A Smattering of Sleuths: Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | 1950

(image from here)

"Snow was piled five feet high, drifting up against the doors and windows. Outside it was still snowing. The world was white, silent, and—in some subtle way—menacing." - Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, p. 24

The Sum of It:
Our read this week is another collection of short stories featuring nearly all of Agatha's sleuths! The book begins with one of Agatha's most notable stories, Three Blind Mice (more on that later!), and then follows Miss Marple up to her old crime-solving tricks in St. Mary Mead in Strange Jest, Tape Measure Murder, The Case of the Perfect Maid, and The Case of the Caretaker. Poirot makes an appearance with The Third Floor Flat, The Adventure of Johnny Waverly, and Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Finally, Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite work together in The Love Detectives. The collection as a whole is a fun, satisfying read. Like Emily's review of The Regatta Mystery, this is a great collection to read when you want something quick to read while commuting or to read over a period of time when you can't devote a lot of time to an Agatha book. Overall, these stories are quite clever and give a good taste of the personality of each of Agatha's best-known sleuths.

One story in particular deserves a little more attention: Three Blind Mice. Newlyweds Molly and Giles are trying their hand at bed and breakfast-ing by turning their home into a guest house. They happen to open for business right as a massive snowstorm blows through. As their eclectic group of guests begin to arrive, Molly and Giles receive a sobering phone call from the police: a woman has been murdered in London, and her murderer has left an ominous clue of the lyrics to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the location of a possible second murder: Molly and Giles' guest house! A policeman arrives to investigate via skis (because of excessive snow), but that doesn't stop someone in the house from #MURDERING anyway!

The YOA Treatment:
Three Blind Mice was originally written by Agatha Christie as a radio drama for Queen Mary's 80th birthday (apparently, it was the Queen's particular birthday request! We don't blame her at all!) Agatha then adapted the radio play into the short story in this collection, and then later into a play -- The Mousetrap. Those of you familiar with Agatha have no doubt heard of the record-breaking production The Mousetrap. This play holds the record for the longest running play of all time, and has been seen in London's West End continuously for over 60 years! The play was one of her works that Agatha was most proud of. Part of its success likely stems from Agatha's desire to keep the ending's twist a secret. The short story of Three Blind Mice in this collection was published in the US only and Agatha insisted it not be published in the UK so Mousetrap attendees would be surprised by its solution. Very clever, Agatha! Very clever, indeed.

-A.