Read Online Thomas Godfrey (Ed) by Murder for Christmas - Free Book Online

and its solution is its own reward. If you will have the goodness to
touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which, also, a
bird will be the chief feature.”
     
     

    “I’ve just told Fettle
about the will.
     

    Like so many Americans, my sole
acquaintance with wassail was through the song “Wassail, Wassail, all over the
town,” and occasional mention of a wassail bowl. As neither my parents nor
their friends seemed to partake of wassail at Christmas, I came to suspect it
was either lewd, illegal, or at the very least, unsanitary.
    Egg Nog was always the drink on hand
at Christmastime. Although there might be some dispute as to whether it should
be spiked with rum or brandy, there was always a dash of nutmeg on top to give
it some spice.
    I have since read of a lady in
Brixton who added ground glass to her nogs to give them some tang, but I think
this is generally to be avoided, unless you have a limited amount and wish to
discourage seconds.
    The gentleman pictured discovered
that an extract of mistletoe berries gave egg nog a certain festive quality. So
successful was his recipe, that he was persuaded to enter it in a Festival of
Britain Cookery competition where he was given first prize and ‘the Chair.’
     

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding - Agatha Christie
    Her heroes were an eccentric windbag
and a meddlesome old lady. Her writing seldom got more violent than a good bump
on the head. She was hopelessly unconvincing describing anyone under thirty.
And her approach to sex and passion was that of two arthritic porcupines
mating. Yet she was the most successful author of mystery stories that the
world has yet produced.
    What made Agatha Christie the
writing phenomenon of her time? Plotting. No one could wring as many
possibilities out of a murder as she. And, because she couched them all in
cozy, English gentility, she caught her reader napping, more often than not.
    When “The Adventure of the Christmas
Pudding” (also called “The Theft of the Royal Ruby”) was first collected, she
included an introductory memoir. The story, prefaced by her remarks, begins on
the next page.
     

    The
Adventure of the Christmas Pudding is an indulgence of my own, since it recalls
to me, very pleasurably, the Christmases of my youth. After my father s death,
my mother and I always spent Christmas with my brother-in-law’s family in the
north of England — and what superb Christmases they were for a child to
remember! Abney Hall had everything! The garden boasted a waterfall, a stream,
and a tunnel under the drive! The Christmas fare was of gargantuan proportions.
I was a skinny child, appearing delicate, but actually of robust health and
perpetually hungry! The boys of the family and I used to vie with each other as
to who could eat most on Christmas Day. Oyster Soup and Turbot went down
without undue zest, but then came Roast Turkey, Boiled Turkey and an enormous
Sirloin of Beef. The boys and I had two helpings of all three! We then had Plum
Pudding, Mince-pies, Trifle and every kind of dessert. During the afternoon we
ate chocolates solidly. We neither felt, nor were, sick! How lovely to be
eleven years old and greedy!
    What
a day of delight, from “Stockings “ in bed in the morning, Church and all the Christmas
hymns, Christmas dinner, Presents, and the final Lighting of the Christmas
Tree!
    And
how deep my gratitude to the kind and hospitable hostess who must have worked
so hard to make Christmas Day a wonderful memory to me still in my old age.
    So
let me dedicate this to the memory of Abney Hall — its kindness and its
hospitality.
    And
a happy Christmas to all who read (it).
    Agatha Christie
     
    “I regret exceedingly—”
said M. Hercule Poirot.
    He was interrupted. Not rudely
interrupted. The interruption was suave, dexterous, persuasive rather than
contradictory.
    “Please don’t refuse offhand, M.
Poirot. There are grave issues of State. Your co-operation will be