I have discovered the Agatha Christie Short Stories Read Along hosted by Fanda at Fanda Classiclit. It originally started in 2024, but I just saw it recently, and I plan to join in this year when I can.
Fanda has a post each month to note the stories for that month. The post for February is here. The full list of stories for the year is here. The stories for February are "The Listerdale Mystery" and "The Tuesday Night Club," a Miss Marple story.
So, for Short Story Wednesday today, I read the "The Listerdale Mystery." Here are my thoughts:
A widow, Mrs. St. Vincent, lives with her grown daughter and son in a boarding house. She checks her finances every month, and now she realizes that they may have to move to someplace even cheaper. Originally they lived in much better circumstances, in a home that had been in the family for generations, but her husband didn't handle business affairs very well and left them with little to live on. One day she notices an advertisement in the paper for a rental house that requires only nominal rent. She goes to check out the house, and the butler shows her around, but it seems too good to be true, so she leaves without any hope. Soon she gets a letter offering her the house for a small amount of rent.
She moves into the house and everything goes well. But Mrs. St. Vincent's son, Rupert, is suspicious. It turns out that the house they are living in is owned by Lord Listerdale, who disappeared from the house and then later turned up in East Africa. Rupert thinks that there may have been foul play, and comes up with all kinds of theories. He even begins to do some sleuthing.
This story was different from other mystery short stories by Christie that I have read. It is a mystery but it does not involve a crime, and is actually closer to a romance. I enjoyed the story; it was a fun read and had a nice ending.
“The Listerdale Mystery” was first published as “The Benevolent Butler” in Grand Magazine, December 1925. I read this story in The Golden Ball And Other Stories, a collection of 15 short stories by Agatha Christie.
21 comments:
This does sound like a fun story. :D
The Lysterdale Mystery does sound different from Christie's other mysteries. I like the premise because characters worrying about their financial situation is real life and relatable. I have to get back to Agatha Christie and will do so this year.
Although I read all of her novels, my familiarity with the short stories is scant. I think some of the episodes on Poirot on PBS used the short stories.
Awww, I loved The Listerdale Mystery, Tracy. As you say, it's not like Christie's usual work, but it has stayed with me. The characters are sympathetic, and I like it that Christie addresses that very realistic concern about finances.
I only began reading Agatha Christie novels in recent years and I'm not sure I've read any of her short stories.
Lark, It was fun. I was surprised that it wasn't the more expected story of a murder and its solution, but I was happy with it.
Kathy, That is a good point about the theme of financial problems. It is very realistic. I am sure you will enjoy getting back to reading Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot is such a charming character (once I got used to his quirks) and she has some wonderful standalone books too.
I read a lot of the Hercule Poirot mysteries in 2020 and 2021. I am still working on finishing all of the Miss Marple books.
Not to encourage "spoilage", but does the lord turn up in Africa deceased or simply kidnapped? Unlike most if not all here, most of my Christie reading has been of her short fiction, and she had great fun mocking the British in her Poirot shorts.
Patti, I was thinking that I had not read many short stories by Agatha Christie, maybe because I have only read a few Hercule Poirot short stories. But then I remembered that I have read all of the Miss Marple stories (20), all the Tommy and Tuppence stories (12) and a couple of other collections.
Many of the Hercule Poirot short stories with Suchet were based on the short stories as you noted, and that is why I have not read more of those. When I read a few of them, I recognized the stories immediately and knew how they ended, because the endings of the Suchet adaptations were usually consistent with the original story.
I've read a lot of AC's short stories and I personally think she was very good at them. The Miss Marple ones are my favourite but I also liked a collection called The Mysterious Mr. Quin. I haven't read the one you're reviewing here.
Cath, I also enjoyed the collection of Mr. Quin stories; I especially liked his sometimes companion, Mr. Satterthwaite. I have a collection called Parker Pyne Investigates that I have not read yet.
Even though I have only read a few of them, I think the Hercule Poirot stories are my favorites so far. I will have to read more of them, even if I can remember the endings from the adaptations.
The short story "The Listerdale Mystery" was first published in a collection in the UK with the same title. I found it in a US collection of Christie's stories titled The Golden Ball and Other Stories. Per Wikipedia, the stories in The Golden Ball and other stories "appear in other short story collections published in the UK before or after this collection, The Listerdale Mystery (1934 UK), The Hound of Death and Other Stories (1933,UK) and Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (1991,UK)." Very confusing to me.
I agree, Margot, this is a very good story. I like the characters, although Mrs. St. Vincent is more likable than her children.
Kelly, Christie wrote a lot of short stories, and I found most of the ones I read to be lighter than the books. Since they use a lot of different characters, they can have more variety. I want to read more of the Hercule Poirot short stories because they often show a different side of Poirot, and because most of them are narrated by Arthur Hastings, a character that I enjoy.
Todd, in the story there are mostly rumors about the fate of Lord Listerdale, but some evidence that he is still living in Africa. It would be a spoiler to tell more.
I was the opposite. When I returned to reading Agatha Christie books after starting my blog, I stuck with novels mostly except for the occasional story in an anthology. I am a new convert to her short stories. I did read the Tommy and Tuppence short stories ten years ago and did not care for them then. I should reread some of them and see what I think now.
I've never read anything by Agatha Christie. 🫣
Lindsi, you have plenty of time to read some novels or short stories by Christie when you are interested and the mood strikes you. She is a good writer, but she has written so many books it is hard to know where to start.
Beautiful blog
Please read my post
Wow I didn't realize Christie wrote many stories without crimes in them. It seems like you would be a bit suspicious if someone offered you a place for such a low rent.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Rajani.
Susan, I was not aware that some of Christie's short stories were not crime-related, but it doesn't surprise me too much, because she also wrote several mainstream novels as Mary Westacott. Wikipedia notes that some of those novels got better reviews than her mysteries at the time.
I would have been suspicious too, and it seemed much too good to be true. But it may have been desperation for a decent place to live that made her ignore the risk?
Post a Comment