Seemingly harmless verses of nursery rhymes which has comforted generations of children becomes the eerie backdrop for some of Agatha Christie‘s iconic works. Sometimes, it’s the killer who’s found an inspiration in rhymes to commit the killings. Other times, it’s Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot who has found the missing piece of a puzzle through nursery rhymes.
Dive into the world of hidden secrets within the lines of nursery rhymes with this Agatha Christie Birthday Month. In this special post, I have listed Christie’s novels inspired by some of the most innocent sounding rhymes we sang as children.
#1: Four and Twenty Blackbirds
Inspired by the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence.
Sing a song of sixpence
Pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie
Poirot is eating out with a friend and their conversation turns to people’s habits. Poirot’s friend points out a white-bearded man at the restaurant and says that the man eats the same meal on Wednesday and Saturday, and always orders the same items as a part of his three-course meal.
The waitress brings their meals and seeing Poirot’s friend looking at the bearded man, she tells them that on the previous week, the bearded man came on Monday and ordered things he had never ordered before. Poirot’s curiosity is piqued.
A few weeks later, Poirot meets his friend again and is told that the bearded man hasn’t been seen for over a week. Poirot then finds the man’s name from a list of recent deaths and visits the dead man’s doctor where he’s told that the bearded man died after falling off the stairs.
Poirot also learns that the dead man had a twin brother who also died on the same afternoon after a prolonged illness.
A blackberry pie served at the restaurant is the final piece of the puzzle.
#2: One, Two, Buckle my Shoe
Inspired by the nursery rhyme One, Two, Buckle my Shoe.
One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, shut the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, begin again
Poirot’s dentist is found dead in his clinic with a bullet hole below his right temple. Poirot was one of his patients that same day and the doctor was doing quite fine when treating Poirot. Did the doctor commit suicide? If so, then what made the jovial man take this extreme step all of a sudden?
Later on, Poirot and Inspector Japp learn that one of the doctor’s new patients was found dead in his hotel room from a lethal dose of local anaesthesia. A shoe buckle holds the missing piece of the puzzle.
Can Poirot pick up sticks and lay them straight? Or will he have to begin again?
#3: Hickory Dickory Dock
Inspired by the nursery rhyme Hickory, Dickory Dock.
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse went down
An outbreak of apparent kleptomania at a local hostel catches Poirot’s attention. The incident is quite bizarre as the thief seems to have stolen a number of items such as a stethoscope, old flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, etc. Poirot even congratulates the warden on this ‘unique and beautiful problem.’
The list of stolen items made no sense at all. But then , Poirot wonders why is everyone at the hostel so frightened?
#4: A Pocket Full of Rye
Inspired by the nursery rhyme Sing a song of Sixpence.
Rex Fortescue, the king of a financial empire, was at his counting house, sipping tea, when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On further inspection, the deceased man’s pockets contained a few grains of rye. Autopsy reveals the man was poisoned.
The victim’s wife becomes the main suspect in his murder. The victim’s son arrives from Kenya. The same day, the suspect (victim’s wife) dies of poisoning (cyanide in her tea) and a few hours later, the maid is found strangled in the yard.
When Miss Marple reads about these three murders, she knows she has to investigate – the dead maid had previously worked for Miss Marple.
#5: How does your Garden Grow?
Inspired by the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite contrary.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
A woman slips a packet of seeds to Poirot at a Botanical gardening event. Back home, Poirot finds a letter addressed to him in his mail – it’s from the same woman who had slipped him the packet of seeds.
Poirot visits the woman’s house and learns from the maid that the woman died the previous evening. It was a case of food poisoning. But how is that possible when everyone at the table ate the same meal and seem to be quite healthy?
When the will is read, Poirot learns that the victim had left her estate to her maid. The maid is detained by the police as the inheritance was a motive for murder.
#6: Three Blind Mice
Inspired by the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice.
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?
Giles and Molly Davis have just inherited the Monkswell Manor from Molly’s aunt. They have decided to convert it to a guest house. During a heavy blizzard, an intriguing set of people are trapped together at the Manor.
Then, one of the guests is found dead. It becomes clear that the killer is amongst them. Who will live through the night and who will die next? Like the rhyme Three Blind Mice, will the murderer kill them all?
#7: Crooked House
Inspired by the nursery rhyme There was a Crooked Man.
There was a crooked man and he went a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all liv’d together in a little crooked house.
The Leonides were one big happy family living in a sprawling mansion. But that was only until the head of the household, Aristide, was murdered with a fatal dose of barbiturate. Suspicion naturally falls on the victim’s young widow who was fifty years his junior.
The victim’s granddaughter tells her fiancé that they cannot marry until the killer is apprehended. The fiancé’s father is the Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard. The fiancé investigates from the inside along with the assigned Scotland Yard detective.
#8: Five Little Pigs
Inspired by the nursery rhyme This Little Piggy.
This pig went to market,
That pig stayed home;
This pig had roast meat,
That pig had none;
This pig went to the barn’s door,
And cried week, week for more.
Though there were five other suspects, Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband. After Caroline’s death, her daughter approaches Poirot and asks him to solve the mystery behind her father’s murder and clear her deceased mother’s name. With the testimonies of those present on that fateful day, Poirot must reconstruct the scene of crime.
The Book Decoder 