Tropes in Agatha Christie's novels
Encyclopedia
Agatha Christie
’s reputation as The Queen of Crime was built by the large number of classic motifs that she introduced, or for which she provided the most famous example. Christie built these tropes into what is now considered classic mystery structure: a murder is committed, there are multiple suspects who are all concealing secrets, and the detective gradually uncovers these secrets over the course of the story, discovering the most shocking twists towards the end. At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of his or her deductive reasoning, and announces the guilty party.
The following is a list of common plot elements and twist endings, collated with reference to the books themselves, although inevitably some of them could be considered both plot element and twist ending.
), or was in the vicinity of the murder at the time of death (as in Five Little Pigs
). This partial admission of guilt is considered an unlikely behavior of the murderer.
On occasion Christie deliberately breaks the perceived rules of the murder mystery, having characters—such as children, policemen, the narrator or protagonist, one of the victims, or even all of the suspects—commit the murder.
, Evil Under the Sun
and the short story Triangle at Rhodes, the detective tells the murderer early on that "there is danger". It appears that the detective is warning them that they could be killed, but ultimately it turns out to have been incredible foresight on the part of the detective; the danger was of committing murder, being found guilty and hanged.
, a character seems to remember that there was something odd about a room. Poirot remembers that she is puzzled, and later prompts her to remember that a screen was in the wrong place. This is also used to heighten suspense as to whether the person concerned will "remember" the crucial item, or, having remembered it, whether they can communicate with the detective before being silenced, as for example in After the Funeral
, where Helen Abernethie is attacked while trying to telephone through information about 'something odd' she has remembered which gives a clear clue as to the killer.
.
Christie uses this established pattern to mislead readers of Nemesis, in which the striking resemblance between a woman and a dead girl are in fact purely coincidental.
, Poirot draws the attention of Hastings to footprints in one of two flower beds. Hastings is misled into thinking that Poirot is interested in the footprints, but he is actually interested in their absence from the other bed, where they should have also been found.
This trope – which appears in several different forms throughout her novels – was borrowed by Christie from Arthur Conan Doyle
’s short story, Silver Blaze. In this, Sherlock Holmes
refers to “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, where the “curious” thing is the fact that the dog does not bark rather than that it does. Christie effectively admits the debt in the tenth chapter of Cards on the Table
when her crime novelist character, Ariadne Oliver, explicitly mentions the source. The same reference is also specifically mentioned by Poirot in Murder in the Mews
.
, Hastings tells the reader that Poirot has always attributed his solution of this mystery to “a chance remark of a stranger in the street”. (The remark – “If they had just had the sense to ask Ellis right away” – has nothing directly to do with the mystery.) This is just one of many examples when the nature of the mystery is explained by an epiphany
in which the detective makes a relevant discovery on the strength of a random occurrence.
, Poirot stresses the potential importance of a length of lead pipe that is completely overlooked by a rival detective who only focuses on very small clues.
In a sense, many of Christie’s novels employ the same trope on a different level, in the sense that the murderer is rarely “the person one would least suspect”: more usually he or she is a character that has been very visible from early in the novel.
the murderer dresses as a waiter in order to poison a glass of champagne, while in Death in the Clouds
the murderer dresses as a steward aboard an aircraft to prick the victim with a poisoned thorn. Three Act Tragedy
also features a character disguising himself as a butler in order to silence a victim. Miss Marple has the same experience in Miss Marple Tells a Story, where a second chambermaid is able to enter a hotel suite in full view without being noticed.
This is a somewhat contentious trope on Christie’s part, but it was also used by G. K. Chesterton
in at least two of his Father Brown
stories (The Invisible Man and The Queer Feet).
the silly and forgetful Dora Bunner tells Inspector Craddock what one particular character was doing shortly before the murder took place. But because she is so unreliable, everybody believes she was mistaken until she started to believe the version of the murderer herself. In The Mousetrap
, Mrs Boyle points out that one character cannot be who he pretends to be, but nobody pays attention since Mrs Boyle is presented as a rather unpleasant woman who complains about everyone. In Crooked House
, Brenda Leonides tells the narrator pretty early in the book that she thinks the character, who later turns out to be the murderer, might not be quite right in the head, but nobody believes her since Brenda herself is the main suspect in the poisoning of her much older and rich husband. In Dead Man's Folly
one of the victims is an old man who found a dead body but his story was never believed.
, Taken at the Flood
, A Murder is Announced
, Hercule Poirot's Christmas
and After the Funeral
characters are able to pass themselves off as relatives who have been unseen for considerable periods. In Elephants Can Remember
, the identity of the murderer is switched with that of the victim at the victim's own request.
In Murder on the Orient Express
, nearly all of the suspects are somehow connected with the family of a little girl who was kidnapped and murdered. All conceal their true identity by either using phony names or pretending not to be associated with the family.
More incredibly, in Third Girl
a young woman fails to notice that her stepmother is also living with her in disguise as a flatmate and, in Murder in Mesopotamia
, a woman marries a man without realising that it is actually her former husband. In Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
, a man well-known to all the major characters is able to disguise himself as another man equally well-known to the same characters without difficulty until given away by having differently shaped ears.
In a number of other cases, relatives are able to conceal themselves as strangers, as in A Murder is Announced
and Hercule Poirot's Christmas
.
Impersonation may be for the specific reason of establishing a false motive (as in After the Funeral
, where Cora Lansquenet makes a contentious remark about her brother's death, or the short story The Dream and novel Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
, where in both a man impersonates a millionaire to make him appear suicidal), of establishing an alibi (as in Evil Under the Sun
, and the short story Four and Twenty Blackbirds) or of establishing a false characteristic of the murderer (such as femininity instead of masculinity, as in Taken at the Flood
and Mrs. McGinty's Dead). A variation on this theme is where someone adopts a secondary identity in order to allow their real identity to disappear mysteriously by 'redirecting attention'. This trope is used in At the Bells and Motley from The Mysterious Mr Quin, and in modified form in Dead Man's Folly
. In Murder on the Orient Express
, identities are concealed so they will not seem to hold a grudge against the victim, which they all do have. One is even a celebrity in disguise.
the criminals fake a murder for a time when they both have alibis, then commit it later while the preliminary investigative bustle distracts attention. In Hercule Poirot's Christmas
the murder is committed an hour before it appears to have taken place, at a time when the criminal is elsewhere in front of witnesses. In Hickory Dickory Dock
, a criminal's accomplice makes a phone call that is ostensibly from the victim, at a time when the criminal is standing in front of Poirot. In the short story The Plymouth Express and the novel based upon it The Mystery of the Blue Train
the criminal disguises herself as the victim at a train station to create the impression that the victim was still alive when, in fact, she had been killed earlier. Playing with time invariably involves devices such as fake phone calls, gunshots, screams, disguises, people pretending to be dead, and other devices that take advantage of an observer's assumptions.
, a young woman (Nick Buckley) appears to be the target for a number of murder attempts. In fact she has arranged these in order to mask her own murder (of a distant cousin, Maggie) as another botched murder attempt that has miscarried. The same device for masking a real murder was used in A Murder is Announced
and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
. Staged unsuccessful murder attempts appear in After the Funeral
, Crooked House
and Third Girl
.
, the murder has been committed by the narrator, Dr. Sheppard, who never lies but omits mention of any of the actions that would demonstrate his guilt. The same thing happened in Endless Night
.
, the murder has been committed by one of the investigating policemen, who also happens to be the illegitimate son of the victim. In the short story The Man in the Mist from Partners in Crime
, the investigating policeman, who is also the victim's husband of twenty years ago, commits the murder.
the initial suspect, Jacqueline de Bellefort, has actually shot the victim’s husband, Simon Doyle, before the murder. The solution to the mystery reveals that they are working together, and shooting has been carefully staged. Similarly, the conspirator cousins in The Mysterious Affair at Styles
only pretend to hate one another. A husband and wife, despite appearances that their marriage is breaking down, team up to commit the murder in Evil Under the Sun
. The same device underpins Endless Night
.
This twist was well enough known for Christie to use it as a red herring
in Hercule Poirot's Christmas
.
to include unrelated minor crimes like robberies in the stories, in Cat Among the Pigeons
two murders actually have no connection at all except for place and method. The second murderer just happened to mimic the first murder in execution.
, the body of the victim is apparently discovered by two characters, one of whom goes to fetch the police. The murderer, however, has only “discovered” the body of his accomplice, and is left free to murder the real victim with a seemingly perfect alibi established. In Cards on the Table
, the murderer finds his victim sleeping, tells the maid she's dead then kills her during the resulting confusion.
, most of the confusing elements of the crime are discovered to have been part of an elaborate plan by the victim to stage his own death and disappear. It is when he is happened upon by the real murderer that the final elements are added to the puzzle.
Similarly, in The Mystery of the Spanish Chest the victim himself plans to hide in the chest and catch his wife with the man that he suspects of being her lover. The murderer kills him while he is in the chest, resulting in a more complex situation to be solved than might otherwise have arisen.
, Poirot arrives at the scene of a murder in time to see a woman with a gun in her hand standing over the body of her husband, who is bleeding to death from a fresh bullet wound. It turns out at the end of the novel that she did in fact shoot him, but that this fact has subsequently been obfuscated by the other witnesses, all incriminating themselves to exonerate the woman for her perhaps justifiable act. Conversely, in Hickory Dickory Dock
, the murderer is incriminated by so many clues that it appears he is being framed, with a lack of obvious motive and a clever false alibi for one of the murders weighing in his favor until the end. In Lord Edgware Dies
, the murderer announces how she would kill the victim, and when doing it announces herself at the door of the victim's house perfectly truthfully, but has arranged apparent alibis to make it seem that she was framed. In The Murder at the Vicarage
, the murderers each confess separately, but are cleared and only much later proved to be in fact guilty. In Towards Zero
, the murderer fakes two sets of evidence that implicate himself in the murder of someone for which he has a blatant motive, only to plant a third set of evidence that frames someone else (and who in fact is the intended victim).
A variation on this is in Ordeal by Innocence
, where the man found guilty for the crime, whose posthumously revealed alibi prompts a reopening of the case, turns out to have arranged the murder after all, though not committed it by his own hand.
, the murderer asks Poirot to help obtain a divorce, intending that this will help prove that she has no motive. In The A.B.C. Murders
, the murderer sends letters to Poirot announcing the crimes beforehand, intending to frame an innocent person for the crime. A variation is Peril at End House
, in which the murderer did involve Poirot deliberately, but until the end the reader is led to think his involvement is accidental.
and Murder In The Mews
, a suicide or accident proves to be exactly that, but someone suggests otherwise, or comes along later and rearranges the scene in order to incriminate someone else. In And Then There Were None
, the scheming murderer fakes his own being murdered, commits further murders, then commits suicide at the end so that it appears he was murdered much earlier and couldn't have committed any remaining murders.
In a few stories, such as The Labours of Hercules
, someone who is thinking about committing murder is prevented from going any further. Interestingly, in the short story The Wasp's Nest, a variation on this theme is that the murderer has a terminal illness and plans to commit suicide in order to frame an intended victim, but is prevented from doing so.
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...
’s reputation as The Queen of Crime was built by the large number of classic motifs that she introduced, or for which she provided the most famous example. Christie built these tropes into what is now considered classic mystery structure: a murder is committed, there are multiple suspects who are all concealing secrets, and the detective gradually uncovers these secrets over the course of the story, discovering the most shocking twists towards the end. At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of his or her deductive reasoning, and announces the guilty party.
The following is a list of common plot elements and twist endings, collated with reference to the books themselves, although inevitably some of them could be considered both plot element and twist ending.
Least Likely Suspect
Perhaps the most common element of the Agatha Christie plot is in fact the twist ending itself, that the suspect least likely to have committed the crime is guilty. The murderer tends to conceal either means, motive or opportunity, or a combination of all three. Often, if one of these is apparently watertight, the murderer will play up another: i.e., that he or she had clear access to the weapon, was desperate to murder the victim (as in Lord Edgware DiesLord Edgware Dies
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence...
), or was in the vicinity of the murder at the time of death (as in Five Little Pigs
Five Little Pigs
Five Little Pigs is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in May 1942 under the title of Murder in Retrospect and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1943 although some sources state that publication occurred in November 1942...
). This partial admission of guilt is considered an unlikely behavior of the murderer.
On occasion Christie deliberately breaks the perceived rules of the murder mystery, having characters—such as children, policemen, the narrator or protagonist, one of the victims, or even all of the suspects—commit the murder.
Detective Warns Murderer
Although there are many instances of characters warning each other of death, in Death on the NileDeath on the Nile
Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The book...
, Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year...
and the short story Triangle at Rhodes, the detective tells the murderer early on that "there is danger". It appears that the detective is warning them that they could be killed, but ultimately it turns out to have been incredible foresight on the part of the detective; the danger was of committing murder, being found guilty and hanged.
Oddity Clue
This is a very common clue to the reader that something specific should be regarded as relevant in the immediate events. In The Mystery of the Spanish ChestThe Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on October 24 1960. It is the only Christie first edition published in the UK that contains stories with both Hercule...
, a character seems to remember that there was something odd about a room. Poirot remembers that she is puzzled, and later prompts her to remember that a screen was in the wrong place. This is also used to heighten suspense as to whether the person concerned will "remember" the crucial item, or, having remembered it, whether they can communicate with the detective before being silenced, as for example in After the Funeral
After the Funeral
After the Funeral is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of Funerals are Fatal and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 18 of the same year under Christie's original title...
, where Helen Abernethie is attacked while trying to telephone through information about 'something odd' she has remembered which gives a clear clue as to the killer.
Familiarity Clue
In many other examples, a person appears familiar for some reason. In her early novels, Christie sometimes uses this to indicate that the person is someone else in disguise, but later (when her plot machinery is less incredible) the reason for the familiarity is more subtle. Familiarity, especially in the eyes, is often used to foreshadow illegitimate children or hidden family relations, as in Hercule Poirot's ChristmasHercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
.
Christie uses this established pattern to mislead readers of Nemesis, in which the striking resemblance between a woman and a dead girl are in fact purely coincidental.
Missing Elements
In Murder on the LinksMurder on the Links
The Murder on the Links is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in May 1923 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in of the same year.It features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings...
, Poirot draws the attention of Hastings to footprints in one of two flower beds. Hastings is misled into thinking that Poirot is interested in the footprints, but he is actually interested in their absence from the other bed, where they should have also been found.
This trope – which appears in several different forms throughout her novels – was borrowed by Christie from Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
’s short story, Silver Blaze. In this, Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
refers to “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, where the “curious” thing is the fact that the dog does not bark rather than that it does. Christie effectively admits the debt in the tenth chapter of Cards on the Table
Cards on the Table
Cards on the Table is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 2 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year...
when her crime novelist character, Ariadne Oliver, explicitly mentions the source. The same reference is also specifically mentioned by Poirot in Murder in the Mews
Murder in the Mews
Murder in the Mews and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club on March 15, 1937...
.
Chance Remarks
In the first chapter of Lord Edgware DiesLord Edgware Dies
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence...
, Hastings tells the reader that Poirot has always attributed his solution of this mystery to “a chance remark of a stranger in the street”. (The remark – “If they had just had the sense to ask Ellis right away” – has nothing directly to do with the mystery.) This is just one of many examples when the nature of the mystery is explained by an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
in which the detective makes a relevant discovery on the strength of a random occurrence.
Clues Hidden in Plain Sight
In Murder on the LinksMurder on the Links
The Murder on the Links is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in May 1923 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in of the same year.It features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings...
, Poirot stresses the potential importance of a length of lead pipe that is completely overlooked by a rival detective who only focuses on very small clues.
In a sense, many of Christie’s novels employ the same trope on a different level, in the sense that the murderer is rarely “the person one would least suspect”: more usually he or she is a character that has been very visible from early in the novel.
Invisible Staff
It was Christie’s assertion that no one ever notices someone waiting upon them. In Sparkling CyanideSparkling Cyanide
Sparkling Cyanide is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1945 under the title of Remembered Death and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the December of the same year under Christie's original title...
the murderer dresses as a waiter in order to poison a glass of champagne, while in Death in the Clouds
Death in the Clouds
Death in the Clouds is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on March 10 1935 under the title of Death in the Air and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the July of the same year under Christie's original title. The US edition...
the murderer dresses as a steward aboard an aircraft to prick the victim with a poisoned thorn. Three Act Tragedy
Three Act Tragedy
Three Act Tragedy is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1934 under the title Murder in Three Acts and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1935 under Christie's original title...
also features a character disguising himself as a butler in order to silence a victim. Miss Marple has the same experience in Miss Marple Tells a Story, where a second chambermaid is able to enter a hotel suite in full view without being noticed.
This is a somewhat contentious trope on Christie’s part, but it was also used by G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
in at least two of his Father Brown
Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional character created by English novelist G. K. Chesterton, who stars in 52 short stories, later compiled in five books. Chesterton based the character on Father John O'Connor , a parish priest in Bradford who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922...
stories (The Invisible Man and The Queer Feet).
Supposedly Unreliable Character
In A Murder is AnnouncedA Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
the silly and forgetful Dora Bunner tells Inspector Craddock what one particular character was doing shortly before the murder took place. But because she is so unreliable, everybody believes she was mistaken until she started to believe the version of the murderer herself. In The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern...
, Mrs Boyle points out that one character cannot be who he pretends to be, but nobody pays attention since Mrs Boyle is presented as a rather unpleasant woman who complains about everyone. In Crooked House
Crooked House
Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 23 of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence .The action takes...
, Brenda Leonides tells the narrator pretty early in the book that she thinks the character, who later turns out to be the murderer, might not be quite right in the head, but nobody believes her since Brenda herself is the main suspect in the poisoning of her much older and rich husband. In Dead Man's Folly
Dead Man's Folly
Dead Man's Folly is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 5 of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.95 and the UK edition at twelve shillings and sixpence ....
one of the victims is an old man who found a dead body but his story was never believed.
Final Dénouement
Christie is famous for her climactic scenes in which the detective brings together all the surviving suspects and explains the solution to the mystery. Frequently the guilty party breaks down and makes a dramatic confession under pressure. The announcement is invariably long-winded, first discussing the clues and the detective's line of reasoning, before the solution is explained. This is an artificial device but works to increase suspense and create greater reader engagement with the problem.Secret Identities & Impersonation
Another contentious trope used repeatedly in Christie’s work is the concealment of identity. In Third GirlThird Girl
Third Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50.It features her Belgian...
, Taken at the Flood
Taken at the Flood
Taken at the Flood is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1948 under the title of There is a Tide... and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the November of the same year under Christie's original title...
, A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
, Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
and After the Funeral
After the Funeral
After the Funeral is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of Funerals are Fatal and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 18 of the same year under Christie's original title...
characters are able to pass themselves off as relatives who have been unseen for considerable periods. In Elephants Can Remember
Elephants Can Remember
Elephants Can Remember is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1972 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed for £1.60 and the US edition at $6.95.It features her Belgian...
, the identity of the murderer is switched with that of the victim at the victim's own request.
In Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on January 1, 1934 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of...
, nearly all of the suspects are somehow connected with the family of a little girl who was kidnapped and murdered. All conceal their true identity by either using phony names or pretending not to be associated with the family.
More incredibly, in Third Girl
Third Girl
Third Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50.It features her Belgian...
a young woman fails to notice that her stepmother is also living with her in disguise as a flatmate and, in Murder in Mesopotamia
Murder in Mesopotamia
Murder in Mesopotamia is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on July 6, 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The...
, a woman marries a man without realising that it is actually her former husband. In Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue.The UK edition retailed at seven shillings...
, a man well-known to all the major characters is able to disguise himself as another man equally well-known to the same characters without difficulty until given away by having differently shaped ears.
In a number of other cases, relatives are able to conceal themselves as strangers, as in A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
and Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
.
Impersonation may be for the specific reason of establishing a false motive (as in After the Funeral
After the Funeral
After the Funeral is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of Funerals are Fatal and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 18 of the same year under Christie's original title...
, where Cora Lansquenet makes a contentious remark about her brother's death, or the short story The Dream and novel Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue.The UK edition retailed at seven shillings...
, where in both a man impersonates a millionaire to make him appear suicidal), of establishing an alibi (as in Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year...
, and the short story Four and Twenty Blackbirds) or of establishing a false characteristic of the murderer (such as femininity instead of masculinity, as in Taken at the Flood
Taken at the Flood
Taken at the Flood is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1948 under the title of There is a Tide... and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the November of the same year under Christie's original title...
and Mrs. McGinty's Dead). A variation on this theme is where someone adopts a secondary identity in order to allow their real identity to disappear mysteriously by 'redirecting attention'. This trope is used in At the Bells and Motley from The Mysterious Mr Quin, and in modified form in Dead Man's Folly
Dead Man's Folly
Dead Man's Folly is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1956 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 5 of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.95 and the UK edition at twelve shillings and sixpence ....
. In Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on January 1, 1934 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of...
, identities are concealed so they will not seem to hold a grudge against the victim, which they all do have. One is even a celebrity in disguise.
Tampering with Time of Death
In several stories, the criminal plays with time, to make it look as though the crime took place when the criminal was elsewhere. In Evil Under the SunEvil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year...
the criminals fake a murder for a time when they both have alibis, then commit it later while the preliminary investigative bustle distracts attention. In Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
the murder is committed an hour before it appears to have taken place, at a time when the criminal is elsewhere in front of witnesses. In Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory Dock
"Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Hickety Dickety Dock" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6489.-Lyrics:The most common modern version is:Hickory, dickory, dock,The mouse ran up the clock....
, a criminal's accomplice makes a phone call that is ostensibly from the victim, at a time when the criminal is standing in front of Poirot. In the short story The Plymouth Express and the novel based upon it The Mystery of the Blue Train
The Mystery of the Blue Train
The Mystery of the Blue Train is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on March 29, 1928 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at...
the criminal disguises herself as the victim at a train station to create the impression that the victim was still alive when, in fact, she had been killed earlier. Playing with time invariably involves devices such as fake phone calls, gunshots, screams, disguises, people pretending to be dead, and other devices that take advantage of an observer's assumptions.
Murderer Plays Victim
In Peril at End HousePeril at End House
Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year...
, a young woman (Nick Buckley) appears to be the target for a number of murder attempts. In fact she has arranged these in order to mask her own murder (of a distant cousin, Maggie) as another botched murder attempt that has miscarried. The same device for masking a real murder was used in A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 12, 1962 and in US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September 1963 under the shorter title of The Mirror Crack'd and with a copyright date of 1962...
. Staged unsuccessful murder attempts appear in After the Funeral
After the Funeral
After the Funeral is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of Funerals are Fatal and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 18 of the same year under Christie's original title...
, Crooked House
Crooked House
Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 23 of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence .The action takes...
and Third Girl
Third Girl
Third Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50.It features her Belgian...
.
Viewpoint of the Murderer
In The Murder of Roger AckroydThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June 1926 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company on the 19th of the same month. It features Hercule Poirot as the lead detective...
, the murder has been committed by the narrator, Dr. Sheppard, who never lies but omits mention of any of the actions that would demonstrate his guilt. The same thing happened in Endless Night
Endless Night
Endless Night is a work of crime fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on October 30, 1967 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.95...
.
Killer Policemen
In Hercule Poirot's ChristmasHercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
, the murder has been committed by one of the investigating policemen, who also happens to be the illegitimate son of the victim. In the short story The Man in the Mist from Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime may refer to:In literature:* Partners in Crime , a 1985 novel by Rolando Hinojosa* Partners in Crime , a 1929 collection of mystery stories by Agatha ChristieIn music:...
, the investigating policeman, who is also the victim's husband of twenty years ago, commits the murder.
Feigned Hatred
In Death on the NileDeath on the Nile
Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The book...
the initial suspect, Jacqueline de Bellefort, has actually shot the victim’s husband, Simon Doyle, before the murder. The solution to the mystery reveals that they are working together, and shooting has been carefully staged. Similarly, the conspirator cousins in The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. It was written in 1916 and was first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on January 21, 1921. The U.S...
only pretend to hate one another. A husband and wife, despite appearances that their marriage is breaking down, team up to commit the murder in Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year...
. The same device underpins Endless Night
Endless Night
Endless Night is a work of crime fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on October 30, 1967 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.95...
.
This twist was well enough known for Christie to use it as a red herring
Red herring (plot device)
Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance...
in Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on December 19, 1938 . It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence ....
.
Unconnected Killings
While it is a common red herringRed herring (plot device)
Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance...
to include unrelated minor crimes like robberies in the stories, in Cat Among the Pigeons
Cat Among the Pigeons
Cat Among the Pigeons is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 2, 1959, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1960 with a copyright date of 1959...
two murders actually have no connection at all except for place and method. The second murderer just happened to mimic the first murder in execution.
False Corpses and Subsequent Murder
In Evil Under the SunEvil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year...
, the body of the victim is apparently discovered by two characters, one of whom goes to fetch the police. The murderer, however, has only “discovered” the body of his accomplice, and is left free to murder the real victim with a seemingly perfect alibi established. In Cards on the Table
Cards on the Table
Cards on the Table is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 2 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year...
, the murderer finds his victim sleeping, tells the maid she's dead then kills her during the resulting confusion.
Premeditation and Misleading Clues
In Murder on the LinksMurder on the Links
The Murder on the Links is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in May 1923 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in of the same year.It features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings...
, most of the confusing elements of the crime are discovered to have been part of an elaborate plan by the victim to stage his own death and disappear. It is when he is happened upon by the real murderer that the final elements are added to the puzzle.
Similarly, in The Mystery of the Spanish Chest the victim himself plans to hide in the chest and catch his wife with the man that he suspects of being her lover. The murderer kills him while he is in the chest, resulting in a more complex situation to be solved than might otherwise have arisen.
Double Bluff
In The HollowThe Hollow
The Hollow is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1946 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence...
, Poirot arrives at the scene of a murder in time to see a woman with a gun in her hand standing over the body of her husband, who is bleeding to death from a fresh bullet wound. It turns out at the end of the novel that she did in fact shoot him, but that this fact has subsequently been obfuscated by the other witnesses, all incriminating themselves to exonerate the woman for her perhaps justifiable act. Conversely, in Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory Dock (novel)
Hickory Dickory Dock is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on October 31, 1955 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in November of the same year under the title of Hickory Dickory Death...
, the murderer is incriminated by so many clues that it appears he is being framed, with a lack of obvious motive and a clever false alibi for one of the murders weighing in his favor until the end. In Lord Edgware Dies
Lord Edgware Dies
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence...
, the murderer announces how she would kill the victim, and when doing it announces herself at the door of the victim's house perfectly truthfully, but has arranged apparent alibis to make it seem that she was framed. In The Murder at the Vicarage
The Murder at the Vicarage
The Murder at the Vicarage is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in October 1930 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year...
, the murderers each confess separately, but are cleared and only much later proved to be in fact guilty. In Towards Zero
Towards Zero
Towards Zero is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in June 1944 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in July of the same year...
, the murderer fakes two sets of evidence that implicate himself in the murder of someone for which he has a blatant motive, only to plant a third set of evidence that frames someone else (and who in fact is the intended victim).
A variation on this is in Ordeal by Innocence
Ordeal by Innocence
Ordeal by Innocence is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 3 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.95...
, where the man found guilty for the crime, whose posthumously revealed alibi prompts a reopening of the case, turns out to have arranged the murder after all, though not committed it by his own hand.
Murderer Calls on Detective
In a number of stories, the criminal deliberately gets Poirot involved in the case. Of course it is only at the end that we discover this, and along the way it makes the real murderer less of a suspect to the reader. In Lord Edgware DiesLord Edgware Dies
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence...
, the murderer asks Poirot to help obtain a divorce, intending that this will help prove that she has no motive. In The A.B.C. Murders
The A.B.C. Murders
The A.B.C. Murders is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on January 6, 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on February 14 of the same year...
, the murderer sends letters to Poirot announcing the crimes beforehand, intending to frame an innocent person for the crime. A variation is Peril at End House
Peril at End House
Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year...
, in which the murderer did involve Poirot deliberately, but until the end the reader is led to think his involvement is accidental.
Falsification and Murder Prevention
In some stories, such as After the FuneralAfter the Funeral
After the Funeral is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of Funerals are Fatal and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 18 of the same year under Christie's original title...
and Murder In The Mews
Murder in the Mews
Murder in the Mews and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club on March 15, 1937...
, a suicide or accident proves to be exactly that, but someone suggests otherwise, or comes along later and rearranges the scene in order to incriminate someone else. In And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...
, the scheming murderer fakes his own being murdered, commits further murders, then commits suicide at the end so that it appears he was murdered much earlier and couldn't have committed any remaining murders.
In a few stories, such as The Labours of Hercules
The Labours of Hercules
The Labours of Hercules is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1947 and in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September of the same year...
, someone who is thinking about committing murder is prevented from going any further. Interestingly, in the short story The Wasp's Nest, a variation on this theme is that the murderer has a terminal illness and plans to commit suicide in order to frame an intended victim, but is prevented from doing so.