Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets From Her Notebooks
Page 34
Thomas Cranmer[Jasper Ridley]
HB Ivan the Great of Moscow [J.L.I. Fennell]
Every Night and All (Glasgow) [William Miller]
George(Emlyn Williams Autob)
(Legends etc .) The Twelve Days of Christmas [a Christmas miscellany by Miles and John Hadfield]
+ Airline Detective (Useful?) [Donald Fish; published by Collins]
+ The Whispering Land(G. Durrell)
The list of novels and short stories ranges from the well-known – Muriel Spark and Paul Gallico – to the forgotten – Morel and Brent – but also includes the challenging – Calvino and Narayan:
++ The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie(M. Spark)
Miss Bagshot Goes to Tibet [Anne Telscombe]
Confessions of a Story Teller (Paul Gallico)
+ Exit [Peter Ludwig Brent]
Autumn Fair [Dighton Morel]
? History Manila Galleon [F. Van Wyck Mason]
+ The Borders of Barbarism [Eric Williams]
+ The Non-existent Knight [Italo Calvino – two short novels; published by Collins]
The Man Eater of Malqudi [R.K. Narayan]
The Far Road [George Johnston; published by Collins]
+ Roll of Honour (Eric Linklater)
? SS Spine Chillers [ed. by Elizabeth Lee]
The heading on the following titles (‘to buy?’) would seem to indicate that the earlier titles were to be supplied, perhaps by Collins. The sole non-fiction title was one written for those with little scientific knowledge to help them understand new scientific discoveries; and Christie was in her seventies.
Penguins to buy?
Fire Burn (John Dickson Carr)
Medicine Today [David Margerson]
The Wild Palms W. Faulkner
Pigeon Pie (Nancy Mitford)
The following is a two-page list from Notebook 35 and the titles (with one inexplicable exception) date from 1939–40. I reproduce them complete with crossings out and unexplained Xs but I have inserted explanatory notes and, where necessary, accurate titles, and have rearranged them for ease of discussion.
All of the following are 1939 crime titles by a mixture of US (Rawson, Chambers) and UK (Michael Innes, E.R. Punshon) writers, chosen from the well-known (Sayers) and the forgotten (Armstrong, Fethaland). Only Eberhart was a fellow Crime Club author.
Murder at Charters [John Fethaland]
Brief Return [Eberhart]
Murder in Stained Glass [Margaret Armstrong]
Murder Abroad (Punshon)
D Stop Press (Innes)
D Some Day I’ll Kill You ([Dana] Chambers)
D Detour(Tough American) [Goldsmith]
In the Teeth of the Evidence(D. Sayers)
+ The Footprints on the Ceiling (Merlini) [Clayton Rawson]
Also included is an eclectic selection of novels and short stories from the same year:
Flight from a Lady ([A.G.] MacDonnell)
+ Before Lunch (Angela Thirkell)
+ My American (Stella Gibbon[s])
+ The Nazarene [Sholem Asch]
+ Household Gods (Winifred Duke)
The Dark Star [March Cost]
John Arnison [Introducing the Arnisons] (Edward Thompson)
The Death Guard (Wellesian fantasy) [Philip Chadwick]
Nanking Road (Vicki Baum)
The Ghost of a Rose [Norman Davey]
The Temple of Costly Experience [Daniele Vare]
Twenty-four Short Stories (Graham Greene – James Laver)
By the Waters of Babylon(R. Neumann)
And scattered in between are some non-fiction titles, a miscellany of music, art, travel, biography and history:
Ancient Greece ([Stanley] Casson)
Caroline of England [Peter Quennell]
Escape with Me (Osbert Sitwell)
Portrait of Padrewsky [The Paderewski Memoirs]
Dismembered Masterpieces [Thomas Bodkin 1945, about the restoration of damaged paintings]
Perhaps because the other books were to be supplied, a 1939 book by T.S. Eliot has a specific note:
Buy The Idea of a Christian Society
The opposite page of the same Notebook lists 1940 titles, including one by Crime Club author Elizabeth Ferrars and a slightly incorrect Maigret title. The third title below seems to be a collection of 14 ghost stories rather than the Miss Silver detective novel of the same name, which was not published until 1945.
Give a Corpse a Bad Name [Ferrars]
Maigret Goes [ Travels] South [Simenon]
The Clock Strikes Twelve [Wakefield]
Mr Skeffington [Elizabeth Von Arnim]
Maid no More [Helen Simpson]
Idle Apprentice [Joanna Cannan]
Good Night, Sweet Ladies [S. Frazer]
The Edge of Running Water [William Sloane]
Chapter Appendix 1
Agatha Christie Chronology
Dates of publication refer to the UK editions
1921
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
1922
The Secret Adversary
1923
The Murder on the Links
1924
The Man in the Brown Suit
Poirot Investigates:
The Adventure of ‘The Western Star’
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
The Kidnapped Prime Minister
The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
The Case of the Missing Will
The Road of Dreams (poetry)
1925
The Secret of Chimneys
1926
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
1927
The Big Four
1928
The Mystery of the Blue Train
1929
The Seven Dials Mystery
Partners in Crime:
A Fairy in the Flat/A Pot of Tea
The Affair of the Pink Pearl
The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger
Finessing the King/The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper
The Case of the Missing Lady
Blindman’s Buff
The Man in the Mist
The Crackler
The Sunningdale Mystery
The House of Lurking Death
The Unbreakable Alibi
The Clergyman’s Daughter/The Red House
The Ambassador’s Boots
The Man Who Was No. 16
1930
The Mysterious Mr Quin:
The Coming of Mr Quin
The Shadow on the Glass
At the ‘Bells and Motley’
The Sign in the Sky
The Soul of the Croupier
The Man from the Sea
The Voice in the Dark
The Face of Helen
The Dead Harlequin
The Bird with the Broken Wing
The World’s End
Harlequin’s Lane
The Murder at the Vicarage
Black Coffee (stage play)
Behind the Screen (radio serial, co-authored)
Giant’s Bread (as Mary Westmacott)
1931
The Sittaford Mystery
Chimneys (stage play)
The Floating Admiral (co-authored)
The Scoop (radio serial,co-authored)
1932
Peril at End House
The Thirteen Problems:
The Tuesday Night Club
The Idol House of Astarte
Ingots of Gold
The Blood-Stained Pavement
Motive v. Opportunity
The Thumb Mark of St Peter
The Blue Geranium
The Companion
The Four Suspects
A Christmas Tragedy
The Herb of Death
The Affair at the Bungalow
Death by Drowning
1933
Lord Edgware Dies
The Hound of Death:
The Hound of Death
The Red Signal
The Fourth Man
The Gypsy
The Lamp
Wireless
The Witness for the Prosecution
The Mystery of the Blue Jar
The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael
The Call of Wings
The Last Seance
SOS
1934
Murder on the Orient Express
The Listerdale Mystery:
The Listerdale Mystery
Philomel Cottage
The Girl in the Train
Sing a Song of Sixpence
The Manhood of Edward Robinson
Accident
Jane in Search of a Job
A Fruitful Sunday
Mr Eastwood’s Adventure
The Golden Ball
The Rajah’s Emerald
Swan Song
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?
Parker Pyne Investigates:
The Case of the Middle-aged Wife
The Case of the Discontented Soldier
The Case of the Distressed Lady
The Case of the Discontented Husband
The Case of the City Clerk
The Case of the Rich Woman
Have You Got Everything You Want?
The Gate of Baghdad
The House at Shiraz
The Pearl of Price
Death on the Nile
The Oracle at Delphi
Unfinished Portrait (as Mary Westmacott)
1935
Three Act Tragedy
Death in the Clouds
1936
The A.B.C. Murders
Murder in Mesopotamia
Cards on the Table
1937
Dumb Witness
Death on the Nile
Murder in the Mews:
Murder in the Mews
The Incredible Theft
Dead Man’s Mirror
Triangle at Rhodes
Wasp’s Nest (TV play)
Yellow Iris (radio play)
1938
Appointment with Death
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
1939
Murder is Easy
Ten Little Niggers/And Then There Were None
1940
Sad Cypress
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
1941
Evil under the Sun
N or M?
1942
The Body in the Library
1943
Five Little Pigs
The Moving Finger
And Then There Were None (stage play)
1944
Towards Zero
Absent in the Spring (as Mary Westmacott)
1945
Death Comes as the End
Sparkling Cyanide
Appointment with Death (stage play)
1946
The Hollow
Murder on the Nile/Hidden Horizon (stage play)
Come, Tell Me How You Live (memoir)
1947
The Labours of Hercules:
Foreword
The Nemean Lion
The Lernean Hydra
The Arcadian Deer
The Erymanthian Boar
The Augean Stables
The Stymphalean Birds
The Cretan Bull
The Horses of Diomedes
The Girdle of Hyppolita
The Flock of Geryon
The Apples of Hesperides
The Capture of Cerberus
Three Blind Mice (radio play)
1948
Taken at the Flood
Butter in a Lordly Dish (radio play)
The Rose and the Yew Tree (as Mary Westmacott)
1949
Crooked House
1950
A Murder is Announced
1951
They Came to Baghdad
The Hollow (stage play)
1952
Mrs McGinty’s Dead
They Do It with Mirrors
The Mousetrap (stage play)
A Daughter’s a Daughter (as Mary Westmacott)
1953
After the Funeral
A Pocket Full of Rye
Witness for the Prosecution (stage play)
1954
Destination Unknown
Spider’s Web (stage play)
Personal Call (radio play)
1955
Hickory Dickory Dock
1956
Dead Man’s Folly
A Daughter’s a Daughter (stage play)
Towards Zero (stage play)
The Burden (as Mary Westmacott)
1957
4.50 from Paddington
1958
Ordeal by Innocence
Verdict (stage play)
The Unexpected Guest (stage play)
1959
Cat among the Pigeons
1960
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding:
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
The Under Dog
Four and Twenty Blackbirds
The Dream
Greenshaw’s Folly
Go Back for Murder (stage play)
1961
The Pale Horse
1962
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
Rule of Three (3 one-act plays):
Afternoon at the Seaside
The Rats
The Patient
1963
The Clocks
1964
A Caribbean Mystery
1965
At Bertram’s Hotel
Star over Bethlehem (poetry and stories):
Star over Bethlehem
The Naughty Donkey
The Water Bus
In the Cool of the Evening
Promotion in the Highest
The Island
1966
Third Girl
1967
Endless Night
1968
By the Pricking of my Thumbs
1969
Hallowe’en Party
1970
Passenger to Frankfurt
1971
Nemesis
1972
Elephants Can Remember
Fiddlers Five/Fiddlers Three (stage play)
1973
Postern of Fate
Poems (poetry)
Akhnaton (stage play)
1974
Poirot’s Early Cases:
The Affair at the Victory Ball
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
The Cornish Mystery
The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
The Double Clue
The King of Clubs
The Lemesurier Inheritance
The Lost Mine
The Plymouth Express
The Chocolate Box
The Submarine Plans
The Third Floor Flat
Double Sin
The Market Basing Mystery
Wasp’s Nest
The Veiled Lady
Problem at Sea
How Does Your Garden Grow?
1975
Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case
1976
Sleeping Murder
1977
An Autobiography (memoir)
1979
Miss Marple’s Final Cases:
Sanctuary
Strange Jest
Tape-Measure Murder
The Case of the Caretaker
The Case of the Perfect Maid
Miss Marple Tells a Story
The Dressmaker’s Doll
In a Glass Darkly
1982
(in The Agatha Christie Hour):
Magnolia Blossom
1991
Problem at Pollensa Bay:
Problem at Pollensa Bay
The Second Gong
Yellow Iris
The Harlequin Tea Set
The Regatta Mystery
The Love Detectives
Next to a Dog
(Magnolia Blossom)
1997
While the Light Lasts:
The House of Dreams
The Actress
The Edge
Christmas Adventure
The Lonely God
Manx Gold
Within a Wall
The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest
While the Light Lasts
2008
(in Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories):
Poirot and the Regatta Mystery
2009
(in Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks):
The Capture of Cerberus
The Incident of the Dog’s Ball
2011
(in Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making):
The Man Who Knew
The Case of the Caretaker’s Wife
Appendix 2
Alphabetical List of Agatha Christie Titles
4.50 from Paddington 1957
A.B.C. Murders, The 1936
Absent in the Spring (as Mary Westmacott) 1944
Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, The (Short stories) 1960
After the Funeral 1953
Agatha Christie Hour, The (short stories) 1982
Akhnaton (stage play) 1973
And Then There Were None (stage play) 1943
Appointment with Death 1938
Appointment with Death (stage play) 1945
At Bertram’s Hotel 1965
Autobiography, An (memoir) 1977
Behind the Screen (radio serial, co-authored) 1930
Big Four, The 1927
Black Coffee (stage play) 1930
Body in the Library, The 1942
Burden, The (as Mary Westmacott) 1956
Butter in a Lordly Dish (radio play) 1948
By the Pricking of my Thumbs 1968
Cards on the Table 1936
Caribbean Mystery, A 1964