The Thumb Mark of St Peter: A Miss Marple Short Story

By Agatha Christie

A classic Agatha Christie short story, featuring Miss Marple, from the collection Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories.

Fifteen years ago, Miss Marple’s niece, Mabel Denman, was accused of murdering her abusive and violent husband. Can Miss Marple clear her niece’s name and reveal the true perpetrator?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062211026

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.

Book preview

The Thumb Mark of St. Peter

A Miss Marple Short Story

by Agatha Christie

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

Contents

Cover

Title Page

The Thumb Mark of St. Peter

About the Author

Back Ads

Copyright

About the Publisher

The Thumb Mark of St. Peter

‘The Thumb Mark of St Peter’ was first published in The Royal Magazine, May 1928, and in the USA as ‘The Thumb-Mark of St Peter’ in Detective Story Magazine, 7 July 1928.

‘And now, Aunt Jane, it is up to you,’ said Raymond West.

‘Yes, Aunt Jane, we are expecting something really spicy,’ chimed in Joyce Lemprière.

‘Now, you are laughing at me, my dears,’ said Miss Marple placidly. ‘You think that because I have lived in this out-of-the-way spot all my life I am not likely to have had any very interesting experiences.’

‘God forbid that I should ever regard village life as peaceful and uneventful,’ said Raymond with fervour. ‘Not after the horrible revelations we have heard from you! The cosmopolitan world seems a mild and peaceful place compared with St Mary Mead.’

‘Well, my dear,’ said Miss Marple, ‘human nature is much the same everywhere, and, of course, one has opportunities of observing it at close quarters in a village.’

‘You really are unique, Aunt Jane,’ cried Joyce. ‘I hope you don’t mind me calling you Aunt Jane?’ she added. ‘I don’t know why I do it.’

‘Don’t you, my dear?’ said Miss Marple.

She looked up for a moment or two with something quizzical in her glance, which