Agatha Christie Unpublished Gift Pack

(The Strand Magazine: Unpublished Raymond Chandler and the first US appearance of Christmas Adventure by Agatha Christie. Fiction by John Floyd, David Marcum, Rob Witherspoon, and an exclusive interview with James Lee Burke.)

First, we’re proud to present an unpublished Raymond Chandler in the latest issue of The Strand. Professor Sarah Trott provides an introduction and examines the biographical context of this gem. Chandler, a career oil executive before achieving fame as an author, suffered the loss of his job at age forty-four.
“Advice to an Employer” shows a different side to Raymond Chandler. The wry humor is there, yet the piece also reveals a silly, fun side to an author long associated with novels about the seamy side of Los Angeles.

Unpublished Agatha Christie

Next, we are also pleased to share a story featuring a certain little Belgian detective with a waxed mustache and egg-shaped head. He finds himself far away from the comforts of his usual London life, celebrating an old-fashioned family Christmas in the English countryside. Agatha Christie would expand her “Christmas Adventure” (originally published in the UK in 1923) into a longer story many readers are familiar with. This is the first time Christie’s shorter version has appeared in publication in the US. The original version is just as fun as the expanded one. This work is complete with a sprawling mansion, a house party, and an unlikely trinket in the pudding. HarperCollins will release “Christmas Adventure” in Midwinter Murder this fall, an anthology of Christie’s short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

John Floyd continues with humor in “The Ironwood File.” In this tale, a sleazy boss gets the tables turned on him from an unlikely source. Meanwhile, Rob Witherspoon’s “Le Morte d’Author” shows that even the personification of death has a witty side. We round off our fiction this issue with the Great Detective and his loyal sidekick. In this venture, they solve a medical mystery involving one of Watson’s patients in David Marcum’s “The Triangle of Death.”

An interview with the incomparable James Lee Burke, creator of Dave Robicheaux. This interaction proves Burke to be every bit as interesting as his creation. He spoke on his favorite Western films, the creative process behind his works, and the current state of the world.

The fourth issue of The Strand, with its stunning cover, is a splendid item for the mystery buff. It features an interview with actor David Suchet and fiction by Catherine Aird, Peter Lovesey, & H.R.F. Keating. Notably, we also featured an article about the real-life detective Vidocq.