The Companion: a Miss Marple Short Story

Miss Marple #SS 8

by Agatha Christie

Dr. Lloyd recalls some strange events for the Tuesday Night Club (in reality, it's successor group!). First there was a tragedy which occurred when he was practicing in the Canary Islands - a death by drowning which he had witnessed, and years later, a suicide in a small English village which mimicked the earlier event. He asks the members, "Was anything criminal involved?"

Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story, The Companion. Collections and the other stories by the author are located elsewhere on Goodreads. The Miss Marple series includes twelve novels and 20 short stories. Entries for each of the short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: a Miss Marple Short Story.

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Classics, Audiobook, Fiction, Crime

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Marple solves the case of the lady's companion who drowned off the shore of Gran Canaria Island.
How?
She noticed a bit of weight gain for what it was.



Miss Amy Durrant and her paid companion, Miss Mary Barton, are on vacation when Miss Durrant swims out too far and drowns. Miss Barton tried to swim out and save her, but it was too late.
Dr. Lloyd, a member of the Tuesday Night Club, tells a strange tale and (eventually) the way he found out the truth of the mystery.
But, naturally, Miss Marple has already figured it out before he gets to the end of his story.

Originally published in The Story-Teller magazine in 1930.
Read as part of the short story collection The Thirteen Problems .

[EveStar91 · Rating 3 out of 5]

They were what is called well-preserved, quietly and inconspicuously dressed in well-cut tweeds, and innocent of any kind of make-up. They had that air of quiet assurance which is the birthright of well-bred Englishwomen. There was nothing remarkable about either of them... And as my friend said, nothing exciting or remarkable would ever happen to either of them, though they might quite likely travel half over the world.

The Companion is the story of something remarkable that does happen to the two women - a rich gentlewoman and her companion traveling abroad and ending in a sea accident with death, recounted by a doctor who attended them. It is up to Miss Marple to get through to the motive for the death/ possible murder.

Miss Marple is indeed correct whenever she says that once similarities in people and stories are seen, it is possible to understand the people, motives and means of any murder - and this story is similar to another Marple novel! (Won't reveal which). So this was a fun read on immediately guessing the outcome! :D

The similarities aside, the plot here didn't seem like it would hold up on close observation and I was a bit surprised that it did hold up so much. On the whole, not one of the best Marple stories.

‘Oh!’ said Jane [not Miss Marple]. ‘In the village. But nothing ever happens in a village, does it?’ She sighed. ‘I’m sure I shouldn’t have any brains at all if I lived in a village.’

🌟🌟1/2🌟
[Half a star for the premise; Half a star for the characters; Half a star for the plot and themes; Half a star for the world-building; Half a star for the writing - 2 1/2 stars in total.]

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As 2020 closes, I am still on my mission to read all of Agatha Christie's writing in publication order. It has been a goal of mine for decades. With the advent of lovely things like the internet, ebooks, info websites and online bookshops, I am finding it so much easier to acquire her books, short stories and plays than it was in the 1980s when I first started collecting her paperbacks. It was a losing battle back then, as I was from a small town with no local book shop, UK titles were not readily available to me and I had no way to get an exhaustive list of all of her writing. Today, I have the time (all kiddos raised but one) and the ability to research (ahhh the blessing of the internet!)...so I have been having a glorious time working my way through all that is Christie! :)

Before now, I never really read any of her short stories. I'm finding I really love her short works just as much as her novels. I thoroughly enjoyed her first stories about Hercule Poirot. I find her introduction of the character to the public through short stories printed in detective magazines to be marketing genius. Give them snippets...get people reading...then give them novels. Smart! I have now worked my way into the days where lovely Miss Marple joined the literary party. I'm currently reading my way through thirteen stories about the Tuesday Night Club, which were later gathered into a short story collection called The Thirteen Problems (1932). The Tuesday Night Club is a group of friends (including Miss Marple) that started meeting every Tuesday night. Each member told a story, and the group had to guess the final outcome or the truth behind the tale. After they had all told a tale, the stories branched out to tales told around the table during a dinner party. They are all simple, short and marvelous!

The Companion was first published in 1930 in the Story-Teller Magazine in the UK and in the Pictoral Review in the US. It's the 8th story told by the Tuesday Night Club. Told by a medical doctor, the story relates the tale of a drowning victim.

Very enjoyable short story! It's a bit longer than some of the other tales and very entertaining. I listened to an audio book version of this story while reading along in my copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories. The audio copy I found is read by Joan Hickson who played the sleuth in the television series Miss Marple. Great performance!

On to the next story: The Four Suspects!

[Jack Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars. Another Tuesday Night Club gathering. The Companion is a 22 page story from Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories. It first appeared in 1930 in The Story Teller Magazine. You will recall that Raymond West had earlier convened some friends at Miss M's St. Mary Mead home at which they recounted challenging stories. On this occasion we are gathered at the Bantry's Gossington Hall and that famous actress, Jane Helier, presses Dr. Lloyd to tell the group a "creepy story." She wants to "wallow in crime this evening." He comes up with a good one - an incident which occurred when he practiced in the Canary Islands. He ran into two middle-aged women on a cruise holiday, Mary Barton and Amy Durrant. The next day, when picnicking with friends on the other side of the island, he came across a tragedy. Miss Durrant had been in trouble while swimming. He tried his best to resuscitate her but she died. Years later, he heard Miss Barton had committed suicide, probably over her regrets. What's behind this story? Did he stump the group? Yes, at least almost everyone. Did I mention a second Jane was present? (Oc2020/Ja2026)

[kezzie ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

✩ 3 stars
~
how does agatha christie always have so many characters in her books and yet you can distinctively tell that they are al their own person, and very different from one another?

[Crime Addict Sifat · Rating 3 out of 5]

How cunning can a criminal be in terms of erasing his/her own existence ! That's what this story teaches us. This is a short story by the "Mystery Queen" Agatha Christie. Miss Marple lovers would love it. I loved the plot and would recommend the story to everyone.

One of the other supper visitors, a Doctor Lloyd recounts his story. Proceeding with the sharing of secrets with this new gathering of supper visitors, Dr. Lloyd recounts occasions that happened when he was living in the Canary Islands. He had seen a couple of moderately aged ladies who were visitors from England. His underlying idea was that nothing intriguing could ever happen to both of them. Obviously he wasn't right. The following day he happened upon an unsettling influence at the shoreline. It appears that Miss Durrant was out swimming and Miss Barton said she'd called for offer assistance. At the point when MIss Barton swam out to help her she additionally started to battle and should have been protected by a man with a vessel. MIss Durrant who was the paid buddy to Miss Barton suffocated. What was upsetting was that one of the witnesses swore that she had seen Miss Barton holding Miss Durrant submerged instead of helping her. A while later Miss Barton herself suffocated in the wake of leaving a suicide note admitting to a wrongdoing. Her legacy went to some far off cousins in Australia. Miss Marple is normally the just a single of the supper visitors to get on the misdirections behind the story.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dang it! She stumped me again! And it was so simple when Miss Marple explained it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Miss Marple short story begins in the way so many of them start – with Miss Marple and a few neighbours chatting to each other. A beautiful actress is among the group and she asks the local doctor for a ‘creepy story.’ Trying to oblige, Dr Lloyd tells of two British women he encountered in Las Palmas (a good deal more exotic in 1930 when this story was written than it is now). He assumed the two middle aged, thoroughly respectable women, would never have anything exciting happen to either of them. However, before long, tragedy strikes and one of the two women – the travelling companion to her wealthy employer – is drowned. Is it an accident or murder? Of course, Miss Marple finds a comparison to the crime on the very doorstep of St Mary Mead and very easily explains the circumstances without leaving her armchair. The twist in this story is a little easy to spot, but that does not make the reading of the story any less enjoyable and you always feel that Agatha Christie truly enjoyed writing Jane Marple.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Lloyd tells this story at a dinner party. When he was living on the islands, he encountered 2 English ladies traveling together. Miss Barton was a wealthy lady traveling with her companion, Miss Durant. The next day, he came upon them on the beach and Miss Durant had drowned, despite Miss Barton’s efforts to save her. Yet a bystander said that Miss Barton was not trying to save her but rather she pushed her underwater. But Dr. Lloyd could not figure out why the wealthy woman would kill her companion. A month later, he read in the paper that a Miss Barton was presumed dead after leaving a suicide note expressing guilt for having killed Miss Durant. Her clothes were found by the beach but her body was never found. She was declared dead and her money went to distant cousins in Australia. A while later, Dr. Lloyd was the ship doctor on a vessel that stopped in Australia and he sees Miss Durant when he gets off the ship. But that can’t be because he saw her drown! So she confesses her story. Miss Barton was a distant cousin and she refused to help the family with medical bills for the youngest children. So, Miss Durant concocted the scheme to become her companion and kill her and escape detection. Miss Marple had it all figured out, just like me.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was a confusing one, but purposefully so. Even the other dinner guests kept getting turned around on the facts. Was all very clever, as is expected from a Christie work.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows on immediately after The Blue Geranium it would seem. Dr Lloyd, Sir Henry Clithering, Jane Helier and Miss Marple had been invited to dinner at the Bantry’s (Dolly Bantry and Colonel Bantry, the hosts).
Arthur Bantry had related his ghost story that Miss Marple had figured out. Now this short story leads on with the conversations after the meal. Jane Helier presses Dr Lloyd for a sinister story of his own that they can ask questions about, to try and guess answers in another mystery.

So Dr Lloyd begins about his life abroad where he witnessed an unfortunate incident involving two middle aged English ladies in Tenerife.

I really enjoyed the narration of this latest mystery. Those around the table revising the Tuesday Night Club’s formulae of sharing incredible tales that had unexpected turns of events. In the process we see the growth of Miss Marple’s character in a safe format. In all cases no-one other than her can provide a logical explanation for the circumstances in each story. Her powers of deduction drawn on her experiences and knowledge of similar characters in her village.

As a casual reader, aware of how things usually pan out with a twist or two, I have yet to match Miss Marple’s reasoning or work each mystery out in full. At best a few better guesses than those in the story but never a complete and satisfying explanation to cover the facts.

This is the magic of Agatha Christie and why we love her writing.

[Patricia Gulley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. Talk about a time when people actually sat around telling stories. A doctor remembering a possible murder, that played out as he moved around the world. Well worth reading.

[Vaishali · Rating 2 out of 5]

The telling and solving of a murder completely from an armchair conversation. Where's the adventure, the scenery? A complete waste of my time.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dr. tells a good tale, he kept my interest.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I too might prefer Miss Marple to Poirot. Something about that British Countryside and a cute old lady detective just warms my heart.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart short story of a mistaken identity. Or was it? Read it as part of 'The 13 problems'.

[Harvey Hênio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890/1976) dispensa apresentações. Autora de clássicos como “Morte dos dez negrinhos”, “O Assassinato no Expresso do Oriente”, “Morte sobre o Nilo”, “Treze à mesa” e “Assassinato num dia de sol”, a escritora é uma das mais adaptadas para o cinema em toda a história da sétima arte. Escritora prolífica Agatha Christie tornou-se membro da Royal Society of Literature e, em 1956 recebeu a Excelentíssima Ordem do Império Britânico e foi promovida em 1971 à condição de “Dama-Grã Cruz” além de ter recebido o título de Doutora Honoris causa pela Exeter University.
Este ebook traz um conto que fez, originalmente, parte do livro “Os treze problemas”, publicado em 1930. A tradução foi feita por Petrucia Finkler que usa uma linguagem mais acessível e ao mesmo tempo fiel ao texto original. Um dos méritos desse ebook é mostrar o “lado contista” de Agatha Christie mais conhecida como romancista.
“A dama de companhia” coloca em ação uma das mais interessantes personagens criadas por Agatha Christie. A detetive Miss Marple. Aparentemente uma “pacata e idosa dama inglesa” Miss Marple oculta sob a sua aparente placidez uma mente arguta e dedutiva que auxilia amiúde a Scotland Yard a resolver intrincados casos. Interessante a ousadia de Agatha Christie em colocar uma mulher como protagonista de tramas de mistério que normalmente são dominadas por personagens do sexo masculino. E tudo isso a partir da década de 30 do século passado.
“A dama de companhia” coloca Miss Marple diante de um intrincado caso em que um afogamento vitima fatalmente a dama de companhia de uma senhora inglesa que, deprimida e chocada com a fatalidade, comete suicídio. Mas, como era de se esperar, nada era o que parecia e o caso testa as habilidades de Miss Marple.
História bem contada e intrigante mas o final meio abrupto e algo anticlimático deixa uma impressão incômoda de perplexidade diante de um desfecho insatisfatório.
Mas é um bom “aperitivo” antes de acessar outras obras da “Dama do crime” com histórias mais “encorpadas” envolvendo Miss Marple.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This doesn't happen that often, but in this particular story it was blindingly clear to me what had happened, and how. Don't get me wrong: I didn't guess the backstory. I assumed that this was a crime of opportunism, but the method and the culprit are the same either way.

I don't know if I'm particularly clever this evening, or if Christie just wrote a short that was a little more obvious than most of hers. To be perfectly honest, I suspect the latter. Doesn't matter, I still enjoyed it.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ rounded down. I think I for sure like poroit better.

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

a short story

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent story which Miss Marple sees through as its laid out in conversation. Amazing if it kept happening like that to an elderly companion for mystery sleuths. QED

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirteen Problems, pt. 8: The Doctor's Story

This is a good one, and it includes one of Marple's favorite deductions about little old ladies.

[Aditya Mallya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A doctor tells Miss Marple about a time when he met two English women on a holiday, and one of them drowned. Miss Marple of course solves the mystery, but this time I solved it too.

[bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guessed an Agatha Christie mystery correctly! For the record, this almost never happens. Even though I'm quite good at guessing most modern mysteries, her mysteries always leave me stumped! However, the mystery of The Companion I guessed correctly and I'm feeling pretty proud!

In a continuation of the Tuesday Night Club, it's Dr Lloyd's turn to tell a story. He tells the story of a drowning in the Canary Islands of an English woman and how he suspected another English woman of doing it, without evidence.

I don't know if this one was easier to guess or I'm just getting better at picking up the clues and casting the red herrings aside, but I picked up the clues on this one and yes, I'm feeling very proud! The mystery itself was very detailed and if you're not paying attention you might get lost amongst the red herrings.

I'm really enjoying the short stories that make up the Tuesday Night Club, as we have the same characters sitting around discussing the mysteries but a different mystery each time, involving new characters. It's such an interesting way of telling short stories and I love each of them. I can't wait for the next one.

[Heather Culley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little old ladies look alike unless you look at them like they are people.

[A.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previously titled The Resurrection of Amy Durrant – a title that is a bit of a spoiler.
The murder club meets again and this time it is the Doctor’s turn. He tells of how he saw two ordinary middle aged English ladies on holiday in the Canary Islands and assumed that nothing would ever happen to them in their boring lives. The next day, one drowned and the doctor just happened to be passing. With time he has understood that the incident was a crime, almost a perfect one.
But why would a wealthy woman drown her insignificant paid companion?
Naturally, Miss Marple has some village example that provides the key to the case.
Excellent.
5 stars

[Crystal Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Conpanion!!

I knew that I was going to enjoy reading this short story and thought I'd definitely figured out who committed the crime when I was half way through but no I was wrong and I was so totally shocked. It was a very good read. I'd definitely recommend this short story to anyone who loves books by Agatha Christie like I do.

[Barbara Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Figured It Out From The Start!

This short story features Miss Marple as our lady who figured out the real story. I must say I've read thousands of mysteries in my 70 years, so I had this mystery figured out from the start. The only thing I didn't figure out was the motive. I will let you read it and see if you figure it out, too. I gave this short story a five star rating.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories

Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again

[Cathy Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This time my reaction to this little puzzler was decidedly lackluster. I found the mystery surrounding the lady and her companion easy to solve, and Miss Jane Helier the actress thought it was utterly utterly charming to be completely obtuse, and that never sits well with me!