The Listerdale Mystery

The Listerdale Mystery
Agatha Christie

A selection of mysteries, some light-hearted, some romantic, some very deadly…Twelve tantalizing cases… the curious disappearance of Lord Listerdale; a newlywed’s fear of her ex-fiance; a strange encounter on a train; a domestic murder investigation; a wild man’s sudden personality change; a retired inspector’s hunt for a murderess; a young woman’s impersonation of a duchess; a necklace hidden in a basket of cherries; a mystery writer’s arrest for murder; an astonishing marriage proposal; a soprano’s hatred for a baritone; the case of the rajah’s emerald.All of these short stories have one thing in common: the skilful hand of Agatha Christie.

Copyright (#ulink_3ad2baf8-07ca-545d-a474-ed5fcf03adc9)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1934

Agatha Christie

The Listerdale Mystery™

copyright © Agatha Christie Limited 1934. All rights reserved.

www.agathachristie.com (http://www.agathachristie.com)

Cover by crushed.co.uk (http://www.crushed.co.uk) © HarperCollins/Agatha Christie Ltd 2008

Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008196431

Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780007422425

Version: 2017-04-15

Contents

Cover (#u69135820-324c-50a1-a477-1749e9270e42)

Title Page (#u2df70bfb-45b6-58c6-b528-1e562bec0c41)

Copyright (#u48b06eef-b93a-5626-aba6-ee24df593675)

1. The Listerdale Mystery (#ua509d1ef-6c7d-5b72-b665-af540ef05fea)

2. Philomel Cottage (#udb9746de-f292-5de4-b136-4cdf6266f5de)

3. The Girl in the Train (#u18fa5f58-633a-59b3-8af8-f44cac9ffd4f)

4. Sing a Song of Sixpence (#litres_trial_promo)

5. The Manhood of Edward Robinson (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Accident (#litres_trial_promo)

7. Jane in Search of a Job (#litres_trial_promo)

8. A Fruitful Sunday (#litres_trial_promo)

9. Mr Eastwood’s Adventure (#litres_trial_promo)

10. The Golden Ball (#litres_trial_promo)

11. The Rajah’s Emerald (#litres_trial_promo)

12. Swan Song (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading … (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Agatha Christie (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

The Listerdale Mystery (#ulink_04c5ed5a-3245-5a5e-93bb-b5f803d55d3e)

Mrs St Vincent was adding up figures. Once or twice she sighed, and her hand stole to her aching forehead. She had always disliked arithmetic. It was unfortunate that nowadays her life should seem to be composed entirely of one particular kind of sum, the ceaseless adding together of small necessary items of expenditure making a total that never failed to surprise and alarm her.

Surely it couldn’t come to that! She went back over the figures. She had made a trifling error in the pence, but otherwise the figures were correct.

Mrs St Vincent sighed again. Her headache by now was very bad indeed. She looked up as the door opened and her daughter Barbara came into the room. Barbara St Vincent was a very pretty girl, she had her mother’s delicate features, and the same proud turn of the head, but her eyes were dark instead of blue, and she had a different mouth, a sulky red mouth not without attraction.

‘Oh! Mother,’ she cried. ‘Still juggling with those horrid old accounts? Throw them all into the fire.’

‘We must know where we are,’ said Mrs St Vincent uncertainly.

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

‘We’re always in the same boat,’ she said dryly. ‘Damned hard up. Down to the last penny as usual.’

Mrs St Vincent sighed.

‘I wish—’ she began, and then stopped.

‘I must find something to do,’ said Barbara in hard tones. ‘And find it quickly. After all, I have taken that shorthand and typing course. So have about one million other girls from all I can see! “What experience?” “None, but—” “Oh! thank you, good-morning. We’ll let you know.” But they never do! I must find some other kind of a job—any job.’

‘Not yet, dear,’ pleaded her mother. ‘Wait a little longer.’

Barbara went to the window and stood looking out with unseeing eyes that took no note of the dingy line of houses opposite.