Jane Marple and Jill Needelemore: Different birds of a feather

Who doesn’t know Miss Jane Marple? Who doesn’t have warm feelings towards that quiet lady who likes to gossip? Her grey bun, her endless cups of tea, they are all so familiar. That avid knitter with her protective nephew Raymond, a writer himself like Miss Marple’s creator Agatha Christie. How funny is that? Miss Marple first appeared in issue 350 of The Royal Magazine in December 1927, but the world had to wait till 1930 for the sleuth of sleuths to make her appearance in a novel; that was Murder at the Vicarage.

In comes Jill Needlemore, a massive fan of Miss Marple, and an accidental sleuth. She doesn’t look for bodies but they drop down near her all the time, especially since her retirement. As I am drawing nearer the end of the edits of her first novel The Luxembourg Saga, I thought it would be fun to describe 10 main differences between Jane and Jill

1. Quaint English village versus Dutch provincial town

Miss Marple spent her whole life in the village of St Mary’s Mead, Jill has lived in several places in NZ and in the Netherlands, also in The Hague pictured above . What Jane and Jill share is their love of travelling. While Miss Marple gets to wild and exotic places, Jill is often discovering the lesser known European gems.

2. Shrewd intelligence versus coincidental cleverness

Dare I say Miss Marple is shrewd, very clever and a unique ability to be in the background yet know exactly what everyone is up to. Jill does not share her blending in skills. On the contrary, but that is also her strength. Being so lovely and present, she gets people to open up to her. But both women are excellent judges of character.

3. Old versus oldish

Miss Marple’s age is never quite uncovered, sometime she is said to be 90 where in other books she is about 75, but she never ages in the years she spent in her books. Jill might be perceived to be old, I remember the days when I thought people in their 30s were ancient and wondered what they were doing in our disco. She starts out as 67 in The Luxembourg Saga but I plan to age her along the series.

4. A genteel stroll versus laps in a pool

Miss Marple often goes for a relaxed stroll around the village of St Mary Mead, Jill’s night walks are purely medicinal. She jumps into the pool to do a certain number of frantic laps as weight control and for inspiration. And if a pool isn’t available, Jill hopes there’s a bath nearby.

5. Spinster versus a significant other

Miss Marple never married, Jill has Jim who is essential to the stories and unravelling of the crimes. They do not have a conventional relationship as they are not married and don’t have children. They have valuable friends and a lot of fantastic cousins. Jim is a reluctant participant in Jill’s sleuthing who is not the most enthusiastic sleuth herself. Even so, Jim’s love of model trains and food often brings them to essential places in solving the crime..

6. Tea versus coffee

Miss Marple solved lots of crimes just by drinking tea with the suspects. Jill doesn’t so much solve the crimes as spiral onto the culprit. And she is more a coffee drinker. But both share the 0.0 buzz of non-alcoholic beverages. While Miss Marple never drank, Jill belongs more to the sober-curious movement. They are both living examples that you don’t need alcohol to live an exciting life.

Strong, independent women

What stands out is that both women solve murders by their vast knowledge of human nature, that obviously comes with age. Both Jill and Jane are warm, loving characters. Miss Marple is Jill’s hero, one of her favourite exclamations is: “Where is Miss Marple when you need her?”. The answer to that question is inadvertently on the book shelf, because Jill will always find a nudge in the right direction in one of Marple’s cases. Although, in The Luxembourg Saga a lot of the pointers come from Mr. Groen. He brings Chieny into Jim and Jill’s life, a black-and-white dog. Yes, both Miss Marple and Jill share a love for dogs. Don’t tell Max.

Which sleuth do you prefer? Do you need to choose? Is there anything else you’d like to know about Jill? Tell me in the comments below.