Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (aka, The Mousetrap) includes some Miss Marple stories, some Hercule Poirot stores, and a Harley Quin story.
“Three Blind Mice” is the basis for the famous play, “The Mousetrap,” which opened in London in 1952 and became the longest running play in the English language.
But my favorite stories in Three Blind Mice and Other Stories are “Tape-measure Murder” and “The Third-Floor Flat” and “The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly.” In “Tape-measure Murder” Miss Marple solves the murder with a clever twist. Poirot investigates the murder of a woman in an apartment building and solves a tricky time-line problem to snare the killer. A wealth couple see Poirot after their young son is kidnapped. They receive letters before the kidnapping asking for 25,000 pounds. The couple refused to pay. The kidnapper sent another note giving the day and the time of the kidnapping. The couple contacted the police who staked out their estate at the appointed time. Nonetheless, the boy was kidnapped. Poirot uses his little gray cells to resolve the crime.
If you’re looking for some short stories with engaging crimes and puzzles, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories will answer your needs. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Three blind mice — 1
- Strange jest — 73
- Tape-measure murder — 87
- The case of the perfect maid — 103
- The case of the caretaker — 119
- The third-floor flat — 135
- The adventure of Johnnie Waverly — 157
- Four and twenty blackbirds — 173
- The love detectives –189
Dame Agatha rarely disappoints. Highly recommended!
Deb, I discovered Agatha Christie mysteries in the 1960s and binged on a couple dozen of her books. Then, over the decades, I’ve read a couple Christies just about every year. I did notice the later Christies–especially those published in the 1970s (other than CURTAIN and THE SLEEPING MURDER which were written years earlier)–were lesser works. Some Christie experts have advanced the theory that Christie might have been suffering from Alzheimers: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/03/agatha-christie-alzheimers-research
It has been many decades since I have read Christie–if you don’t count Witness for the Prosecution, the play, in which I performed in community theater! Come to think of it, that was about 45 years ago! At any rate, I’ve always found her plots clever and the books engaging! I mainly drifted away when I started reading hardboiled novels!
Bob, I’m always impressed with your acting antics!
Indeed. I read this – and pretty much all of Christie’s short stories – years ago, though I have enjoyed revisiting some of them in recent years too. We saw THE MOUSETRAP in London on our first visit in 1971, when it had “only” been playing 18 or 19 years! I did guess the murderer/ Over the years we’ve seen a number of Christie’s plays, many adapted from her books (like AND THEN THERE WERE NONE). The best remains WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.
Jeff, I guessed the murderer in THE MOUSETRAP, too. Have a safe trip!
I’ve always found Christie’s short stories to be hit or miss, but when she hits the mark she knocks it out of the park. There are far more winners than also-rans in this collection. For the record, my favorite Christie collections are THE HOUND OF DEATH and THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS (THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS).
Jerry, I’m a fan of THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS, too. I have a copy of THE HOUND OF DEATH around here somewhere. I want to drop everything and read it!
In my current Agatha Christie reading/rereading project (at eight books a year it will take me ten years), I reordered all of her short stories into 13 collections that made more sense to me. Stories from Three Blind Mice are in four of my collections:the Poirot collections More Poirot Investigations (the only one of these I’ve read so far) and Wasp’s Nest, the Miss Marple collection The Tape-Measure Murder, and the non-series collection The Dressmaker’s Doll.
Jeff, my similar Agatha Christie reading project should end just about when yours does since I’m about ten years ahead of you…but I’m limiting myself to two Christies that I haven’t read per year.
I read most of Agatha’s stories in the late 50s and early 60s at an elderly friend’s library – it was great fun!
And then again I saw many on tv – a long time ago …
Wolf, the BBC has had several TV series featuring Agatha Christie characters, principally Poirot and Miss Marple.