Murder is Easy
Encyclopedia
Murder is Easy is a work of detective fiction
by Agatha Christie
and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club
on June 5, 1939
and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company
in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill. Christie's recurring character, Superintendent Battle
, has a cameo appearance at the end, but plays no part in either the solution of the mystery or the apprehension of the criminal. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence
(7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
to reveal the guilty party. Unfortunately, she does not inform Luke who it is.
Luke learns the next day that Miss Pinkerton was killed in a hit-and-run car accident before reaching the Yard. He goes to the village, posing as a folklore researcher, to find the murderer himself. Four main suspects soon present themselves: a creepy antique dealer, a prickly solicitor, a smug doctor and a bombastic, self-made peer engaged to an attractive young woman; but Is the culprit one of the other inhabitants of the village, which emanates a pervasive supernatural atmosphere that unsettles Luke's detective work?
of June 10, 1939 published a review of the book by Maurice Percy Ashley, together with And Death Came Too by Richard Hull which began "A week in which new novels by Mr Hull and Mrs Christie appear should be a red letter week for connoisseurs of detective fiction. One must, however, reluctantly confess that neither of them is fully up to standard."
After considering in isolation And Death Came Too, Mr. Ashley turned his attention to Murder is Easy and started, "Mrs Christie has abandoned M. Hercule Poirot in her new novel, but it must be confessed that his understudy, Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman from the Mayang States
is singularly lacking in 'little grey matter.' Poirot may have recently become, with advancing years, a trifle staid, but absence makes the heart grow fonder of him." After outlining the basics of the plot and the romantic interests of the main character, Mr. Ashley concluded, "He (Luke) is less effective a detective than as a lover, which is not surprising since neither he nor the reader is provided with any clear clues pointing to the fantastically successful murderer. The love interest scarcely compensates for the paucity of detection and the characters verge on caricature; nor is Fitzwilliam able to recapture vividly enough the circumstances of the earlier murders."
In The New York Times Book Review
for September 24, 1939, Kay Irvin said the book was "...one of Agatha Christie's best mystery novels, a story fascinating in its plot, clever and lively in its characters and brilliant in its technique." She concluded, "The story's interest is unflagging, and the end brings excitement as well as surprise."
William Blunt in The Observer
of June 4, 1939 raised a question regarding Christie's possible ability to write non-criminous fiction, which demonstrates that her nom-de-plume identity of Mary Westmacott was not yet public knowledge: "I should hate to have to state on oath which I thought was Agatha Christie's best story, but I do think I can say that this is well up in the first six. The humour and humanity of its detail raise a question which only one person can give an answer. Agatha Christie has grown accustomed to working her embroidery on a background of black. Could she, or could she not, leave death and detection out, and embroider as well on green? I believe she is one of the few detective novelists who could. If she would let herself try, just for fun. I believe it would be very good fun for other people, too."
E.R. Punshon in The Guardian
s issue of July 11, 1939 said that, "Readers may miss the almost supernatural cunning of Poirot, but then if Luke also depended on the famous 'little grey cells' he would be merely another Poirot instead of having his own blundering, straightforward, yet finally effective methods." Mr. Punshon summed up by saying that the story, "must be counted as yet another proof of Mrs. Christie's inexhaustible ingenuity."
Mary Dell in the Daily Mirror of June 8, 1939 said, "It'll keep you guessing will this latest book from the pen of one of the best thriller writers ever."
An unnamed reviewer in the Toronto Daily Star
of December 2, 1939 said, "An anemic thread of romance threatens to sever on occasion but the mystery is satisfying and full of suspense."
Robert Barnard
: "Archetypal Mayhem Parva story, with all the best ingredients: Cranford-style village with 'about six women to every man'; doctors, lawyers, retired colonels and antique dealers; suspicions of black magic; and, as optional extra ingredient, a memorably awful press lord. And of course a generous allowance of sharp old spinsters. Shorter than most on detection, perhaps because the detection is, until the end, basically amateur. One of the classics."
by CBS
in 1982 with Bill Bixby
, Lesley-Anne Down
, Olivia de Havilland
and Helen Hayes
, and for the stage in 1993 by Clive Exton
.
An adaptation, with the inclusion of Miss Marple
(played by Julia McKenzie
), was included in the fourth season of Marple
; it deviated significantly from the novel by removing, adding, and changing characters, adding subplots, and changing the murderer's motives. It's Miss Marple who meets Miss Pinkerton on the train and learns of her suspicions about the village deaths. Pinkerton is killed in a fall down a London station escalator while enroute to Scotland Yard. Miss Marple meets 30-ish police detective Luke Fitzwilliam (played by Benedict Cumberbatch
) in the village, where he is dealing with a deceased relative's property, and they recognize one another's investigative inclinations and work together to solve the murders. Lord Whitfield and Giles Ellsworthy do not appear and Honoria Waynflete is changed from a jealous elderly lady to a mentally disturbed young woman.
The book was first serialised in the US in The Saturday Evening Post
in seven parts from November 19 (Volume 211, Number 21) to December 31, 1938 (Volume 211, Number 27) under the title Easy to Kill with illustrations by Henry Raleigh.
The UK serialisation was in twenty-three parts in the Daily Express
from Tuesday, January 10 to Friday, February 3, 1939 under the title of Easy to Kill. All of the instalments carried an illustration by "Prescott". This version did not contain any chapter divisions.
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club
The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994. Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be...
on June 5, 1939
1939 in literature
The year 1939 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*December 25 - A Christmas Carol is read before a radio audience for the first time....
and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. Its history properly began in 1870, with the retirement of its founder, Moses Woodruff Dodd. Control passed to his son Frank...
in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill. Christie's recurring character, Superintendent Battle
Superintendent Battle
Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie. He appears as a detective in the following novels:* The Secret of Chimneys...
, has a cameo appearance at the end, but plays no part in either the solution of the mystery or the apprehension of the criminal. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence
British sixpence coin
The sixpence, known colloquially as the tanner, or half-shilling, was a British pre-decimal coin, worth six pence, or 1/40th of a pound sterling....
(7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Plot introduction
Luke Fitzwilliam happens to share a London bound train carriage with Miss Pinkerton, a seemingly dotty but sweet elderly lady, who reminds Luke of his own aunt. She talks to him about a series of murders—disguised as accidents—taking place in her home village of Wychwood-under-Ashe. Miss Pinkerton says that although the local police are out of their depth, she knows the identity of the murderer because of a telling gaze that this person fixes on the intended victim. She is on her way to Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
to reveal the guilty party. Unfortunately, she does not inform Luke who it is.
Luke learns the next day that Miss Pinkerton was killed in a hit-and-run car accident before reaching the Yard. He goes to the village, posing as a folklore researcher, to find the murderer himself. Four main suspects soon present themselves: a creepy antique dealer, a prickly solicitor, a smug doctor and a bombastic, self-made peer engaged to an attractive young woman; but Is the culprit one of the other inhabitants of the village, which emanates a pervasive supernatural atmosphere that unsettles Luke's detective work?
Literary significance and reception
The Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
of June 10, 1939 published a review of the book by Maurice Percy Ashley, together with And Death Came Too by Richard Hull which began "A week in which new novels by Mr Hull and Mrs Christie appear should be a red letter week for connoisseurs of detective fiction. One must, however, reluctantly confess that neither of them is fully up to standard."
After considering in isolation And Death Came Too, Mr. Ashley turned his attention to Murder is Easy and started, "Mrs Christie has abandoned M. Hercule Poirot in her new novel, but it must be confessed that his understudy, Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman from the Mayang States
Mayang Imphal
Mayang Imphal is a town and a nagar panchayat in Imphal West district in the Indian state of Manipur.-Demographics: India census, Mayang Imphal had a population of 20,536. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Mayang Imphal has an average literacy rate of 56%, lower than the...
is singularly lacking in 'little grey matter.' Poirot may have recently become, with advancing years, a trifle staid, but absence makes the heart grow fonder of him." After outlining the basics of the plot and the romantic interests of the main character, Mr. Ashley concluded, "He (Luke) is less effective a detective than as a lover, which is not surprising since neither he nor the reader is provided with any clear clues pointing to the fantastically successful murderer. The love interest scarcely compensates for the paucity of detection and the characters verge on caricature; nor is Fitzwilliam able to recapture vividly enough the circumstances of the earlier murders."
In The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
for September 24, 1939, Kay Irvin said the book was "...one of Agatha Christie's best mystery novels, a story fascinating in its plot, clever and lively in its characters and brilliant in its technique." She concluded, "The story's interest is unflagging, and the end brings excitement as well as surprise."
William Blunt in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
of June 4, 1939 raised a question regarding Christie's possible ability to write non-criminous fiction, which demonstrates that her nom-de-plume identity of Mary Westmacott was not yet public knowledge: "I should hate to have to state on oath which I thought was Agatha Christie's best story, but I do think I can say that this is well up in the first six. The humour and humanity of its detail raise a question which only one person can give an answer. Agatha Christie has grown accustomed to working her embroidery on a background of black. Could she, or could she not, leave death and detection out, and embroider as well on green? I believe she is one of the few detective novelists who could. If she would let herself try, just for fun. I believe it would be very good fun for other people, too."
E.R. Punshon in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s issue of July 11, 1939 said that, "Readers may miss the almost supernatural cunning of Poirot, but then if Luke also depended on the famous 'little grey cells' he would be merely another Poirot instead of having his own blundering, straightforward, yet finally effective methods." Mr. Punshon summed up by saying that the story, "must be counted as yet another proof of Mrs. Christie's inexhaustible ingenuity."
Mary Dell in the Daily Mirror of June 8, 1939 said, "It'll keep you guessing will this latest book from the pen of one of the best thriller writers ever."
An unnamed reviewer in the Toronto Daily Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
of December 2, 1939 said, "An anemic thread of romance threatens to sever on occasion but the mystery is satisfying and full of suspense."
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard is an English crime writer, critic and lecturer.- Life and work :Born in Essex, Barnard was educated at the Colchester Royal Grammar School and at Balliol College in Oxford....
: "Archetypal Mayhem Parva story, with all the best ingredients: Cranford-style village with 'about six women to every man'; doctors, lawyers, retired colonels and antique dealers; suspicions of black magic; and, as optional extra ingredient, a memorably awful press lord. And of course a generous allowance of sharp old spinsters. Shorter than most on detection, perhaps because the detection is, until the end, basically amateur. One of the classics."
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Adapted for televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
by CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1982 with Bill Bixby
Bill Bixby
Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...
, Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
, Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
and Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
, and for the stage in 1993 by Clive Exton
Clive Exton
Clive Exton was a British television and film screenwriter, sometime playwright, and former actor. He is best known for his scripts of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster, and Rosemary & Thyme.-Early career:He was born Clive Jack Montague Brooks in Islington, London,...
.
An adaptation, with the inclusion of Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
(played by Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple...
), was included in the fourth season of Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
; it deviated significantly from the novel by removing, adding, and changing characters, adding subplots, and changing the murderer's motives. It's Miss Marple who meets Miss Pinkerton on the train and learns of her suspicions about the village deaths. Pinkerton is killed in a fall down a London station escalator while enroute to Scotland Yard. Miss Marple meets 30-ish police detective Luke Fitzwilliam (played by Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English film, television, and theatre actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking ; William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace ; the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy ; Paul...
) in the village, where he is dealing with a deceased relative's property, and they recognize one another's investigative inclinations and work together to solve the murders. Lord Whitfield and Giles Ellsworthy do not appear and Honoria Waynflete is changed from a jealous elderly lady to a mentally disturbed young woman.
Publication history
- 1939, Collins Crime Club (London), June 5, 1939, Hardcover, 256 pp
- 1939, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), September 1939, Hardcover, 248 pp
- 1945, Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, Paperback, 152 pp (Pocket number 319) - 1951, Pan BooksPan BooksPan Books is an imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group....
, Paperback, 250 pp (Pan number 161) - 1957, Penguin BooksPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, Paperback, 172 pp - 1960, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
), Paperback, 190 pp - 1966, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 219 pp
The book was first serialised in the US in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
in seven parts from November 19 (Volume 211, Number 21) to December 31, 1938 (Volume 211, Number 27) under the title Easy to Kill with illustrations by Henry Raleigh.
The UK serialisation was in twenty-three parts in the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
from Tuesday, January 10 to Friday, February 3, 1939 under the title of Easy to Kill. All of the instalments carried an illustration by "Prescott". This version did not contain any chapter divisions.
External links
- Murder is Easy at the official Agatha Christie website