Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: JULY #AgathaChristieSS25

This post marks the end of the first semester of 2025, and that we are entering the second half of the year. how have you been doing so far? I'm personally proud of myself to have read all the twelve stories intended for 1st semester. Some I adored, but some are 'meh'. But now, let's see what we are going to read this month. Both are adventures (by title), and so I hope we are going to have some fun, with Poirot and our beloved couple: the Beresfords!

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb

(A Hercule Poirot story)

Here Christie brought one of her favorite themes: ancient Egypt. An ancient Egyptian curse is murdering anyone who evacuated the tomb of Pharaoh Men-her-Ra. And it depends on the little grey cell of Hercule Poirot to solve the case. It reminded me instantly of one of my favorites in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin: The Prisoners of the Sun. So, hopefully this story is at least as fun as I have expected.

The story was first published as a book in the collection Poirot Investigates, 1924, by Bodley Head. In 2004 the story was adapted for the Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives as a two-part episode, titled The Riddle of the Egyptian Tomb, where Poirot teams up with Miss Marple's great niece to solve the mystery. How exciting it sounds!

The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger

(A Tommy & Tuppence story)

This time the Beresfords must solve a mystery of some seemingly unrelated incidents: a mysterious cigarette lighter, the first anticipated blue Russian letter, and a doctor who keeps receiving hoax calls. Are they really unrelated? 

This story was published by Collins in the collection Partners in Crime, 1929, where the Beresford’s adopt the style and methods of Francis and Desmond, the Okewood Brothers, created by Valentine Williams (1883-1946), writing as Douglas Valentine. The Okewoods’ methods typically involved Desmond getting into a life-threatening scrape, only to be rescued by Francis, who “turns up as the gardener or something in the nick of time, and saves the situation.” In this case Tuppence unwittingly takes Francis’s role. Can't wait to read this one!

The Black Cabinet (1925) by Patricia Wentworth #20BooksofSummer2025

⚫ I've just realised, while starting this review, that I should have saved this book for the #1925Club next October! But then I thought, I would have forgotten altogether what the story is about by then, so here it is. I have planned to read it for #20BooksofSummer2025 anyway, and it did not disappoint me. Patricia Wentworth never disappoints me - so far.

⚫ Young, pretty, independent, sensible Chloe Dane worked at a dressmaker. She had been born in a wealthy family in Danesborough, but then the family fell on hard times. She didn't enjoy stitching fine clothes for rich but tasteless women, and was keen on doing something more exciting. It came to her unexpectedly soon after a party. A wealthy man called Mr. Dane, who was distant relative of hers. He had bought Danesborough, and made Chloe his heir - despite of her reluctance. Along with the property, is a black cabinet that had always been a fixture when she was a child.

⚫ Apparently, Mr. Dane's fortune came from blackmailing. He had built a safe inside the black cabinet, with intricate locks. He showed Chloe how to open the safe, and its contents - packet of letters which some people wouldn't hesitate to murder to be in possession of. Mr. Dane also warned Chloe not to trust anyone. Short time later, he died, and Chloe found herself a mistress in Danesborough. But it's not what she had expected. She felt alone among the pack of wolves in sheep's clothing. Mr. Dane was right, she couldn't trust anyone - not even the two suitors who said they loved her. Was one of them worked for the enemy? But which one? Or was it only her illusion? Was she really alone with no one to trust?

⚫ This was a delightful mystery-thriller to read, and I had so much fun reading it! Though sometimes romantically foolish, Chloe is brave and intelligent. Her determination of not letting anyone gets into the letters, and of refusing Mr. Dane's fortune when she'd come of age, was exemplary. Overall, it's a cozy thriller, the hapless heroine fighting alone against the enemies, with great plot, and sweet romance. It's another success for me with Wentworth, and I can't wait to read through her other numerous books!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: Mini Reviews for June #AgathaChristieSS25

Ingots of Gold

It's Raymond West's turn to tell a mysterious story when The Tuesday Night Club next re-convened. It involved his newest acquaintance, at whose abode in Cornwall, Raymond had been invited to spend the Whitsun. It was an unsolved mystery, and which he expected the club would discuss and find a solution.

John Newman had bought rights from Spanish Armada to salvage the wreck of a sunken ship, which he believed contained of treasure. On the way to Newman's, Raymond met a Police Inspector, who was investigating another, more recent shipwreck with ingots of gold in it which had been stolen. Throughout his stay, Raymond felt a foreboding of something bad about to happen; with the menacing pub's landlord, and big storm. On top of it all, Newman was missing - apparently abducted, and witnessed a smuggling. Was this the answer of the stolen ingots of gold? In the end, it was, as usual, the meek Miss Marple who solved the mystery. Quite an entertaining one!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sing a Song of Sixpence

I have found that the stories from The Listerdale Mystery collection are by far my most favorites. This one is no exception. Sir Edward Palliser received a visit from a young woman, Magdalen, whom he'd known years ago, and whose plead for help he couldn't refuse. Magdalen's eccentric aunt had been murdered, and the household - consisted of Magdalen, her brother, the aunt's nephew and his wife, and a devoted servant called Martha. To clear her family's reputation, Magdalen asked Sir Edward to investigate.

From his visit to the house, and his interview, Sir Edward found himself with a puzzle, but without nothing to suggest how to proceed, until, by chance, he caught a sight of a shop. And then, eureka! He saw how the murder had been committed. The key is the nursery rhyme which Christie used as this story's title. I loved the solution and twist, which I would've never guessed by myself. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cold Comfort Farm (1932) by Stella Gibbons #20BooksofSummer2025

💙 Flora Poste found herself an orphan and penniless at age nineteen. Her friend encouraged her to take a job, or be trained for something, but Flora had a better idea. She would bestow her numerous relatives - which she didn't quite know - with opportunity to take her to live with them. Accordingly Flora wrote these relatives, and one reply came from the Starkadders who lived in Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex. The fact that Flora - a city girl - must live in a farm didn't deter her determination. 

💙 Flora is a sophisticated urbane girl, level-headed and sensible. She found the Starkadders as coarse and ignorant farmers, isolated from the modern world. They had taken Flora in not willingly, but to atone for an unthinkable wrong once done to Flora's father (which was never revealed througout the book). But that's not the only unsolved mystery in this book - the other is Flora's Aunt Ada Doom, the elderly matriarch who confined herself at her bedroom for the past twenty years, because when she's a child she had seen "something nasty in the woodshed." I'm curious to know what that is, but sadly, it, too, was never revealed. :(

💙 To make the Starkadders more sophisticated and happier, was the job that Flora had taken herself during her stay. There's cousin Amos with his obsession to religion; Reuben who knew how to improve their badly-run farm but can't do anything because brother Amos was taking charge; and Elfin the unruly passionate young girl, for whom Flora had to arrange an honorable marriage. Not mentioning Aunt Ada, whose presence hindered everyone's happiness. Not too subtly, but unflinchingly, Flora forced changes upon changes into the family, bringing the family to more adept to modern world.

💙 It was really a humorous and witty satire of rural life in early twentieth century, with a touch of romance. Despite of her self-centered manner, I couldn't help to be fond of Flora right from the beginning. In certain books, her character would be much annoying, but here, it provides many hilarious scenes.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐12

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

The Shell Seekers (1987) by Rosamunde Pilcher #20BooksofSummer2025

🐚 The Shell Seekers is the title of a painting which hung on the wall of Penelope Keeling's abode. It was a wedding gift from his father, with herself as one of the shell seekers depicted in the painting. The story opens when Penelope is sixty years old, and has just been out of hospital and recovering from a heart attack. After that, the story runs parallelly between Penelope's past and present, giving us the view of how she had become what she is now, and why she does things that is incomprehensible to her children.

🐚 Penelope is the daughter of a bohemian parents; her father was a painter who married a much-younger French girl. And so, Penelope had been brought up quite unconventionally, and has an unconventional way of thinking too. For her, money means freedom. And it is money that created diversions between the mother and the three children: the bubbly, self-indulgent Nancy, the sensible, businesslike woman Olivia, and the selfish, greedy Noel. Nancy and Noel, especially, have been pestering her to sell The Shell Seekers and other paintings by grandpa Lawrence Stern, whose name had been resurfacing lately in art galleries. But Penelope was adamant, the paintings were hers - her father had given them to her only, and it's up to her what she'd like to do with it. She had done everything to make her children happy - she had even put up with her ill-suited and cheating husband for the sake of the children. And now it's her turn to make herself happy - free and happy. And I agreed with Penelope 100%.

🐚 I loved Penelope from the start, both as young girl and elderly lady. I always believe that when a child is brought up with love and trust, the child would be blooming to be unique, affectionate, and self-confident adult. I loved the relationship between Sophie - Penelope's French mother, and her daughter. Their relationship reminded me of mine and my mother - not that my mom's a bohemian, but she always put trust in me, and let me be what I want to be. Unfortunately for Penelope, only Olivia who has similarity to her mother; while Nancy and Noel must have inherited their father's character - money-oriented and petty.

🐚 I couldn't decide which part of the book I loved most - each had charm and interesting characters. Penelope's wartime story with, first, her husband, and then with the only man she ever loved, and also her friends who were evacuees, living at the family's house? Or Penelope's story as an old lady living alone in the village, befriended the young gardener and a girl that acquainted to Olivia, of whose future she helped building? Each had its warmth and charm, and I loved how Pilcher interwoven the past and the present into one wholesome story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

Taken at the Flood (1948) by Agatha Christie

💜 It was during a raid in The World War II, that Hercule Poirot, sheltering in a club, had heard an interesting story from a Major Porter. He was reading a news about the death of one Gordon Cloade, and how his new wife would inherit his estate. He - Major Porter - befriended the wife's former husband, a man named Robert Underhay, who was believed to be dead in Africa, though Major Porter was sure the man wasn't dead, and surely, one day he would appear in England. The story quite intrigued Poirot, and he was reminded to it several months later when he was asked to identify a mysteriously murdered man.

💜 The Cloade family (the late Gordon Cloade's siblings and their family) had been dependent to Gordon; he financed their expenses, provided them with capitals to start a venture - in short, he always told them to never think about money, as his wealth would someday be divided amongst them all. And so, his sudden death left the family vulnerable, and in want of ready money for their household expenses, or to continue on their ventures. They started asking Gordon's widow - a young and naive Rosaleen - for money. Her brother David protected his sister like a lioness protecting its cub.

💜 One day a stranger called Enoch Arden came to the village's inn and blackmailed David that he knew how to find Rosaleen's first husband. This conversation was heard by the landlady, who then told one of the family members. The next day, the man was found dead with his head smashed. Of course, David was instantly suspected. He had the strongest motive, since, if Robert Underhay was found alive, his sister wouldn't inherit the estate after all. But was he the real murderer? And why did Rowley Cloade asked Poirot to find the whereabout of Robert Underhay? Has that something to do with the fact that Lynn Marchmont, his fiance, seemed to be attracted to David Hunter?

💜 All in all, it was an interesting case. I loved that Poirot was not involved in the case until about half the story. If gave Christie ample opportunity to focus on the family dynamic, giving each character (suspects) to reveal their true selves, but without giving up too much to keep us in the dark of the murderer's identity until almost at the end. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Missing or Murdered (1929) by Robin Forsythe

🤎 I have read two Algernon Vereker's mysteries before, and have enjoyed both. One thing that make them interesting is the friendly competition between Vereker - the amateur detective, and Detective Inspector Heather from Scotland Yard. I always enjoy their bantering, usually over a bottle of aperitif or beer at the bar. This book is the first in the series, and the one where they both met for the first time. I've been excited over this one, and in the end it proved to be satisfying!

🤎 Lord Bygrave from the Ministry office seemed to had vanished into thin air the day after he last left the office for a fortnight holiday in his country house. Detective Inspector Heather from Scotland Yard was in charge of the case, and Vereker, being Lord Bygrave intimate friend and executor, joins Heather in the investigation. The first thing to be established is whether Lord Bygrave is dead or alive, missing or murdered,  - hence the title. But that is difficult to determine. A lot of things were discovered, of course, such as the visit of a mysterious veiled lady shortly before the disappearance; bonds missing from his personal cabinet; a proposal to his beloved niece from a man he didn't approve of. In short, there are several possibilities, but very limited clues.

🤎 Like the usual Golden Age mysteries, it has several plot twists and red herrings, and we are continually wondering whether the man is missing or murdered. The story revolves around these possibilities with its many red herrings, till almost the very end. And that made it highly entertaining, besides the challenge between the Scotland yard and the amateur detective, of who could solve the puzzle first - each with his own strategy of pulling the other's legs, though with good sport, without jeopardizing the case.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐