Announcing Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025 #AgathaChristieSS25

I'm glad to announce that the Agatha Christie Short Stories Read Along is back for the second year: 2025! I've enjoyed it this year, and decided to do another....

AGATHA CHRISTIE SHORT STORIES 2025

What is it?

• Reading & reviewing Christie's short stories as standalones.
• Two short stories a month, starting from 1st January to 31st December 2024.
• I have curated twenty four stories with equal proportions of the Poirot's, Miss Marple's, Tommy & Tuppence's, and some of the non detectives. I omitted the Harlequin's and Parker Pyne's next year, since they were not of my favorites in 2024. And this time I picked stories from four collections only, so we won't need to provide too many books for the read along. Without further ado, here's...

The Reading List

 
JANUARY: The Adventure of the Cheap Flat (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
JANUARY: A Fairy in the Flat (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
FEBRUARY: The Tuesday Night Club (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
FEBRUARY: The Listerdale Mystery (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery
MARCH: The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
MARCH: A Pot of Tea (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
APRIL: The Idol House of Astarte (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
APRIL: Philomel Cottage (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery
MAY: The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
MAY: The Affair of the Pink Pearl (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
JUNE: Ingots of Gold (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
JUNE: Sing a Song of Sixpence (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery
JULY: The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
JULY: The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
AUGUST: The Blood Stained Pavement (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
AUGUST: The Manhood of Edward Robinson (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery
SEPTEMBER: The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
SEPTMEBER: The Case of the Missing Lady (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
OCTOBER: Motive vs. Opportunity (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
OCTOBER: Accident (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery
NOVEMBER: The Kidnapped Prime Minister (Poirot) - from Poirot Investigates
NOVEMBER: Blindman's Buff (Tommy & Tuppence) - from Partners in Crime
DECEMBER: The Thumb Mark of St. Peter (Miss Marple) - from The Thirteen Problems
DECEMBER: A Fruitful Sunday (NN) - from The Listerdale Mystery

How it works

• Early each month I will post a reminder of what two stories we will read that month, as well as any background info, if any. You can put links to your reviews of the month in the comment section.
• You're free to put reviews of two stories in one post if you like, or in two separate posts, as long as it's published within the allocated month.
• You're free to post on your blog, twitter, goodreads, or instagram. Just note that I might not do instagram posts/comments, but as long as you put the link in the comment, others might find your reviews.
• You can join in whichever month/story you'd like, no obligation to complete all - it's not a real challenge! As long as you read them within the month.
• Don't forget to visit, read, and comment each other's review - it's always fun to exchange idea/opinion with others who read the same thing with you!
• The hashtag we will use: #AgathaChristieSS25

Will you join me next year?

Jade Dragon Mountain (2015) by Elsa Hart

🏮 Jade Dragon Mountain is Elsa Hart's debut historical mystery novel, set in Dayan, a small mountainous town at the Chinese border with Tibet, in 18th century. Our sleuth is Li Du, an imperial librarian in exile, who is visiting his cousin, who were the magistrate of Dayan, during his journey. Dayan was an insignificant town in the vast empire, but at present it's proudly preparing for the upcoming visit of the Emperor himself, as a total solar eclipse would occur in several days.

🏮 Chinese people at that time believed that the Emperor himself was able to command an astronomical event such as solar eclipse. And it was paramount that his people would watch as the Emperor commanded the sun himself. Failed to do so, he would lose dignity and his people's trust in his divinity. It was going to be a grand spectacle, and the magistrate was dreaming to get promotion had the festival been succeeded. Unfortunately, a murder threatened to thwart the magistrate's plans. And it's up to Li Du to solve it before the Emperor's arrival, or else, his future, too, would equally be bleak.

🏮 The murdered victim was a foreigner, a Jesuit priest called Brother Peter. He died instantly after drinking his tea. The Jesuits had a big influence in the kingdom, as advisers of its Bureau of Astronomy. It was the Jesuits who created annual calendars of astronomical events. And that's how the Emperor actually knew when the next solar eclipse would happen, and timed his arrivals well to arrive in time with it.

🏮 Li Du's investigation revealed the intrigue, conspiracy, and politics inside the magistrate's mansion as well as within the kingdom. Who, among its present occupants, was the murderer? Was it the magistrate himself? Or his first consort, who's afraid to be left alone if the magistrate was to be promoted to Beijing? Could it be the fanatic nationalist of the magistrate's secretary, or the old librarian? Or was it a foreigner who poisoned Brother Peter? There're another Jesuit priest who's staying there, and an East India Company merchant with his fascinating astronomical instrument. One of them could have wanted to do harm.|

🏮 All in all, this was an exciting read. The plot was not very complicated, perhaps. I guessed the whodunnit quite easily. But the historical aspect, the rather long but vivid descriptive mention of the building interior, streets, and public places, made up for it's rather weak plot. The author succeeded in bringing us to the 18th century of China, and her researches were superb. Loved it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Babbacombe's (1941) by Susan Scarlett #DeanStreetDecember

Book Beginnings on Fridays (hosted by Rose City Reader)

We are this term losing a head girl who has been in every way splendid. For me, and for the staff, and the school, next term will be the poorer because Elizabeth Carson is not with us.

👗 I have read three Susan Scarlett's so far (two adults' and one children's), and they're all so satisfying, that I decided to keep exploring her books. Babbacombe's combined working life, family dynamics, and romance. Beth Carson is just finishing school with great marks, and is now ready to enter working life as a junior in Gowns department at the Babbacombe's - a department store belongs to old Mr. Babbacombe.

👗 Beth is lucky because she would join her father, who has been working at the same establishment for many years. How many girls could boast the privilege to go to and from work in their father's company and protection? That would be an ultimate father-daughter time. Providing they have an intimate and affectionate relationship, which the Carsons possess. They embody the perfect family one could ever wish - loving each other, and thriving in each others' being. And now it's time to throw some prickly pins into their blissful existence.

👗 First, a spoilt, self-centered cousin has arrived from the country to live with them: a Dulcie Carson. Her single aim is to get a rich husband. Then Edward, Beth's brother, begins to show early stages of cataracts which affect his sights. An operation would be performed to see whether his sights would be improved or go totally blind. A devastating condition that shakes the family. Lastly, old Babbacombe's ne'er-do-well bur handsome son, David Babbacombe, who entered Beth's life as she was trapped inside the lift with him, and scorned him for not earning his own money, which in turn inspired him to get a job at the Babbacombe's.

Friday 56 Quote (hosted by Heads Full of Books:

You know, she was a girl of sense. I'm not sure she wasn't right. How would it be if I came back into Babbacombe's? ~ David to his father

👗 It's not difficult to imagine how the story would go from here (and even how it would end). And your guesses wouldn't have been very far from true. This is that kind of story, but with a cheerful and affectionate tone, as well as vividly portrayed characters. The characters are the strongest point of this book. I loved the family's dynamic; the way they daily interact. You can feel that they belong to each other, and feel at ease among the others. They become companions and partners, though they keep respecting each according to their merits. It reminds me a lot of my own family. I loved too, that Scarlett didn't "punish" the antagonist too severely.

👗 Babbacombe's reminded me a lot of Émile Zola's The Ladies Paradise. Both have similarities; from the setting (a department store), to the heroine (Denise and Beth are both junior salesgirl in Gowns department), and they both fell in love with their bosses, though in Beth's case, the boss' son. Denise and Beth are also torn between the decency of class difference and their hearts, with Mouret and Babbacombe are both despaired by their girls' aloofness. I wonder if Susan Scarlett was inspired by The Ladies Paradise, though Scarlett's version was stripped of any Victorian's superfluous exaggeration, typical especially of Zola's. All in all, this is a charming story and perfect read for #DeanStreetDecember. Many thanks to Dean Street Press to republish it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Dean Street December #DeanStreetDecember

hosted by Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home

Mini Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS24: December

The Chocolate Box

Poirot is telling Hastings his humiliating failure when he's still a detective in Belgian Police force. At the time when there's struggle between state and church in France, a fanatical anti-Catholic deputy was murdered just one day short of becoming Minister. Reluctantly, for Poirot was a Catholic himself (a surprising fact for me!), he took to the investigation. He found the clue in a new box of chocolate on the table; the mismatched color of the box and the lid was suspicious. The murdered man was fond of chocolate, and one of the house member or his guests must have put the poison inside of those chocolates. But who? Could Poirot solve the mystery based on the evident? Or did he made an incorrect solution?

I liked this one, a very simple and basic murder. Poirot failed this time because he hadn't acquired the art of psychology yet, and just depended on the facts. It is an iconic case too, because "chocolate box" would become Hasting's keyword to remind Poirot to be humble - which he fails all the time! LOL...

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Christmas Tragedy

In a rather similar theme with Poirot's story, Miss Marple lamented that she had once failed to prevent a murder. She met a couple in a Hydro resort, and knew at once that the husband was getting a way to rid of his wife. She had warned the rather foolish but devoted wife, and was cautious not to let the couple alone. But the wife was found murdered one day, when the husband had a perfect alibi. Had Miss Marple, like Poirot, made a wrong deduction after all? Or was this a clever murder?

This one, by far, is my most favorite of Miss Marple's stories. The old spinster appears less vague than ever, and the murder plot is one of Christie's genius - seems simple but very clever.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2024: DECEMBER #AgathaChristieSS24

Two more stories, and then we will complete our Agatha Christie Short Stories 2024 challenge! How have you fared? I wish you've been having fun with these stories - some are probably delightful, the others are boring. In general, I'm glad I've decided to do this. The question remains, should I do it again next year? But first, let's have a look at our two last stories for December. We'll have a Miss Marple and a Poirot - both are a bit Christmassy, and accidentally, have a similar theme. 

Keep scrolling down to see whether there will be another #AgathaChristieSS or not... 

THE CHOCOLATE BOX

Poirot’s only failed case. A French Deputy is found dead on the eve of becoming a minister. This is a rare example of Poirot acknowledging failure and also an account of his life in Brussels as a member of the police force.

First published as a book in the US version of the collection Poirot Investigates (1925), it wouldn’t appear in a UK collection until Poirot’s Early Cases (1974).

A CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY

Miss Marple meets a couple and immediately knows the husband means to kill the wife. But when the wife is found murdered, he has an alibi. Could our beloved amateur sleuth have made a mistake?

The story was published with its revised title in the 1932 collection The Thirteen Problems, and it has a similar plot device as in one of her famous novels.


Now, what about 2025? Will there be another #AgathaChristieSS? The answer is.... YES! We are going to do #AgathaChristieSS25! I will post the detail, including twelve titles that we will read, in a few weeks. Meanwhile, have fun with the December titles!

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (2002) by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Book Beginnings on Fridays (hosted by Rose City Reader)

The old man's eyes struck me first. They rested deep in their sockets, and he seemed unable to take them off me. Granted, everyone in the teahouse was starring at me more or less unabashedly, but he was the most brazen. As if I were some exotic creature he'd never seen before.

💓 Julia Win came to Burma to seek answer. Answer to her father's mysterious disappearance four years ago from New York, and from her and her mother's life. One day his father Tin Win left abroad, but never returned. They found out that he went to Burma, instead of the country he intended to. But there his traces disappeared. Four years later Julia read a love letter to her father written by a Burmese woman called Mi Mi. Who is Mi Mi? And why had her father never spoken about the first twenty years of his life in Burma to anybody, not even his wife? Julia decided to go to Kalaw, Burma, to get to the truth.

💓 In Kalaw, she was met by a strange old man called U Ba. That's the encounter in the opening line. He told her a wonderful story of her father - the first twenty years of his life he never told anyone before, including his relationship with Mi Mi. And what a story that is!

💓 The story U Ba told Julia was, for Westerner even at that time (1960s), extraordinary. Superstition and astrologer were two dominant things in Burmese people in every step of their lives, typical of South East Asian country whose people were poor and low educated. Tin Win was born on the "wrong day", and so their parents expected only bad things to him and themselves. Every calamity was blamed on Tin Win; and he grew up as a sensitive, affectionate, intelligent boy, capable of great love, but never been loved.

Friday 56 Quote (hosted by Heads Full of Books):

Tin Win's life had not spanned twenty-one days when, at least from his mother's perspective, its whole course had been decided. Lived. Forfeited.

💓 When his mother, who was his only family left, abandoned him, it was too much for Tin Win. I literally wept with him. How could a mother do that to her only child? No matter how stupid or superstitious one is, surely a mother should have had an instinct to protect her child! But she left and never returned, so Tin Win was brought up by a very kind neighbor, a woman called Suu Kyi, as her own son. Then, another calamity came, little Tin Win got a rare cataract on both eyes and gone blind.

💓 A wise monk at the monastery taught Tin Win that human being is capable of perceiving things much better and sharper when he use all his other senses besides the eyesight. And Tin Win began to be aware of even the most imperceptible sounds around him; the flutter of a butterfly's wings, the rustle of certain leaves (every tree made different sound), and even... the heartbeats of people around him. Particularly, that of a girl of his age, named Mi Mi.

💓 Mi Mi is crippled, she couldn't walk due to her stiff legs (polio?), so she crawled on all four to get anywhere. The most undignified way a human being could imagine to move, but surprisingly, Mi Mi always moved very gracefully. She was always patient and never complained of her condition. Soon Tin Win and Mi Mi became inseparable. Everyday, year after year, Tin Win was seen carrying Mi Mi on his back, while the girl is guiding him, becoming his eyes, during their excursions. And just as they are dreaming of marriage, and what they will do to build a future, a summon from a rich uncle in New York came - Tin Win must go away from everything he loved in the world - his Kalaw, his home, and his love, Mi Mi. And that's how he later met Julia's mother. What happened then? Had he ever met Mi Mi again? And will Julia reunite with his father in Burma? Does he live with Mi Mi? You must read this amazing story to find the answer.

💓 Suffice to say, this is a magnificent book. It's been quite a long time since I last read a book that has left deep Impression in me long after I finished it. And I have no doubt this would be my most favorite book of the year. I can't find appropriate words to describe it - it's a humbling experience to read this book. It's tender, deep, touching, and written so beautifully it made me want to cry. I admire the kind of love between Tin Win and Mi Mi. It's not a passionate one that leaves you wretched when you're separated, nor is it a selfish one that you have to have the other for yourselves no matter what. No, it's much deeper and beyond all that; no pain, no jealousy, just contentment that you have loved and been loved, and no matter how far away you are from each other, that love is always in you, no one or nothing can take it away from you.

Two of my favorite quotes:

"And so there must be in life something like a catastrophic turning point, when the world as we know it ceases to exist. A moment that transforms us into a different person from one heartbeat to the next. And if these turning points are real, are we aware of them as they happen, or do we recognize the discontinuity only much later, in hindsight?"

"Do we leave the dead behind or do we take them with us? I think we take them with us. They accompany us. They remain with us, if in another form. We have to learn to live with them and their deaths."

Rating: 💓💓💓💓💓

Dean Street December Reading List #DeanStreetDecember

December is just around the corner, and that means, it's time for a reading list for one of my favorite yearly reading events: #DeanStreetDecember, hosted by the lovely Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home. For you who isn't familiar yet, Dean Street Press is a publisher devoted to republishing lost gems of vintage literature, from Golden Age Detective novels to middlebrow novels by twentieth century women writers. And December is always the perfect month to be sucked into those kinds of books, don't you agree?

This year in particular, I don't feel like reading some sappy Christmas-themed books. After an exhausting second semester, both in work and in personal life, I am craving for gentle things, not overexcited and loud noises which Christmas always brings. So, I decided to devote my December mostly with books from Dean Street Press, especially those from the Furrowed Middlebrow selection. Here's my initial list:

Babbacombe's by Susan Scarlet

Near Neighbors by Molly Clavering

Because of Sam by Molly Clavering

Kate Hardy by D.E. Stevenson

A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair

I don't know whether I can manage to read, let alone review, more than five, but I also have Miss Granby's Secret in reserve, if-just if-I'd be able to squeeze one more.

How about you? Would you join Dean Street December? What do you plan to read?