The Dressmaker's Doll

The Dressmaker's Doll is a short story, written by Agatha Christie which was first published in the December 1958 issue of Woman's Journal. It was subseqeuntly compiled and published posthumously as part of the collection Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories in the UK in 1979.

Plot
Alicia Coombe manages her very smart dressmaking business with the help of her young assistant, Sybil. One day, a doll appears in the shop—a floppy, long-legged doll that sits itself on the best sofa. But where did it come from, and why does it appear to watch them?

Characters

 * Alicia Coombe, owner of a dressmaking business
 * Sybil Fox, her young assistant
 * Elspeth, the forewoman of the workroom
 * Marlene
 * Nellie
 * Margaret
 * Mrs Fellows-Brown
 * Fou-Ling, Mrs Fellows-Brown's Pekingese
 * Mrs Groves, the cleaner
 * Lady Lee

Publication History

 * 1958: Star Weekly, Toronto Star (Toronto), Oct 25, 1958.
 * 1958: Woman's Journal, December 1958.
 * 1959: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, vol. 33 no. 6, whole no. 187, Jun 1959.
 * 1959: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, no. 79, Dec 1958.
 * 1972: Argosy, vol. 33 no. 6, Jun 1972.
 * 1974: Detective Fiction: Crime and Compromise, Allen/Chacko, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.
 * 1979: Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories, Collins Crime Club, (London), October 1979.