Butter in a Lordly Dish

by Agatha Christie

Sir Luke Enderby, eminent prosecution barrister and seasoned womaniser, bites off more than he can chew, when the case of a serial killer comes back to haunt him. A tense one act thriller that's contains one of Christie's most gruesome murders.

Genres: Agatha Christie, Mystery, Plays, Audiobook

30 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

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

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful radio play! I really recommend it!

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Status Christie wrote this play for broadcast on the BBC, one of 5 plays written by members of the Detection Club. It had been thought the recording was lost, but it was found a few years ago. I listened to it on Internet Archive.

It's only short, a KC with a roving eye meets up with a lady at her cottage, but the weekend doesn't quite turn out the way he had expected. The twist is pretty brutal, certainly not a cosy drama.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full-cast radio play. The title comes from Judges 5:25: "He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish." The internet tells me that the expression means "favors to win the trust of an enemy"

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Butter in a Lordly Dish remains one of Christie's least-known works. The title comes from the Bible, at Judges, 5:25 – 'He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish', where "he" refers to Sisera, "she" is Jael, and Jael kills Sisera by hammering a nail through his head. The same fate awaits Sir Luke Enderby in Christie's play at the hands of Julia Keene. Jack Malvern, of The Times called it "one of Agatha Christie’s most gruesome murder plots." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_....

[James Uscroft · Rating 1 out of 5]

This joke of a play is absurdly lazy and mind-numbingly predictable, making the victim's utter obliviousness all the more infuriating. ...A serious case of "The Victim In A Serial Killer Movie Doing The Exact Opposite Of What's Rational" trope.

[Jina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific play! Short but very dramatic ending. Oh boy, Agatha Christie could be quite terrifying when she wanted!
Listened to the BBC Radio Drama from 1948! It was such a clean audio with marvelous voice actors! So fun!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

For production as a radio play.

[Cheruv · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. I listened to the BBC Radio Production.

[Maymunah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting radio play. Cozy mystery.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Agatha Christie play - not the best

[Farhana Sufi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capital one-act murder mystery.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came back to this after playing Julia my freshman year of high school. I LOVE this little radio play.

[Isabella ⸙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archibald should consider himself lucky that Agatha Christie channelled all of her female rage into her writing... 👀 Butter In A Lordly Dish manages to pack quite the punch in its short run, and I'm glad that the "lost" recording was found!

[Zviko Mukamba · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twist killed me... The girlfriend is the widow of the men you convicted and she is the real murderer... Say it's not so😅