The Blue Geranium: a Miss Marple Short Story

Miss Marple #SS 7

by Agatha Christie

On this occasion, the Tuesday Night Club mystery lovers hear a story about a woman who was warned by a psychic of evil and danger in her house. On a full moon, she must watch for the signs: blue primrose means caution, blue hollyhock means danger, and blue geranium means death! It's not long before the woman claims to see blue geraniums in the house. Is Miss Marple up to dealing with the supernatural?

Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story, The Blue Geranium. Collections and 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, Short Stories, Agatha Christie, Classics, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1929

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

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calendar Novella #1

My son and I bought a literary pre-Christmas gift for ourselves: a calendar with prettily wrapped short novellas, one for each day from 1st until 24th of December. So the idea is to read one each day, no matter what kind of story it is and how much other reading material is piling up.

We started with a vintage Miss Marple story, and it was pleasantly nostalgic. I hadn't read Agatha Christie in decades, and had completely forgotten that she is a brilliant observer of the human condition, not least in her ability to reveal the underlying emotions in seemingly rational people.

Quietly and quickly enjoyable!

[EveStar91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘One would at least know the petty side of people. But I don’t think we have any really exciting criminals in our midst. I think we must try her with Arthur’s ghost story after dinner. I’d be thankful if she’d find a solution to that.’

The Blue Geranium is the story of a woman's murder in a locked room, forewarned by a mystic and heralded by a geranium on a wallpaper. Though the mystic's warning signs of danger were laughed away indulgently at the beginning, the third sign of danger is finally taken seriously, but only after the death of the lady. It is up to Miss Marple to look through the ghostly vibes of the anecdote to the clues giving away the murderer.

Miss Marple continues her spree of solving murders long after they've occurred, based on only the information given in the space of a few minutes, the same information that several others had without any results. This story is a great example of not just her quick thinking, but also her general knowledge and emotional intelligence. On the whole, a fun read, recommended to Miss Marple fans either as part of a collection or singly.

🌟🌟🌟🌟3/4🌟
[One star for the premise; One star for the plot; 3/4 star for the characters; One star for the world-building; One star for the writing - 4 3/4 stars in total.]

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

"The Blue Geranium" originally appeared in the Miss Marple short story collection, The Thirteen Problems, as story #7.

Miss Marple is invited to a dinner party to see if she can solve a murder as told to her by one of the other guests. Obviously, she can.

What struck me about the story is that the murder method wouldn't be realistically possible now, as the key ingredients are unlikely to be common items in our day and age. What an interesting idea! That murder methods can change with the times & historical circumstances they occur in.


I found this audio CD in my local little free library. Judging by the sleeve, it was a freebie handed out by a chocolate company and probably torn from a magazine at some point.

The production of the CD is excellent and the reader, Achim Höppner, did a phenomenal job, lulling me to sleep several times while listening. That's a plus in my book, as I always tend to keep --and re-re-re-listen to -- anything so soothing that it can conk me out in under 15 minutes! 😴👍

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Arthur & Dolly Bantry ask Sir Henry Clithering who he would like to invite over as a dinner guest to round out their house party, he shocks them by asking for Miss Marple to be included.
When he tells Dolly about the uncanny way the elderly spinster solved the mysteries of the Tuesday Night Club the year before, she starts to think maybe Miss Marple could help her solve a seemingly paranormal murder mystery.



There once was an annoying hypochondriac who drove her husband crazy with her outrageous demands over her health and drove everyone else crazy with her poor me attitude, as they all knew she wasn't really sick.
However, after a visit from a fortune-teller warns her to beware the blue geranium sends her into a frenzy, and the blue geranium pops up on the wallpaper in her bedroom, the woman mysteriously does die!
Was this a true paranormal event? Or did someone succeed in offing the woman?
Miss Marple to the rescue.

I've read this one in several collections over the years. It's not my favorite, but it's an enjoyable Marple short.

Originally published in The Story-Teller magazine in 1929.
Read as part of the short story collections The Thirteen Problems & The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. The things one can learn as a gardener - at least, the things Miss Marple learned while gardening! Nothing more; it's not for me to hand out solutions to Christie stories. The original Tuesday Night Club seems to have faded, but Sir Henry Clithering is invited back to St. Mary Mead as a guest of the Bantry's at Gossington Hall. He suggests Miss Marple as a dinner companion because he found her detecting skills remarkable. The others are astonished. The timeline must have been before Murder in the Library, which takes place, after all, in the Bantry's library! This 19-pager from Story Teller in 1929 is in Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories. Arthur begins a tale about a ghost sighting - much enhanced by his wife during the telling! He talks of George Pritchard and his wife, a semi-invalid. She believed in fortune tellers and clairvoyants. Difficult to work for, Mrs. Pritchard went through a string of nurses, all dismissed for one reason or another. She kept seeing things, like wallpaper geraniums turning blue. A terrible omen. One day a psychic reader showed up and soon Mrs. Pritchard was dead. What is it about gardening? Let's ask Miss Marple. (Oc2020/Ja2026)

[Jennifer (Jaye) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Curious*

**3.5 Stars**

It’s incredible that this is my first Agatha Christie book. I’ve always avoided them because of the numerous TV dramas I’ve seen. However, I decided to give this short story a try.

I opted for the audio version, wonderfully narrated by the talented English actress Juliet Stevenson. I was pleasantly surprised and listened to it three times.

The story revolves around a high-maintenance married woman who is deeply superstitious. When a so-called clairvoyant visits, she predicts death by mentioning a blue geranium. The unfolding events are truly intriguing.

At a dinner party, Miss Marple is a guest and as they discuss the case, only she solves it.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue Geranium is the 7th story in the Tuesday Night Club story arc, featuring Miss Marple. The Tuesday Night Club short stories, published in magazines from 1927-1931, introduce Miss Marple as a character. The thirteen tales were gathered into book form in 1932 (The Thirteen Problems).

The Tuesday Night Club includes Miss Marple, her nephew (a writer) and four friends (an actress, a clergyman, an attorney, and an artist). They meet on Tuesday nights to discuss unsolved or mysterious crimes. One member tells a story and the others try to guess the truth. The first six tales each feature one member telling their story....and the truth is revealed at the end. At the end of the sixth story, each club member had told their tale...so Christie had to change tactics to continue the story arc. The Blue Geranium was published 18 months after the sixth Tuesday Night Club story (published in the UK December 1929 in The Story-Teller Magazine with US publication January 1930 in Pictorial Review). The story opens with Colonel Arthur Bantry inviting four people to dinner at his home. He includes Miss Marple in the party because he hears she is good at solving mysteries. Bantry wants to see if she can solve a strange mystery involving an invalid woman and a psychic.

I loved this story! It had a wonderful locked-room mystery vibe to it. Very classic. It's one of my favorites of the Tuesday Night Club stories so far. These stories are short, ranging from 10-20 pages. Published in magazines, these are minute-mystery sort of quick tales meant to introduce Miss Marple as a character. The short length means these stories don't have the complex plots, setting and characterizations of Christie's novels, but they do a great job of showing Miss Marple's keen understanding and wisdom. She might be a spinster who has spent her entire life in a small English village, but Miss Marple knows human nature. She notices everything. Nothing gets past Miss Marple!

The Blue Geranium was adapted for television by the series Agatha Christie's Marple in its 5th season. The episode sticks pretty closely to the plot of the original story, but expands it to fill an almost 90 minute episode.

Loving these stories! Up to now I had never read any of the Miss Marple short stories. These first tales are very short, but fun to read! I'm reading along in my hardback copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (Putnam, 1985) while listening to audio (The Thirteen Problems narrated by Joan Hickson who played Miss Marple on Agatha Christie's Marple from 1984-1992). Hickson does a wonderful job of reading (of course) and it's so much fun to hear the story in a voice I associate with Miss Marple. :)

On to the next story -- The Companion!

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A science experiment. When you read it you'll see what I mean. Excellent story!

[Wera · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

I just don't think detective short stories are for me... though I did enjoy the chemical aspect of this one! And Christie's writing is always a delight :)

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Jenny E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Marple gillar jag. Det är nog den enda av Christies karaktärer som jag gärna kan läsa mer av i framtiden.

Detta var en liten mordgåta. Där jag såg några av problemen, men inte vem den skyldige var lyckades jag inte lista ut.

[Crime Addict Sifat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story by Agatha Christie via Tuesday Night Club members, A lady is cautioned by a clairvoyant of the wickedness and peril in her home. On a full moon, she should look for the signs: blue primrose implies alert, blue hollyhock is peril, and blue geranium is passing!

[Jürgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nette kleine Geschichte. Schöne Spannung, interessanter Plot.

[Kristina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun short read. I’ve discovered I prefer Miss Marple to Hercule Poirot. At least so far. I’ve only read a few of Agatha Christie books but I love them. They are the perfect little cozy mysteries for me. Part of me wishes I had known about them and read them growing up and part of me is excited that I have so much good reading ahead of me.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Min första läsning om Miss Marple och jag är helt klart sugen på att läsa mer om just henne.

[zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Miss Marple and it's through a short-story!
Absolutely loved it. I miss reading old-school.mysteries and this was such a fun one to read.

[Kimberley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to use short stories as inspiration for uni in terms of structure, however this just read as incredibly short prose in the form of gossip and speculation. Perhaps that’s the point as I’ve never read from this author or series before. The concept was interesting, but perhaps not useful for what I was going for

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story moves things along from The Tuesday Night Club stories to more natural interactions involving Miss Marple around the village. The link is Sir Henry Clithering staying with his friends the Bantrys and suggesting Miss Marple makes up a six for a dinner party.

‘Know Miss Marple? Who doesn’t! The typical old maid of fiction. Quite a dear, but hopelessly behind the times. Do you mean you would like me to ask her to dinner?’

‘You are surprised?’ ‘

A little, I must confess. I should hardly have thought you—but perhaps there’s an explanation?’

‘The explanation is simple enough. When I was down here last year we got into the habit of discussing unsolved mysteries—there were five or six of us—Raymond West, the novelist, started it. We each supplied a story to which we knew the answer, but nobody else did. It was supposed to be an exercise in the deductive faculties—to see who could get nearest the truth.’

Once the meal is over it provides the opportunity Arthur Bantry to share his ghost story and the mystery surrounding the death of George Pritchard’s wife.

Needless to say in due course Miss Marple smashes it with ease drawing on all her time observing village life including the District Nurse.

I liked the dynamic around table and more background around on of Christie’s best characters, Miss Marple.

[Sofie Strömvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sv: Intressant sätt att luras på. All vidskeplighet behöver uppenbarligen inte vara sann, det räcker med att spela på känslor och rädslor och plantera bevis. För en gångs skull var brottslingen en karaktär som redan nämnts, något som uppskattas för hur ska jag kunna gissa mig fram till den skyldige om jag inte känner till dennes existens? Dock blöder mitt hjärta alltid lite grann när det handlar om respektive som slutat älska varandra.


Eng: Interesting way to fool someone. All superstition obviously doesn't have to be true, it's enough playing with emotions and fears and planting evidence. For once the criminal was a character that's already been mentioned, something I appreciate because how am I suppose to guess who's guilty when I don't even know about their existence? However, my heart always bleed a little when it's about couples who stopped loving each other.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a clever mystery! Mr. Pritchard’s wife is an invalid who dies in the night after a letter from a fortune teller says that blue geraniums mean death. The woman’s bedroom has wallpaper with different flowers and the morning that she is found dead, one of the pink germaniums has turned blue. Was she killed by a ghost? Miss Marple figures out that the woman’s smelling salts were replaced with cyanide, which killed her, and then the nurse replaced the bottle with the real smelling salts after she sent everyone out of the room to call for the doc. The litmus she applied to the flower turned blue when exposed to the smelling salts. Clever!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is no longer told by the Tuesday Night Club, but in a very similar setting, at a dinner party of six people at the house of Bantrys. Sir Henry Clithering is also in attendance, an actress, a doctor, and - of course - Miss Marple.

The story is told by the Bantrys and it is one with with a very intricate and clever solution. I also had to laugh a few times about the tensions between the couple in the story. I thought that it was indeed an excellent description of human nature amidst the believe in some supernatural nonsense. I'm surprised that the overall rating of this story was rather low.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rather fun murder mystery novel by Agatha Christie. This is another story from The Tuesday Night Club. A story of how Mrs Pritchard died and who did it, and how. Good old Miss Marple manages to solve the mystery for us 🙂.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p8: "...The Blue Primrose means Warning; the Blue Hollyhock means Danger; the Blue Geranium means Death...

Poisoners gonna poison.

Read as part of the collection The Thirteen Problems.

[Ghadir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed due to the fact that I could predict who the killer was, but other than that I think the story was really enjoyable and clever.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun short read and got to top up on my science along the way.

[Bethany Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was not my favourite of the ones that I have read from this selection and it wasn't something was was something i liked but it was a strange story but it was short and easy to get through fast.

[Elliemae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harper Collins audio read by Joan Hickson. Enjoed the narration by Joan Hickson but the story was not one of Miss Christie's best.

[Dennis Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mind of Agatha Christie amazes me! How she came up with what she did...pretty fantastic! 4/5

[Marianne (Boricuan Bookworms) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming

[Verba Non Res · Rating 3 out of 5]

Correcto. Las pistas están ahí, aunque el misterio resulta imposible de resolver sin cierto conocimiento técnico (que además, sin que esto sea una falta de Christie, ya es anacrónico).

Cuento #7 de Los trece problemas

Anterior: “The Thumb Mark of St. Peter”

Siguiente: “The Companion”