''The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories'' is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by

Dodd, Mead and Company Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...

in 1948.American Tribute to Agatha Christie
/ref> The first edition retailed at $2.50. The story "The Second Gong" features

Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...

, the only character in the stories who appears in any other of Christie's works. Each story has also appeared in either of the UK collections ''

The Hound of Death ''The Hound of Death and Other Stories'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom in October 1933. Unusually, the collection was not published by Christie's regular publi ...

'', ''

The Listerdale Mystery ''The Listerdale Mystery'' is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in June 1934.Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of Fi ...

'' or ''

Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories ''Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories'' is a short story collection by Agatha Christie published in the UK only in November 1991 by HarperCollins. It was not published in the US but all the stories contained within it had previously been p ...

'' and therefore this collection was not published in the UK. Some of the stories are fantasy fiction rather than mysteries.

List of stories

Accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researcher ...

" *" The Fourth Man" *"

The Mystery of the Blue Jar ''The Hound of Death and Other Stories'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom in October 1933. Unusually, the collection was not published by Christie's regular publis ...

" *"The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl" (a.k.a. " Mr. Eastwood's Adventure") *" Philomel Cottage" *" The Red Signal" *" The Second Gong" *"

Sing a Song of Sixpence "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is an English nursery rhyme, perhaps originating in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13191. The sixpence in the rhyme is a British coin that was first minted in 1551. Origins The r ...

" *" S.O.S." *"Where There's a Will" (a.k.a. "

Wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

") *"

The Witness for the Prosecution "The Witness for the Prosecution" is a short story and play by British author Agatha Christie. The story was initially published as "Traitor's Hands" in ''Flynn's'', a weekly pulp magazine, in the edition of 31 January 1925. In 1933, the story ...

Publication history

* 1948, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), Hardcover, 272 pp * 1956,

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and s ...

, Paperback, (Dell number 855), 192 pp * 1984,

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...

, Paperback, (Berkley number 07997-X), 230 pp

First publication of stories in the US

The first US magazine publication of all the stories has not been fully documented. A partial listing is as follows: * "The Mystery of the Blue Jar": a 1924 issue of ''Metropolitan Magazine''. * "The Witness for the Prosecution": 31 January 1925 issue of ''Flynn's Weekly'' (Volume IV, No 2) under the title ''Traitor's Hands'' with an uncredited illustration. * "Where There's a Will": 1 March 1926 issue of ''Mystery Magazine'' under the title "Wireless". * "The Second Gong": June 1932 (Volume LIIX, Number 6) issue of the ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'' with an illustration by R.J. Prohaska. In addition, the following were published unillustrated in ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'': * "Accident": March 1943 (Volume 4, Number 2) * "Sing a Song of Sixpence": February 1947 (Volume 9, Number 39) * "The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl": April 1947 (Volume 9, Number 41) * "The Red Signal": June 1947 (Volume 9, Number 43) * "The Fourth Man": October 1947 (Volume 10, Number 47) * "S.O.S.": December 1947 (Volume 10, Number 49) For first publications in the UK, see the applicable UK collections referenced above.

References

External links

''The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories''
at the official Agatha Christie website {{DEFAULTSORT:Witness for the Prosecution and other stories, The 1948 short story collections Short story collections by Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot short story collections Dodd, Mead & Co. books