artist Not known
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Crime novel
Publisher Collins Crime Club
Publication date June 1932
1933
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 256 (First Edition)
ISBN None issued for First Edition (Reissue ISBN 0-007-20843-X)
Preceded by Peril at End House
Followed by Lord Edgware Dies

The Thirteen Problems is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in June 1932 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1933 under the title The Tuesday Club Murders. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence. The thirteen stories feature her detective Miss Marple. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), mainly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 1930 to April 1994. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... See also: 1931 in literature, other events of 1932, 1933 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... See also: 1932 in literature, other events of 1933, 1934 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... “ISBN” redirects here. ... Peril at End House (1932) is a whodunnit novel by Agatha Christie, featuring her famous character Hercule Poirot. ... Lord Edgware Dies (published in 1933), also known as Thirteen at Dinner, is a murder mystery by Agatha Christie. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), mainly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 1930 to April 1994. ... See also: 1931 in literature, other events of 1932, 1933 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Frank Howard Dodd, (1844-1916), was the leading publisher at Dodd, Mead and Company of New York City from 1870 until his death, January 16, 1916. ... See also: 1932 in literature, other events of 1933, 1934 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The shilling was a British coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first shilling. ... Obverses of the 1787 and 1818 sixpence depicting George III. The sixpence, known colloquially as the tanner, was a British pre-decimal coin, worth, as the name indicates, six pence. ... Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christies crime novels. ...

Contents

Plot

As in some of her other short story collections, Christie employs an over-arching narrative, making the book more like a novel. There are two sets of narrative, though they themselves interrelate. The first set of six are stories told by The Tuesday Night Club, a random gathering of young people, at which Miss Marple (by chance) happens to be at. Each week the group tell thrilling tales of mystery, which are always solved by Miss Marple, from the comfort of her armchair. One of the guests is Sir Henry Clithering, an ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard, and this allows Christie to resolve the story, with him usually pointing out that the criminals were caught. The next set occur as part of a dinner party Miss Marple is invited to by Sir Henry Clithering, partly as a result of her skill in the Tuesday Night Club. This employs a similar guessing game, and once more Miss Marple triumphs. The thirteenth story, Death by Drowning takes place the morning after the dinner party, and Miss Marple is called upon by Clithering to help in the investigation.


List of Stories

  • The Tuesday Night Club
  • The Idol House of Astarte
  • Ingots of Gold
  • The Blood-Stained Pavement
  • Motive v. Opportunity
  • The Thumb Mark of St. Peter
  • The Blue Geranium
  • The Companion
  • The Four Suspects
  • A Christmas Tragedy
  • The Herb of Death
  • The Affair at the Bungalow
  • Death by Drowning

The stories can be loosely divided, with the first six as The Tuesday Night Murders, and the second six as The Dinner Party. The final story takes place the morning after the dinner party, and so can be collected there as well.


First publication of stories

The first UK magazine publication of all the stories has not been fully documented. The first six stories appeared in The Royal Magazine as follows:

  • The Tuesday Night Club - first published in issue 350 in December 1927.
  • The Idol House of Astarte - first published in issue 351 in January 1928.
  • Ingots of Gold - first published in issue 352 in February 1928
  • The Blood-Stained Pavement - first published in issue 353 in March 1928.
  • Motive versus Opportunity - first published in issue 354 in April 1928.
  • The Thumb Mark of St. Peter - first published in issue 355 in May 1928.

The second set of stories were issued more sporadically as follows: Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

  • The Blue Geranium - first published in the December 1929 issue of Story-teller magazine.
  • A Christmas Tragedy - first published in the January 1930 issue of Story-teller magazine.
  • The Four Suspects - first published in the January 1930 issue of Pictorical Review.
  • The Companion - first published in the February 1930 issue of Story-teller magazine.
  • The Affair at the Bungalow - first published in the May 1930 issue of Story-teller magazine.
  • Death by Drowning - first published in issue 462 of Nash's Pall Mall Magazine in November 1931 (illustrated by J.A. May)

No magazine printing of The Herb of Death has yet been traced. Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...


External links

  • http://www.all-about-agatha-christie.com/the-thirteen-problems.html
  • wiki collection of quotations from The Thirteen Problems
v • d • e
Works by Agatha Christie
Detectives: Hercule Poirot • Miss Marple • Tommy and Tuppence • Ariadne Oliver • Arthur Hastings • Superintendent Battle • Chief Inspector Japp • Parker Pyne
Novels: The Mysterious Affair at Styles • The Secret Adversary • The Murder on the Links • The Man in the Brown Suit • The Secret of Chimneys • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd • The Big Four • The Mystery of the Blue Train • The Seven Dials Mystery • The Murder at the Vicarage • The Sittaford Mystery • Peril at End House • Lord Edgware Dies • Murder on the Orient Express • Three Act Tragedy • Why Didn't They Ask Evans? • Death in the Clouds • The A.B.C. Murders • Murder in Mesopotamia • Cards on the Table • Dumb Witness • Death on the Nile • Appointment with Death • Hercule Poirot's Christmas • Murder is Easy • And Then There Were None • Sad Cypress • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • Evil Under the Sun • N or M? • The Body in the Library • Five Little Pigs • The Moving Finger • Towards Zero • Death Comes as the End • Sparkling Cyanide • The Hollow • Taken at the Flood • Crooked House • A Murder is Announced • They Came to Baghdad • Mrs McGinty's Dead • They Do It with Mirrors • After the Funeral • A Pocket Full of Rye • Destination Unknown • Hickory Dickory Dock • Dead Man's Folly • 4.50 From Paddington • Ordeal by Innocence • Cat Among the Pigeons • The Pale Horse • The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side • The Clocks • A Caribbean Mystery • At Bertram's Hotel • Third Girl • Endless Night • By the Pricking of My Thumbs • Hallowe'en Party • Passenger to Frankfurt • Nemesis • Elephants Can Remember • Postern of Fate • Curtain • Sleeping Murder
As Mary Westmacott: Giant's Bread • Unfinished Portrait • Absent in the Spring • The Rose and the Yew Tree • A Daughter's a Daughter • The Burden
Short story collections: Poirot Investigates • Partners in Crime • The Mysterious Mr. Quin • The Thirteen Problems • The Hound of Death • The Listerdale Mystery • Parker Pyne Investigates • Murder in the Mews • The Regatta Mystery • The Labours of Hercules • The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories • Three Blind Mice and Other Stories • The Under Dog and Other Stories • The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding • Double Sin and Other Stories • The Golden Ball and Other Stories • Poirot's Early Cases • Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories • Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories • The Harlequin Tea Set • While the Light Lasts and Other Stories
Plays: Black Coffee • And Then There Were None • Appointment with Death • Murder on the Nile/Hidden Horizon • The Hollow • The Mousetrap • Witness for the Prosecution • Verdict • Rule of Three • Fiddlers Three • Akhnaton
Radio (and Television) Plays: Three Blind Mice • Butter In a Lordly Dish
Other Published Works: The Road of Dreams


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:
 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.