They both think him unsuitable for their granddaughter and have invited him to join them for Christmas in the hope that a few day's close contact with Sarah will show her how unsuitable he is, particularly in contrast to David Welwyn who has been friends with Sarah since childhood. Colonel and Mrs Lacey are perturbed by a relationship that Sarah is in with a young rake called Desmond Lee-Wortley. Joining them will be her husband, Colonel Lacey Sarah, a granddaughter by their deceased son Colin, a teenage grandson by their daughter Michael, a friend of Colin's at school Bridget who is of the same age as Colin and Michael and is a great niece of Mrs Lacey's Diana, a young cousin of Mrs Lacey's and David Welwyn who is a family friend.

On Christmas Eve at Kings Lacey, Poirot is told about the other members of their party by Mrs Lacey, his elderly host in the house. The mystery can be solved at an old English country house called Kings Lacey where it will be arranged for Poirot to join a family there for their Christmas celebrations, supposedly to experience a typical English Christmas. If it cannot be retrieved a scandal will ensue and because of this the police cannot be involved. The prince brought several expensive jewels with him to London for resetting by Cartiers and one of them, a fabulous ruby, was stolen by the young woman. The prince is due soon to be married to a cousin and he has been enjoying his final days of freedom with a dubious young woman in London. Poirot is asked by a Mr Jesmond, who is acting as an intermediary to an eastern prince, to help that unfortunate young man with a problem he is having. The nature of the crime and the denouement remains the same. Compared the the 1923 text, the 1960 plot is played out in greater detail and includes some side plots.

The story is an expanded version of Christmas Adventure which had been published in The Sketch in December 1923. In the U.K., the story was also serialised in the weekly magazine Women's Illustrated from 24 December 1960 to 7 January 1961 also under the alternative title of 'The Theft of the Royal Ruby'. the story was serialised in the This Week magazine in two instalments from 25 September to 2 October 1960 under the title ' The Theft of the Royal Ruby' and then as part of the collection Double Sin and Other Stories, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in the U.S. as part of the collection The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées in 1960. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding is a short story written by Agatha Christie first published in the U.K.

The adventure of the christmas pudding