Advent Review Day 14: The Adventure Of The Christmas Pudding By Agatha Christie

ISBN: 978-0007121083

Published by Harper Collins

This is a Poirot short story from a collection called "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a selection of Entrees". I read a first edition copy which has a wonderful introduction by Christie describing the Christmases of her childhood and how they influenced the stories in this book. 

The story itself is a lot of fun, and begins with a discreet man from the government trying to persuade Poirot to go to a country house to try and recover a stolen ruby. His horror at spending the festive season in a cold and draughty manor house is delightful, and he is only persuaded to go when he is assured they have central heating newly installed.  The mystery is not too difficult to unravel, but that's OK, the point of this book is to see Poirot enjoying Christmas and charming his way through the proceedings. One to read after the Queen's speech.