The Detective Scribbles, No. 4, Miss Jane Marple

This is the latest drawing in the series of doodles entitled "The Detective Scribbles," and this time it is the famous spinster detective who lives in the quaint little village of Saint Mary Mead, Miss Marple. This is sort of a sequel to a previous scribble, the one of Monsieur Hercule Poirot, so this is, more specifically, another tribute to the prolific crime writer, Agatha Christie. The character of Miss Marple, however, connects with me on a personal level. This is a favorite character of my father and I can see why. She is a very down-to-earth person who is as sharp as a tack. Marple is basically  a keen and specific detective who takes the guise of an old woman who knits. The character of Miss Marple is sensible, not eccentric like Poirot and that's what Christie must have thought about this character, too. There is an interesting story about Christie with her relationship with Poirot: Christie, much like the author Arthur Conan Doyle with his character of Sherlock Holmes, was sick and tired of Poirot and sick of writing stories about him. Some stories have come about that she wrote Curtain, Poirot's last case, just so she could say a sort of "that's it for you." Christie wanted to experiment with other characters besides Poirot, Marple was one of those other characters.
Miss Marple appeared in her first story entitled Murder at the Vicarage and since then (up until her last story entitled Sleeping Murder) she has sort of enchanted readers with her sharp logic and rapier-like way of solving puzzles. Marple was said to have been inspired by Christie's grandmother, who was said to be scarily like Marple, she could tell when there wasn't something quite right. Marple's surname even fits this character's personality. There is another story about her genesis, of her surname, at least. Christie went to an estate sale, or something of that sort, and bought a chair whose company name was Marple or that the people who owned the chair was the family Marple. Either way, to name a character after a chair just reflects how down-to-earth this character is, but, like I wrote before, she is as sharp as a tack. I love these sort of characters who appear to be one thing, but, in turn, surprise you with their characteristics. This is why Marple is one of my favorite detectives, and I know I say this with every detective, but I have always had a soft spot for Miss Marple because she does remind me greatly of my grandmothers, who could cut you to ribbons with their words. Basically, Miss Marple is a good detective and her stories are well written.
She, much like Poirot, has been adapted in various ways, but this drawing was inspired by the actress Joan Hickson, who I think was a nicely played Miss Marple. Of course, like with Poirot, I found out about Marple whilst watching a program that I have mentioned time and time again, the program is Masterpiece Mystery, which I rather enjoy. Nowadays, however, Marple is brilliantly portrayed by actress Julia McKenzie, who I think is comparable to Hickson in her portrayal. Now, until next time, I shall have another detective adorned on this blog soon, so keep a sharp eye out for my next post.
Notes: She was drawn using water-proof ink and a dip pen with a pencil to lightly outline some of the wrinkles and such.