The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories

Golden Age mystery stories, most if not all featuring everyday people in unusual situations, without a detective or inspector focusing the plot.

Interestingly, Christie mentions (mock disparagingly) "crime novels" in a great many of these tales, as commentary on her characters by other characters. (And good-natured ribbing of herself and her fans.)

Along with the mystery puzzle an abiding theme of characters coming good: the mother of Listerdale ("genteel poverty" after husband speculates wealth away), and the middle-class milquetoast of "Raja's Emerald". "Girl On The Train" also has an aristocrat (or at least, uppercrust middle class) having to make good -- but then marrying into wealth again. Class is certainly featured in the varied show more settings, whether resort town or country manor, city townhome or suburban apartment.

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Audio edition loaned from my local for a road trip, and liked the stories well enough to finish after returning home. show less

I had listed to 3 of this collection of short stories before, in different anthologies. But they hold up well to a second reading.
They are an interesting collection as they don't usually involve a detective of any kind. In some of them you can see where this is going, in others it is a complete surprise. I enjoyed listening to this, the neatness of the short story form working well in this selection where they are tightly plotted and sharply written.

This is not a standard long-form mystery novel, but a series of short stories, all with a mystery of sorts. Some of the mysteries are amusing, some are more serious, but overall, it's light and easy reading. When you have been reading heavy things, or are waiting for a book on hold at the library, it can be just the thing to fill the hours. I will say, I have gotten so familiar, I can often spot the culprit before the reveal, but for new readers, there may still be some mysterious something for them.

Well, it's Christie, but unfortunately not at her best. I was looking forward to intricate plots and an abundance of red herrings but this collection of short stories just didn't come up with any memorable stories or twists.

A collection of 12 short stories. The collection takes its title from the first story. Quite a number of the short stories had been published in magazines well before the collection was published.
This is a funny little collection of stories, some quite entertaining and others a bit pedestrian.
If there is a theme that Christie is exploring then it is probably the nature of love. In The Listerdale Mystery, Philomel Cottage, and Accident, which I thought were best in the collection, she plays with the twist in the tale, the unexpected ending.
None of the stories has characters that we meet elsewhere (as far as I know).

I hadn't expected this to be a collection of stories, and didn't realise until I reached the second tale and found that it didn't follow on from the first! Clearly I wasn't paying attention, too eager to get stuck into an Agatha Christie whodunnit!

It contains a mixed bag of short stories: some were intriguing and well thought out, others were a bit flat. I think her longer novels are much more enjoyable.

Ces douze nouvelles n'appartiennent pas à proprement parler à la littérature policière mais toutes traitent avec brio de situations étranges, ou évoluent autour d'un meurtre. Chacune, dans sa brièveté, est une comédie complète ou un drame, et aucune ne ressemble aux autres, sinon que la plupart, quel que soit le mystère qu'elles distillent, se terminent pas un éclat de rire. Ce recueil a déjà été publié sous le titre Douze Nouvelles.