The Listerdale Mystery: “Mrs. St. Vincent was adding up figures.”
Detective: None, as these are various tales of murder & suspense
Published: June 1934
Length: 192 pages
Setting: various
The Listerdale Mystery by Agatha Christie
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Category Archives: Author: Christie
Unfinished Portrait by Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie)
“Do you know the feeling you have when you know something quite well and yet for the life of you can’t recollect it?”
Oh, wow! After my first Westmacott novel, Giant’s Bread, I was really dreading Unfinished Portrait, but what a masterpiece of human psychology, human frailty and the unexpected journey that life has in store for all of us!
The novel begins on an island where a successful portrait painter meets a young woman who is ready to take her own life. Through speaking with her, he learns of her childhood and marriage and both the humorous and tragic circumstances that slowly led her to where she is that day.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express: “It was five o’clock on a winter’s morning in Syria.”
Also Published as: Murder in the Calais Coach
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: January 1934
Length: 265 pages
Setting: Aleppo, Syria; Stamboul (Istanbul), Turkey; somewhere in Yugoslavia
In Murder on the Orient Express, after travelling from Aleppo to Istanbul, Hercule Poirot receives a telegram to return home and he books passage on The Orient Express, a well-known passenger train. Also onboard are:
The Hound of Death and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
The Hound of Death: “It was from William P. Ryan, American newspaper correspondent, that I first heard of the affair.”
Detective: None, as these are tales of the supernatural
Published: October 1933
Length: 218 pages
Setting: various:
A compilation of 12 short stories, The Hound of Death and Other Stories are not mysteries, but instead are tales of the macabre, tales of the supernatural, tales that are linked to the scary unknown. The tales were as follows:
Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie
Lord Edgware Dies: “The memory of the public is short.”
Also Published as: Thirteen at Dinner
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: September 1933
Length: 269 pages
Setting: London
The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
The Thirteen Problems: “Unsolved mysteries.”
Detective: Miss Marple
Published: June 1932
Compilation: Short Stories
Length: 256 pages
Setting: St. Mary Mead, Downshire (fictional)
During two different dinner parties in St. Mary Mead, Miss Marple is host and guest. There is a suggestion of the sharing of puzzling mysteries, where one person in the group tells a story and the others surmise its outcome or solution. Surprisingly, the small town spinster, Miss Marple, demonstrates her superior brain power and deductive skills. As each dinner guest shares a puzzling mystery and the others surmise the solution, Miss Marple is able to navigate all the clues, both obvious and unexpected, to solve each mystery in her quiet yet practical manner.
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
“No seaside town in the south of England is, I think, as attractive as St. Loo.”
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: 1932
Length: 270 pages
Setting: St. Loo(e), Cornwall
The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
“Major Burnaby drew on his gum boots, buttoned his overcoat collar around his neck, took from the shelf near the door a hurricane lantern, and cautiously opened the front door of his little bungalow and peered out.”
Originally Published as: The Murder at Hazelmoor
Detective: Emily Trefusis with Inspector Narracott
Published: 1931
Length: 228 pages
Setting: Sittaford & Exhampton, Dartmoor
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Murder At The Vicarage: “It is difficult to know quite where to begin this story, but I have fixed my choice on a certain Wednesday at luncheon in the Vicarage.”
Detective: Miss Marple (first appearance)
Published: 1930
Length: 285 pages
Setting: St. Mary Mead, Downshire (fictional)
Giant’s Bread by Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie)
Giant’s Bread: “It was New Year’s Eve.”
Main Character: Vernon Deyre
Published: April 1930 (14th published book)
Length: 437 pages
Setting: various: Abbots Puisannts, London, Germany, Holland, Moscow, New York, etc.
My chronological Agatha Christie read continues with Giant’s Bread, her first novel published under the pseudonym, Mary Westmacott. There is no detective work in this story, as Christie/Westmacott treats her readers to a very modern novel. In any case, it must have been a much needed break from the detective novels Christie was expected to write.
Covering a vast number of characters and spanning a few decades of years, this first contemporary novel written under a pseudonym, proves Christie wanted this genre of her writing judged on its own merits instead of being buoyed up by her previous successes.