REVIEW: The Cornish Mystery (Agatha Christie)

The Cornish Mystery
Author: Agatha Christie

One of my reading goals this year is to enjoy Agatha Christie's works in publication order. Christie has been my favorite author since the age of 9 when I read my first Poirot novel. I have always wanted to read everything she wrote...but never had the time. I decided to dedicate a portion of my reading time in 2020 to finally start this monumental task!

So far, I have read The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary, The Murder on the Links, The Man in the Brown Suit and I'm finishing up The Secret of Chimneys. But, I had to backtrack a bit as I forgot about short stories. Oops! :) I jumped back in her bibliography a bit and started to read the first Hercule Poirot short stories Christie wrote in 1922. She wrote the stories while on a tour of the British empire related to the British Empire Exhibition. The 10-month trip is detailed in a book, The Grand Tour. So....my enjoyable trip through Christie's writing has already added to my TBR pile because once I learned of this book, I bought a copy immediately!

Ok....on to the story I'm reviewing. I do get to the main point eventually....

The Cornish Mystery is a Hercule Poirot short story first published in the UK (Sketch Magazine) on November 28, 1923. US publication followed in Blue Book Magazine in 1925.

Mrs. Pengelley comes to see Poirot. She says she thinks her husband has been trying to poison her. Poirot agrees to investigate, and the case soon becomes much more complicated than a woman being afraid.

Great story! I love how Christie always manages to tell such an interesting tale in only a few pages! :)

The long-running television show, Agatha Christie's Poirot, based an episode on this story (Season 2, episode 5). The episode sticks pretty closely to the original story, but fleshes things out a bit to stretch it to episode length.

On to the next Poirot story -- The Double Clue! :)