The Listerdale Mystery
Encyclopedia
The Listerdale Mystery is a short story
collection written by Agatha Christie
and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons
in June 1934
. The book retailed at seven shillings and sixpence
(7/6). The collection did not appear in the US however all of the stories contained within it did appear in other collections only published there.
The collection is notable for the first book appearance of the story Philomel Cottage which was turned into a highly successful play, two feature films and was also televised twice in the UK.
, Mrs St. Vincent sees an advert for a house for rent in Westminster
, furnished and with a nominal rent. Although she thinks she has little chance of being able to afford the house she goes to see the house agents and then the house itself and is instantly taken with it and pleasantly surprised at its very low rent. The agents offer her the house for a six-month rental. Barbara is delighted but Rupert is suspicious – the house belonged to Lord Listerdale who disappeared eighteen months previously and supposedly turned up in East Africa, supplying his cousin, Colonel Carfax with power of attorney. They take the house and are looked after in style by Quentin, the butler, whose wages are paid for by Lord Listerdale's estate, as are the wages of the two other servants. Delicious food regularly turns up on the table, which has been sent up regularly from his Lordship's country seat of King's Cheviot – an old custom.
After three month's Mrs St. Vincent is very happy in the house and Jim has proposed to Barbara. Rupert still entertains his suspicions and is somewhat convinced that Listerdale is not in Africa but has perhaps been murdered and his body is hidden in the house. Rupert also suspects Quentin of being part of whatever plot has occurred. Rupert goes on a motorcycling holiday, which takes him near to King's Cheviot. Spotting someone like Quentin, he questions the man who tells him he is really called Quentin, was butler to Lord Listerdale but retired on a pension to an estate cottage some time before. Rupert brings the real butler to London and confronts the fake. The real butler tells an astonished St. Vincent family that the fake is in fact Lord Listerdale himself. His Lordship tells them that ashamed with his selfish life to date, he faked his relocation to Africa and he since spent his time helping people like the St. Vincents who have been reduced to something akin to begging in their life. Over the past few months, he has grown in love with Mrs St. Vincent and now proposes marriage to the delighted lady.
A month after they are married, Gerald and Alix are living at Philomel Cottage, a picturesque cottage. It is isolated but fitted with all modern conveniences. Alix has some anxieties – she has a recurring dream in which Gerald lies dead on the floor, Dick stands over him having committed the deed of murder but Alix is grateful for the act. She is troubled that the dream is a warning. By coincidence Dick phones her. He is staying at a local inn and wishes to call on her. She puts him off, afraid of what Gerald's reaction might be. After the call she chats to the gardener, George, and during the course of the conversation is told two strange things; Gerald has told George that Alix is going to London the next day and he doesn't know when she'll be returning (although she knows nothing about this) and that the cost of the cottage was two thousand pounds. Gerald had told Alix that it was three thousand and she gave him part of her inheritance to make up the difference. Alix finds Gerald's pocket diary dropped in the garden and looks through it, seeing her husband's meticulous entries for everything he does in his life. An appointment is marked down for 9.00pm that night but no indication is given as to what will happen at that time...
Alix suddenly has doubts about her husband, which only increase when he gives her a cryptic warning about prying into his past life. He is also furious that George made the comment about going to London. He claims the 9.00pm entry was to remind him to develop photographs in his dark room but he has now decided not to carry out this chore. The next day, driven by questions and insecurities, Alix starts to search through her husband's papers in two locked drawers and in one of them finds newspaper clippings from America dated seven years previously which report on a swindler, bigamist and suspected murderer called LeMaitre. Although found not guilty of murder, he was imprisoned on other charges and escaped four years before. Alix seems to recognise LeMaitre from the photographs – it is Gerald! He returns to the cottage, carrying a spade, supposedly to do work in the cellar but Alix is convinced he intends to kill her. Desperately keeping up a pretence of normality, she makes a supposed call to the butcher which is in fact a coded call for help to Dick at the inn. Gerald tries to get her to join him in the cellar but she plays for time telling Gerald that she is in fact an unsuspected murderess who killed two previous husbands by poisoning them with hyoscine, which induces the symptoms of heart failure. Gerald had been complaining that his coffee was bitter and he is convinced that she has now poisoned him. At that moment, Dick and a policeman arrive at the cottage as Alix runs out. The policeman investigates inside and reports that there is a man in a chair who is dead, looking as if he has had a bad fright...
The girl introduces herself as Elizabeth but tells George that she can't give him an explanation of her actions. At the next station, she gets off the train. Speaking to George through the window, she spots a man with a small dark beard further down the platform getting into the train and tells George to keep an eye on him and to guard safely a package that she hands to him.
George follows the bearded man down to Portsmouth
where he books into the same commercial hotel as him and watches him carefully. He is aware that there is another ginger-haired man carefully watching both of them. He follows the bearded man as he goes on a quick walk through the streets, which ends up taking them both back to their hotel with no sign of any assignation. George wonders if the bearded man has spotted that he is being watched. His suspicions grow further when the ginger-haired man returns to the hotel, also seemingly after a night's walk. His puzzlement increases when two foreign men call at the hotel and ask George (although calling him "Lord Rowland") where the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Catonia, a small Balkan state, has gone to. The younger of the two men grows violent but George is able to subdue him with Jujutsu
. The two men leave uttering threats.
That night, George watches the black-bearded man as he secretes a small packet behind the skirting board in the bathroom. Returning to his own room, George finds the package Elizabeth gave him has gone from its hiding place under the pillow. After breakfast, the package has returned to his room but, investigating its contents at last, George finds only a box with a wedding ring inside it. He hears from the chambermaid that she is unable to gain access to the black-bearded man's room and decides to gain access himself via a parapet outside the window. He deduces that the man escaped via the fire escape just before he hears a noise from inside the wardrobe and investigating is attacked from within by the ginger-haired man. He identifies himself as DI Jarrold of Scotland Yard
. The black-bearded man was called Mardenberg and was a foreign spy who secreted the plans of Portsmouth harbour
defences behind the skirting board. His accomplice is a young girl and George wonders if this could have been Elizabeth? He is on the train back to London when he reads of a secret wedding between the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Catonia and Lord Roland Gaigh. At the next station Elizabeth gets onto the train and explains events to George. She was acting as a decoy for Anastasia to throw her uncle, who opposed the romance, off the scent and the black-bearded man and the packet was simply a ruse to distract George – another wedding ring
could easily have been procured and George's adventures with the spy were a remarkable coincidence. George realises Elizabeth is actually Lord Gaigh's sister. He proposes to her. His uncle will be delighted he is marrying into aristocracy and Elizabeth's parents, with five daughters, will be delighted that she is marrying into money. She accepts.
, receives a visit in his Westminster house from a woman called Magdalen Vaughan who he met on a boat trip some ten years previously. She begs him for help, as she is the great-niece of Lily Crabtree, an old woman who was murdered some three weeks ago. The victim was found dead in her downstairs room in her Chelsea
house, her head crushed in by a paperweight, which had then been wiped clean. Magdelen was one of five people in the house at the time of the death – as well as her and her brother, Matthew, Mrs Crabtree's nephew and his wife, William and Emily and the house servant, Martha. All four of the family members in the house were supported financially by Miss Crabtree and all four inherit one quarter of her estate. The police have been unable to establish any concrete evidence against anyone in the house and the suspicion against them is telling on them all. Magdalen begs Sir Edward to investigate thereby keeping to a promise he made to her ten years before to help her in any way he could, should the need arise. He agrees to help.
From a meeting with Miss Crabtree's solicitor he discovers that the old lady always collected from the latter three hundred pounds in five pound notes every quarter for the next three month's household expenses. He goes to Chelsea and meets Magdalen's relatives and discovers the tensions that exist in house. Emily rowed with Miss Crabtree at lunch and retired to her room following afternoon tea with a headache pill. William also went to his room with his stamp collection. Magdalen was also upstairs sewing. Matthew Vaughan refuses to speak with Sir Edward, claiming to be tired of the whole business. Sir Edward speaks with Martha who was devoted to Miss Crabtree as she took her into service thirty years before after she had had an illegitimate baby. She confirms that she can hear the creak of the stairs when anyone comes downstairs – and no one did during the period in question – and that Matthew was in a downstairs room typing a journalistic piece and she could constantly hear the keys of the typewriter. She confesses however that Miss Crabtree could have opened the door to anyone and she wouldn't have heard from the kitchen – especially as Miss Crabtree's room faced the street and she would have seen anyone approaching the house. In questioning her as to whether Miss Crabtree was expecting anyone, Martha relates her final conversation with Miss Crabtree, which includes trivial complaints about the household budget and the dishonesty of tradesmen, citing a supposedly bad sixpence she was given. Sir Edward searches Miss Crabtree's bag with her personal belongings and money but finds nothing of interest. He is on his way home when Matthew Vaughan stops him in the street to apologise for his behaviour. Sir Edward catches sight of a shop over his shoulder called "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" and runs back to the house to confront Martha. No sixpence was in Miss Crabtree's bag but a piece of poetry
from an unemployed man was – Miss Crabtree must have taken this from a man calling begging and she gave him the missing sixpence in return. Martha confesses that the killer was a caller to the house – it was her illegitimate son, Ben, who has now fled the country.
, he gets out of his car to admire the view and takes a short walk. He returns to his vehicle and drives back to London but on the way, reaching into the door pocket for his muffler
, he instead finds a diamond necklace. In shock, he realises that although it is the same model car as his, it is not the same car. By coincidence, he got into the wrong car after his walk and drove off. He returns to the Punch Bowl but his car has gone. Searching further, he finds a note in the car he is driving which gives instructions to meet someone at a local village at ten o'clock. He keeps the assignation and meets a beautiful woman in evening dress and cloak who thinks he is someone called Gerald. Telling her his name is Edward, she is not thrown by the mistake and in conversation reveals that 'Gerald's' brother is called Edward but she hasn't seen him since she was six years old. She gets in the car but realises quickly that Edward has only recently learnt to drive and takes the wheel herself. She tells Edward a story about her and 'Jimmy' having successfully stolen the necklace from a rich lady called Agnes Larella. She drives him to a London townhouse where the butler arranges evening dress for him and the lady drives them onto Ritson's – the nightclub of the rich and famous. He drinks cocktails and dances with the lady who he discovers is Lady Noreen Elliot, a famous society debutante
and the theft of the necklace was in fact an elaboration of a treasure hunt
, the rule being that the 'stolen' item must be worn in public for one hour to claim the prize. As Edward and Lady Noreen leave the nightclub, the real Gerald turns up in Edward's car and also reveals Edward not to be the one Noreen thought he was. Edward hurriedly retrieves his car and is about to drive off when Noreen begs him to 'be a sport' and give her the necklace so she can return it. He does so and receives a passionate kiss in return.
Edward arrives at Maud's home in Clapham
the next day. He happily admits to the competition win and buying the car and tells her that he means to marry her next month, despite her objections. Maud is much taken with her newly masterful fiancé and agrees.
tells his friend, Captain Haydock (ex-Royal Navy) that he has recognized a local woman, Mrs. Merrowdene, as being Mrs. Anthony, a notorious woman who was charged and tried nine years previously with the murder of her husband by arsenic
poisoning. She claimed that her husband was an arsenic-eater and that he took too much. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, the jury acquitted her and for the past six years she has been the wife of a local elderly professor. After recognizing her, Evans has carried out further investigations and found out that Mrs. Merrowdene's stepfather died when he fell off a cliff path when walking with her one day. At that time, he opposed the young girl's (she was eighteen at the time of this incident) relationship with another man. Evans is convinced this earlier death was not accidental and that Mrs. Merrowdene is guilty of multiple murders.
Soon afterward, walking in the village, Evans meets and talks with Professor Merrowdene and finds out that he has just taken out a large insurance policy which will pay out to his wife should he die. Evans is more convinced than ever that Mrs. Merrowdene is planning a third killing. He goes to the village fête
where a fortuneteller
foresees him being involved in a matter of 'life and death'. He meets Mrs. Merrowdene at the fête and deliberately calls her Mrs. Anthony, trying to provoke a reaction but the lady remains composed. She invites Evans home for tea with her and her husband. Once there, she tells him they drink Chinese tea
in bowls and then admonishes her husband for using the bowls for his chemical laboratory work, leaving residue. Evans sees that she is about to poison her husband in front of him using him as a witness. When Merrowdene leaves the room, Evans insists that the lady drinks from the bowl she prepared for her husband. She hesitates and then pours the contents into a plant pot. Evans is satisfied that he has prevented the murder and warns Mrs. Merrowdene that she must not continue her 'activities'. He then drinks his bowl, chokes and dies on the spot. Having declared his suspicions of the woman, Evans was Mrs. Merrowdene's victim, not her husband.
It is mentioned toward the end of the story that Mr. Evans is the third man who had threatened to cross Mrs. Merrowdene and separate her from the man she loved; this means that Mr. Merrowdene is the man who she loved when she was 18, and the three men were her father, Mr. Anthony (whom she presumably did not want to marry), and Mr. Evans.
Three days later, the bazaar is taking place. The main feature of it is that one hundred society women will each donate one pearl each, which will be auctioned the next day. The real Grand Duchess declares the bazaar open and meets the people there. When it is time to depart, she and Jane swap dresses in a side room and Jane leaves in the Duchess' place – news having reached them that the assassins will make an attempt on the journey back to Harridge's. Jane is travelling back with the Princess Poporensky when the chauffeur takes them down a side road and down an unknown and secluded route, stops the car and holds up the two women with a pistol. They are at an empty house, which they are locked in. A short time later, bowls of soup are given to the two women, which Jane eats but the Princess refuses. Jane falls asleep suddenly...
The next day Jane wakes up. She is alone in the house and inexplicably back in her red dress. She finds a newspaper in the house, which states that the charity bazaar was help up by a girl in a red dress and three other men. They stole the pearls and got away. The girl in the red dress has been traced as staying at the Blitz hotel under the name of Miss Montresor of New York – Jane realizes that she has been set up by a gang of jewel thieves. She hears someone in garden and finds a young man coming round from having been knocked out. He and Jane swap stories and the young man reveals that he was at the bazaar and was puzzled when he saw the Grand Duchess enter a room in low-healed shoes and exit in high-healed ones. He followed her to the empty house and saw a second car arrive with three men and a woman in a red dress. Presently, this woman came out in the Duchess' dress and all except Jane seemed to have departed but when the young man went to investigate he was knocked out. They suddenly become aware that another man is nearby and listening to them. He introduces himself as Detective-Inspector Farrell and having overheard the stories that the two told all has become clear to him and he realizes what really happened at the bazaar hold-up and that Jane is innocent. The young man reveals that having seen Jane at the bazaar, he has fallen in love with her…
, is enjoying a Sunday drive in a cheap old car with her young man, Edward Palgrove. They stop at a roadside fruit stall and buy a basket of fruit from the seller who tells them with a leer on his face that they are getting more than their money's worth. Stopping off near a stream, they sit by the road to eat the fruit and read in a discarded Sunday paper of the theft of a ruby necklace worth fifty thousand pounds. A moment later, they find such a necklace in the bottom of the basket! Edward is shocked and scared of the sight, seeing the possibility of arrest and imprisonment but Dorothy sees the possibility of a new and better life from selling the jewels to a 'fence
'. Edward is shocked by the suggestion and demands that she hand them over which she reluctantly does.
The next day, Dorothy contacts Edward. She has come to her senses after a sleepless night and realizes that they must hand the necklace back. On the way back from his office-clerk job that night, Edward reads the latest developments on the jewel robbery in the newspaper but it is another adjacent story, which catches his attention. He meets Dorothy that night and shows her the second story – it is about a successful advertising stunt in which one out of fifty baskets of fruit sold will contain an imitation necklace. To their mutual relief, they realize that they are not the possessors of the stolen necklace.
with a commission from an editor. He has typed a title - "The Mystery of the Second Cucumber", hoping that it will give him some inspiration but to no avail. He suddenly receives a mysterious telephone call from a girl identifying herself as Carmen. She begs for his help to avoid being killed, gives him an address to go to and tells him the codeword is "cucumber".
Interested in this coincidence, he goes to the address given, which is a second-hand glass shop. Trying desperately to avoid buying anything expensive, he finally lets slip the word "cucumber". The old lady who runs the shop tells him to go upstairs. Once there he meets a beautiful young woman of foreign extraction. She praises the saints that Anthony has come to save her, but is worried that he has been followed to the shop and tells him not to underestimate "Boris", who is a fiend. Suddenly the police arrive and arrest Anthony, calling him "Conrad Fleckman", for the murder of Anna Rosenberg. Anthony, not too worried about this turn of events because he knows he can prove his identity, begs for a moment alone with the girl and tells her the truth and also to ring him at him later. Once outside the shop, Anthony again tries to persuade the police of his innocence. The more senior of the two men – Detective-Inspector Verrall – seems interested in Anthony's story while his subordinate – Detective-Sergeant Carter - is more sceptical. Anthony persuades the two men to take him back to his flat where the porter confirms his identity and then they go up to his rooms. Leaving Carter to conduct a search of his rooms to finally establish the truth of his identity, Anthony pours a whisky for himself and Verrall and hears the story of Conrad Fleckman. It goes back over ten years and involves the sale of a Spanish shawl from the impoverished family of a man called Don Fernando to Anna Rosenberg. After buying the shawl she seemed to have large sums of money at hand. Fernando was stabbed to death shortly afterwards and eight attempts have been made to burgle Anna Rosenberg's house in the intervening years. A week ago, Fernando's daughter, Carmen Ferrarez, arrived in Britain and threatened Rosenberg over the "shawl of a thousand flowers" and she has now disappeared after the murder. Conrad Fleckman is a man whose name appears on a note found in Ferrarez's rooms. Now Rosenberg has been found dead in Fleckman's rooms. Verrall is called away by a call at the front door and Anthony ponders the story he has been told. After a while, he realises that all has gone quiet. He goes out of his rooms and the porter tells him that he helped the two men with the packing of his goods. Puzzled, Anthony investigates and finds that his valuable collection of enamels
has been taken. He called the police who tell him that the culprits sound like the Patterson gang and that he has been the subject of an elaborate hoax to get into people's houses and distract them with wild stories while they are robbed. Anthony is annoyed until he realises that his writer's block is cured and he has a new title for his story – "The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl".
, he is stopped by a society girl, Mary Montresor, in her expensive touring car who driving past Hyde Park Corner
questions George as to whether or not he would like to marry her. Somewhat distracted by Mary's reckless driving, he has answered yes when he sees newspaper bills, which tell that Mary is to marry the Duke of Edgehill. Mary doesn't seem interested in her commitment and suggests they drive into the country and find a place to live. Going along with her, George agrees. Heading southwest they spot a house on the brow of a hill that Mary likes and go to investigate. Mary states that they will suggest to anyone that is there that they thought it belonged to a "Mrs Pardonstenger" to cover up their investigations. Peeping through the windows they are approached by a butler who does not seem surprised by the pseudonym Mary uses and asks them into the house. Once inside they are quickly accosted by a man and a woman. The man produces a revolver and tells George and Mary to go upstairs at gunpoint. At the top of the stairs, George suddenly fights back and knocks the man out badly. George is all for tying the man up but Mary begs him to leave the house, which they do, George taking the revolver with him. Once in the car, he checks the gun and is astonished to find that it isn't loaded. Mary confesses that the house is hers and the situation they found themselves in was staged by her as a test of any prospective husband and how he would react instinctively to protect her from danger. All so far have failed the test. The couple in the house were engaged by her for the purpose, the man being Rube Wallace, a film actor. As George has been proposed to and passed the test, he suggests getting a special licence for the wedding. Mary however wants him to go down on bended knee, which George refuses to do, feeling that it is degrading. His mind is made up for him though when they arrive in London and he slips on a banana skin when he gets out of the car, thereby getting down on one knee. George enjoys going back to his uncle and telling him that he is going to marry a rich young society girl – he has grasped the golden ball!
h of Maraputna who is staying at Lord Edward Campion's private villa and that when he changed out of his bathing clothes, he put on the wrong trousers (the beach hut belonging to Lord Campion). Leaving the café he sees newspaper bills stating that the Rajah's emerald has been stolen. Wondering why a priceless emerald was left in a beach hut in the first place, he goes back to the hut to change back into his own trousers when he is suddenly stopped by a man who shows him his badge and identifies himself as Detective-Inspector Merrilees of Scotland Yard who is on the track of the emerald. James is arrested and claims that the emerald is at his lodging. The policeman is taking him back there but on the way they pass a police station and James suddenly grabs the man and shouts for the police himself, claiming that Merrilees has picked his pocket. The police search Merrilees and find the emerald, which James secreted there. James is in turned accused but Lord Campion arrives and identifies Merrilees as Jones, his suspected valet. What James doesn't tell Lord Campion is that the badge that "Merrilees" showed him was a badge for a cycling club that, by coincidence, James also belongs to. Lord Campion invites James to his villa for lunch, an invitation he is delighted to accept, also enjoying the opportunity to turn down a half-hearted invitation from Grace and the Sopwith siblings in the process.
tic soprano
, is in London for a short series of appearances. Her manager, Mr Cowan, has arranged five appearances at Covent Garden as well as a single appearance at the Albert Hall
and also a performance of Madame Butterfly at the private theatre in the castle home of Lord and Lady Rustonbury where royalty will be present. The name seems familiar to Madame Nazorkoff and she realises that she read of it in an illustrated magazine, which is still with her in her Ritz Hotel
room. Scanning through it, she immediately becomes less scornful of the idea but insists that the performance be changed to Tosca
. Mr Cowan hears her mutter, "At last, at last – after all these years".
Preparations on the day at the home of Lord Rustonbury are going well until Signor Roscari, due to sing the part of Scarpia, suddenly falls strangely ill. Lady Rustonbury remembers that a nearby neighbour is Edouard Bréon, the retired French baritone
and she drives off to ask him to step in at the last moment. He agrees and returns. In the hall of the castle he reminisces over past performances of Tosca that he has heard, stating that the best one was over twenty years before by a young girl called Bianca Capelli. She was foolish though as she was in love with a man involved with the Camorra
and begged Breon to use his influence to save his life when he was condemned to death. Bréon states he did nothing for the man as he was not worth it and, after his execution, Capelli entered a convent. Blanche, the Rustonbury's daughter, watches Mr Cowan as Nazorkoff claims that as a Russian she is not so fickle.
The performance goes well and the invited audience are appreciative. The second act reaches its climax as the character of Tosca stabs Scarpia. After the curtain has fallen, one of stagehands rushes out and a doctor is called for. Nazorkoff was apparently so involved with her performance that she really did stab Bréon. Blanche knows differently though and she tells how she has realised that Nazorkoff was in fact Capelli, who has waited years for her revenge on the man who let her lover die – the story of Tosca has come to life. As the police take Nazorkoff away, she quotes another line from opera – "La commedia e finite!" ("The show is over")
The Scotsman
of June 14, 1934 summarised its review by stating, "They are all good stories with plausible ideas neatly handled. A capital book for odd-half-hours."
Robert Barnard
: "Most of the stories in this collection are 'jolly', rather than detection. The final story is a dreadfully obvious one based on Tosca. The two stories with detective interest are the often reprinted Philomel Cottage (good but rather novelettish in style), and the clever Accident"
, the most successful short story written by Agatha Christie in terms of number of adaptations.
It was adapted as a highly successful West End
stage play in 1936 by Frank Vosper
called Love from a Stranger.
In turn, this adaptation was filmed twice, in 1937 and 1947.
It was also televised twice in the UK, in 1938 and 1947.
A further adaptation was produced by Hessischer Rundfunk for broadcast on West German
television on December 5, 1967 under the title of Ein Fremder klopft an starring Gertrud Kückelmann and Heinz Bennent.
It was adapted three times for the American half-hour radio programme Suspense
(CBS) under its original name Philomel Cottage, first airing on July 29, 1942, starring Alice Frost and Eric Dressler. This episode has apparently been lost. The second adaptation aired October 7, 1943, with Geraldine Fitzgerald
as Alix Martin and Orson Welles
as Gerald Martin. A third aired December 26, 1946, with Lilli Palmer
as Alix Martin and Raymond E. Lewis as Gerald Martin.
Philomel Cottage was also adapted as a half-hour BBC Radio 4
play broadcast on Monday, January 14, 2002 at 11.30am.
Adapator: Mike Walker
Producer: Jeremy Mortimer
Cast:
Lizzy McInnerny as Alex
Tom Hollander
as Terry
Adam Godley
as Richard
Struan Rodger
as Merlin
Music was by Nick Russell-Pavier.
in 1982 as part of their ten-part programme The Agatha Christie Hour, a series of one-off plays from short stories by the writer. These episodes were numbers 3, 9 and 10 in the series respectively (see Parker Pyne Investigates
for other episodes in the series).
The Girl in the Train
Transmitted: September 21, 1982
Adaptor: William Corlett
Director: Brian Farnham
Cast:
David Neal
as Rogers
Roy Kinnear
as Cabbie
James Grout
as William Rowland
Ernest Clark
as Detective Inspector Jarrold
Ron Pember
as the Mysterious Stranger
Sarah Berger as Elizabeth
Osmund Bullock as George Rowland
Harry Fielder
as the Guard
Jane in Search of a Job
Transmitted: November 9, 1982
Adaptor: Gerald Savory
Director: Christopher Hodson
Cast:
Tony Jay
as Count Streplitch
Elizabeth Garvie
as Jane Cleveland
Stephanie Cole
as Princess Anna
Geoffrey Hinsliff
as Colonel Kranin
Amanda Redman
as the Duchess Of Ostravia
Andrew Bicknell as Nigel Guest
Helen Lindsay as Lady Anchester
Julia McCarthy as Miss Northwood
The Manhood of Edward Robinson
Transmitted: November 16, 1982
Adaptor: Gerald Savory
Director: Brian Farnham
Cast:
Rupert Everett
as Guy
Cherie Lunghi
as Lady Noreen Elliot
Nicholas Farrell
as Edward Robinson
Ann Thornton as Maud
Julian Wadham
as Gerald Champneys
Margery Mason
as Mrs. Lithinglow
Tom Mannion
as Herbert
Sallyanne Law as Millie
Patrick Newell
as the Major
Bryan Coleman
as Lord Melbury
Nicholas Bell
as Jeremy
Riona Hendley as Poppy
Simon Green as Sebastian
Georgina Coombs as Diana
Rio Fanning as Barman
Frank Duncan as Grosvenor
and broadcast at 11.30am on Monday January 28, 2002.
Adaptor: Mike Walker
Director: Ned Chaillet
Cast:
Maria Friedman
as Polina
Emily Woof
as Beth
Sylvester Morand
as Bréon
Ray Lonnen
as Dominik
, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club
but instead appeared as part of the Collins Mystery series. Along with The Hound of Death
, this make The Listerdale Mystery one of only three major book publications of Christie's crime works not to appear under the Crime Club imprint in the UK between 1930 and 1979.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
collection written by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons
William Collins (publisher)
William Collins was a Scottish schoolmaster and publisher.Collins was born near Glasgow in 1789. In 1819 he set up a publishing business, initially selling religious books. He produced the first Collins dictionary in 1824, when he also obtained a licence to publish the Bible...
in June 1934
1934 in literature
The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....
. The book retailed at seven shillings and sixpence
British sixpence coin
The sixpence, known colloquially as the tanner, or half-shilling, was a British pre-decimal coin, worth six pence, or 1/40th of a pound sterling....
(7/6). The collection did not appear in the US however all of the stories contained within it did appear in other collections only published there.
The collection is notable for the first book appearance of the story Philomel Cottage which was turned into a highly successful play, two feature films and was also televised twice in the UK.
The Listerdale Mystery
Mrs St. Vincent is a genteel lady living in reduced circumstances with her son and daughter, Rupert and Barbara. After her husband's financial speculations went wrong, he died and they were forced to vacate the house, which had been in their family for generations. They now live in rooms in a boarding house, which has seen better times and, due to these surroundings, are unable to entertain people of similar class and upbringing. Rupert has just started a job in the city with excellent prospects but at this moment in time, only a small income. Barbara had enjoyed a trip to Egypt the previous winter with, and paid for by, her richer cousin where she met a young man called Jim Masterson who is interested in courting her but who would be put off if he saw their circumstances. Looking through the Morning PostMorning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
, Mrs St. Vincent sees an advert for a house for rent in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, furnished and with a nominal rent. Although she thinks she has little chance of being able to afford the house she goes to see the house agents and then the house itself and is instantly taken with it and pleasantly surprised at its very low rent. The agents offer her the house for a six-month rental. Barbara is delighted but Rupert is suspicious – the house belonged to Lord Listerdale who disappeared eighteen months previously and supposedly turned up in East Africa, supplying his cousin, Colonel Carfax with power of attorney. They take the house and are looked after in style by Quentin, the butler, whose wages are paid for by Lord Listerdale's estate, as are the wages of the two other servants. Delicious food regularly turns up on the table, which has been sent up regularly from his Lordship's country seat of King's Cheviot – an old custom.
After three month's Mrs St. Vincent is very happy in the house and Jim has proposed to Barbara. Rupert still entertains his suspicions and is somewhat convinced that Listerdale is not in Africa but has perhaps been murdered and his body is hidden in the house. Rupert also suspects Quentin of being part of whatever plot has occurred. Rupert goes on a motorcycling holiday, which takes him near to King's Cheviot. Spotting someone like Quentin, he questions the man who tells him he is really called Quentin, was butler to Lord Listerdale but retired on a pension to an estate cottage some time before. Rupert brings the real butler to London and confronts the fake. The real butler tells an astonished St. Vincent family that the fake is in fact Lord Listerdale himself. His Lordship tells them that ashamed with his selfish life to date, he faked his relocation to Africa and he since spent his time helping people like the St. Vincents who have been reduced to something akin to begging in their life. Over the past few months, he has grown in love with Mrs St. Vincent and now proposes marriage to the delighted lady.
Philomel Cottage
Alix Martin is a woman in her mid-thirties who has worked as a shorthand typist for fifteen years. For most of that time she has had an understanding with a fellow clerk by the name of Dick Windyford but as both are short of funds and, at various times having family dependants, romance and marriage have been out of the question and never spoken of. Two events happen suddenly; a distant cousin of Alix dies leaving her enough money to give her an income of a couple of hundred pounds a year however her financial independence seems to annoy Dick, and at much the same time Alix meets and has a whirlwind romance with Gerald Martin, a man she meets at a friend's house and they are engaged within a week and married soon after. Dick is furious and warns Alix that she knows nothing whatsoever about her new husband...A month after they are married, Gerald and Alix are living at Philomel Cottage, a picturesque cottage. It is isolated but fitted with all modern conveniences. Alix has some anxieties – she has a recurring dream in which Gerald lies dead on the floor, Dick stands over him having committed the deed of murder but Alix is grateful for the act. She is troubled that the dream is a warning. By coincidence Dick phones her. He is staying at a local inn and wishes to call on her. She puts him off, afraid of what Gerald's reaction might be. After the call she chats to the gardener, George, and during the course of the conversation is told two strange things; Gerald has told George that Alix is going to London the next day and he doesn't know when she'll be returning (although she knows nothing about this) and that the cost of the cottage was two thousand pounds. Gerald had told Alix that it was three thousand and she gave him part of her inheritance to make up the difference. Alix finds Gerald's pocket diary dropped in the garden and looks through it, seeing her husband's meticulous entries for everything he does in his life. An appointment is marked down for 9.00pm that night but no indication is given as to what will happen at that time...
Alix suddenly has doubts about her husband, which only increase when he gives her a cryptic warning about prying into his past life. He is also furious that George made the comment about going to London. He claims the 9.00pm entry was to remind him to develop photographs in his dark room but he has now decided not to carry out this chore. The next day, driven by questions and insecurities, Alix starts to search through her husband's papers in two locked drawers and in one of them finds newspaper clippings from America dated seven years previously which report on a swindler, bigamist and suspected murderer called LeMaitre. Although found not guilty of murder, he was imprisoned on other charges and escaped four years before. Alix seems to recognise LeMaitre from the photographs – it is Gerald! He returns to the cottage, carrying a spade, supposedly to do work in the cellar but Alix is convinced he intends to kill her. Desperately keeping up a pretence of normality, she makes a supposed call to the butcher which is in fact a coded call for help to Dick at the inn. Gerald tries to get her to join him in the cellar but she plays for time telling Gerald that she is in fact an unsuspected murderess who killed two previous husbands by poisoning them with hyoscine, which induces the symptoms of heart failure. Gerald had been complaining that his coffee was bitter and he is convinced that she has now poisoned him. At that moment, Dick and a policeman arrive at the cottage as Alix runs out. The policeman investigates inside and reports that there is a man in a chair who is dead, looking as if he has had a bad fright...
The Girl in the Train
George Rowland is a mildly dissolute young man who is dependent on his rich uncle for both his keep and his job at the family city firm. Annoyed with his nephew's late night carousing, his uncle sacks him. Annoyed in turn with his uncle, George makes plans to leave home. Abandoning ambitious plans to go to the colonies, George decides instead to travel by train from Waterloo to a place he spots in an ABC guide called Rowland's Castle where he is sure he will be welcomed with open arms by the feudal inhabitants. Happily alone in the first class carriage, a girl jumps onto the train begging to be hidden. George chivalrously hides her under the train seat before a moustached foreign man appears at the window and "demands" his niece back. George calls a platform guard who detains the foreign man and the train departs.The girl introduces herself as Elizabeth but tells George that she can't give him an explanation of her actions. At the next station, she gets off the train. Speaking to George through the window, she spots a man with a small dark beard further down the platform getting into the train and tells George to keep an eye on him and to guard safely a package that she hands to him.
George follows the bearded man down to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
where he books into the same commercial hotel as him and watches him carefully. He is aware that there is another ginger-haired man carefully watching both of them. He follows the bearded man as he goes on a quick walk through the streets, which ends up taking them both back to their hotel with no sign of any assignation. George wonders if the bearded man has spotted that he is being watched. His suspicions grow further when the ginger-haired man returns to the hotel, also seemingly after a night's walk. His puzzlement increases when two foreign men call at the hotel and ask George (although calling him "Lord Rowland") where the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Catonia, a small Balkan state, has gone to. The younger of the two men grows violent but George is able to subdue him with Jujutsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
. The two men leave uttering threats.
That night, George watches the black-bearded man as he secretes a small packet behind the skirting board in the bathroom. Returning to his own room, George finds the package Elizabeth gave him has gone from its hiding place under the pillow. After breakfast, the package has returned to his room but, investigating its contents at last, George finds only a box with a wedding ring inside it. He hears from the chambermaid that she is unable to gain access to the black-bearded man's room and decides to gain access himself via a parapet outside the window. He deduces that the man escaped via the fire escape just before he hears a noise from inside the wardrobe and investigating is attacked from within by the ginger-haired man. He identifies himself as DI Jarrold of Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. The black-bearded man was called Mardenberg and was a foreign spy who secreted the plans of Portsmouth harbour
Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it is a ria: formerly it was the valley of a stream flowing from Portsdown into the Solent River. The city of Portsmouth lies to the east on Portsea Island, and Gosport to the west on the mainland...
defences behind the skirting board. His accomplice is a young girl and George wonders if this could have been Elizabeth? He is on the train back to London when he reads of a secret wedding between the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Catonia and Lord Roland Gaigh. At the next station Elizabeth gets onto the train and explains events to George. She was acting as a decoy for Anastasia to throw her uncle, who opposed the romance, off the scent and the black-bearded man and the packet was simply a ruse to distract George – another wedding ring
Wedding ring
A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...
could easily have been procured and George's adventures with the spy were a remarkable coincidence. George realises Elizabeth is actually Lord Gaigh's sister. He proposes to her. His uncle will be delighted he is marrying into aristocracy and Elizabeth's parents, with five daughters, will be delighted that she is marrying into money. She accepts.
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sir Edward Palliser, KCQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, receives a visit in his Westminster house from a woman called Magdalen Vaughan who he met on a boat trip some ten years previously. She begs him for help, as she is the great-niece of Lily Crabtree, an old woman who was murdered some three weeks ago. The victim was found dead in her downstairs room in her Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
house, her head crushed in by a paperweight, which had then been wiped clean. Magdelen was one of five people in the house at the time of the death – as well as her and her brother, Matthew, Mrs Crabtree's nephew and his wife, William and Emily and the house servant, Martha. All four of the family members in the house were supported financially by Miss Crabtree and all four inherit one quarter of her estate. The police have been unable to establish any concrete evidence against anyone in the house and the suspicion against them is telling on them all. Magdalen begs Sir Edward to investigate thereby keeping to a promise he made to her ten years before to help her in any way he could, should the need arise. He agrees to help.
From a meeting with Miss Crabtree's solicitor he discovers that the old lady always collected from the latter three hundred pounds in five pound notes every quarter for the next three month's household expenses. He goes to Chelsea and meets Magdalen's relatives and discovers the tensions that exist in house. Emily rowed with Miss Crabtree at lunch and retired to her room following afternoon tea with a headache pill. William also went to his room with his stamp collection. Magdalen was also upstairs sewing. Matthew Vaughan refuses to speak with Sir Edward, claiming to be tired of the whole business. Sir Edward speaks with Martha who was devoted to Miss Crabtree as she took her into service thirty years before after she had had an illegitimate baby. She confirms that she can hear the creak of the stairs when anyone comes downstairs – and no one did during the period in question – and that Matthew was in a downstairs room typing a journalistic piece and she could constantly hear the keys of the typewriter. She confesses however that Miss Crabtree could have opened the door to anyone and she wouldn't have heard from the kitchen – especially as Miss Crabtree's room faced the street and she would have seen anyone approaching the house. In questioning her as to whether Miss Crabtree was expecting anyone, Martha relates her final conversation with Miss Crabtree, which includes trivial complaints about the household budget and the dishonesty of tradesmen, citing a supposedly bad sixpence she was given. Sir Edward searches Miss Crabtree's bag with her personal belongings and money but finds nothing of interest. He is on his way home when Matthew Vaughan stops him in the street to apologise for his behaviour. Sir Edward catches sight of a shop over his shoulder called "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" and runs back to the house to confront Martha. No sixpence was in Miss Crabtree's bag but a piece of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
from an unemployed man was – Miss Crabtree must have taken this from a man calling begging and she gave him the missing sixpence in return. Martha confesses that the killer was a caller to the house – it was her illegitimate son, Ben, who has now fled the country.
The Manhood of Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson is a young man firmly under the thumb of his fiancée, Maud, who does not wish to rush into marriage until his prospects and income improve. He is a romantic at heart who wishes he was masterful and rugged like the men he reads of in novels. Somewhat impetuous in nature, he enters a competition and wins the first prize of £500. He doesn't tell Maud of this, knowing she will insist the money is wisely invested for the future, and instead uses it to buy a small two-seater car. On Christmas Eve, on holiday from his work as a clerk, he goes for a drive into the country. Stopping off in the dark evening at the Devil's Punch BowlDevil's Punch Bowl
The Devil's Punch Bowl is a large natural amphitheatre and beauty spot near Hindhead, Surrey, in England, and is the source of many stories about the area. The London to Portsmouth road used to climb round its side, but this is now closed due to the Hindhead Tunnel opening on the 27th July 2011...
, he gets out of his car to admire the view and takes a short walk. He returns to his vehicle and drives back to London but on the way, reaching into the door pocket for his muffler
Scarf
A scarf is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, or near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. They can come in a variety of different colours.-History:...
, he instead finds a diamond necklace. In shock, he realises that although it is the same model car as his, it is not the same car. By coincidence, he got into the wrong car after his walk and drove off. He returns to the Punch Bowl but his car has gone. Searching further, he finds a note in the car he is driving which gives instructions to meet someone at a local village at ten o'clock. He keeps the assignation and meets a beautiful woman in evening dress and cloak who thinks he is someone called Gerald. Telling her his name is Edward, she is not thrown by the mistake and in conversation reveals that 'Gerald's' brother is called Edward but she hasn't seen him since she was six years old. She gets in the car but realises quickly that Edward has only recently learnt to drive and takes the wheel herself. She tells Edward a story about her and 'Jimmy' having successfully stolen the necklace from a rich lady called Agnes Larella. She drives him to a London townhouse where the butler arranges evening dress for him and the lady drives them onto Ritson's – the nightclub of the rich and famous. He drinks cocktails and dances with the lady who he discovers is Lady Noreen Elliot, a famous society debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
and the theft of the necklace was in fact an elaboration of a treasure hunt
Treasure hunt (game)
A treasure hunt is one of many different types of games which can have one or more players who try to find hidden articles, locations or places by using a series of clues. This is a fictional activity; treasure hunting can also be a real life activity. Treasure hunt games may be an indoor or...
, the rule being that the 'stolen' item must be worn in public for one hour to claim the prize. As Edward and Lady Noreen leave the nightclub, the real Gerald turns up in Edward's car and also reveals Edward not to be the one Noreen thought he was. Edward hurriedly retrieves his car and is about to drive off when Noreen begs him to 'be a sport' and give her the necklace so she can return it. He does so and receives a passionate kiss in return.
Edward arrives at Maud's home in Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
the next day. He happily admits to the competition win and buying the car and tells her that he means to marry her next month, despite her objections. Maud is much taken with her newly masterful fiancé and agrees.
Accident
In an English village, ex-Inspector Evans, late of the CIDCriminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
tells his friend, Captain Haydock (ex-Royal Navy) that he has recognized a local woman, Mrs. Merrowdene, as being Mrs. Anthony, a notorious woman who was charged and tried nine years previously with the murder of her husband by arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
poisoning. She claimed that her husband was an arsenic-eater and that he took too much. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, the jury acquitted her and for the past six years she has been the wife of a local elderly professor. After recognizing her, Evans has carried out further investigations and found out that Mrs. Merrowdene's stepfather died when he fell off a cliff path when walking with her one day. At that time, he opposed the young girl's (she was eighteen at the time of this incident) relationship with another man. Evans is convinced this earlier death was not accidental and that Mrs. Merrowdene is guilty of multiple murders.
Soon afterward, walking in the village, Evans meets and talks with Professor Merrowdene and finds out that he has just taken out a large insurance policy which will pay out to his wife should he die. Evans is more convinced than ever that Mrs. Merrowdene is planning a third killing. He goes to the village fête
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
where a fortuneteller
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
foresees him being involved in a matter of 'life and death'. He meets Mrs. Merrowdene at the fête and deliberately calls her Mrs. Anthony, trying to provoke a reaction but the lady remains composed. She invites Evans home for tea with her and her husband. Once there, she tells him they drink Chinese tea
Chinese tea
The practice of drinking tea has had a long history in China, having originated there. The Chinese drink tea during many parts of the day such as during meals for good health or for simple pleasure.-History:...
in bowls and then admonishes her husband for using the bowls for his chemical laboratory work, leaving residue. Evans sees that she is about to poison her husband in front of him using him as a witness. When Merrowdene leaves the room, Evans insists that the lady drinks from the bowl she prepared for her husband. She hesitates and then pours the contents into a plant pot. Evans is satisfied that he has prevented the murder and warns Mrs. Merrowdene that she must not continue her 'activities'. He then drinks his bowl, chokes and dies on the spot. Having declared his suspicions of the woman, Evans was Mrs. Merrowdene's victim, not her husband.
It is mentioned toward the end of the story that Mr. Evans is the third man who had threatened to cross Mrs. Merrowdene and separate her from the man she loved; this means that Mr. Merrowdene is the man who she loved when she was 18, and the three men were her father, Mr. Anthony (whom she presumably did not want to marry), and Mr. Evans.
Jane in Search of a Job
Jane Cleveland, a young woman of twenty-six is in need of a job. Her financial position is precarious and she lives in a shabby boarding house. Browsing the Daily Leader jobs column she finds nothing of note but in the personal column she sees an advert for a young woman of her age, build and height who is a good mimic and can speak French. She goes to the address given and is one of many girls queuing up in answer to the advert. Getting through to the final six, she is interviewed by a foreign gentleman and told to go to Harridge's hotel and ask for Count Streptitch. Presenting herself there as instructed, Jane is again interviewed by the Count and then introduced to an ugly middle-aged lady by the title of Princess Poporensky who both declare her to be suitable. They ask Jane if she doesn't mind the prospect of danger to which she answers that she doesn't. Finally, Jane is introduced to the Grand Duchess Pauline of Ostrava, exiled from her country after a communist revolution. Jane is similar in looks and colouring to the Grand Duchess although she is slightly smaller in height. It is explained to Jane that the Grand Duchess is the target of assassination attempts by the people who overthrew and slaughtered her family and that they want Jane to act as a decoy for her during the next two weeks when she is in Britain and has to attend several charitable events. Jane agrees and is given money to stay at the nearby Blitz hotel (under the assumed name of Miss Montresor of New York) and to buy a dress to wear when she is following the Grand Duchess to the events, during which they will swap dresses when they suspect that a kidnap or murder attempt is imminent. Jane suggests a bright red dress in contrast to the Grand Duchess' dress of choice for a charity bazaar at Orion House ten miles outside of London and that she will wear high-healed boots to cover up the difference in height.Three days later, the bazaar is taking place. The main feature of it is that one hundred society women will each donate one pearl each, which will be auctioned the next day. The real Grand Duchess declares the bazaar open and meets the people there. When it is time to depart, she and Jane swap dresses in a side room and Jane leaves in the Duchess' place – news having reached them that the assassins will make an attempt on the journey back to Harridge's. Jane is travelling back with the Princess Poporensky when the chauffeur takes them down a side road and down an unknown and secluded route, stops the car and holds up the two women with a pistol. They are at an empty house, which they are locked in. A short time later, bowls of soup are given to the two women, which Jane eats but the Princess refuses. Jane falls asleep suddenly...
The next day Jane wakes up. She is alone in the house and inexplicably back in her red dress. She finds a newspaper in the house, which states that the charity bazaar was help up by a girl in a red dress and three other men. They stole the pearls and got away. The girl in the red dress has been traced as staying at the Blitz hotel under the name of Miss Montresor of New York – Jane realizes that she has been set up by a gang of jewel thieves. She hears someone in garden and finds a young man coming round from having been knocked out. He and Jane swap stories and the young man reveals that he was at the bazaar and was puzzled when he saw the Grand Duchess enter a room in low-healed shoes and exit in high-healed ones. He followed her to the empty house and saw a second car arrive with three men and a woman in a red dress. Presently, this woman came out in the Duchess' dress and all except Jane seemed to have departed but when the young man went to investigate he was knocked out. They suddenly become aware that another man is nearby and listening to them. He introduces himself as Detective-Inspector Farrell and having overheard the stories that the two told all has become clear to him and he realizes what really happened at the bazaar hold-up and that Jane is innocent. The young man reveals that having seen Jane at the bazaar, he has fallen in love with her…
A Fruitful Sunday
Dorothy Pratt, a housemaidMaid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...
, is enjoying a Sunday drive in a cheap old car with her young man, Edward Palgrove. They stop at a roadside fruit stall and buy a basket of fruit from the seller who tells them with a leer on his face that they are getting more than their money's worth. Stopping off near a stream, they sit by the road to eat the fruit and read in a discarded Sunday paper of the theft of a ruby necklace worth fifty thousand pounds. A moment later, they find such a necklace in the bottom of the basket! Edward is shocked and scared of the sight, seeing the possibility of arrest and imprisonment but Dorothy sees the possibility of a new and better life from selling the jewels to a 'fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
'. Edward is shocked by the suggestion and demands that she hand them over which she reluctantly does.
The next day, Dorothy contacts Edward. She has come to her senses after a sleepless night and realizes that they must hand the necklace back. On the way back from his office-clerk job that night, Edward reads the latest developments on the jewel robbery in the newspaper but it is another adjacent story, which catches his attention. He meets Dorothy that night and shows her the second story – it is about a successful advertising stunt in which one out of fifty baskets of fruit sold will contain an imitation necklace. To their mutual relief, they realize that they are not the possessors of the stolen necklace.
Mr. Eastwood's Adventure
Anthony Eastwood is suffering from writer's blockWriter's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
with a commission from an editor. He has typed a title - "The Mystery of the Second Cucumber", hoping that it will give him some inspiration but to no avail. He suddenly receives a mysterious telephone call from a girl identifying herself as Carmen. She begs for his help to avoid being killed, gives him an address to go to and tells him the codeword is "cucumber".
Interested in this coincidence, he goes to the address given, which is a second-hand glass shop. Trying desperately to avoid buying anything expensive, he finally lets slip the word "cucumber". The old lady who runs the shop tells him to go upstairs. Once there he meets a beautiful young woman of foreign extraction. She praises the saints that Anthony has come to save her, but is worried that he has been followed to the shop and tells him not to underestimate "Boris", who is a fiend. Suddenly the police arrive and arrest Anthony, calling him "Conrad Fleckman", for the murder of Anna Rosenberg. Anthony, not too worried about this turn of events because he knows he can prove his identity, begs for a moment alone with the girl and tells her the truth and also to ring him at him later. Once outside the shop, Anthony again tries to persuade the police of his innocence. The more senior of the two men – Detective-Inspector Verrall – seems interested in Anthony's story while his subordinate – Detective-Sergeant Carter - is more sceptical. Anthony persuades the two men to take him back to his flat where the porter confirms his identity and then they go up to his rooms. Leaving Carter to conduct a search of his rooms to finally establish the truth of his identity, Anthony pours a whisky for himself and Verrall and hears the story of Conrad Fleckman. It goes back over ten years and involves the sale of a Spanish shawl from the impoverished family of a man called Don Fernando to Anna Rosenberg. After buying the shawl she seemed to have large sums of money at hand. Fernando was stabbed to death shortly afterwards and eight attempts have been made to burgle Anna Rosenberg's house in the intervening years. A week ago, Fernando's daughter, Carmen Ferrarez, arrived in Britain and threatened Rosenberg over the "shawl of a thousand flowers" and she has now disappeared after the murder. Conrad Fleckman is a man whose name appears on a note found in Ferrarez's rooms. Now Rosenberg has been found dead in Fleckman's rooms. Verrall is called away by a call at the front door and Anthony ponders the story he has been told. After a while, he realises that all has gone quiet. He goes out of his rooms and the porter tells him that he helped the two men with the packing of his goods. Puzzled, Anthony investigates and finds that his valuable collection of enamels
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
has been taken. He called the police who tell him that the culprits sound like the Patterson gang and that he has been the subject of an elaborate hoax to get into people's houses and distract them with wild stories while they are robbed. Anthony is annoyed until he realises that his writer's block is cured and he has a new title for his story – "The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl".
The Golden Ball
George Dundas is sacked by his uncle from his job for taking too much time off work. He is accused of not grasping the "golden ball of opportunity". Walking through the cityCity of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, he is stopped by a society girl, Mary Montresor, in her expensive touring car who driving past Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...
questions George as to whether or not he would like to marry her. Somewhat distracted by Mary's reckless driving, he has answered yes when he sees newspaper bills, which tell that Mary is to marry the Duke of Edgehill. Mary doesn't seem interested in her commitment and suggests they drive into the country and find a place to live. Going along with her, George agrees. Heading southwest they spot a house on the brow of a hill that Mary likes and go to investigate. Mary states that they will suggest to anyone that is there that they thought it belonged to a "Mrs Pardonstenger" to cover up their investigations. Peeping through the windows they are approached by a butler who does not seem surprised by the pseudonym Mary uses and asks them into the house. Once inside they are quickly accosted by a man and a woman. The man produces a revolver and tells George and Mary to go upstairs at gunpoint. At the top of the stairs, George suddenly fights back and knocks the man out badly. George is all for tying the man up but Mary begs him to leave the house, which they do, George taking the revolver with him. Once in the car, he checks the gun and is astonished to find that it isn't loaded. Mary confesses that the house is hers and the situation they found themselves in was staged by her as a test of any prospective husband and how he would react instinctively to protect her from danger. All so far have failed the test. The couple in the house were engaged by her for the purpose, the man being Rube Wallace, a film actor. As George has been proposed to and passed the test, he suggests getting a special licence for the wedding. Mary however wants him to go down on bended knee, which George refuses to do, feeling that it is degrading. His mind is made up for him though when they arrive in London and he slips on a banana skin when he gets out of the car, thereby getting down on one knee. George enjoys going back to his uncle and telling him that he is going to marry a rich young society girl – he has grasped the golden ball!
The Rajah's Emerald
James Bond, a young man, is on holiday at a fashionable coastal resort with his young lady, Grace. They observe the proprieties of the age by staying in separate accommodation. He is in a cheap boarding house while she has put herself up in the high-class Esplanade Hotel on the front where she has discovered friends are staying – Claud Sopworth and his three sisters. At almost every opportunity James is being treated in a fairly cavalier manner by Grace and one more arises when Claud suggests they all go bathing in the sea. The Esplanade has its own changing huts on the beach, which James, as a non-resident, is not allowed to use. He therefore has to leave his "friends" and use the public huts, all of which have long queues. He takes a chance and uses an unlocked private hut belonging to one of the large private villas in the resort. After their sea-bathe, James changes back into his clothes which he left in the hut but doesn’t join Grace or the others for lunch as he has taken offence at her jibes at the cheap trousers he is wearing. Eating in a dingy café, James is astounded to find a large emerald in his pocket. From reading stories in the resort's weekly paper, he has no doubt it belongs to the RajaRaja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...
h of Maraputna who is staying at Lord Edward Campion's private villa and that when he changed out of his bathing clothes, he put on the wrong trousers (the beach hut belonging to Lord Campion). Leaving the café he sees newspaper bills stating that the Rajah's emerald has been stolen. Wondering why a priceless emerald was left in a beach hut in the first place, he goes back to the hut to change back into his own trousers when he is suddenly stopped by a man who shows him his badge and identifies himself as Detective-Inspector Merrilees of Scotland Yard who is on the track of the emerald. James is arrested and claims that the emerald is at his lodging. The policeman is taking him back there but on the way they pass a police station and James suddenly grabs the man and shouts for the police himself, claiming that Merrilees has picked his pocket. The police search Merrilees and find the emerald, which James secreted there. James is in turned accused but Lord Campion arrives and identifies Merrilees as Jones, his suspected valet. What James doesn't tell Lord Campion is that the badge that "Merrilees" showed him was a badge for a cycling club that, by coincidence, James also belongs to. Lord Campion invites James to his villa for lunch, an invitation he is delighted to accept, also enjoying the opportunity to turn down a half-hearted invitation from Grace and the Sopwith siblings in the process.
Swan Song
Madame Paula Nazorkoff, the famous but temperamental operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, is in London for a short series of appearances. Her manager, Mr Cowan, has arranged five appearances at Covent Garden as well as a single appearance at the Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
and also a performance of Madame Butterfly at the private theatre in the castle home of Lord and Lady Rustonbury where royalty will be present. The name seems familiar to Madame Nazorkoff and she realises that she read of it in an illustrated magazine, which is still with her in her Ritz Hotel
Ritz Hotel
The Ritz London is a luxury 5-star hotel located in Piccadilly and overlooking Green Park in London.- History :Swiss hotelier César Ritz, former manager of the Savoy Hotel, opened the hotel on 24 May 1906...
room. Scanning through it, she immediately becomes less scornful of the idea but insists that the performance be changed to Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
. Mr Cowan hears her mutter, "At last, at last – after all these years".
Preparations on the day at the home of Lord Rustonbury are going well until Signor Roscari, due to sing the part of Scarpia, suddenly falls strangely ill. Lady Rustonbury remembers that a nearby neighbour is Edouard Bréon, the retired French baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and she drives off to ask him to step in at the last moment. He agrees and returns. In the hall of the castle he reminisces over past performances of Tosca that he has heard, stating that the best one was over twenty years before by a young girl called Bianca Capelli. She was foolish though as she was in love with a man involved with the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
and begged Breon to use his influence to save his life when he was condemned to death. Bréon states he did nothing for the man as he was not worth it and, after his execution, Capelli entered a convent. Blanche, the Rustonbury's daughter, watches Mr Cowan as Nazorkoff claims that as a Russian she is not so fickle.
The performance goes well and the invited audience are appreciative. The second act reaches its climax as the character of Tosca stabs Scarpia. After the curtain has fallen, one of stagehands rushes out and a doctor is called for. Nazorkoff was apparently so involved with her performance that she really did stab Bréon. Blanche knows differently though and she tells how she has realised that Nazorkoff was in fact Capelli, who has waited years for her revenge on the man who let her lover die – the story of Tosca has come to life. As the police take Nazorkoff away, she quotes another line from opera – "La commedia e finite!" ("The show is over")
Literary significance and reception
The Times Literary Supplement of July 5, 1934 after introducing the title story, stated, "After a heavy meal of full-course detective stories these friandises melt sweetly – perhaps a shade too sweetly – on the tongue: but they are, without exception, the work of an experienced and artful cook, whose interest it is to please. And just as one accepts and swallows, without misgiving a green rose, knowing it to be sugar, so one can accept the improbabilities and the fantasy with which Mrs. Christie's stories are liberally sprinkled. The little kernel of mystery in each tale is just sufficient to intrigue the reader without bewildering him. Here is no Hercule's vein: indeed Poirot would find little worthy of his great gift of detection in these situations, where one knows from the start that everything will come delightfully right in the end."The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
of June 14, 1934 summarised its review by stating, "They are all good stories with plausible ideas neatly handled. A capital book for odd-half-hours."
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard is an English crime writer, critic and lecturer.- Life and work :Born in Essex, Barnard was educated at the Colchester Royal Grammar School and at Balliol College in Oxford....
: "Most of the stories in this collection are 'jolly', rather than detection. The final story is a dreadfully obvious one based on Tosca. The two stories with detective interest are the often reprinted Philomel Cottage (good but rather novelettish in style), and the clever Accident"
Philomel Cottage
Philomel Cottage was, before the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the most successful short story written by Agatha Christie in terms of number of adaptations.
It was adapted as a highly successful West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage play in 1936 by Frank Vosper
Frank Vosper
Frank Vosper was a British actor and playwright.-Stage:Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for playing urbane villains....
called Love from a Stranger.
In turn, this adaptation was filmed twice, in 1937 and 1947.
It was also televised twice in the UK, in 1938 and 1947.
A further adaptation was produced by Hessischer Rundfunk for broadcast on West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
television on December 5, 1967 under the title of Ein Fremder klopft an starring Gertrud Kückelmann and Heinz Bennent.
It was adapted three times for the American half-hour radio programme Suspense
Suspense (radio program)
-Production background:One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
(CBS) under its original name Philomel Cottage, first airing on July 29, 1942, starring Alice Frost and Eric Dressler. This episode has apparently been lost. The second adaptation aired October 7, 1943, with Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
as Alix Martin and Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
as Gerald Martin. A third aired December 26, 1946, with Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer , born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life and career:...
as Alix Martin and Raymond E. Lewis as Gerald Martin.
Philomel Cottage was also adapted as a half-hour BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
play broadcast on Monday, January 14, 2002 at 11.30am.
Adapator: Mike Walker
Mike Walker (radio dramatist)
Mike Walker is a radio dramatist and feature and documentary writer. His radio work includes both original plays and adaptations of novels, classical and modern...
Producer: Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer is a British director and producer of radio dramas for BBC Radio. He is the son of John and Penelope Mortimer. His credits include The Pattern of Painful Adventures and radio adaptations of Daphnis and Chloe , Philomel Cottage and The Time Machine...
Cast:
Lizzy McInnerny as Alex
Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander
Thomas Anthony "Tom" Hollander is a British actor who has appeared in productions such as Enigma, Gosford Park, Cambridge Spies, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Valkyrie and Hanna.-Early life:Tom Hollander was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son...
as Terry
Adam Godley
Adam Godley
Adam Godley is an English actor.-Biography:Adam Godley has appeared in numerous movies including Love Actually, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ....
as Richard
Struan Rodger
Struan Rodger
Struan Rodger is a British actor who has appeared widely in a range of supporting roles. His first feature film role was as Eric Liddell's friend and running coach Sandy McGrath, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film, Chariots of Fire....
as Merlin
Music was by Nick Russell-Pavier.
The Agatha Christie Hour
Three stories of the stories in the collection, The Girl in the Train, Jane in Search of a Job and The Manhood of Edward Robinson were adapted for by Thames TelevisionThames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
in 1982 as part of their ten-part programme The Agatha Christie Hour, a series of one-off plays from short stories by the writer. These episodes were numbers 3, 9 and 10 in the series respectively (see Parker Pyne Investigates
Parker Pyne Investigates
Parker Pyne Investigates is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in November 1934. Along with The Listerdale Mystery, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club but instead appeared as...
for other episodes in the series).
The Girl in the Train
Transmitted: September 21, 1982
Adaptor: William Corlett
Director: Brian Farnham
Cast:
David Neal
David Neal
David Neal was a popular British television actor, active in the 1960s, 1970, 1980s, and 1990s. He is chiefly remembered for a prolific range of supporting roles in major productions....
as Rogers
Roy Kinnear
Roy Kinnear
Roy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor. He is best remembered for playing Veruca Salt's father, Mr. Salt, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
as Cabbie
James Grout
James Grout
James Grout is an English actor of radio and television.Grout was born in London, the son of Beatrice Anne and William Grout...
as William Rowland
Ernest Clark
Ernest Clark
Ernest Clark was a British actor of stage, television and film.-Early life:Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving school he became a reporter on a local newspaper in Croydon...
as Detective Inspector Jarrold
Ron Pember
Ron Pember
Ron Pember is a British actor, best known for his role as Alain Muny in the 1970s BBC drama series Secret Army.Pember played the part of the psychopathic taxman in the Red Dwarf episode "Better Than Life"...
as the Mysterious Stranger
Sarah Berger as Elizabeth
Osmund Bullock as George Rowland
Harry Fielder
Harry Fielder
Harry Fielder is an English actor and supporting artist who has worked extensively in British films and television since the 1960s.Fielder was born in Islington, London...
as the Guard
Jane in Search of a Job
Transmitted: November 9, 1982
Adaptor: Gerald Savory
Gerald Savory
Gerald Savory was an English playwright and screenwriter specialising in comedies.The son of actress Grace Lane , he was educated at Bradfield College and worked as a stockbroker's clerk before turning to the stage , first as an actor then a writer.His first work for movies was writing dialogue for...
Director: Christopher Hodson
Cast:
Tony Jay
Tony Jay
Tony Jay was an English actor, voice actor and singer. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in animation, film and computer games. Jay's distinctive baritone voice often landed him villainous roles...
as Count Streplitch
Elizabeth Garvie
Elizabeth Garvie
Elizabeth Garvie is an English actress best known for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1980 BBC dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice....
as Jane Cleveland
Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole, OBE is an English stage, television, and film actress, best known for playing characters a great deal older than her actual age.-Early life:...
as Princess Anna
Geoffrey Hinsliff
Geoffrey Hinsliff
Geoffrey Hinsliff is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Don Brennan in Coronation Street from 16 August 1987 to 8 October 1997. He had previously played other characters in the same programme, in 1963 and 1977....
as Colonel Kranin
Amanda Redman
Amanda Redman
-External links:* ArtistsTheatreSchool.com* The-Little.co.uk...
as the Duchess Of Ostravia
Andrew Bicknell as Nigel Guest
Helen Lindsay as Lady Anchester
Julia McCarthy as Miss Northwood
The Manhood of Edward Robinson
Transmitted: November 16, 1982
Adaptor: Gerald Savory
Gerald Savory
Gerald Savory was an English playwright and screenwriter specialising in comedies.The son of actress Grace Lane , he was educated at Bradfield College and worked as a stockbroker's clerk before turning to the stage , first as an actor then a writer.His first work for movies was writing dialogue for...
Director: Brian Farnham
Cast:
Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
as Guy
Cherie Lunghi
Cherie Lunghi
Cherie M. Lunghi is an English film, television and theatre actress. She is probably best known for her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur, as football manageress Gabriella Benson in the 1990s television series The Manageress and for starring in a series of adverts for Kenco coffee. She...
as Lady Noreen Elliot
Nicholas Farrell
Nicholas Farrell
Nicholas Farrell is an English stage, film and television actor. His early screen career included the role of Aubrey Montague in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. In 1983, he starred as Edmund Bertram in a television adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park...
as Edward Robinson
Ann Thornton as Maud
Julian Wadham
Julian Wadham
-Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...
as Gerald Champneys
Margery Mason
Margery Mason
Margery E. Mason is an English actress and director. She was the Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre in Bangor, Northern Ireland in the 1960s....
as Mrs. Lithinglow
Tom Mannion
Tom Mannion
Tom Mannion is a British actor.His television credits include Brookside, Up the Garden Path, The Bill, Boon, Cadfael, Doctor Finlay, Doctors, Eleventh Hour, Holby City, Hustle, Life on Mars, Midsomer Murders, New Tricks, Red Cap, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Spatz, Taggart, The Agatha Christie...
as Herbert
Sallyanne Law as Millie
Patrick Newell
Patrick Newell
Patrick David Newell was a British actor known for his large size. It is reputed he gained weight as a deliberate attempt to boost his career, marking him out for some niche roles...
as the Major
Bryan Coleman
Bryan Coleman
Bryan Coleman was a British film actor and television actor.-Selected filmography:* A Window in London * Jassy * Landfall * The Lost Hours * The Planter's Wife...
as Lord Melbury
Nicholas Bell
Nicholas Bell
Nicholas Bell is a British actor who has worked in Australia for more than 20 years. He is a regular actor in Melbourne Theatre Company productions as well as work with all the major broadcasters in Australia, most notably the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.-Film and television:Film credits...
as Jeremy
Riona Hendley as Poppy
Simon Green as Sebastian
Georgina Coombs as Diana
Rio Fanning as Barman
Frank Duncan as Grosvenor
Swan Song
Swan Song was adapted as a thirty-minute play for BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and broadcast at 11.30am on Monday January 28, 2002.
Adaptor: Mike Walker
Mike Walker (radio dramatist)
Mike Walker is a radio dramatist and feature and documentary writer. His radio work includes both original plays and adaptations of novels, classical and modern...
Director: Ned Chaillet
Ned Chaillet
Edward William "Ned" Chaillet, III is a radio drama producer and director, writer and journalist.Ned Chaillet, American by birth, was born in Boston, Mass. but is a "native of Washington" according to the New York Times. He has lived in Britain since 1973.His newspaper career began at the...
Cast:
Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...
as Polina
Emily Woof
Emily Woof
Emily Woof , is an English actress and author, known for her roles in such films as The Full Monty, The Woodlanders, Velvet Goldmine, Wondrous Oblivion, Silent Cry and The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse....
as Beth
Sylvester Morand
Sylvester Morand
Sylvester Morand is a British actor, best known for his role as Nikolai Rostov in the BBC's 1973 dramatisation of War and Peace. He lives in West Hampstead, London, his brother, Timothy Morand lives nearby and is also an actor. He is also a stage actor....
as Bréon
Ray Lonnen
Ray Lonnen
Ray Lonnen is an English stage and television actor. His most prominent roles include Willie Caine in the cold-war spy drama series The Sandbaggers , and also as Harry Brown in the television mini-series Harry's Game .-Television career:Lonnen's early television appearances include The Power Game ,...
as Dominik
Publication history
- 1934, William Collins and Sons, June 1934, Hardcover, 256 pp
- 1961, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
), Paperback, 192 pp - 1970, Pan BooksPan BooksPan Books is an imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group....
, Paperback, 188 pp, ISBN 0-33-002504-X - 1990, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, ISBN 0-70-892291-0
- 2010, HarperCollins; Facsimile edition, Hardcover: 256 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0007354665
First publication of stories
The first UK publication details of all the stories contained in The Listerdale Mystery are as follows:- The Listerdale Mystery: First published in issue 250 of The Grand MagazineThe Grand MagazineThe Grand Magazine was the first British pulp magazine. It was published monthly between February 1905 and April 1940. Published by George Newnes, it initially emulated Newnes's highly successful Strand Magazine, featuring a mix of fiction and non-fiction...
in December 1925. - Philomel Cottage: First published in issue 237 of The Grand Magazine in November 1924.
- The Girl in the Train: First published in issue 228 of The Grand Magazine in February 1924.
- Sing a Song of Sixpence: First published in Holly Leaves, the annual ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
special of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic NewsIllustrated Sporting and Dramatic NewsThe Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News was an English weekly magazine founded in 1874 and published in London. In 1945 it changed its name to the Sport and Country, and in 1957 to the Farm and Country, before closing in 1970....
in December, 1929 with illustrations by C. Watson. - The Manhood of Edward Robinson: First published in issue 238 of The Grand Magazine in December 1924.
- Accident: First published as The Uncrossed Path in the September 22, 1929 issue of the Sunday DispatchSunday DispatchThe Sunday Dispatch was a British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 1961. Until 1928, it was called the Weekly Dispatch.-History:...
with an uncredited illustration. - Jane in Search of a Job: First published in issue 234 of The Grand Magazine in August 1924.
- A Fruitful Sunday: First published in the Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
on August 11, 1928 with an uncredited illustration. - Mr Eastwood's Adventure: First published as The Mystery of the Second Cucumber in issue 233 of The Novel Magazine in August 1924, with an illustration by Wilmot Lunt.
- The Golden Ball: First published as Playing the Innocent in the Daily Mail on August 5, 1929 with an illustration by Lowtham. The line early in the story where Ephraim Leadbetter tells his nephew that he has failed to grasp "the golden ball of opportunity" is missing from this version but the reference to the "Golden Ball" is intact at the end of the tale.
- The Rajah's Emerald: First published in issue 420 of the fortnightly Red Magazine on July 30, 1926, with an illustration by Jack M. Faulks.
- Swan Song: First published in issue 259 of The Grand Magazine in September 1926.
Publication of book collection
As with Parker Pyne InvestigatesParker Pyne Investigates
Parker Pyne Investigates is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in November 1934. Along with The Listerdale Mystery, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club but instead appeared as...
, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club
The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994. Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be...
but instead appeared as part of the Collins Mystery series. Along with The Hound of Death
The Hound of Death
The Hound of Death and Other Stories is a collection of twelve short stories by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom in October 1933...
, this make The Listerdale Mystery one of only three major book publications of Christie's crime works not to appear under the Crime Club imprint in the UK between 1930 and 1979.
US book appearances of stories
The stories contained in The Listerdale Mystery appeared in the following US collections:- The Witness for the Prosecution and Other StoriesThe Witness for the Prosecution and Other StoriesThe Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1948. The first edition retailed at $2.50...
(1948) - Accident, Mr Eastwood's Adventure (under the revised title of The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl), Philomel Cottage and Sing a Song of Sixpence. - The Golden Ball and Other StoriesThe Golden Ball and Other StoriesThe Golden Ball and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1971 in an edition priced at $5.95...
(1971) - The Listerdale Mystery, The Girl in the Train, The Manhood of Edward Robinson, Jane In Search of a Job, A Fruitful Sunday, The Golden Ball, The Rajah's Emerald, Swan Song
External links
- The Listerdale Mystery at the official Agatha Christie website