The Idol House of Astarte: A Miss Marple Short Story
4/5
()
About this ebook
A classic Agatha Christie short story, featuring Miss Marple, from the collection Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories.
Years ago, a murder was committed on the night of a costume party thrown by Sir Richard Haydon. Sir Richard's estate contained the grove of Astarte, which held a mysterious stone summer house rumored to have been the site of numerous sacred rites in years long past. In a surprise act, the lovely Diana Ashley enacted the role of Astarte, startling Sir Richard who stumbled and fell. When the others reached his body, he was found dead of a knife wound to the heart. After all these years, can the Club still solve the case?
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.
Read more from Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sparkling Cyanide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Crooked House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passenger to Frankfurt Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Death Comes As the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Island: A Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Came to Baghdad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Is Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Endless Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Towards Zero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sittaford Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parker Pyne Investigates: A Short Story Collection Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordeal by Innocence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Idol House of Astarte
Related ebooks
Strange Jest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King of Clubs: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case of the Caretaker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coming of Mr. Quin: A Harley Quin Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Greenshaw's Folly: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Companion: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Mr. Quin: A Short Story Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sad Cypress: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sing a Song of Sixpence: A Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hound of Death: A Short Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Christmas Tragedy: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blood-Stained Pavement: A Miss Marple Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ingots of Gold: A Miss Marple Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tape Measure Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Motive v. Opportunity: A Miss Marple Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Gong: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sanctuary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love Detectives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mystery of the Spanish Chest: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dream: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Triangle at Rhodes: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Affair of the Pink Pearl: A Tommy & Tuppence Short Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Tuesday Night Club: A Miss Marple Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finessing the King: A Tommy & Tuppence Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5By the Pricking of My Thumbs: A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poirot and the Regatta Mystery: A Hercule Poirot Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Problem at Sea: A Hercule Poirot Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case of the Missing Lady: A Tommy & Tuppence Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery, Thriller & Crime Fiction For You
The Daughter of Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deja Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poirot Investigates: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moonlight Becomes You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tuesday Night Club: A Miss Marple Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Du Jour: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Four: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Why Didn't They Ask Evans? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Do It With Mirrors: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaudy Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sad Cypress: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Island: A Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cat Among the Pigeons: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Murder Is Announced: A Miss Marple Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5But I Trusted You: Ann Rule's Crime Files #14 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sittaford Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evil Under the Sun: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife: A Parker Pyne Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Endless Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Left for Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death in the Clouds: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Idol House of Astarte
329 ratings25 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All of the Marple short stories, between two covers. Great short mysteries, though not reading a whole bunch of them right in a row may be a better idea than just romping straight through them.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The collection is made up of: Tuesday Club Murders (13 Problems), The Regatta Mystery, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, and Double Sin and Other Stories.
In all I believe there were 20 stories ALL Featuring Miss Marple..... I was never fond of Jane Marple to being with, the falsely humble old lady who knits and pretends to be a simple minded old maid.
The Tuesday Club Murders bored me to tears; In the first six stories a group of six people gathered at Miss Marple's home each posing a mystery for the others to deduce the outcome.... In the second six stories everyone gathered at Gossington Hall the Bantrys' home (you remember them from "Body in the Library" & "The Mirror Crack'd"). The original six are: Raymond West (Marple's nephew); Former Yard Commissioner, Sir Henry Clithering; Raymond's friend Joyce Lempriere; clergyman Dr. Pender; solicitor Mr. Petherick; & Miss Marple. Odd (annoying) how no one could figure anything out, only Miss Marple because after all she knows "human nature" based on all the not nice (evil) people she has known in her quaint little village of St. Mary Mead.
Stories included: The Tuesday Night Club, Ingots of Gold, The Blood Stained Pavement, The Idol House of Astarte, Motive v. Opportunity, The Thumb Mark of St. Peter, The Blue Geranium, The Companion, the Four Suspects, A Christmas Tragedy, The Herb of Death, The Affair at the Bungalow, & Death by Drowning.
The Regatta Mystery was actually "Miss Marple Tells a Story" of how she solved a murder while at home sitting in her armchair.
Strange Jest, The Tape Measure Murder, Case of the Perfect Maid, The Caretaker, Greenshaw's Folly, & Sanctuary or The Man on the Chancel Steps (featuring Bunch Harmon Miss Marple's Niece) I found to be more interesting as they involved the people involved and were not stories told about others. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I have forgotten how I loathe short stories. I don't get enough of the character development to make a guess as to the perpetrator in a mystery. Although well written, it seems that Miss Marple knows too much that she doesn't reveal until the wrap up. I prefer the full length Miss Marple stories.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoy all things Hercule Poirot and have recently realized that I've not read any of Christie's Marple books. How can this be a thing? So I've begun to rectify this trangression with a collection of the Marple short stories. This was excellent and a good way to get a look in on how Jane's brain works all while she knitting along (I knit as well, so I love how she sometimes has to check her count when she's mulling over some of the conundrums that come up during this meeting of the minds where everyone offers a mystery for the group to solve. This is my first but definitely not my last Marple read. Recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miss Marple gets RespectThis collection of short stories are useful to know Miss Marple and a bunch of characters that gravitate toward her. One can also grasp Miss Marple line of thought and the method used to solve the puzzles. Solving one mystery after the other, the old lady conquered the respect of her friends. Great reading.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not terrible. If you like Miss Marple, this is a great way to get an overview of her. I liked the first few stories - well, I liked some of the first few stories, the Tuesday Night Club. Some were more than a little too contrived. Later on, they got more annoying - actually, one of the last ones is very similar to one of the early ones, a man who wanted to murder his wife and set things up very complicatedly to do so. Speaking of "don't put yourself at a woman's mercy..." sheesh. I started out willing to enjoy myself, but by the end I was just reading to finish it. Not a book I enjoyed, much, and it makes me less interested in reading any of the Miss Marple novels.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5At a gathering everyone is encouraged to tell a story of a previously unsolvable mystery to see if anyone could solve the puzzle. Predictably, in each story, no one else has a clue as to who or how the crime was committed other than Jane Marple. People who like to figure out puzzles would enjoy these shorts.
I had a library copy copy that I couldn't renew, so I had to send it back unfinished. Well, it's been 2 years & I still haven't gone back to take it out again, to finish it. Time to remove it from my current reading list - hah - and move on. I'm glad I read some of the stories but overall they just weren't challenging enough for me. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I picked this up because I haven't read much mystery, and thought short stories by a widely recognized author would be a good place to start. I enjoyed the Miss Marple stories, even though they did frustrate me because I couldn't figure them out.
The language was, of course, a bit out-dated, but I thought it made the whole thing extra fun. I'll probably pick up another Agatha Christie soon. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This includes the complete text of the Tuesday Club Murders, which introduced Miss Marple as the seemingly innocent old maid aunt of the sophisticated writer Raymond West. West and some friends (including a retired commissioner from Scotland Yard) agree to meet on Tuesdays and tell the stories of murders (whose results they actually know) to see if the others can solve them. To their astonishment, MIss Marple regularly solves them. The other stories are strays included originally in mixed collections of Christie stores, including The Regatta Mystery (not including the title story), Three Blind Mice (ditto) and Double Sin (ditto). Personally I generally prefer mystery short stories to noels, and particularly that is true for most of Christie, whose novels tend to be depressing (except for a few lighter hearted ones like Tommy and Tuppence and the Scandal at Chimneys series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enjoyable, light. Stock characters recount mysteries and consistently stump each other, but not Miss Marple, who solves each crime through analogy with the behaviors of residents in her small town. It is a refreshing departure from ratiocination and deduction, but given the constraints of the short story - a limited number of characters and conventions of form - many of the solutions seem somewhat inevitable rather than surprising. It is nice to the see the police respect and defer to the amateur detective rather than feeling threatened by or dismissive of her.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like Miss Marple herself as a character and therefore rate it highly. But the stories, as a whole, are rather uneven. Some very compelling, others very not so much so. I think they get better as they go on and as Christie fleshes them out to full stories instead of puzzles. The ones where Marple herself is involved in the workings of the mystery, instead of just as an observer, are the best. My opinion is that Christie does some of her best writing with Marple in the center of the action because in removing the "professional" aspect of a detective or police, she is forced to find more nuanced and more interesting (for me, at least) ways of solving things. I think these stories bear that up. I also think the stories with Mrs Dolly Bantry and co. contain some of the most humorous moments I've read in Christie's writing.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This collection is really quite fun -- it doesn't get too tedious, because of course, you have a different set of characters for each one, and the mystery is solved quite quickly. Some of them are better than others, obviously, but they're all good for a relaxing read on a Saturday afternoon... And in some cases you get to see characters from the other books, which is nice too. I like the last one the best, I think, because Bunch and her husband are really rather sweet.
They do blend into each other a little, though -- not while you're reading, but after. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fun mysteries! I didn't solve even one on my own. I did get the feeling that the characterization of Miss Marple is different in the longer books; she was a bit too "aren't I just stupid and silly" in each of these.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This volume collects all the Miss Marple short stories. This isn't the best format for reading them, because she keeps getting re-introduced and there is a certain sameness to most of them. "Fluffy little lady, great skepticism, vouched for by surprising experts, solves the case by analogy with village life." There are also several that depend on things that have changed so much, and words that don't mean what they used to, and common objects that no longer exist, which gets confusing. One of them involved a bowl of cornstarch, and despite googling, I'm not at all sure what that was.However, they are well-written, and read one at a time, can be fun.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good bite-sized mystery reading. Wouldn't necessarily recommend plowing straight through this collection like I did, though... Miss Marple's genius almost starts to wear thin. Good things come in moderation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Does what it says on the tin - every short story about Miss Marple, collected into a single volume. We have here the collection "The Thirteen Problems", the five Marple stories from "Miss Marples Final Cases and Two other Stories", and "Greenshaw's Folly". Twenty short stories in total, and in my edition there is also an introductory essay by Stella Duffy, which is well worth reading.I think that reading all of these in one or two sittings would be a bit much; they would seem too formulaic. And in fact I listened to some of them in audiobook format read by Joan Hickson, and then read the others on and off over a period of a couple of weeks. But taken 2 or 3 at a time, the formula can become an asset to the story-telling, particularly in the Thirteen Problems collection. You have the same set-up in each story (a group of friends telling each other stories in the evening, and trying to guess the solution), and then the fun of watching the different approach each character takes to telling his or her story for the others to try to solve. Christie has created distinctive personalities for each of her recurring characters in these stories, and uses various quirks in their personalities to present and hide clues.They're short stories, so by their nature they can't have the depth of the novels. But each story is an engaging puzzle, with the sharp observation of human nature, wittily told, that is Christie's trademark. The quality varies from story to story, but as a whole this is a collection well worth reading.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fun. A mixed bag as in all short story collections, but generally enjoyable. Miss Marple is perhaps not as famous as Hercule Poirot, but still one of Mrs Christies best creations. As a spinster living in a viallage she has plenty of opportunity for observing human nature, and relating tales of village life to those little but more serious puzzles which crop up. This is a far more belivable technique than Sherlock Homes' observations or deductions. There isn't really much for the reader to guess at though, as the stories revolve about a character's motivation - with explanations provided by Miss Marple.Some of the exposition occasionally gets a little wearying, but Miss Marple has a very sly commentry that is generally delightful to read. Also of fascination are all the insights into 30s-60s life. When housemaids and servants were everyday affairs that everyone (worth knowing) had. As Miss Marple ages, it is noticable how these trends change towards the 'daily' help instead.TBC
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This collection of Miss Marple short stories highlights many of the things I find interesting about Christie, as well as some oWf her weaknesses. Christie's strength lies in setting up complicated plots and drawing out rich characters in all of their particularities. The short story format, then, takes away Christie's greatest strength. What is left are bare-bones Christie-style stories. Each story in this collection is a whodunit, usually featuring a murder. Everyone is either bewildered, or convinced that the wrong person is guilty, except, of course, for Miss Marple. Christie affords no energy to the set-up; most of these stories begin with a group telling each other stories. The solutions to these stories involve knowledge of all sorts of things with which the average reader will have little familiarity, such as the uses and results of certain poisons. Perhaps most striking to me was just how weak the character of Miss Marple actually is. There's simply very little to her, except a conviction that young people are foolish. The introduction to the volume tries to argue otherwise, but I am not convinced. Christie aficionados will certainly want to read this volume, but I would recommend one of Christie's novels to the uninitiated.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I had read novels featuring Miss Marple & never really enjoyed her character that much. Compared with Hercule Poirot, she just didn't seem that colorful or fun.In the short story format, however, she is a very fun character. A bit unpredictable, very smart, very Victorian. I really enjoyed this book, & now have a better understanding of why readers really enjoy Miss Marple.I highly recommend these mysteries.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/520 short stories actually come from only 3 collections * The Thirteen Problems * Miss Marple's Final Cases * The Adventure of the Christmas Puddinga bit patchy, and a couple of them were downright improbable. All the stories tended to suffer a bit from the need to write sparingly, to keep the plot to short story length. Sometimes the story was finished off, and tidied up, a little too quickly for my liking.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a fine compendium, comprising all the Miss Marple stories Agatha Christie wrote. I prefer Christie's novels to her stories, since I find so much charm in her settings and characterizations, which as needs must be are given less prominence in short stories, But the plots here are nearly always ingenious, and Miss Marple's inimitable twinkly, fluffy brilliance is in full display. Recommended.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a collection of short stories featuring Miss Marple. The device is that a group of people each tell a story of some mystery they know of (and they are also supposed to know the solution—but don’t always) and the others try to solve the puzzle. They are diverting and a few of them fooled me—good bedtime reading because you can read a complete story in a few minutes and then go to sleep. I’m assuming these are early stories since Mrs. Bantry (The Body in the Library, published 1941) is the hostess of the parties where the stories are told and she, along with everyone else, is very surprised when Miss Marple comes up with the solution. If I had not read so many Miss Marple novels I would have been fooled more often because I wouldn’t have known what to look for.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One wonders if Midsomer is actually St. Mary Mead in disguise? Good for a quick and straightforward read with a cup of tea. Something you can pick up, read one and put down again to pick up later.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Agatha Christie, and I love short stories, so this was a good match for me. I can finish a mystery even if I only have 10 minutes. I liked this book, even though sometimes it was predictable. I smile at how characters fall in love and decide to marry so quickly. And sometimes Miss Marple creeps me out, but I like her anyway. She's so intuitive, and I don't always know what on earth she means. This book definitely kept my attention.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just finished these short stories and I loved them!!!!! Great mysterys from the undisputed \'Queen of Crime\'.
Book preview
The Idol House of Astarte - Agatha Christie
The Idol House of Astarte
A Miss Marple Short Story
by Agatha Christie
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Contents
Cover
Title Page
The Idol House of Astarte
About the Author
Back Ads
Copyright
About the Publisher
The Idol House of Astarte
‘The Idol House of Astarte’ was first published in The Royal Magazine, January 1928, and in the USA as ‘The Solving Six and the Evil Hour’ in Detective Story Magazine, 9 June 1928.
‘And now, Dr Pender, what are you going to tell us?’
The old clergyman smiled gently.
‘My life has been passed in quiet places,’ he said. ‘Very few eventful happenings have come my way. Yet once, when I was a young man, I had one very strange and tragic experience.’
‘Ah!’ said Joyce Lemprière encouragingly.
‘I have never forgotten it,’ continued the clergyman. ‘It made a profound impression on me at the time, and to this day by a slight effort of memory I can feel again the awe and horror of that terrible moment when I saw a man stricken to death by apparently no mortal agency.’
‘You make me feel quite creepy, Pender,’ complained Sir Henry.
‘It made me feel creepy, as you call it,’ replied the other. ‘Since then I have never laughed at the people who use the word atmosphere. There is such a thing. There are certain places imbued and saturated with good or evil influences which can make their power felt.’
‘That house, The Larches, is a very unhappy one,’ remarked Miss Marple. ‘Old Mr Smithers lost all his money and had to leave it, then the Carslakes took