Murder for Christimas and Three Other Great Mysteries is an omnibus edition of Agatha Christie works published by Mystery Guild. The omnibus is available in hardcover only and comprises four novels: Murder for Christmas, The Hollow, Murder in Retrospect and Thirteen at Dinner.
Dating this book is challenging as the publication date is not printed anywhere within the pages, nor is there an entry in the Library of Congress catalog. Publication dates vary wildly on internet resources, even on Worldcat. A search on newspaper databases shows that the earliest mention of this title is in 1993 in an announcement by a library about its latest accessions. The book jacket is also one designed by noted illustrator Bascove and is consistent with style of her other book covers of the 1980s and 1990s[1]. A publication date of 1990 is therefore chosen as a median of the possible range. It is also useful to compare Bascove's covers for other Mystery Guild omnibuses: The Invincible Miss Marple and The Perils of Poirot.
Blurb on front and back flaps[]
AGATHA CHRISTIE
MURDER FOR CHRISTMAS
A quartet of classics featuring Hercule Poirot. In addition to the title tale of bloody murder, the volume includes The Hollow, Murder in Retrospect, and Thirteen for Dinner.
Murder for Christmas: The author's brother-in-law James once complained that Christie's killings were getting "too refined -anaemic, in fact." Here is Agatha's answer: A "good, violent murder with lots of blood.
The blood belongs to millionaire Simeon Lee, a tyrannical man who made his fortune in South African diamonds and not a few enemies along the way. A lot of people may want him dead. But which one slit his throat like a pig's, right in the middle of Christmas Eve dinner?
Was it eldest son Alfred? After a lifetime sacrificing himself for his father, did he now want his reward? Or David, the youngest, who holds Lee responsible for his mother's early death? Or maybe the secretive Stephen Farr. He shows up at the dinner uninvited, on a mysterious errand that took him all the way from South Africa to arrive just in time for the murder. With a panoply of suspects, Hercule Poirot must also figure out how the murderer managed to get out of the room before being discovered--while locking the door from the inside!
The Hollow: Sir Henry and Lady LucyAngkatell are having a few friends over for the weekend. But the guest mix is less than ideal. In fact, it's deadly. When the body of notorious womanizer Dr. John Christow is found floating face down in the pool, Poirot sorts out a tangle of suspects--from jilted lover to current mistress to the betrayed wife.
Murder in Retrospect: When Carla Lemarchant was a child, her father was poisoned and her mother went to prison for the murder, to die there a year later. Now, on her twenty-first birthday, Carla opens a note her mother left behind claiming her innocence. Can Poirot delve into a case grown so cold--and, with all the evidence pointing to the mother's guilt, vindicate her, in retrospect?
Thirteen at Dinner: Famous actress Jane Wilkinson wished her husband were dead. She even told Hercule Poirot as much, loudly and clearly. Obviously, she must have been the one who stabbed him in the library. But wait. Jane was also at Sir Montague Corner's dinner the same night. How could she have been in two places at once?, wonders Poirot. One possible answer lies with Jane's fellow actress Carlotta Adams, famous for her uncanny impersonations! But who is the impersonator and who the murderer?
The puzzles are ingenious,the characters delightfully eccentric, and Poirot masterfully deductive. There's no better gift--in any season--than Murder for Christmas!