Agatha Christie
A Pocket Full of Rye

For Bruce Ingram
who liked and published my first short stories

First Published

UK: Collins, London, Nov. 1953; Daily Express, Sep.28-Oct.13 1953
US: Dodd Mead, New York, 1953; Chicago Tribune, Jan.11-Feb.27 1954

Plot

(from HarperCollins "The Agatha Christie Collection" cover)

Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his 'counting house' when he suffered an agonising and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.

Yet, it was the incident in the parlour which confirmed Miss Marple's suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme...

Characters

Miss Jane Marple, Rex Fortescue, Adele Fortescue, Percival Fortescue, Jennifer Fortescue, Lance Fortescue, Patricia Fortescue, Miss Grosvenor, Vivian Dubois, Mary Dove, Mr Crump, Mrs Crump, Gladys Martin, Ellen, Det.Insp.Neele, Det.Sgt Hay, Miss Griffith

Movie & TV

Tayna chyornykh drozdov, 1983 (USSR): director Vadim Derbenyov; writer Valentina Kolodyazhnaya, Yelizaveta Smirnova; cast Ita Ever, Vladimir Sedov, Vsevolod Sanayev, Lyubov Polischuk, Yuri Belyayev, Yelena Sanayeva, Andrei Kharitonov, Natalya Danilova, Yelena Ivochkina, Elsa Radzinya
A Pocketfull of Rye, 1986: Agatha Christie's MISS MARPLE; director Guy Slater; writer T. R. Bowen; cast Joan Hickson(Miss Marple), Stacy Dorning(Adele Fortescue), Clive Merrison(Percival Fortescue), Rachel Bell(Jennifer Fortescue), Peter Davison(Lance Fortescue), Martyn Stanbridge(Vivian Dubois), Selina Cadell(Mary Dove), Tom Wilkinson(Neele), Fabia Drake(Miss Henderson)
A Pocketful of Rye, 2008: Agatha Christie's MARPLE Season 4; director Charles Palmer; cast Julia McKenzie(MISS MARPLE), Matthew Macfadyen(Inspector Neele), Wendy Richard(Mrs. Crump), Rupert Graves(Lance Fortescue), Liz White(Jennifer Fortescue), Helen Baxendale(Mary Dove), Hattie Morahan(Elaine Fortescue), Ralf Little(Sergeant Hay), Ben Miles(Percival Fortescue), Anna Madeley(Adele Fortescue), Lucy Cohu(Patricia Fortescue), Prunella Scales(Miss Effie Ramsbottom), Kenneth Cranham(Rex Fortescue), Joseph Beattie(Vivian Dubois), Ken Campbell(Mr. Crump), Laura Haddock, Rose Heiney(Gladys Martin)

Mother Goose

Sing a song of sixpence: Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye;; Four and twenty blackbirds, Backed in a pie.; When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing;; Was not that a dainty dish, To set before the King?; The king was in his counting-house, Counting out his money;; The queen was in the parlour, Eating bread and honey.; The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes,; There came a little blackbird And snapped off her nose.

Agatha ChristieA Pocket Full of Rye