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    Sanctuary
    Sanctuary
    Sanctuary
    Ebook39 pages30 minutes

    Sanctuary

    By Agatha Christie

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Bunch, engrossed in her flower arrangements for the church, is placing the chrysanthemums when she sees a man crumpled over on the chancel steps, dying. The man can only utter one word, “sanctuary.” No one at the vicarage understands what he means, and nothing can be done to stop his death. But, when his relatives promptly arrive to pick up his possessions, Bunch can’t get the word out of her head. She knows just who to turn to, her godmother, Miss Marple. What Bunch and Miss Marple discover is more exciting than anything that could be expected to happen in a sleepy village like Chipping Cleghorn. Who is this man, and what does “sanctuary” mean?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 27, 2011
    ISBN9780062129710
    Sanctuary
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

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    Reviews for Sanctuary

    4.5/5

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    • 4/5
      Sanctuary, the seventh Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus mystery, takes place in Los Angeles and Israel, with a New York matter thrown in, but not visited.Peter and his partner, Marge Dunn, are both working homicide at the Devonshire station. Their new 'Loo,' an ex-marine called 'Tug' Davidson, is really getting on Marge's nerves. She complains that he treats her like a peon. Well, Davidson outsmarts himself by sending Marge on a call he thinks is nothing. He just wants to get Orit Bar Lulu off his back.Mrs. Bar Lulu is very worried about her brother, Arik Yalom. She hasn't heard from him or his lovely wife, Dalia, or their teenaged sons, Gil and Dov, for two days. Orit, Arik, & Dalia are from Israel. Dalia is the daughter of a rich diamond dealer, Joseph Menkovitz. Arik is a diamond dealer, too, but small potatoes compared to his father-in-law.Arik and Orit both learned how to cut diamonds from their father, whose family has been in the diamond business for generations. Moshe Yalom is good, but Arik is superb. His partner, Shaul Gold, is a good salesman, which Arik isn't. Dalia, who has known Shaul all her life, made Arik give him the job. Is Shaul in love with Dalia? Her sons call him 'Uncle Shaul'. Shaul and Arik argue a lot.Peter is the one who notices two strange things about the quiet Yalom house. Still, he treats the case as Marge's. Their 'Loo' remains unconvinced that anything is wrong, so our detectives have to do part of the investigation on their own time.Meanwhile, Honey Klein, an old classmate of Rina's, bringings herself and her four children (ranging from 5 to 15) to visit from their New York village. It's short notice. The Kleins disappear before Peter can break the news to Honey that her husband, Gershon, has been murdered. Is it only a coincidence that Gershon Klein was also a diamond dealer?The trail leads to Israel. Peter is going on his own money, with the understanding that he'll be reimbursed if he's successful. Rina goes along as his interpreter. Does he need her!There's plenty of excitement and danger in the Holy Land. Poor Peter gets to deal with culture shock. Rina finds out how much Israel has changed since she left it 12 years ago. The mysteries are solved, though I suspect one of the villains would have preferred another fate. (By the way, I loved the story Moshe Yalom came up with to get Rina past a guard.)On the Decker family front, Rina and Peter's little Hannah is nine months old and a good baby. I enjoyed the scene with the boys and Rina's parents. Cindy, Peter's daughter by his first wife, doesn't appear. We do learn, from a conversation with Marge, that Cindy is still interested in police work and Peter is still unhappy about it.It's another very good entry in a very good series.Notes:See chapter two for something going on in Honey Klein's village that has her Rebbe (Rabbi) floored.The Bellson/Roberts affair mentioned in chapter 5 was in book six, Grievous Sin. It's also where we met nurse Nora, mentioned in chapter 24.The John List case mentioned in chapter 9 really happened. You might want to look it up.Phileas Fogg, to whom Marge compares Arik Yalom in chapter 11, is the traveling hero of Around the World in 80 Days. While that's not my favorite Jules Verne adventure, it's a classic worth reading. You might also enjoy the Academy Award-winning 1956 film adaptation.See book three, Milk and Honey for why Pete got upset with something Marge says in chapter 23.See book four, Day of Atonement, for how Peter met his biological mother and her family, who get mentioned in chapter 24. It's also where you'll find out how he got the old bullet wound mentioned several times in this book.Chapter 31 is where Rina explains Jewish divorce to Peter. I'm glad to read that some rabbis are trying to help the wives. Cat lovers: Peter's barn cats just get a mention. Peter's horses get slightly more time.Dog lovers: Ginger, Peter's Irish setter, not only gets to play games with little Hannah, she has an important role in solving one of the mysteries.
    • 4/5
      When one diamond dealer and his family disappears and another diamond merchant is murdered, the hunt for the culprit(s) leads Peter Decker to Israel with wife Rina in tow as translator cum detective. This is one of my favorite installments of the series, partly because of the new locales (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) and partly because Rina gets to have an actual impact on the mystery-plot. Definitely a must if you have an interest in Judaism, but a solid mystery even if you don't.
    • 5/5
      Peter & Rena and the murder of a Jewish couple & disappearances.

    Book preview

    Sanctuary - Agatha Christie

    Sanctuary

    A Miss Marple Short Story

    by Agatha Christie

    Contents

    Cover

    Title Page

    Sanctuary

    About the Author

    Related Products

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    Sanctuary

    ‘Sanctuary’ was first published in the USA as ‘Murder at the Vicarage’ in This Week, 12 & 19 September 1954, and then in Woman’s Journal, October 1954.

    The vicar’s wife came round the corner of the vicarage with her arms full of chrysanthemums. A good deal of rich garden soil was attached to her strong brogue shoes and a few fragments of earth were adhering to her nose, but of that fact she was perfectly unconscious.

    She had a slight struggle in opening the vicarage gate which hung, rustily, half off its hinges. A puff of wind caught at her battered felt hat, causing it to sit even more rakishly than it had done before. ‘Bother!’ said Bunch.

    Christened by her optimistic parents Diana, Mrs Harmon had become Bunch at an early age for somewhat obvious reasons and the name had stuck to her ever since. Clutching the chrysanthemums, she made her way through the gate to the churchyard, and so to the church door.

    The November air was mild and damp. Clouds scudded across the sky with patches of blue here and there. Inside, the church was dark and cold; it was unheated except at service times.

    ‘Brrrrrh!’ said Bunch expressively. ‘I’d better get on with this quickly. I don’t want to die of cold.’

    With the quickness born of practice she collected the necessary paraphernalia: vases, water, flower-holders. ‘I wish we had lilies,’ thought Bunch to herself. ‘I get so tired of these scraggy chrysanthemums.’ Her nimble fingers arranged the blooms in their holders.

    There was nothing particularly original or artistic about the decorations, for Bunch Harmon herself was neither original nor artistic, but it was a homely and pleasant arrangement. Carrying the vases carefully, Bunch stepped up the aisle and made her way towards the altar. As she did so the sun came out.

    It shone through the east window of somewhat crude coloured glass, mostly blue and red – the gift of a wealthy Victorian churchgoer. The

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