Sing a Song of Sixpence and Other Stories

by Agatha Christie

A flawless collection of short stories that Christie herself referred to as 'light-hearted thrillers'. Twelve ingenious, witty mysteries showing the author at her best, including: the curious disappearance of Lord Listerdale, the strange meeting on a train of a feckless man and a beautiful girl, Philomel Cottage and the extraordinary country house visit of Edward Robinson. Each four-story volume is expertly narrated by Hugh Fraser. Three double-cassette packs complete this tantalising series.

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

Audiobook

First published March 1, 1990

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

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I wanted for the hot part of summer! Christie herself called this collection "light hearted" and I'd go along with that, though at the same time one or two have surprisingly dark twists. I have read one or two of the stories in other collections, and am still amused by the last in which Our Her0's name is James Bond. Did Fleming read this short story in a magazine somewhere and the name stayed with him?
Christie is famous for reissuing stories/novels with new titles, and recycling plots. Two or three of these short stories follow the same formula of the young man dependent on a rich relation who finds himself getting the boot and having to make his own way. I suppose it may happen even today with well to do boys whose parents have spoiled them since the cradle and then get tired of the monster they created.
Imagine a world in which you buy a car first and learn to drive it after you've got it! In the days when these stories were written there was no such thing as a driving test or an MOT. Or safety glass, seat belts, ABS or airbags. Driving was not for the faint hearted.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2020

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not certain the new sleuth of the author this is, but the story doesn't proceed on the same pace as most.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful collection of lighthearted stories, in the same vein as Christie's "Parker Pyne" stories. They're mostly happy-ending romps, unabashedly romantic and fantastical. I read through them with a giant smile on my face!

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved how the detective character doesn't full in the classical type of them in that he was not in any sort of the word a good person. Even though, he helped her at the end. One good point about the story that it didn't follow the course of the crime itself but more of trying to prove the innocence of all the suspects.