Sanctuary is a short story written by Agatha Christie, first published in This Week under the title Murder at the Vicarage (not to be confused with the novel The Murder at the Vicarage) in the US in September 1954.
The story was gathered and published as part of the short story collections Double Sin and Other Stories (US, 1961) and Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories (UK, 1978).
Synopsis[]
“Bunch”, engrossed in her flower arrangements for the church, is placing the chrysanthemums when she sees a man crumpled over on the chancel steps, dying. The man utters, “Sanctuary” and murmurs something else which can cannot make out. No one at the vicarage understands what he means, and nothing can be done to stop his death. But, when his relatives promptly arrive to pick up his possessions, Bunch can’t get the word out of her head. Who is this man, and what does “sanctuary” mean?
Plot summary[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
Characters[]
Chipping Cleghorn
- Diana Harmon and Julian Harmon
- Mrs Burt
- Tiglath Pileser
- Dr Griffiths
- Harper
- Jones
- George
- Jewel St John
- Mr Mundy and Mrs Mundy
London
- Gladys and her partner Ernie
- Walter St John
- Zobeida
- Edwin Moss
- Mrs Jacobs
- Mr Eccles
- Mrs Eccles
Investigators
Mentioned
Adaptations[]
The short story was adapted by Joy Wilkinson for BBC Radio 4.
Publication history[]
- 1954: This Week, 2 instalments September 12 and September 19, 1954, illustrated by Robert Fawcett. (Under the title Murder at the Vicarage)
- 1954: Woman's Journal, October 1954 (The magazine paid a "considerable" amount of money for the story in a charity auction for the Westminster Abbey restoration appeal fund, 1954.)
- 1955: Star Weekly, serialised in 3 parts, 19 Feb - 5 Mar 1955, as "Murder at the Vicarage".
- 1957: This Week's Stories of Mystery and Suspense, Stewart Beach, Random House, 1957.
- 1959: Argosy (UK), vol. 20 no. 1, Jan 1959.[1]
- 1961: Double Sin and Other Stories
- 1961: Dodd Mead and Company (New York), Hardcover, 247 pp
- 1962: Pocket Books (New York), Paperback, (Pocket number 6144), 181 pp
- 1964: Dell Books, Paperback, 191 pp
- 1962: This Week's Stories of Mystery and Suspense, Stewart Beach, Random House, 1962.
- 1978: Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories
- 1978: Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, ISBN 0-7089-2346-1
- 1979: Collins Crime Club (London), October 1979, Hardcover, 140 pp ISBN 0-00-231596-3
- 1980: Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback
- 1963: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, vol. 41 no. 3, whole no. 232, Mar 1963, as "Man on the Chancel Steps".[2]
- 1963: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (UK), no. 126 Jul 1963, as "Man on the Chancel Steps".
- 1963: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (Australia), no. 191, Sep 1963, as "Man on the Chancel Steps".
- 1966: 13 Clues for Miss Marple, Dodd Mead, 1966.
- 1975: Mystery Reader: Stories of Detection, Adventure, and Horror, Nancy Ellen Talburt and Lyna Lee Montgomery (eds.), Scribner's, 1975.
- 1983: Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, vol. 28 no. 7, Jul 1983.
- 1985: Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories, Putnam, 1985 and other editions.
- 1993: More Murder Most Cozy, Cynthia Manson (ed.), Signet, 1993.
- 1997: Sins of the Fathers, Mark Bryant (ed.), Gollancz, 1997.
- 2008: Miss Marple and Mystery: The Complete Short Stories, HarperCollins (London), 2008.
- 2020: Midwinter Murder, HarperCollins (London), 2020.