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Miss Marple #SS 11
The Herb of Death: A Short Story
Previously published in the print anthology The Thirteen Problems.
A dinner party takes a deadly turn when somebody poisons the guests.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1930
About the author
Agatha Christie
4,681 books69.8k followersAgatha 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)
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)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 26, 2024
It's Mrs. Bantry's turn to tell a story to the Tuesday Night Club and she's not at all sure she can make her's sound interesting. And to be fair, she hems and haws and does a fantastic job of messing it up.
It's a case of (gasp!) poisoning where everyone got sick but only one person died.
Was it an accident that there was foxglove in the sage, or did something more nefarious happen?
Obviously, something nefarious happened!
But (once again) Miss Marple wins the prize for discovering who dunnit and why they dunnit.
This is one of my least favorite stories just because it's sort of blah.
And yet? --> Still a cute Marple short.
Recommended for fans of Miss Marple.
Originally published in 1930 in The Story-Teller magazine.
Read as part of the short story collection The Thirteen Problems .
It's a case of (gasp!) poisoning where everyone got sick but only one person died.
Was it an accident that there was foxglove in the sage, or did something more nefarious happen?
Obviously, something nefarious happened!
But (once again) Miss Marple wins the prize for discovering who dunnit and why they dunnit.
This is one of my least favorite stories just because it's sort of blah.
And yet? --> Still a cute Marple short.
Recommended for fans of Miss Marple.
Originally published in 1930 in The Story-Teller magazine.
Read as part of the short story collection The Thirteen Problems .
December 27, 2020
The Herb of Death is the 11th out of 13 stories featuring Miss Marple and the Tuesday Night Club. The story was first published in Story-Teller magazine in 1930 and included in the short story collection The 13 Problems in 1932.
I love these little quick mysteries by Christie! She has been my favorite author since I was a little girl and fostered my life-long love of mystery novels. Before now, I only read her novels. I never delved into her short stories. These early Marple stories are just short snippets (like the earliest Hercule Poirot tales) meant to propose a problem and get quickly to the solution. Just a sort of showcase for the character of Miss Marple. So, the stories have no character or setting development or any real build to a climax. They are just one-minute sort of mysteries....just enough there to show how wonderful Miss Marple's mind can be. :) Fun to read! And the idea of a group of friends gathering to share strange stories is intriguing. One person tells a story....and the rest of the group have to figure out the truth of the matter. Wouldn't that make for a fun twist on the Murder Mystery night sort of party?
This time it's Colonel Bantry's wife who tells her story. It's quite an intriguing story of accidental poisoning. Did the cook accidentally mix foxglove in with the greens at dinner?
I was curious so I looked up foxglove. It really is quite poisonous, but I don't see how those leaves could be mistaken for salad greens. I would suppose if you cut it up small and mixed it in with fresh herbs or some such that it could lurk un-noticed. It was quite a scary thought of it growing in among the the edible plants where it would be unknowingly mixed in the food for an entire supper party. Yikes!
Great story! I read it in my HB copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories while listening to an old audio version recorded by Joan Hickson. Hickson played the senior sleuth in the Miss Marple television series from 1984-1992.
Just two more Tuesday Night Club stories to go! The next story is: The Affair at the Bungalow.
I love these little quick mysteries by Christie! She has been my favorite author since I was a little girl and fostered my life-long love of mystery novels. Before now, I only read her novels. I never delved into her short stories. These early Marple stories are just short snippets (like the earliest Hercule Poirot tales) meant to propose a problem and get quickly to the solution. Just a sort of showcase for the character of Miss Marple. So, the stories have no character or setting development or any real build to a climax. They are just one-minute sort of mysteries....just enough there to show how wonderful Miss Marple's mind can be. :) Fun to read! And the idea of a group of friends gathering to share strange stories is intriguing. One person tells a story....and the rest of the group have to figure out the truth of the matter. Wouldn't that make for a fun twist on the Murder Mystery night sort of party?
This time it's Colonel Bantry's wife who tells her story. It's quite an intriguing story of accidental poisoning. Did the cook accidentally mix foxglove in with the greens at dinner?
I was curious so I looked up foxglove. It really is quite poisonous, but I don't see how those leaves could be mistaken for salad greens. I would suppose if you cut it up small and mixed it in with fresh herbs or some such that it could lurk un-noticed. It was quite a scary thought of it growing in among the the edible plants where it would be unknowingly mixed in the food for an entire supper party. Yikes!
Great story! I read it in my HB copy of Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories while listening to an old audio version recorded by Joan Hickson. Hickson played the senior sleuth in the Miss Marple television series from 1984-1992.
Just two more Tuesday Night Club stories to go! The next story is: The Affair at the Bungalow.
February 11, 2021
4 Stars. Have you ever been asked to do something which you know others close to you are so much better at? Here we have another gathering of the Tuesday Night Club, or its successor, and Dolly Bantry, the mistress of Gossington Hall sees the spotlight coming her way. Oh no! "Now then, Mrs. B," says Sir Henry Clithering. She realizes it's her turn to try to stump the group, which is hard to do when Miss Marple is present. Dolly demurs, "I've been listening to you all and I don't know how you do it." This eighteen pager came out in "Story-Teller" in 1930. I read it in "Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories" of 2011. With prodding, Dolly gives the bare bones of a story and then the group plays twenty questions. She tells of the presumed accidental poisoning of a young woman at Sir Ambrose Berczy's Clodderham Court. Somehow foxglove leaves, which contain digitalis which slows the heart, got into the stuffing for the roast duck. Everyone at dinner got sick but Sir Ambrose's ward, Sylvia Keene, died. Miss Marple doesn't seem to be listening, and then relates an interesting comparison with Mr. Badger the local chemist. And thus she does it again. (November 2020)
January 18, 2021
2.5 stars. This was not one of her better stories, in my opinion. Mrs. Bantry is still hosing her dinner party and tells the guests, under pressure from Sir Henry, a tale of death for them to try to solve. She describes a dinner party where they were all poisoned with foxglove leaves that were mixed in with the sage in the stuffing and one girl died. She was the ward of the master of the house and was engaged to the neighbor boy, much to the master’s chagrin. Somehow, Miss Marple figures out that the master had fallen in love with his ward and would rather kill her than let her be married. No idea how she figured that out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2018
Agatha Christie certainly excels at being mysterious.
May 13, 2021
Kind of a dumb reason to kill someone. Murderer was a little bit obvious and didn't have a good excuse to back themselves up.
April 19, 2022
Audiobook
May 13, 2021
This time the mystery story is told by Mrs. Bantry. Here is some brilliance of Agatha Christie: since not everyone tells a story equally well, the short stories in this compilation are also told very differently. Mrs. Bantry starts with only a rough outline. Then the circumstances become more clear and detailed through questions of the guests and her answers.
I liked that part and the development towards unfolding the solution, however not so much the solution itself. The least probable person is the murderer for an unexpected motive that only Miss Marple was able to guess because of a similar flaw of character she encountered before.
I liked that part and the development towards unfolding the solution, however not so much the solution itself. The least probable person is the murderer for an unexpected motive that only Miss Marple was able to guess because of a similar flaw of character she encountered before.
September 25, 2015
oh, l'amour rend aveugle, also crazy and can lead to crime, that's it :D
July 25, 2023
Alweer Digitalis. Ze moet eens wat anders bedenken.
November 27, 2022
A Miss Marple short story. Light and entertaining.
January 16, 2019
Four stars only because it is a VERY short story. It is from the collection The Thirteen Problems,where a group of friends from St. Mary Mead, including Miss Marple, get together to present a problem and see if the others can figure out the answer. This one is presented reluctantly by Mrs. Bantry - only the bare bones, and the others take turns asking questions to flesh out her tale. Miss Marple, of course, finds a village precedent which allows her to figure out the killer.
September 8, 2019
Dolly’s turn to regale the dinner party with a murder anecdote and she chooses one where foxglove was accidently put in with the sage and used in the stuffing. All the guests were ill but only one died, a young woman.
Dolly is particularly poor at telling the story but the fact that she is telling it means it wasn’t an accident. The question is: was the girl the intended victim?
888
Oh now… that is clever.
4 stars
Dolly is particularly poor at telling the story but the fact that she is telling it means it wasn’t an accident. The question is: was the girl the intended victim?
888
Oh now… that is clever.
4 stars
July 6, 2020
A charming parlour game that starts with a fragment of a story about an ill-fated dinner in a big house and ends with the resolution of a murder case. Classic Christie condensed into an easy-to-read pot-boiler.
You can read it in thirty minutes and I think that you'll agree that it is a worthwhile distraction to fill a half hour gap in your life.
You can read it in thirty minutes and I think that you'll agree that it is a worthwhile distraction to fill a half hour gap in your life.
April 21, 2016
Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories
Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again
Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again
May 25, 2017
I downloaded this short story to my Nook, and it is a very quick read, only 28 or so pages long.
I love the Arthur and Dollie Bantry characters from A Body in the Library, and they're in this story too, along with Miss Marple and others. I prefer AC's longer novels, but this was a fun read.
I love the Arthur and Dollie Bantry characters from A Body in the Library, and they're in this story too, along with Miss Marple and others. I prefer AC's longer novels, but this was a fun read.
September 14, 2020
It's slight, but enjoyable; it's only a few pages, after all. I haven't read Christie in many years, and it's funny how one falls right back into her rhythms.
NB: I read this to track down a quotation (which I found, happily) for a fact-checking job.
NB: I read this to track down a quotation (which I found, happily) for a fact-checking job.
October 3, 2013
As usual twist in plot..did not see it coming..good read
January 8, 2019
Very...interesting? It seemed to me like it would make a marvelous radio drama.
January 9, 2020
The short story I enjoyed the most until now, I especially liked how they kind of broke the fourth wall in the ending.
March 27, 2020
Read 2020
June 17, 2020
The furthering story of a group of people sitting around a table discussing murder and dead, as you do. This story revolves plants and times of poisoning.
October 19, 2024
Such a clever story, again an accidental death may turn out to be murder. Poison has an uncertain effect on a group of people as Dr Lloyd points out here. Maybe the intended victim was only ill as a result and for someone else it proved quite fatal. This of course is taken up by Miss Marple who correctly unravels the mystery and reveals the hidden motive in the poisoning.
Having started things off by getting Arthur to share his ghost story, hostess Dolly Bantry is cajoled into recounting her own mysterious story.
A sinister tale of murder it seems, a poisoning at another meal table, several fall ill, but tragically one young woman dies from eating foxglove.
Some modern readers might be appalled by the stereotypes Miss Marple calls upon to link people in her village with characters recounted in these mysteries she invariably solves. This is the very essence of her modus operandi. The observing of human nature and the categorising of people into generalisations.
Modern thinking has become more pc and we are affronted by disingenuous terms like “Dumb Blonde”, “Dirty Old Man” and “Essex Girl”. Yet it would be unfair to dismiss these stories on that basis as the implied traits are often seen as a possible indication, perhaps a precursor to motive and subsequent actions.
Agatha Christie must have been aware of it because in this short story she has some over the top labelling of certain characters, having fun with the process in Mr Curle’s case by guessing his choice of under garments. Therefore I feel a reader needs to embrace it, it is a plot device, providing for Marple’s ability to solve crimes that baffle others. A knowledge of poisons is also vital, as in this case, the prerequisite for getting to the truth.
Having started things off by getting Arthur to share his ghost story, hostess Dolly Bantry is cajoled into recounting her own mysterious story.
A sinister tale of murder it seems, a poisoning at another meal table, several fall ill, but tragically one young woman dies from eating foxglove.
Some modern readers might be appalled by the stereotypes Miss Marple calls upon to link people in her village with characters recounted in these mysteries she invariably solves. This is the very essence of her modus operandi. The observing of human nature and the categorising of people into generalisations.
Modern thinking has become more pc and we are affronted by disingenuous terms like “Dumb Blonde”, “Dirty Old Man” and “Essex Girl”. Yet it would be unfair to dismiss these stories on that basis as the implied traits are often seen as a possible indication, perhaps a precursor to motive and subsequent actions.
Agatha Christie must have been aware of it because in this short story she has some over the top labelling of certain characters, having fun with the process in Mr Curle’s case by guessing his choice of under garments. Therefore I feel a reader needs to embrace it, it is a plot device, providing for Marple’s ability to solve crimes that baffle others. A knowledge of poisons is also vital, as in this case, the prerequisite for getting to the truth.
May 26, 2022
"—¿Qué edad tendría?
—¡Oh! Yo diría que unos cuarenta años. Llevaba algún tiempo en la casa, creo que desde que Sylvia tenía once años. Era una persona de mucho tacto. Una de esas viudas que quedan en una situación económica delicada, con muchos parientes aristócratas, pero sin dinero. A mí no me gustaba mucho, pues nunca me han gustado las personas de manos blancas y largas, ni tampoco los gatos".
"—A ti también van a llamarte "gata" cualquier día de estos, Dolly.
—Me gusta serlo en mi casa -replicó ella-. De todas formas, ya sabes que no me gustan mucho las mujeres. Sólo los hombres y las flores.
—Un gusto excelente —exclamó sir Henry—Especialmente por haber nombrado a los hombres en primer lugar.
—Eso fue por delicadeza —respondió Mrs. Bantry—".
—¡Oh! Yo diría que unos cuarenta años. Llevaba algún tiempo en la casa, creo que desde que Sylvia tenía once años. Era una persona de mucho tacto. Una de esas viudas que quedan en una situación económica delicada, con muchos parientes aristócratas, pero sin dinero. A mí no me gustaba mucho, pues nunca me han gustado las personas de manos blancas y largas, ni tampoco los gatos".
"—A ti también van a llamarte "gata" cualquier día de estos, Dolly.
—Me gusta serlo en mi casa -replicó ella-. De todas formas, ya sabes que no me gustan mucho las mujeres. Sólo los hombres y las flores.
—Un gusto excelente —exclamó sir Henry—Especialmente por haber nombrado a los hombres en primer lugar.
—Eso fue por delicadeza —respondió Mrs. Bantry—".
September 8, 2024
An interesting story in its structure: a group of people is looking for entertainment by listening to somebody’s story. Miss Bantry’s is about someone dying after eating some herbs in a meal.
What I liked is the way the characters and data are presented through the 20 questions schema: each person in the group asks Miss Bantry questions, to try to gather all the information on the case.
Of course, only Miss Marple gets it, and Miss Bantry reveals a last element at the end, proving that Miss Marple was right.
Incidentally, the day before, I read a Japanese short story (The Tragedy of Black Swan Lodge, by Alice Arisugawa) in the Ellery Queen magazine (July-August 2024), where a young girl also plays the 20 questions game!
What I liked is the way the characters and data are presented through the 20 questions schema: each person in the group asks Miss Bantry questions, to try to gather all the information on the case.
Of course, only Miss Marple gets it, and Miss Bantry reveals a last element at the end, proving that Miss Marple was right.
Incidentally, the day before, I read a Japanese short story (The Tragedy of Black Swan Lodge, by Alice Arisugawa) in the Ellery Queen magazine (July-August 2024), where a young girl also plays the 20 questions game!
December 27, 2022
I have to admit that my guess as to who the culprit was, and why they acted as they did, was completely wrong. On the one hand, it's more evidence that I am terrible at mysteries, but on the other it's nice to be surprised. It is less nice that the culprit got away with it, and that the person they confessed to pretty much buried the knowledge of what happened so that said culprit continued to maintain their reputation even after their death. Given their horrible actions, that's pretty awful.
There's not a lot of justice here, and I'm not especially happy about that.
There's not a lot of justice here, and I'm not especially happy about that.
October 7, 2022
Miss Marple is gathered round at Dolly's and she remembers an incident involving the herb of death which is sage and onions. Everyone at a dinner where the plant is picked for salad and all get sick. One person dies. At the time it seems its an accident.
Miss Marple quickly finds that it is digitalis that was the cause. And she finds the person who does it. Very interesting read.
Miss Marple quickly finds that it is digitalis that was the cause. And she finds the person who does it. Very interesting read.
April 27, 2023
My favorite Christie character is Miss Marple!
I loved this story! One never knows how or when Miss Marple will figure the problem out, but she always does and in such a clever fashion! The plot is easily followed, the characters are always of high caliber, and the ending to both short stories and novels are always fiendishly clever. I highly recommend this short story!
I loved this story! One never knows how or when Miss Marple will figure the problem out, but she always does and in such a clever fashion! The plot is easily followed, the characters are always of high caliber, and the ending to both short stories and novels are always fiendishly clever. I highly recommend this short story!
July 1, 2024
After listening to Pride and Prejudice and watching Bridgerton, I suppose these tales that are told around the dinner table during company are getting to me. I quite liked how the listeners teased out the story from the reluctant narrator.
October 25, 2019
Cuento #11 de Los trece problemas
Anterior: “A Christmas Tragedy”
Siguiente: “The Affair at the Bungalow”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews