Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025 #AgathaChristieSS25: OCTOBER

This month we will read one Miss Marple's story, and the other a non detective one.

MOTIVE VS. OPPORTUNITY

(a Miss Marple story)

A rich man intends to leave his estate to his nephew and two nieces, but just before he dies he changes his will to include a medium who has convinced him his nephew is an impostor. When the rich man dies, they discover his new will is missing. Who among the many suspects could have stolen it? The only people who had a motive had no opportunity – it is left to Miss Marple to solve the case.

The story was published in the Royal Magazine in the UK in 1928 and in the US, under the revised title Where's the Catch? (which I personally would have liked better) later that year. It was included in the 1932 collection, The Thirteen Problems.

ACCIDENT

(a non detective story)

An ex-Inspector spots a woman in the local village who he is sure is a murderer, and who walks free through a country village. Would he be able to prove she is guilty of her crimes when every case looks like an accident?

The story first appeared in the collection The Listerdale Mystery, 1934, in the UK and was published in the US in the collection The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories, 1948. It has never been adapted, though I wish it would - it seems quite interesting!


Which one does appeal to you more? For me, it's the non detective one. It reminded me instantly of And Then There Were None, where every crime committed by the ten people, all seemed like accidents.