Rule of Thumb
by Agatha Christie
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The Rats + The Patient + The Wasp's Nest
A review of the Samuel French / Concord Theatricals online eBook (December 18, 2019) of three 1-Act plays first premiered in 1937, 1962 and 1962.
Only a 3-star "Like" for these short 1-Act plays, the first two are OK with typical Christie end twists, but the Poirot is based on the somewhat same-titled short story [book:Wasps' Nest: a Hercule Poirot Short Story|13611384] (1928) and is rather dull as it only has Poirot preventing a murder rather than solving one. [book:The Rats: A Play In One Act|1667912] has two people lured to an apartment where they are framed for a crime. [book:The Patient|1298006] has the survivor of a murder attempt set up as bait in a hospital in order to trap the culprit.
The show more other irritant is that the publisher Concord Theatricals has published these in 2 or 3 different variations. The proper buy is to get [book:The Rule of Three|18140822] which drops the Poirot but adds Afternoon at the Seaside. Those 3 were apparently performed together as a triple bill back in 1962.
Then to complete your collection of Christie's theatrical shorts it would be [book:A Poirot Double Bill|50309557] which has The Wasp's Nest and The Yellow Iris. I made the mistake of getting this odd mixed-bag with 2 from one and 1 from the other.
This is my fourth review of Agatha Christie's shorter (usually 25-40 minute) plays written as originals or adapted from short stories back in the day. These are probably the most obscure works of Christie. The usually thorough Wikipedia bibliography of Christie only lists 5 of them. Even the Agatha Christie official website only lists 6 of them. I can find at least 9 (see under Trivia and Links below), although one of those is not publicly available.
These three 1-Act plays counts against my Complete Agatha Christie binge read goal, so as of early June 2026 I have 11 novels (including 3 remaining Westmacotts), 3 short story collections, 9.5 full-length theatrical plays, 2 short one-Act plays) and 1 autobiography left to go.
Trivia and Links
As best as I can currently find there are at least 8 of the shorter radio plays which are available to read or to listen to as of June 2026. A 9th radio play, the original Three Blind Mice (1947), does not have a surviving radio recording or a publicly available script. The dates and timings are from various sources (Official Agatha Christie website, Wikipedia, publishers Concord Theatricals/Samuel French, Audible Audio) with timings approximate and some still to be confirmed. Not all of these plays or anthologies have a separate listing on Goodreads.
I have stroked through those that I have now read or listened to or which are not available. The stroke-throughs are not visible on all platforms (e.g. mobile phones), so I have also marked them with an X.
1. [book:The Wasp's Nest|49757297] (Originally broadcast as a live television play on the BBC June 18, 1937) adapted from the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story (1928), also available as part of A Poirot Double Bill & Rule of Three & Rule of Thumb - 25 minutes X
2. The Yellow Iris (1937) adapted from the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story (1937), also available as part of [book:Murder in the Studio|213739289] and/or A Poirot Double Bill - 30? minutes
3. Three Blind Mice (May 1947), the original radio play version of what later became a short story, and then a full length stage play [book:The Mousetrap, A Play In Two Acts|20708230] (1952). No recording or publicly available script exists. X
4. Butter in a Lordly Dish (1948), the original BBC audio recording is also available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 30 minutes X
5. [book:Personal Call|23016790] (1954), the original BBC audio recording is also available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 30 minutes X
6. Murder in the Mews (1955) an adaptation of the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story / novella (1936), there does not appear to be a printed version of this, but the original BBC audio recording is available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 60 minutes [this adaptation is not by Christie herself and therefore may not be considered part of the canon, but it was made in her lifetime so presumably she had some right of approval.] X
7. [book:Afternoon At The Seaside|643355] (1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] - 55? minutes
8. The Patient (First performed at the Duchess Theatre, London December 29, 1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] & Rule of Thumb - 40 minutes X
9. The Rats (1961, first performed at the Duchess Theatre, London, December 20, 1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] & Rule of Thumb- 35 minutes X show less
A review of the Samuel French / Concord Theatricals online eBook (December 18, 2019) of three 1-Act plays first premiered in 1937, 1962 and 1962.
Only a 3-star "Like" for these short 1-Act plays, the first two are OK with typical Christie end twists, but the Poirot is based on the somewhat same-titled short story [book:Wasps' Nest: a Hercule Poirot Short Story|13611384] (1928) and is rather dull as it only has Poirot preventing a murder rather than solving one. [book:The Rats: A Play In One Act|1667912] has two people lured to an apartment where they are framed for a crime. [book:The Patient|1298006] has the survivor of a murder attempt set up as bait in a hospital in order to trap the culprit.
The show more other irritant is that the publisher Concord Theatricals has published these in 2 or 3 different variations. The proper buy is to get [book:The Rule of Three|18140822] which drops the Poirot but adds Afternoon at the Seaside. Those 3 were apparently performed together as a triple bill back in 1962.
Then to complete your collection of Christie's theatrical shorts it would be [book:A Poirot Double Bill|50309557] which has The Wasp's Nest and The Yellow Iris. I made the mistake of getting this odd mixed-bag with 2 from one and 1 from the other.
This is my fourth review of Agatha Christie's shorter (usually 25-40 minute) plays written as originals or adapted from short stories back in the day. These are probably the most obscure works of Christie. The usually thorough Wikipedia bibliography of Christie only lists 5 of them. Even the Agatha Christie official website only lists 6 of them. I can find at least 9 (see under Trivia and Links below), although one of those is not publicly available.
These three 1-Act plays counts against my Complete Agatha Christie binge read goal, so as of early June 2026 I have 11 novels (including 3 remaining Westmacotts), 3 short story collections, 9.5 full-length theatrical plays, 2 short one-Act plays) and 1 autobiography left to go.
Trivia and Links
As best as I can currently find there are at least 8 of the shorter radio plays which are available to read or to listen to as of June 2026. A 9th radio play, the original Three Blind Mice (1947), does not have a surviving radio recording or a publicly available script. The dates and timings are from various sources (Official Agatha Christie website, Wikipedia, publishers Concord Theatricals/Samuel French, Audible Audio) with timings approximate and some still to be confirmed. Not all of these plays or anthologies have a separate listing on Goodreads.
I have stroked through those that I have now read or listened to or which are not available. The stroke-throughs are not visible on all platforms (e.g. mobile phones), so I have also marked them with an X.
1. [book:The Wasp's Nest|49757297] (Originally broadcast as a live television play on the BBC June 18, 1937) adapted from the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story (1928), also available as part of A Poirot Double Bill & Rule of Three & Rule of Thumb - 25 minutes X
2. The Yellow Iris (1937) adapted from the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story (1937), also available as part of [book:Murder in the Studio|213739289] and/or A Poirot Double Bill - 30? minutes
3. Three Blind Mice (May 1947), the original radio play version of what later became a short story, and then a full length stage play [book:The Mousetrap, A Play In Two Acts|20708230] (1952). No recording or publicly available script exists. X
4. Butter in a Lordly Dish (1948), the original BBC audio recording is also available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 30 minutes X
5. [book:Personal Call|23016790] (1954), the original BBC audio recording is also available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 30 minutes X
6. Murder in the Mews (1955) an adaptation of the same-titled Hercule Poirot short story / novella (1936), there does not appear to be a printed version of this, but the original BBC audio recording is available as part of the audiobook [book:Agatha Christie: The Lost Plays|24737120] (2015) - 60 minutes [this adaptation is not by Christie herself and therefore may not be considered part of the canon, but it was made in her lifetime so presumably she had some right of approval.] X
7. [book:Afternoon At The Seaside|643355] (1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] - 55? minutes
8. The Patient (First performed at the Duchess Theatre, London December 29, 1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] & Rule of Thumb - 40 minutes X
9. The Rats (1961, first performed at the Duchess Theatre, London, December 20, 1962) also available as part of [book:Rule of Three|20708228] & Rule of Thumb- 35 minutes X show less
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One of the most successful and beloved writer of mystery stories, Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie was born in 1890 in Torquay, County Devon, England. She wrote her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920, launching a literary career that spanned decades. In her lifetime, she authored 79 crime novels and a short story collection, 19 show more plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language with another billion in 44 foreign languages. Some of her most famous titles include Murder on the Orient Express, Mystery of the Blue Train, And Then There Were None, 13 at Dinner and The Sittaford Mystery. Noted for clever and surprising twists of plot, many of Christie's mysteries feature two unconventional fictional detectives named Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Poirot, in particular, plays the hero of many of her works, including the classic, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), and Curtain (1975), one of her last works in which the famed detective dies. Over the years, her travels took her to the Middle East where she met noted English archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. They married in 1930. Christie accompanied Mallowan on annual expeditions to Iraq and Syria, which served as material for Murder in Mesopotamia (1930), Death on the Nile (1937), and Appointment with Death (1938). Christie's credits also include the plays, The Mousetrap and Witness for the Prosecution (1953; film 1957). Christie received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for 1954-1955 for Witness. She was also named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1971. Christie died in 1976. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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