Reading Order
Miss Marple Books in Order (2026)
Quick answer
Agatha Christie wrote 12 Miss Marple novels, from The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) to Sleeping Murder (1976), plus 20 short stories. Publication order is the full route, but for a first read we'd start with The Body in the Library (1942), where you meet Marple in the first chapters. The newest Marple book is Lucy Foley's Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (September 22, 2026), billed as the first full-length Marple novel in 50 years. It stands alone, so you can read it at any point.
Below you'll find the numbered list with years and US titles, the short-story collections, the two orders worth arguing about, where Foley's novel fits, the screen versions, and a checklist you can print. No spoilers anywhere. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Miss Marple Books in Order: All 12 Novels
| # | Title | Year | Setup (no spoilers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Murder at the Vicarage | 1930 | Colonel Protheroe, a churchwarden nobody likes, is shot in the vicar's study. The vicar narrates. |
| 2 | The Body in the Library | 1942 | A young woman nobody recognizes is found dead on the library hearthrug at Gossington Hall. |
| 3 | The Moving Finger | 1942 (US), 1943 (UK) | Poison-pen letters tear through a quiet village. Marple arrives late in the book. |
| 4 | A Murder Is Announced | 1950 | The village paper announces a murder, with a time and a place, and the neighbors turn up to watch. |
| 5 | They Do It with Mirrors US title: Murder with Mirrors | 1952 | Marple visits an old friend at Stonygates, a mansion run as a home for delinquent boys. |
| 6 | A Pocket Full of Rye | 1953 | A London businessman dies over his morning tea with rye in his pocket. Follows “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” |
| 7 | 4.50 from Paddington US title: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! | 1957 | A woman sees a strangling on a passing train, but the police can't find a body. |
| 8 | The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side US title: The Mirror Crack'd | 1962 | A guest dies after drinking a cocktail at a fete hosted by the film star Marina Gregg. |
| 9 | A Caribbean Mystery | 1964 | At a resort, Major Palgrave offers to show Marple a photo of a murderer, then dies. Jason Rafiel's first appearance. |
| 10 | At Bertram's Hotel | 1965 | A London hotel kept exactly as it was in Edwardian times. Marple is mostly on the sidelines. |
| 11 | Nemesis | 1971 | A letter from the late Jason Rafiel sends Marple on a coach tour with an unexplained task. The last Marple Christie wrote. |
| 12 | Sleeping Murder | 1976 | A young wife's new house in England feels oddly familiar, and then she remembers a murder. Drafted around 1940. |
| New | Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley | 2026 | A guest gets on a gondola alive and arrives at the top of the mountain dead. Set at a Swiss Alps hotel. |
Several books have different titles in the US, listed under the title above, so check before you buy a “new” one you already own. Some lists date A Pocket Full of Rye, The Mirror Crack'd, A Caribbean Mystery and At Bertram's Hotel a year later, because they use the American first edition. We use whichever edition came first.
Publication Order vs Writing Order
Only one book makes these two orders differ. Christie wrote Sleeping Murder during the Blitz, around 1940, as insurance in case she was killed in the raids. In An Autobiography she says it went into a bank vault and was made over to her husband by deed of gift. It was published in October 1976, after her death. In writing order it sits near the start of the run. In publication order it comes last, and the last Marple she actually wrote was Nemesis (1971).
We still say read it last. The cases are self-contained, so this is a matter of taste, not continuity, and Sleeping Murder makes a fitting farewell. The one real continuity link in the series is Jason Rafiel, who appears in A Caribbean Mystery and sets up Nemesis. Read those two in that order.
Where to Start: Publication Order or The Body in the Library?
Our recommendation: start with The Body in the Library, then A Murder Is Announced, then go back and read the rest in publication order. Here's why. In The Murder at the Vicarage the vicar narrates and Marple is one village voice among many. It is a fine book once you know her, but a slow introduction. In The Body in the Library, Dolly Bantry phones Miss Marple almost as soon as the body is found, so you see her method at work from the start.
Two books to hold back as introductions. Marple turns up only in the last part of The Moving Finger, and At Bertram's Hotel keeps her mostly on the sidelines. Both are worth reading, but they don't show you why people love her. Completists who want to begin at the beginning should simply go in publication order. Nothing breaks.
The Short Stories
Christie wrote 20 Marple short stories. The best introduction is The Thirteen Problems (1932; US title The Tuesday Club Murders). In it a group meets at Marple's house each week to trade unsolved mysteries, and she solves every one from her armchair. By publication date it sits between novels 1 and 2. The other seven stories are scattered through mixed collections: The Regatta Mystery (1939), Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1950), The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960), Double Sin (1961) and Miss Marple's Final Cases (1979). The easiest way to get all 20 is Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985).
New Marple short fiction exists too. Marple: Twelve New Mysteries (2022) collects stories by twelve authors, including Lucy Foley, Val McDermid, Ruth Ware and Leigh Bardugo.
Where Lucy Foley's New Marple Novel Fits
Confirmed Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley went on sale September 22, 2026, from William Morrow in the US and HarperCollins in the UK. It is billed as the first full-length Miss Marple novel in 50 years, counting from Sleeping Murder in 1976. The official Agatha Christie site describes it as “a brand new Miss Marple novel from Lucy Foley” (Kirkus, retailer listings, agathachristie.com).
Not confirmed Whether more Foley Marple novels are planned. Nothing has been announced as of October 2026.
Put it on the shelf after the twelve. Nothing we found says you need the earlier books first. It is set at an isolated Swiss hotel, and reviewers note that the story is told through other characters rather than from inside Marple's head. If you want some background first, the two-book start above is enough. Reviews are mixed. The Boston Globe called it “tightly constructed, expertly paced, and fiendishly clever,” while Kirkus wrote that “it’s a lot harder to bring Miss Marple back to life than the higher-profile Hercule Poirot.”
Miss Marple Adaptations
Only confirmed productions are listed here:
- Margaret Rutherford played Marple in four MGM films in the early 1960s, starting with Murder, She Said (1961, from 4.50 from Paddington).
- Angela Lansbury played her in The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
- Helen Hayes made three TV films in the 1980s.
- Joan Hickson starred in the BBC series Miss Marple (1984–1992), which adapted all 12 novels and is still the version most fans call definitive.
- Geraldine McEwan (from 2004) and then Julia McKenzie (from 2009) played her in ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple, which took liberties with the plots and added Marple to some non-Marple books.
- June Whitfield voiced her in the BBC Radio 4 adaptations (1993–2001).
Not confirmed A new Marple screen adaptation. Christie's great-grandson James Prichard has said one is in development (reported by Radio Times, February 2025), but no network, cast or date has been announced. Nor has any adaptation of the Foley novel.
More Christie: our best Agatha Christie books ranks the Marples against Poirot. If you want a modern series with the same village feel, try Miranda James's Cat in the Stacks books in order or Louise Penny's Three Pines books. For darker reads, see the best mystery books and thrillers. Every series we cover is on the reading order guides hub.
Printable Checklist
Miss Marple FAQ
How many Miss Marple books are there?
Agatha Christie wrote 12 Miss Marple novels and 20 short stories. Counting Lucy Foley's Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (2026), there are now 13 full-length Marple novels.
What is the first Miss Marple book?
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) is the first novel. Marple first appeared in a short story, “The Tuesday Night Club,” in December 1927. It was later collected in The Thirteen Problems.
Do you have to read Miss Marple in order?
No. Each case stands alone. The one link worth respecting is that Nemesis follows on from A Caribbean Mystery, so read those two in order.
What are Lucy Foley's Miss Marple books in order?
There are two. Foley contributed a short story to the anthology Marple: Twelve New Mysteries (2022), and she wrote the novel Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (September 22, 2026). That is her first and so far only Marple novel.
Which Miss Marple book should I read first?
We recommend The Body in the Library (1942). You meet Marple early, and the setup is classic Christie. Then read A Murder Is Announced, and go back to the start once you're hooked.
Is Sleeping Murder the last Miss Marple book?
It was the last of Christie's Marple novels to be published, in 1976, but it was drafted around 1940. The last one she wrote was Nemesis (1971).
Sources
Boston Globe review by Malcolm Forbes (2026-09-16); Kirkus Reviews; Today.com (2026-09-18); agathachristie.com (book page); Barnes & Noble edition page; Goodreads (checked 2026-09-19, early data); The Real Book Spy (2025-08-05 announcement coverage); Goodreads Choice Awards 2020, Mystery & Thriller page; Agatha Christie, An Autobiography (1977), for the wartime-books passage; Wikipedia entries for each Marple novel and for Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Curtain, The Thirteen Problems, Lucy Foley and The Guest List. Quotations from the Globe, Kirkus, Today and the autobiography were checked against the page text on 2026-09-19. Amazon links on this page are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
October 3, 2026 re-check: agathachristie.com (Marple character page for the screen adaptations; the Foley book page), bookseriesinorder.com and Open Library (novel years, Marple: Twelve New Mysteries contributors), retailer listings (US and UK on-sale date).
For Christie's other great detective, see every Hercule Poirot book in order, all 33 novels from Styles to Curtain.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.