Murder is Easy
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| Murder is Easy | |
 Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition |
|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Not known |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
| Publication date | June 5, 1939 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Hercule Poirot's Christmas |
| Followed by | The Regatta Mystery |
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[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill[2]. It features her recurring detective, Superintendent Battle. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[3] and the US edition at $2.00[2].
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Luke Fitzwilliam ends up on the same train's carriage as Miss Pinkerton, a batty old woman who speaks of a series of perfect murders taking place in her hometown of Wychwood-under-Ashe. She says that although the police were baffled, she knew the murderer by a gaze, and sets off to Scotland Yard to identify the murderer. Luke learns the next day that Ms. Pinkerton was run down in a hit-and-run, and sets off to find the murderer himself. Unfortunately, his investigation may halt, because Lady Luck also has her say: A romance between Luke and Bridget Conway begins. What is going on in Wychwood-under-Ashe?
[edit] Literary significance and reception
The Times Literary Supplement of June 10, 1939 published a review of the book by Maurice Percy Ashley, together with And Death Came Too by Richard Hull which started , "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."[4]
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."[5]
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."[6]
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."[7]
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."[8]
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."[9]
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."[10]
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Adapted for television 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.
[edit] 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 Books, Paperback, 152 pp (Pocket number 319)
- 1951, Pan Books, Paperback, 250 pp (Pan number 161)
- 1957, Penguin Books, Paperback, 172 pp
- 1960, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 190 pp
- 1966, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 219 pp
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[11].
[edit] References
- ^ The Observer June 4, 1939 (Page 6)
- ^ a b American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ^ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 15)
- ^ The Times Literary Supplement June 10, 1939 (Page 343)
- ^ The New York Times Book Review September 24, 1939 (Page 20)
- ^ The Observer June 4, 1939 (Page 7)
- ^ The Guardian July 11, 1939 (Page 7)
- ^ Daily Mirror June 8, 1939 (Page 22)
- ^ Toronto Daily Star December 2, 1939 (Page 13)
- ^ Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie - Revised edition (Page 199). Fontana Books, 1990. ISBN 0006374743
- ^ Holdings at the British Library (Newspapers - Colindale). Shelfmark: NPL LON LD3 and NPL LON MLD3.
[edit] External links
- Murder is Easy at the official Agatha Christie website
- Murder is Easy (1982) at the Internet Movie Database
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