Agatha Christie Short Stories 2024 - January #AgathaChristieSS24

Here's to kick-off our year of reading Agatha Christie's short stories, #AgathaChristieSS24! More details about this event/project, you can get from this post, as well as list of titles we're going to read along.

In January we will read two stories, starting from the very first story Christie published in 1924, a century ago!

THE COMING OF MR. QUIN

The story was first published in 1924, in The Grand Magazine, as The Passing of Mr Quin. It was later included in the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin, published by Collins in 1930, and also Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery, published by Harper Collins in 2020. The collection was dedicated to its eponymous hero and is the only book of Agatha Christie's to be dedicated to a fictional character. Agatha Christie considered Mr Harley Quin her favourite creation, always associated with love and death.

The inspiration for Mr Quin came from a set of Dresden figures on Christie's mother's mantelpiece, which fascinated her as a child. They represented the Italian commedia dell'arte, a form of theatre characterised by masked types, and one of these characters was Harlequin. In Mr Quin stories Agatha Christie indulges in her fascination with the supernatural as well as her love of theatre and performance.

If you don't have copy of the collection but are subscribed to Everand (formerly Scribd), you can listen to the audiobook here , or here  if you prefer Audible.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ITALIAN NOBLEMAN

A perfect locked room mystery for Hercule Poirot: a dead man, alone in a locked apartment, beside an eaten dinner laid for three.

The story was first published as a book in the collection Poirot Investigates, 1924, by Bodley Head. The story was adapted for the TV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot in 1990, starring David Suchet.

You can read the e-book (free) here , as well as from Gutenberg. Or here  if you're subscribed to Everand.

Don't forget to comment below if you have read them, or leave your post's URL if you also reviewed them on your blog or social media. You can also tag me on Twitter. Check also my review post, as I might include a discussion topic or two about the stories. Happy reading!