The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

When a priceless ruby, belonging to a Far Eastern prince, is stolen from him whilst he is on a visit to England, Poirot is asked to make a quiet investigation. The ruby was destined for the prince’s bride-to-be and a scandal must be avoided.

Poirot does Christmas the English way, pursuing a case at the same time. This story was originally much shorter and appeared under the same title in The Sketch magazine, December 1923. This lengthened version wasn’t to appear in print until 1960, in the collection of the same name. It appeared in 1961 in the US collection Double Sin and Other Stories, under the title The Theft of the Royal Ruby. It was also published in 1997 in While The Light Lasts (UK) and The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories (US), titled The Christmas Adventure.

The story was adapted for TV in 1991 and used the US title of the story. It starred David Suchet as Poirot. It appeared as a two-part episode in the Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple on NHK in 2004. The story was also dramatised for BBC Radio 4, under the original UK title, in 2006, John Moffatt reprising his role as Poirot.