The Thumbmark of St. Peter [short story]
by Agatha Christie
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In this classic short story, Miss Marple steps in to investigate when her niece is accused of murdering her violent husband. During the first meeting of the Tuesday Night Club at Miss Jane Marple's home, her guests present real tales of mystery. Miss Marple is the first to share a story . . . Fifteen years ago, Miss Marple's niece, Mabel Denman, was married to an abusive and hot-tempered man-until he suddenly died. Was it the mushrooms he ate? Or the arsenic Mabel had recently purchased? show more While the village gossips were ready to declare Mabel guilty, Miss Marple was determined to clear her niece's name and set everything straight . . . Originally published in the United States in Detective StoryMagazine in 1928, "The Thumb Mark of St. Peter" appeared in Christie's short story collection, The Thirteen Problems, in 1932. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
An interesting mystery but doesn’t suit Miss Marple.
Finally it is Miss Marple who narrates an unsolved mystery for the Tuesday Night Club. I sat up straight in my seat, expecting a cracker of a mystery. Alas, the cracker turned out to be damp and squishy.
The story concerns Miss Marple’s niece Mabel Denman who is being shunned after the sudden death of her husband. The word around is that Mabel poisoned him. The problem is that no one, including the doctor who was called, knows exactly how Mr. Denman died. His last words too seem weird to everyone. Except Miss Marple, but of course.
There’s not much deduction or discussion from the club members this time as Miss Marple narrates the whole story almost in one go. The rest are mostly show more passive listeners.
If this had been a story featuring Sherlock or Poirot, I would have marvelled at the deduction. But it doesn’t suit Miss Marple’s personality. Miss Marple constantly claims herself to be the observer of human nature and uses this skill to resolve the mystery. But sometimes, it isn’t human nature but intricate knowledge that she seems to possess without any justification. This is one such example. How would an old lady in a small town know something as specific as the main component of a medical solution and even the name of the element that works as its antidote? This knowledge coming from Sherlock’s or Poirot’s lips would have been plausible. Not from Miss Marple. (Unless there is something to her background that I haven’t discovered yet. Time will tell) Moreover, a part of the suspense comes through the dead man’s last words. However, it is tough to believe that an ordinary man would know what the story says he knew.
On the positive side, the culprit wasn’t that easy to figure out, and after the revelation, their role in the proceedings seems logical. But again, the whole scenario is tough to accept.
2.5 stars, mostly for the development of the backstory and for the resolution of the mystery. You will enjoy it more if you want to appreciate Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons than to focus on Miss Marple’s deducing skills. This might have worked better as a Poirot story.
All six members of the Tuesday Night Club have now narrated a story each. I wonder where things will go next. A second round per person? There are twenty stories in this collection, so Christie would have to incorporate some modifications for sure. Let's see what the next story brings.
This story is part of the Miss Marple short story collection, The Thirteen Problems.
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Finally it is Miss Marple who narrates an unsolved mystery for the Tuesday Night Club. I sat up straight in my seat, expecting a cracker of a mystery. Alas, the cracker turned out to be damp and squishy.
The story concerns Miss Marple’s niece Mabel Denman who is being shunned after the sudden death of her husband. The word around is that Mabel poisoned him. The problem is that no one, including the doctor who was called, knows exactly how Mr. Denman died. His last words too seem weird to everyone. Except Miss Marple, but of course.
There’s not much deduction or discussion from the club members this time as Miss Marple narrates the whole story almost in one go. The rest are mostly show more passive listeners.
If this had been a story featuring Sherlock or Poirot, I would have marvelled at the deduction. But it doesn’t suit Miss Marple’s personality. Miss Marple constantly claims herself to be the observer of human nature and uses this skill to resolve the mystery. But sometimes, it isn’t human nature but intricate knowledge that she seems to possess without any justification. This is one such example. How would an old lady in a small town know something as specific as the main component of a medical solution and even the name of the element that works as its antidote? This knowledge coming from Sherlock’s or Poirot’s lips would have been plausible. Not from Miss Marple. (Unless there is something to her background that I haven’t discovered yet. Time will tell) Moreover, a part of the suspense comes through the dead man’s last words. However, it is tough to believe that an ordinary man would know what the story says he knew.
On the positive side, the culprit wasn’t that easy to figure out, and after the revelation, their role in the proceedings seems logical. But again, the whole scenario is tough to accept.
2.5 stars, mostly for the development of the backstory and for the resolution of the mystery. You will enjoy it more if you want to appreciate Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons than to focus on Miss Marple’s deducing skills. This might have worked better as a Poirot story.
All six members of the Tuesday Night Club have now narrated a story each. I wonder where things will go next. A second round per person? There are twenty stories in this collection, so Christie would have to incorporate some modifications for sure. Let's see what the next story brings.
This story is part of the Miss Marple short story collection, The Thirteen Problems.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter show less
An interesting mystery but doesn’t suit Miss Marple.
Finally it is Miss Marple who narrates an unsolved mystery for the Tuesday Night Club. I sat up straight in my seat, expecting a cracker of a mystery. Alas, the cracker turned out to be damp and squishy.
The story concerns Miss Marple’s niece Mabel Denman who is being shunned after the sudden death of her husband. The word around is that Mabel poisoned him. The problem is that no one, including the doctor who was called, knows exactly how Mr. Denman died. His last words too seem weird to everyone. Except Miss Marple, but of course.
There’s not much deduction or discussion from the club members this time as Miss Marple narrates the whole story almost in one go. The rest are mostly show more passive listeners.
If this had been a story featuring Sherlock or Poirot, I would have marvelled at the deduction. But it doesn’t suit Miss Marple’s personality. Miss Marple constantly claims herself to be the observer of human nature and uses this skill to resolve the mystery. But sometimes, it isn’t human nature but intricate knowledge that she seems to possess without any justification. This is one such example. How would an old lady in a small town know something as specific as the main component of a medical solution and even the name of the element that works as its antidote? This knowledge coming from Sherlock’s or Poirot’s lips would have been plausible. Not from Miss Marple. (Unless there is something to her background that I haven’t discovered yet. Time will tell) Moreover, a part of the suspense comes through the dead man’s last words. However, it is tough to believe that an ordinary man would know what the story says he knew.
On the positive side, the culprit wasn’t that easy to figure out, and after the revelation, their role in the proceedings seems logical. But again, the whole scenario is tough to accept.
2.5 stars, mostly for the development of the backstory and for the resolution of the mystery. You will enjoy it more if you want to appreciate Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons than to focus on Miss Marple’s deducing skills. This might have worked better as a Poirot story.
All six members of the Tuesday Night Club have now narrated a story each. I wonder where things will go next. A second round per person? There are twenty stories in this collection, so Christie would have to incorporate some modifications for sure. Let's see what the next story brings.
This story is part of the Miss Marple short story collection, [b:The Thirteen Problems|31309|The Thirteen Problems|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309305370l/31309._SY75_.jpg|739911].
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter show less
Finally it is Miss Marple who narrates an unsolved mystery for the Tuesday Night Club. I sat up straight in my seat, expecting a cracker of a mystery. Alas, the cracker turned out to be damp and squishy.
The story concerns Miss Marple’s niece Mabel Denman who is being shunned after the sudden death of her husband. The word around is that Mabel poisoned him. The problem is that no one, including the doctor who was called, knows exactly how Mr. Denman died. His last words too seem weird to everyone. Except Miss Marple, but of course.
There’s not much deduction or discussion from the club members this time as Miss Marple narrates the whole story almost in one go. The rest are mostly show more passive listeners.
If this had been a story featuring Sherlock or Poirot, I would have marvelled at the deduction. But it doesn’t suit Miss Marple’s personality. Miss Marple constantly claims herself to be the observer of human nature and uses this skill to resolve the mystery. But sometimes, it isn’t human nature but intricate knowledge that she seems to possess without any justification. This is one such example. How would an old lady in a small town know something as specific as the main component of a medical solution and even the name of the element that works as its antidote? This knowledge coming from Sherlock’s or Poirot’s lips would have been plausible. Not from Miss Marple. (Unless there is something to her background that I haven’t discovered yet. Time will tell) Moreover, a part of the suspense comes through the dead man’s last words. However, it is tough to believe that an ordinary man would know what the story says he knew.
On the positive side, the culprit wasn’t that easy to figure out, and after the revelation, their role in the proceedings seems logical. But again, the whole scenario is tough to accept.
2.5 stars, mostly for the development of the backstory and for the resolution of the mystery. You will enjoy it more if you want to appreciate Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons than to focus on Miss Marple’s deducing skills. This might have worked better as a Poirot story.
All six members of the Tuesday Night Club have now narrated a story each. I wonder where things will go next. A second round per person? There are twenty stories in this collection, so Christie would have to incorporate some modifications for sure. Let's see what the next story brings.
This story is part of the Miss Marple short story collection, [b:The Thirteen Problems|31309|The Thirteen Problems|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309305370l/31309._SY75_.jpg|739911].
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter show less
Agatha Christie has been my favorite author since I read my first Hercule Poirot story at age 9. In all those years though I never read any of Christie's short stories. Earlier this year I read though the first short cases of Hercule Poirot....and now I'm reading the first cases of Miss Marple. The stories are quite short, most ranging from 14-20 pages. These tales were printed in fiction and detective magazines before Christie published her first books featuring her classic characters.
The first few tales feature Miss Marple and five friends gathering on Tuesday nights to share tales of unsolved or strange mysteries. One member of the Tuesday Night Club shares a story, and the others try to figure out the truth. The members are Miss show more Marple, her nephew, a lawyer, an artist, a clergyman and a writer. In this 6th story, it's finally Miss Marple's turn to tell a story! She tells a tale about a woman suspected of poisoning her husband. The evidence is pretty damning....but did her niece Mabel kill her husband or was she only guilty of marrying the wrong man?
This story was first published in The Royal Magazine in May 1928 (UK) and Detective Story Magazine that July (US). It was later included in the story collection The Thirteen Problems, published in 1932. This story was not adapted for television on its own, but the show Agatha Christie's Marple had an episode based on another story, Greenshaw's Folly, and the plot for this short tale was also included in the episode.
Interesting story....and I had to smile as Christie went into a discussion about poisons and their effects. I love golden age mysteries....someone always slipping arsenic or some chemical into people's tea or dinner. :) Many of the murders in Christie's books (In her 66 novels, 30 characters met their doom via poison) involve poison, chemicals or an overdose of some sort. Christie worked as an apothecary's assistant during World War I, so I'm sure she picked up quite a bit of knowledge about chemicals, poisons and various drugs.
This is the sixth and final story that happens at a regular meeting of the Tuesday night club. The characters appear in several more stories...so I'm anxious to find out what other mysteries they try to work out!
I had to look up the reference used in the title: Thumb Mark of St Peter. It refers to a black mark above the fin of a haddock fish (and other fish as well that have dark spots on their sides like the John Dory fish). Legend has it that the fish got that mark from St Peter. As Peter was fishing and touched the fish, it left the mark of his thumbprint on the sides of them all. Cool story!
I usually listen to audio while reading these stories. I like a proper accent (narrators do a much better job of an English accent than I can concoct in my imagination), and I get the proper pronunciation of names, places and any foreign words. But unfortunately I could not find audio for this story....I read it myself from my old hardback copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (Putnam, 1985). Moving on to the next story -- The Blue Geranium. I do have audio for this one! show less
The first few tales feature Miss Marple and five friends gathering on Tuesday nights to share tales of unsolved or strange mysteries. One member of the Tuesday Night Club shares a story, and the others try to figure out the truth. The members are Miss show more Marple, her nephew, a lawyer, an artist, a clergyman and a writer. In this 6th story, it's finally Miss Marple's turn to tell a story! She tells a tale about a woman suspected of poisoning her husband. The evidence is pretty damning....but did her niece Mabel kill her husband or was she only guilty of marrying the wrong man?
This story was first published in The Royal Magazine in May 1928 (UK) and Detective Story Magazine that July (US). It was later included in the story collection The Thirteen Problems, published in 1932. This story was not adapted for television on its own, but the show Agatha Christie's Marple had an episode based on another story, Greenshaw's Folly, and the plot for this short tale was also included in the episode.
Interesting story....and I had to smile as Christie went into a discussion about poisons and their effects. I love golden age mysteries....someone always slipping arsenic or some chemical into people's tea or dinner. :) Many of the murders in Christie's books (In her 66 novels, 30 characters met their doom via poison) involve poison, chemicals or an overdose of some sort. Christie worked as an apothecary's assistant during World War I, so I'm sure she picked up quite a bit of knowledge about chemicals, poisons and various drugs.
This is the sixth and final story that happens at a regular meeting of the Tuesday night club. The characters appear in several more stories...so I'm anxious to find out what other mysteries they try to work out!
I had to look up the reference used in the title: Thumb Mark of St Peter. It refers to a black mark above the fin of a haddock fish (and other fish as well that have dark spots on their sides like the John Dory fish). Legend has it that the fish got that mark from St Peter. As Peter was fishing and touched the fish, it left the mark of his thumbprint on the sides of them all. Cool story!
I usually listen to audio while reading these stories. I like a proper accent (narrators do a much better job of an English accent than I can concoct in my imagination), and I get the proper pronunciation of names, places and any foreign words. But unfortunately I could not find audio for this story....I read it myself from my old hardback copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (Putnam, 1985). Moving on to the next story -- The Blue Geranium. I do have audio for this one! 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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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Thumbmark of St. Peter [short story]
- Original title
- The thumb mark of St. Peter
- Original publication date
- 1928-05
- People/Characters
- Jane Marple; Raymond West; Joyce Lemprière; Sir Henry Clithering; Mr. Petherick; Dr. Pender (show all 7); Mabel (niece of Miss Marple)
- Important places
- St. Mary Mead, England, UK
- First words
- "And now Aunt Jane, it is up to you," said Raymond West."
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Everybody is very much alike, really. But fortunately, perhaps, they don't realize it."
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- Popularity
- 858,056
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- English, Finnish
- Media
- Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
