The Case of the Perfect Maid is a short story written by Agatha Christie which was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1942. In the U.S., it was gathered and published in 1950 as part of the collecton Three Blind Mice and Other Stories. In the U.K., the story was not published as part of any collection until 1978 when it appeared in Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories.
Summary
When her maid asks Miss Marple to intervene in the delicate problem of her rather opinionated cousin Gladys, she doesn’t think much can be done. Poor Gladys has been accused of stealing a precious brooch belonging to her employers, the reserved Misses Skinner. While one sister malingers with mysterious ailments, the other attends to her every need, and they’ve both decided that Gladys must go. But, one day there appears a paragon to replace her, the perfect maid, or so they think...
Characters
- Jane Marple
- Edna
- Gladys Holmes
- Lavinia Skinner
- Emily Skinner
- Mary Higgins
- Dr Haydock
- Miss Hartnell
- Mr Devereux
- Mrs Devereux
- Judge Larkin
- Mrs Larkin
- Mrs Carmichael
- Janet
- Miss Weatherby
- Colonel Melchett
- Inspector Slack
- Mr Meek
- Clara
- Mrs Price-Ridley
- Mrs Clement
- Reed
- Dr Allerton
Adaptations
Radio Adaptations
The short story was adapted by BBC Radio in 2003 under the name The Case of the Perfect Carer and in 2015 under the name The Case of the Perfect Maid.
Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple
NHK produced an anime adaptation of the story as the fourth episode of their Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple under the title The Perfect Maid. The episode was broadcast in 2004 and features Miss Marple and her great niece Mabel West.
Publication history
- 1942, The Strand Magazine (Issue 616), April 1942 (Under the title The Perfect Maid).[1]
- 1942, Chicago Sunday Tribune, 13 September 1942
- 1950, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories
- 1950, Dodd, Mead and Company (New York), Hardback, 250 pp
- 1952, Dell Books, Paperback, 224 pp, (Dell number 633)
- 1960, Dell Books, Paperback, as The Mousetrap and other stories, (Dell number D354)
- 1984, Berkley Books, Paperback, 212 pp, (Berkley number 06806-4)
- 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
- 1957: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, vol. 30 no. 1, whole no. 164, Jul 1957, as "The Servant Problem".
- 1957: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (UK), no. 54, Jul 1957, as "The Servant Problem".
- 1957: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (Australia), no. 123, Sep 1956, as "The Servant Problem".
- 1989: Senior Sleuths, Asimov/Greenberg/Waugh, G.K. Hall, 1989.
- 1989: Mystery, Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
