The Sunningdale Mystery: A Short Story

Tommy & Tuppence #2.10

by Agatha Christie

Previously published in the print anthology Partners in Crime.

Captain Sessle is found stabbed through the heart with a hatpin, and the only clue is a bit of red wool in his hand. A pretty blonde is charged because she was wearing a bright red wool coat, but the Beresfords aren’t so sure. Was there more behind the killing than a cute girl and some red yarn?

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

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 2013

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 4 out of 5]

In this short story, Tommy emulates Baroness Orczy's nameless armchair detective in The Old Man in the Corner.
Another book to add to my TBR.



So, Tommy & Tuppence are out to lunch when he pulls out a newspaper clipping of a murder and has her play the part of a reporter (Polly Burton) from the Orczy novel. They decide to try to solve the case with their wits alone.
And they do!
But how to convince the police of their findings?

Welllllll...It just so happens Inspector Marriot was sitting near enough in the restaurant to overhear their conversation. And it just so happens that he wasn't 100% sold on the outcome of the police investigation, either.

This story originally appeared in The Sketch magazine in 1924.
Read as part of the short story collection Partners in Crime.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening. 🎵👒😎🎵

This kindle e-book novella is from Amazon for $0.99

I am a fan of Agatha Christie and have enjoyed a number of stories and TV shows.

Tommy and Tuppence are asked to help investigate the death of a man found on a golf course? They are successful in their investigation.

I would recommend this novella and author to fans of Agatha Christie and British mystery novels. 2024

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tommy solves a mystery while having lunch with Tuppence. A man is found dead on a golf course. The story is in all the papers. A woman was seen to approach him on the course and they spoke for a moment. When he returned, it was obvious from his friends playing behind him that he was distressed because his shots were way off. The next morning, his body is found on the golf course. Who killed him? A woman is arrested as she was the last to see him alive after she had met him earlier in the week and he suggested dinner. She said he suggested a walk after dinner and then he threatened her with a gun so she fled. Tommy figures out that the man was dead before the round of golf was finished. The woman he was seen speaking to was not a woman at all but his business partner, dressed as a woman to deceive the other golfers. He was killed then, hidden in the bushes and then the business partner kept the meeting with the woman that he met earlier in the week in order to set her up for the murder.

[Emma Gallacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, so clever! And loved the golf course setting!

[Ivan Jovanović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veoma zanimljivo postavljen misterij, po tom pitanju ovo je vjerojatno i najbolja prica dosad u cijeloj knjizi. Jedan dio sam nekako i pogodio jer je bilo sumnjivo ono pojavljivanje nepoznate zene pa sam odmah pretpostavio kako ce biti rijec o muskarcu prerusenom u zenu. No rasplet je bio vrhunski u kojem smo pratili Tommyjev misaoni proces, a najbolje iznenadenje mi je bilo to sto je inspektor Marriot sve to slusao sjedeci za susjednim stolom.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A body is found on a Golf Course with a hair needle through his chest. Who did it and why? Another Tommy and Tuppence case to solve. This story was a fun read and could easily be thought of as a Poirot Case. Here we have Tommy using his powers of deduction to solve a crime and re organising the pieces until they fit.

[Akemi G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tommy plays the role of The Old Man in the Corner. A simple story, but done nicely.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gelukkig weer een beetje goed TT verhaal.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the collection Partners In Crime, 21April2022.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s extraordinary how things seem to straighten themselves out when you talk a thing over.”

An entertaining mystery.

[Jonathan Pérez · Rating 3 out of 5]

El misterio y la resolución estuvieron muy muy buenos 🤌🏼

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more traditional, and perfectly cozy, murder mystery.

[Kristen Bouma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

[Alif · Rating 2 out of 5]

the murder was cleverly planned in this one!

[Jini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nailed the writing style of the Baroness!

[Zaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiolibro.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy & Tuppence 02 Partners in Crime

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

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like how things beautifully work out for those two, though not convening when it comes in terms with logic specially that they were only guessing tell the end of the story.