Mr. Eastwood's Adventure: an Agatha Christie Short Story

by Agatha Christie

Mystery writer Anthony Eastwood is lured to the crime scene of a faked murder where two individuals masquerading as police officers arrest him and charge him for murder. As the phony police officers escort Mr. Eastwood home, the true goal of the masquerade becomes apparent.

Librarian's note: this classic Agatha Christie short story is available individually as an eBook.

Librarian's note #2: previously published in the anthologies, The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories, and, The Witness for the Prosecution.

Librarian's note #2: also published as The Mystery of The Spanish Shawl.

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction, Crime, Classics

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1924

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is also titled The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl.
I'm putting that in first because I had a hard time "finding" The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl.



Anthony Eastwood has writer's block.
His (hopefully) soon-to-be-written story The Mystery of the Second Cucumber is right there...on the tip of his typewriter!
His writer's block is interrupted when he gets a phone call from a desperate-sounding woman who mistakes him for someone called Conrad Fleckman, and then begs him to meet her at a secret location.
LIFE ANd DEATH!
What the hell, it's not like he's doing anything anyway, right?



This was a funny little story that made me smile from start to finish. I could see where the mystery was heading but I still enjoyed the ride.
Anthony steps in to help a beautiful young con woman and ends up getting everything in his apartment stolen by the two men posing as police officers. But you don't feel too bad for him, as he passed himself off as this Conrad dude long enough to get quite a few (what he thought were) stolen kisses from the damsel in distress.
And while Anthony doesn't end up with the girl, he does end up with a story to write.

Originally published in The Novel Magazine in 1924 under the title, The Mystery of the Second Cucumber.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was first published as The Mystery of the Second Cucumber in The Novel Magazine, 1924. It was later included in The Listerdale Mystery (1933) story collection with the title Mr. Eastwood's Adventure, and The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948) with yet another title change - The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl. In my opinion, I like the original title best because The Second Cucumber is central to the plot.

A mystery writer is having a bit of writer's block. Anthony Eastwood just can't seem to get words to form on the page and he's nearing deadline....a chance phone call solves his problem. He definitely goes on an adventure! Writers block....solved!

I didn't find any adaptations of this story. I'm surprised, to be honest. The plot has the usual Christie twist, and it's entertaining.

I wonder why the title was changed three times? Second cucumber was abandoned totally....and the latter two titles still appear in story collections when this tale is reprinted.

I listened to this story in audio format narrated by Hugh Fraser (played Hastings in the Poirot television show). Very entertaining listen! Fraser is a wonderful narrator.

On to the next!

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

She fooled me again. How I love Agatha Christie and her humour.

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Eastwood gets a lot more than he bargained for with a simple kiss! Another great piece of christies finest!

[Hoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

سكعتها ك دراما صوتية ..

[Amanda B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable short story ☺️

[Jack Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars. Once again a twist on what the reader expects. It's more of an adventure than a mystery - a modern Robinson Crusoe with Christie's special take on the ending. Anthony Eastwood is a mystery writer getting nowhere. He's got writer's block; so far he has only typed the title and there it sits forlornly. "The Mystery of the Second Cucumber." I sympathize; I often do reports; getting started is invariably the most difficult. Eastwood is a likeable hero; he gets a phone call from a woman who says her name is Carmen. She's in a panic and pleads for him to come to 320 Kirk Street. And use the code word, "cucumber." [Is that a clue or what?] Must be a wrong number! But he'll do anything to avoid sitting down at the typewriter! When he gets there it turns out to be a glass shop. He can't persuade himself to say the code word and reluctantly buys a set of liqueur glasses before finally uttering the door opener. Soon he meets the dark and beautiful Carmen, and learns that she thinks he's Conrad Fleckman and that there's been a murder of a woman named Anna Rosenburg. It's all about a shawl. I enjoyed it. It made me smile. (De2025)

[Brooklyn Tayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't actually read this one before but I found it very exciting. It's yet another that I wish would've been turned into a full length book.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was just so silly. And of course, Christie took the chance to pick on herself in the process. I love her sense of humor.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery writer is accused of murder. Clever and entertaining.

[Les Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short to give more than 3 but would have liked to.

[Agla]

This collection of short stories are a bit different from other Agatha books, I'm not sure I'm a fan. In this one, a writer is suffering from writer's block, he gets a weird phone call and shenanigans ensue. There is no investigation per se. They can't all be winners.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

How a mysterious adventure leads to a new story!

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p4: "The Mystery of the Second Cucumber," so it ran.

An acceptable price to pay, it would seem.

Read as part of the collection The Listerdale Mystery and Eleven Other Stories.

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light and full of Agatha Christie humor! Loved it!

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha!

I too was tricked.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klein niet standaard verhaaltje van AC. Niets bijzonders.

[Katie Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as funny as The Blue Jar but still great!

[Benny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆

[elise rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve absolutely lost my heart, this story is so flippin witty and charming.

[Brianna Bello · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. Poor Anthony got played. Majorly. I wasn’t expecting that. I was so curious to see how long he’d pretend to be someone he wasn’t. And then he leads them back to his place. Only to be robbed blind. This one was really good.

[Joanna Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly not on of Agatha Christie’s best short stories.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can blame All About Agatha podcast for me borrowing the audiobook from my library.

I expected more of a mystery, and yet, nope. This is very much Christie doing a high-jinks caper and no. No, I don't really get on with Christie and her thriller-capers as I find them jarring or a real let down.

I think I just need to accept the fact that I prefer her mystery novels more than short stories.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A frustrated author has the title but no plot. His telephone rings. A wrong number. A woman in danger. He goes to the address the woman gives him. She's beautiful. He's arrested by the police for being another person. It's obviously a mistake. He persuades the police to take him to his address so he can prove his identity. Do you see where this is going? Suffice to say, he has the plot for a new book or story.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was no mystery in this story although she tried to manipulate our view of the events, yet there was nice humor that balanced such a defect.

[Vin Vineeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very meta.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an Agatha Christie story...need I say more?

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2020

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather fun story about a writer who gets a mysterious phone call and ends up in trouble with the police, well, of sorts 🙂

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "gruesome thing" was a squashed Orient Express cucumber.