Agatha Christie's "Christmas Adventure"!

In late 1923, The Sketch (UK) published numerous short stories as part of a series titled 'The Grey Cells of M. Poirot.' This was the second time The Sketch had done a series of Christie stories in 1923 under this collective title, so it was also labelled 'Series II'. Midway through this series we find 'The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding', published in Issue 1611 on 12th December as the 12th instalment in this Series. While many online websites and publications may state that this short-story was titled 'Christmas Adventure' it was actually first published under the longer title referenced above (as shown in the image below).

The shorter title of Christmas Adventure was first used in 1943 when the story appeared in two rare war-time booklets The Problem at Pollensa Bay (Todd 1943) and Poirot Knows the Murderer (Polybooks 1946). It was likely abbreviated to aid the publication process as the full title is quite long to squeeze into a pocket-sized publication that already had The Problem at Pollensa Bay as the other short-story.

This shorter title is now generally how the first version is known as Christie expanded the story for publication in 1960 but reused its original title - The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding. This newer and longer 1960 version is played out in greater detail than the 1923 story, with the addition some side plots. While the character names were changed, the overall nature of the crime and the denouement remain the same.

Midwinter Murders.

When HarperCollins assembled stories for its collection Midwinter Murders (2020), 'Christmas Adventure' was included. Since the US publisher William Morrow would also print this collection for the American market, it would be the first book appearance of this title in the States, as rather surprisingly, this original 1923 short-story was yet to be published outside the UK in any form.

However, as with many of Christie's short-stories they typically appeared in magazines first. This was to be the case with 'Christmas Adventure' for the American market despite the pending book release. A mere 97 years after it appeared in The Sketch (UK), Strand Magazine obtained the rights to publish the story months prior to the William Morrow book edition.

Strand Magazine.

Each quarter, Strand Magazine in the US publishes a new issue with a focus on previously unpublished works by famous authors and new works from up and coming writers. Issue No. 61 (Oct 2020 - Jan 2021) is the one that contains Christmas Adventure. The Strand Magazine describes this issue as containing "a story featuring a certain little Belgian detective with a waxed moustache and egg-shaped head, who finds himself far away from the comforts of his usual London life, celebrating an old-fashioned family Christmas in the English countryside." One coloured illustration accompanied the story.

Part of the reason this was issued first in the Strand Magazine in the US was to help promote the issuance of Midwinter Murder as the full page advertisement in the Strand shows. In the UK the book was issued on 1st October, 2020 (below left). In the US, publication occured a few weeks later on October 20th, 2020 (below right).

This isn't the only Christie short-story the Strand Magazine has published. Eleven years earlier, their Oct-Jan 2009 issue contained Christie's 'The Incident of the Dog's Ball' (which was also expanded and become Dumb Witness). This was the first US printing of this original short-story, while in the UK in the same year it was published in John Curran's book Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks.

Other Publications of Note.

The expanded novella was published by Collins' The Crime Club imprint in 1960 as part of a collection of stories under the even longer title The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a selection of Entrees. The original short-story did not appear in book form in the UK until it was included in the collection While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (1997).

In the US, the longer version first appeared in Double Sin and Other Stories (1961) under the title of The Theft of the Royal Ruby with some slight revisions to the UK version.

Values.

For those interested in acquiring copies of the Strand Magazine, back issues are still available via their website. They also sell an Agatha Christie bundle - the two issues with her short stories and a third that contains an interview with David Suchet. The bundle sells for $49.99 (link). For those seeking a copy of the Sketch from 1923, finding one will be the challenge. But when they do appear for sale condition will heavily influence the price but expect it to cost at least £50. The blue-covered Polybook is worth £750 given a recent auction sale earlier this year, and the Todd 6d Polybook is likely worth £500. Both are very scarce.

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