Butter in a Lordly Dish

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  • Radio Play
  • 1948

A rare radio play. Lawyer, Sir Luke Enderby meets a grisly end when the case of a serial killer whom he had convicted comes back with avengence.

More about this story

Staying in a boarding house, Julia Keene overhears the praising of a lawyer who recently came into the public eye for convicting a serial killer who targeted women with blonde hair. With this knowledge at hand, Julia must immediately make a phone call...

Sought after by many an Agatha Christie fan, this rare, unpublished radio play, exploits the author's known skill at twisting expectations just before the final curtain (no spoilers here!). The title is a Biblical reference from Judges, 5:25, in which Jael confronts Sisera: "He asked water, and she gave him milk: she brought forth butter in a lordly dish." The quote is also referenced in the latter half of the play.

It was broadcast in 1948 in a half-hour slot on the BBC's Radio Light Programme. It was part of a series of six plays written by different members of the Detection Club, a society devoted to maintaining the standards of the crime novel. The members included A. B. Cox, Dorothy L. Sayers, and of course, Agatha Christie.

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