"The appearance of Miss Marple in 'Murder at the Vicarage' provided detective fiction with a new and distinctive character. Miss Marple, that delightfully clever village spinster who solves the most amazing mysteries quietly and unobtrusively from her chair by the fireside, appears in each of the stories comprising 'The Thirteen Problems'. Each story is a little masterpiece of detection, clever and ingenious, with just that added twist that only Agatha Christie can give." -- Inside cover.