The Idol House of Astarte
Author: Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie adds a bit of creepiness to this short story of mysterious murder. The Idol House of Astarte was first published in The Royal Magazine in the UK in January 1928. US publication followed in Detective Story Magazine that June. In the US, the story was published as "The Solving Six and the Evil Hour.'' The tales of the Tuesday Night Club continue in this second Miss Marple short story. Six friends tell tales of mysterious unsolved crimes to see which one of them can ferret out the truth! This time it's the clergyman's turn to tell his story. How was a man seemingly stabbed to death....with several eye-witnesses....when nobody was near him?
I love reading Agatha Christie short stories while listening to them on audio, but when I went looking for an audio version of The Complete Short Stories or even just this short story by itself, I was unsuccessful. I did find the short story collection, The Thirteen Problems, in audio format, so listened to this story there. Narrated by Joan Hickson, the story is about 20 minutes long or so. Hickson does a very good job of narrating -- her voice is perfect for it (which is understandable since she played the character on the BBC television series Miss Marple from 1984-1992). The print book I am reading from is an old hardback copy (Putnam Press) from 1985, Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories. This book has been on my shelf since I found it stuffed among old cookbooks in a thriftshop years ago. It languished unread, yet much loved, with my Christie collection until this year. After collecting the books for years, I finally decided 2020 was the year to actually start reading every one of them.
I love this story! Christie adds in a touch of the supernatural, weaving the tale around a man's strange dark grove of trees he has dedicated to the goddess Astarte. The Clergyman tells his story with dark purpose, and everyone in the room is shocked when Miss Marple reveals what happened. So much fun to read! And definitely classic Christie!
These first Marple tales are short, but very well written and enjoyable. Smart marketing on Christie's part -- give fans a taste of a new character by printing several short tales in detective magazines....then follow up with novels. Smart! She did the same with Hercule Poirot. Almost 100 years later and mystery lovers still read her stories and love her characters! I wish I could get my hands on even just one of these old magazines to see the original formatting, artwork, advertisements, etc!!
On to the next Marple story -- Ingots of Gold!
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