As the title of this Cozy Mystery site entry says: Miss Marple Series V is back – with a NEW 90 minute episode: The Secret of Chimneys. And, if you are ANYTHING like me, you are probably ready for your “dose” of Agatha Christie via the good folks of British television and PBS. (Thank goodness PBS still airs our favorite British mysteries… now that other channels like A & E no longer do so!)
Anyway… tomorrow, Sunday, June 20, PBS will be airing the NEW Miss Marple Masterpiece Mystery! : The Secret of Chimneys.
Now for the bad news >>> The Secret of Chimneys is one of Agatha Christie‘s earliest mystery books. That, in itself, is not the bad news. But, the fact that it was written in 1925, five years before the first Miss Marple mystery book (Murder at the Vicarage) is.
The Secret of Chimneys is the first mystery in Agatha Christie’s lesser-known Superintendent Battles Mystery Series, which is made up of five mysteries. Superintendent Battles is a Scotland Yard man, definitely not an older, knitting-needles-wielding spinster! Because of this, I cannot be sure what part Miss Marple (played by the talented actress Julia McKenzie) will actually play in the episode. It’s anyone’s guess as to how much actual screen time Miss Marple will have, and also, how much of the screen time will be taken by Superintendent Battles.
Hmmm… It does seem a shame that with so many Agatha Christie Miss Marple mysteries available, recently several NON Miss Marple books have been made into Miss Marple movies. Oh well… I am just going to look at this from the glass-half-full perspective and simply ENJOY this show, regardless of what liberties the producers have made!
