• 1978, Ulverscroft
Large-print Edition, Hardcover, • 1979, Collins Crime Club (London), October 1979, Hardcover, 140 pp • 1980, Fontana Books (Imprint of
HarperCollins), Paperback • 2005, HarperCollins audio edition (CD) / 9780007199259, UK edition, most recent of three audio editions • 2006, HarperCollins Hardcover / 9780007208616 UK edition Five paperback editions were issued from November 1980 to the most recent in April 2010 by Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd, / 9781444802344. This collection was issued for Kindle by HarperCollins in October 2010, ISBN B0046RE5FY and in July 2012, ISBN B008I5CNPE. The latest audio edition includes an additional short story, originally published in
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding collection, ''Greenshaw's Folly''.
First publication of stories The first magazine publication of each of the stories is as follows: •
Strange Jest: First published in
This Week magazine in the US on 2 November 1941 and then in issue 643 of the
Strand Magazine in July 1944 under the title of
The Case of the Buried Treasure. (This was the final short story Christie wrote for the
Strand.) •
Tape-Measure Murder: First published in
This Week magazine in the US on 16 November 1941 and then in issue 614 of the
Strand Magazine in February 1942 under the title of
The Case of the Retired Jeweller. •
The Case of the Caretaker: First published in issue 613 of the
Strand Magazine in January 1942. •
The Case of the Perfect Maid: First published in issue 616 of the
Strand Magazine in April 1942 under the shortened title of
The Perfect Maid. •
Sanctuary: First published in the October 1954 issue of ''Woman's Journal''. This story was specially written by Christie for the
Westminster Abbey restoration appeal fund of that year. The story was sold to the highest bidder with the funds going to the appeal. The Magazine did not state the sum that they paid but noted that it was "considerable". • ''The Dressmaker's Doll
: First published in the December 1958 issue of Woman's Journal''. •
Miss Marple Tells a Story was not written for magazine publication initially but was a special commission from the
BBC for a series called
Short Story as announced in
The Times on 27 March 1934. It is further unusual in that the story was read out by Christie herself, in the manner of her previous broadcasts of
Behind the Screen (1930) and
The Scoop (1931). The twenty-minute broadcast took place on Friday, 11 May 1934 at 9.20pm on the
National Programme. The text was first published in Volume 3, Issue 64 of the weekly UK magazine
Home Journal on 25 May 1935 under the title
Behind Closed Doors and with an illustration by Michael Bernard. • The
Daily Mirror of 6 April 1934 stated that
In a Glass Darkly was being read out by Christie on
BBC Radio that night as part of the
Short Story series. However, the programme billings on the same page stated the broadcast was by
Dorothy L. Sayers with a story titled
Dilemma and the
Radio Times also states that this was the broadcast made. The text of Christie's story was first published in the December 1934 issue of the monthly ''Woman's Journal''. == Adaptations ==