The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (and a Selection of Entrees) - Agatha Christie

Published in an omnibus edition: "Ordeal by Innocence"; "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"; "The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding" as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by Lansdowne Press: Australia, 1985 (1973). First published in omnibus edition 1970.
First published individually 1960. 

This 'book' is actually a selection of short stories by Agatha Christie, mostly involving Poirot. The first - and longest - in the collection is the titular Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, which involves Poirot trying to determine who has stolen a missing ruby and what they have done with it. It is not a spoiler to say that a Christmas pudding features heavily in this story. This one is fairly straightforward for a Poirot story, partially due to being a short story and partially due to logic: a subplot involving kids pretending to have discovered a murder seems very unlikely to have resulted in an actual death!

The second story, The Mystery of the Spanish Chest, provides a scenario where a body is found in a chest, it seems as though one person must be guilty, and Poirot is hired to prove their innocence. I figured out parts of this one but not the whole thing; the ending was logical and vaguely plausible.

The Under Dog has a similar set up, in that someone has been murdered, a clear suspect has been arrested, and Poirot has been hired to prove their innocence. In this instance, not only was the accused heard yelling at the deceased, but a thud was heard, seemingly the body hitting the floor. Poirot uses his skills to figure out the true chain of events by convincing the real murderer that he has more evidence on him than he actually does! There are a few less plausible moments to this one, but it still wraps up ok.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds is a much shorter story, with Poirot noticing some odd behaviour in a restaurant, and using it to expose a conspiracy and a murder. This one is quite far-fetched really, but entertaining enough.

The Dream has a Howard Hughes-type figure telling Poirot he has been haunted by a recurring dream in which he takes his own life, only for the millionaire to seemingly do so for real soon after Poirot's visit. This is a vaguely clever story, but does rely on Poirot making an uncharacteristic mistake in order for the plot to be resolved.

Greenshaw's Folly, the final short story in this collection, stars Miss Marple instead of Poirot, and is in fact only the second Miss Marple story I have ever read! Another mystery that requires some slightly far-fetched coincidences to occur in order to make sense, it includes a will, some gardening, an illegitimate child and a bit of amateur dramatics.

Overall, a fun collection. My favourites were probably Christmas Pudding, Spanish Chest, and despite its implausibility, Four and Twenty Blackbirds. 

Completed 26 May 2025.

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