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Three Blind Mice and Other Stories
by
Agatha Christie
It is part of the Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, series and is a mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by William Morrow on August 7, 2012 and has 235 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary, The Unexpected Guest, Partners in Crime, The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories, Passenger to Frankfurt, The Murder at the Vicarage, "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook”, "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery", “The Submarine Plans”, “The Double Clue”
An omnibus of nine stories in the vintage mystery genre in an assortment of series.
The Series
“Strange Jest” (Miss Marple, SS* 15; pub: 1941)
“The Tape Measure Murder” (Miss Marple, SS 16; pub: 1941)
“The Case of the Perfect Maid” (Miss Marple, SS 18; pub: 1942)
“The Case of the Caretaker” (Miss Marple, SS 17; pub: 1941)
“The Third Floor Flat” (Hercule Poirot, SS 27; pub: 1929)
“The Adventure of Johnny Waverly” (Hercule Poirot, SS 19; pub: 1923)
“Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds” (Hercule Poirot, SS 51; pub: 1926)
“The Love Detectives” (Harley Quin, SS 2; pub: 1926)
* SS – short story
The Stories
Three Blind Mice
A.k.a. The Mousetrap, this is also a novella, and I swear it sounds like Christie wrote this for the stage!
It’s a clever plan for vengeance against those perceived as uncaring. Christie does a great job of making me think any one of the people at Monkswell Manor could have dunnit, although the behavior of one character should have stood out for me! I must say that I have no problem with that second murder. A gift to the world. Another point that makes me love it is how Christie conveys everyday life and their thoughts in the time period. Lol, you’ll be thinking the story is full of cliches, but Christie invented these.
“Strange Jest”
This short first appeared as “A Case of Buried Treasure” in 1941 and finally as “Strange Jest” in 1950. It is the fifth short story of the Tuesday Night Club.
It’s a couple who have faffed about knowing their great-great-uncle was leaving them his money. Only, uncle seems to have buried it and left it to Charmian and Edward to figure it out. Luckily for them, they have a friend who knows Miss Marple. It does crack me up that this couple gets so frustrated as Miss Marple chats on and on with her village anecdotes of human nature.
“The Tape Measure Murder”
A.k.a. “The Case of the Retired Jeweller”, this short follows “Strange Jest” and has also appeared in Miss Marple’s Final Cases and Two Other Stories. The story occurs in St Mary Mead where Inspector Slack (based in Much Benham) has to bite his tongue and listen to Miss Marple, as Colonel Melchett has such respect for her. He’ll learn.
It’s a mean, greedy tale with a village of snarky gossips and a memory for past heists and a knowledge of daily habits.
“The Case of the Perfect Maid”
A.k.a. “The Perfect Maid” and “The Maid Who Disappeared”, it was originally published in 1942. It also appeared in the omnibus Miss Marple’s Final Cases and Two Other Stories.
Christie gave this story a nice set-up to pull me in emotionally, then it was mostly a recap of the inhabitants of Old House‘s four apartments with the focus on the Skinner sisters. Miss Marple takes the crime apart with her observations.
Some of the Characters
Edna is Miss Marple’s maid. Gladys “Gladdie” Holmes is Edna’s cousin, who also works as a maid. Inspector Slack appears. Dr Haydock is the village physician. Some of the gossips include Miss Wetherby and Miss Hartnell. Reed drives the taxi. Mr Meek is the chemist’s assistant walking out with Clara, Mrs Price-Ridley‘s maid.
“The Case of the Caretaker”
It can also be found in Miss Marple’s Final Cases.
We’re back in St Mary Mead where Dr Haydock has set Miss Marple a pretty puzzle of a story of the errant playboy and local son sent off to find himself. It’s gossip about him and the former caretaker dissatisfied with losing her place that run through the story. Christie also twisted me up with that exchange between Bella and Mr Harry. I couldn’t tell if they were talking about Bella, referring to her in the third person or about another person entirely. Using Haydock, his niece, and Miss Marple makes it seem as if the story takes place in St Mary Mead, but then Miss Marple would have known the doctor’s story.
It’s a clever bit of deduction but not very well written.
Some of the Characters
Dr Haydock has some words for Miss Marple. Clarice Vane is Haydock’s niece.
“The Third Floor Flat”
First published in 1929, it’s a short story of two men and two women, friends who come back to Pat’s apartment only she’s lost her key.
It’s a look at life in the 1920s with service lifts that can be a security issue. It’ll take the flirtatious Hercule Poirot to assess the flat’s “invasion” and educates us on what things are always fixed in an apartment. In any building, really. It’s a truth that leads us to the criminal.
“The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly”
A.k.a. “The Kidnapping of Johnnie Waverly”, it was first published in 1923 and has also appeared in The Agatha Christie Collection, Poirot’s Early Cases, and Hercule Poirot’s Early Cases.
Multiple threats are made to kidnap a couple’s son until they finally begin to take it seriously. It was a well-planned kidnapping, but small clues begin to add up.
“Four and Twenty Blackbirds”
First published in 1940, it was a.k.a. “The Regular Customer”. It has also appeared in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées.
It begins in a dinner discussion with an old friend, Henry Bonnington, where another old gentleman eats dinner, on the regular on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Gallant Endeavour. Molly, the regular waitress, has observed eating habits of her regular customers and enjoys chatting. It’s Bonnington’s comment about men always eating the same thing that should catch your attention, and I have to disagree with his assessment of why this regular should order something different. Turns out, it’s all about the timing.
Some of the Characters
George is Poirot’s valet.
“The Love Detectives”
A.k.a. “At the Crossroads” and “The Magic of Mr Quin No. 1”, it was first published in 1926.
It’s murder. At a country house that dates back to Henry VII or further. It’s the “cliche” of lovers protecting the other as each confesses. Like right out of a novel. Then Harley Quin points out the truth, strictly through observation.
Some of the Characters
Mr Satterthwaite sounds like a recurring character, who prefers life in town. His friend, Colonel Melrose, a sportsman who prefers the country, is also a magistrate and chief constable of the county. Inspector Curtis investigates.
The Cover and Title
The cover is slightly gradated in gray from the bottom right above the enlarged wooden mousetrap to the upper left corner. All the text is in white, starting with an epigraph at the top, then the author’s name in a script font, immediately followed by the title in a black-shadowed block text. On the right between the author’s name and the title is a round badge with a thick white outline with black text and a red center with a large lowercase “a”.
The title refers specifically to the first story Three Blind Mice and Other Stories that follow it.
