What is the name of the first Miss Marple novel?

The first Miss Marple novel is The Murder at the Vicarage. Agatha Christie published it in 1930, introducing Miss Jane Marple and the village of St Mary Mead in novel form.

The story is narrated by Reverend Leonard Clement, the local vicar, whose house becomes connected to the murder of Colonel Lucius Protheroe. Miss Marple, an apparently gentle older woman with a sharp understanding of village personalities, helps uncover the truth by comparing the crime with patterns of behavior she has observed in everyday life.

Although The Murder at the Vicarage was Miss Marple's first novel appearance, Christie had already used the character in short stories. Those earlier stories were later collected in The Thirteen Problems, published in 1932. This distinction sometimes causes confusion when readers ask for Marple's “first” appearance.

The novel was followed by The Body in the Library in 1942. Other major Marple books include A Murder Is Announced and Sleeping Murder, but neither is the first novel in the series. Christie eventually wrote 12 Miss Marple novels, alongside a substantial collection of short stories.