A Pocket Full of Rye

For the A. J. Cronin novel, see A Pocketful of Rye.

A Pocket Full of Rye
First UK edition
AuthorAgatha Christie
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime novel
PublisherCollins Crime Club
Publication date
9 November 1953
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hard~ & paperback)
Pages192
Preceded byAfter the Funeral 
Followed byDestination Unknown 

A Pocket Full of Rye is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 9 November 1953,[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead & Co. the following year.[2][3] The UK edition retailed at ten shillings and sixpence (10/6)[1] and the US edition at $2.75.[3] The book features her detective Miss Marple.

Like several of Christie's novels (e.g., Hickory Dickory Dock and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe) the title and substantial parts of the plot reference a nursery rhyme, in this case "Sing a Song of Sixpence". Miss Marple travels to the Fortescue home to offer information on the maid, Gladys Martin. She works with Inspector Neele until the mysteries are revealed.

Two reviewers at the time of publication felt that "the hidden mechanism of the plot is ingenious at the expense of probability"[4] and that the novel was "Not quite so stunning as some of Mrs Christie's criminal assaults upon her readers".[5] Christie's overall high quality in writing detective novels led one to say "they ought to make her a Dame".[5] Writing later, another reviewer felt that the characters included an "exceptionally nasty family of suspects" in what was "Still, a good, sour read."[6]

  1. ^ a b Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (March 1999), Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (2nd ed.), Dragonby Press, p. 15.
  2. ^ Cooper, John; Pyke, BA (1994), Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (2nd ed.), Scholar Press, pp. 82, 87, ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
  3. ^ a b "American Tribute to Agatha Christie".
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stead1953 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Richardson1953 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).