The Idol House of Astarte

By Agatha Christie

In this classic short story, Miss Marple attempts to solve the unexplainable murder of a baronet who was stabbed, with no one around him in sight . . .

During the first meeting of the Tuesday Night Club at Miss Marple’s home, her guests present real tales of mystery, and the wise hostess attempts to solve them from the comfort of her armchair. Next up with a spooky story is local clergyman Dr. Pender . . .

Years ago, Pender attended a costume party at the estate of his college friend, Sir Richard Haydon. Haydon believed that sacred rites to ancient goddesses were once performed on his grounds. Later, socialite Diana Ashley surprised the guests by dressing as a priestess to Astarte. But even more shocking was Haydon’s sudden fall. He was stabbed in the heart with no one close enough to attack him, and no weapon to be found.

Although decades have passed since the bizarre murder, Miss Marple and her club may be able to deliver justice for Sir Haydon . . .

Originally published in the United States in Detective StoryMagazine in 1928, “The Idol House of Astarte” appeared in Christie’s short story collection, The Thirteen Problems, in 1932.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781504082297

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 Idol House of Astarte

‘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 it and Johnny Carslake fell downstairs and broke his leg and Mrs Carslake had to go away to the south of France for her health, and now the Burdens have got it and I hear that poor Mr Burden has got to have an operation almost immediately.’

‘There is, I think, rather too much superstition