Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: Reviews for December #AgathaChristieSS25

The Thumb Mark of St. Peter

My last review for this year's Agatha Christie Short Stories is coincidentally the only story (or case) contributed by Miss Marple at the Thursday Night Club. If her life had seemed to have been uneventful in St. Mead, Miss Marple was by no means bored. As she was observing the life of the inhabitant of that small village, she learned a lot about human character; that would be her foundation to help solving so many cases which otherwise baffled the police. In this story, the case concerned herself. Miss Marple's niece has had an unsuitable marriage with a man with violent temper, who's inherited insanity from his ancestors. Ten years later the husband died suddenly one night, allegedly from mushrooms poisoning during dinner. But rumors soon started circulating that Mabel, the wife, had probably poisoned him by arsenic, so that everyone in the area avoided her.

Upon interviewing the cook and house maid, Miss Marple learned that the deceased had been rambling something about "pile of fish" when he's dying. Baffled that the exhumation result which was inconclusive, Miss Marple said a prayer while taking a walk in the street, and lo and behold... there she found the solution of the case. It has, indeed, something to do with fish. The "thumb mark of St. Peter" refers to the characteristic dark spots on John Dory's fish flank, which are said to be the thumbprint left by the apostle when he lifted the fish from the sea. What an interesting feature Agatha Christie had infused in this story. I can imagine how Agatha Christie, upon learning about the saying, thought instantly how she could incorporate that into a murder story. I always love her ingenuity! An interesting fact: do you know that the John Dory is also called "St. Peter's fish" in some countries?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Fruitful Sunday

One Sunday morning, Dorothy, a housemaid, is enjoying a Sunday drive with her young man with a picnic in the picture. On the way, they are stopping at a small town, where they find a fruit stall. On the display is a pretty fruit basket full of peaches, which Edward, the young man, reluctantly buy for his sweetheart. The seller keeps saying that 'they're getting more than their money's worth'. Dorothy and Edward are soon eating the fruits near the stream by the road, while reading the headline of a stolen ruby necklace worth fifty thousand pounds in the Sunday paper. When they have eaten all the fruits, what do you think they'd found at the bottom of the basket? A ruby necklace with the same specification they had read about in the paper. Is it really the stolen necklace? How did they end up in the fruit basket? And what shall they do with it? Edward is for reporting it to the police, but Dorothy insisting that they sell it.

This is another of a non-crime-mystery story. There's no mystery at all, just a fun, light story to enjoy leisurely on a Sunday afternoon.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: OCTOBER Reviews #AgathaChristieSS25

Motive vs. Opportunity

Mr. Petherick, the solicitor, was the next in line to tell his story (or problem, as they called it) for the meeting. The others are afraid that his would be full of legal aspects, but Mr. Petherick confirmed that it's not - it's a simple case. In the end, it proved to be a simple case as promised, with a childish twist.

A client of Mr. Petherick - he named him Simon Clode - was a wealthy man, who's lost by death, first, his only son, and afterwards, the only granddaughter whom he loved dearly. His orphaned nephews and niece were now lived with him. He left in his will, his estate equally to the three. Still on his grief over his late granddaughter, he met a spiritualist called Mrs. Eurydice Spragg, under whose influence he soon found himself. Mr. Petherick was greatly alarmed when, on his dying bed, Simon Clode made a new will, leaving most of his wealth to the spiritualist.
Mr. Petherick did the business, and after the will was signed, he put the document in his overcoat. However, when he opened it after Mr. Clode's death, the will was just a blank sheet. How could it be? Who had replaced the real will with a blank paper? Mrs. Spragg had opportunity, but certainly not a motive; one of the nephews had motive, but not opportunity. At the end, the solution was really a very simple and childish, that it gave Mrs. Marple a good chuckle when it's her turn to offer explanation. What an entertaining little read, and it gives further proof of how fun it would have been to be acquainted with the cheeky Dame Agatha Christie!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Accident

An ex CID Inspector Evans who now lived in an English village told his friend, a Captain Haydock, that he was certain that a Mrs. Merrowdene, was none other than Mrs. Anthony, who had been charged, and acquitted, of poisoning her husband with arsenic, nine years ago. He's theorizing that once a murderer, one will most certainly commit another - in short, there's always a pattern. He found the pattern, and when he met Professor Merrowdene carrying a new life insurance policy, Evans was 100% sure that the woman was ready for action once more. He visited their home, and lo and behold, Mrs. Merrowdene even performed the act before his eyes - what a clever and cheeky woman she was! Now it's up to him to prevent another murder. Would he be succeeded in doing that? Well, I must say that I didn't see that twist coming! That was a genius one from Agatha Christie! The last few sentences implied a good many things that will leave you aghast at the end - it altered the way you se the case, and made it seems like a simple, but complicated one. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐