Questions tagged [agatha-christie]
Questions about the works of crime writer Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976) or her life as a writer. Her works include 'And Then There Were None', 'Murder on the Orient Express' and many stories about the detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
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What happened to the gills of picked shrimps?
Agatha Christie's detective Jane Marple made her first appearance in a sequence of six short stories published in The Royal Magazine between 1927 and 1928. The stories' success led Christie to write a ...
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Did Poirot fabricate a fingerprint in "The ABC Murders"?
"I just can't believe it," said Meagan Barnard. "Could it be true?"
"It does explain why our murderer had two personalities," I said. "It's great that you got Clarke'...
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Definition of "Victorian vandal"
I'm reading Agatha Christie's book "Dumb witness", in which there is a passage after Poirot and Hastings have their lunch and head to the church.
Though an attractive specimen of what the ...
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In "The Murder on the Links" by Agatha Christie, did the killer know they were not gaining anything from their victim's death?
Two weeks before the murder Mr. Renauld changes his will in which his son does not get any money. However, the culprit kills Mr. Renauld even though in order to actually get this money they would also ...
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What does "Ideal boiler" mean in Christie's After the Funeral?
In the book After the funeral by Agatha Christie, there is a passage when the Dr informs Susan of poison to Miss Gilchrist.
During their search for the wedding cake, the Dr asks Susan where the ...
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Meaning of "get it taken out of them" in "After the Funeral"
In the novel After the Funeral by Agatha Christie, the lawyer Mr Entwhistle visits Susan after her Aunt Cora's death.
“Miss Gilchrist is quite a sensible woman, I should say. Besides,” added the ...
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In Agatha Christie's, 'One, Two, Buckle My Shoe', how did the killer know Mr. Amberiotis was going to the dentist at that time?
The story is very clever. But, I've always wondered how the killer was able to plan the murder centered around the dentist. How did the killer know Amberiotis was going to that dentist on that day and ...
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What is the meaning of "The first rocket flamed to Heaven"?
From Agatha Christie's 'Peril at End House', Chapter 7 (emphasis mine):
Presently we all moved out into the garden to a place overlooking the sea and the harbour. A few chairs had been placed there ...
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Why are so many Agatha Christie novels published with multiple titles?
For example: And Then There Were None was first called Ten Little Indians;
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side was later shortened to The Mirror Crack'd;
Death in the Air is also known as Death in ...
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What does "One fancied things sometimes—fancied a fellow was looking at you queerly" mean from And Then There Were None?
From And Then There Were None:
Well, he’d enjoy a chat about old times. He’d had a fancy lately that fellows were rather fighting shy of him. All owing to that damned rumour! By God, it was pretty ...
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Which mystery writer said they picked the murderer only after writing the book?
A discussion of murder mysteries on Twitter included this claim:
Agatha Christie is on record as saying that she didn’t decide who the murderer was until she was ready to write the last chapter—then ...
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In Agatha Christie's "Third Girl" how exactly does this murder work?
Norma Restarick goes to Poirot saying that she believes she has committed a murder, and has gaps in her memory where she can't remember what she was doing. We later find out that this is because she's ...
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Lily of the valley used for murder (Agatha Christie)
I am looking for a novel by Agatha Christie in which she describes a murder with the water of Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley). Does anyone know the title?
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In Peril At End House by Agatha Chistie, who shot the bullet that Hercule Poirot finds near the table in the hotel garden?
While Hercule Poirot, Nick and Captain Hastings are sitting at a table outside the hotel, supposedly a bullet passes through Nick's hat and ends up on the ground near the table, which Hercule finds. ...
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What is a "dream bomb" in Agatha Christie's "Third Girl"?
In Third Girl (1966) by Agatha Christie, the character Dr Stillingfleet describes the condition of his patient:
“She’s down at Kenway Court. Came like a lamb. Can’t tell you much yet. The girl’s full ...
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Some questions about Agatha Christie's Peril at End House
Please do not look at the following if you haven't read Peril at End House, in case of spoilers!
After reading this book, I had the following questions. I would feel very grateful if anyone can share ...
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What does "her face was innocent of makeup" mean?
I am reading Agatha Christie's Peril at End House. Can anyone help me understand what "her face was innocent of make" means in the following paragraph?
It was, I think, her appearance of ...
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What inspired the title of "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"?
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a novel by Agatha Christie. In the story, a dying man's last words "Why didn't they ask Evans?" inspires an amateur detective investigation, in which ultimately
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Agatha Christie: some questions about The Hollow
Please don't look at this post if you haven't read Agatha Christie's The Hollow, in case of spoilers!!!
After reading The Hollow, there are still a few points I do not quite understand. I would feel ...
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In the "Murder On The Links" by Agatha Christie, how is the murderer able to dig the grave?
I just finished the book "The Murder on the Links" by Agatha Christie. In the end it is revealed that
was the murderer. But there is no explanation on how she did it. Poirot deduces that she ...
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Who is ‘the man in the barrel’ in ‘Three Act Tragedy’?
In Agatha Christie’s mystery novel Three Act Tragedy, the actress Angela Sutcliffe is being interviewed about the death of Stephen Babbington, vicar of St. Petroch’s church, Loomouth:
“Dear old man, ...
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Why did he die in "Philomel Cottage"?
"Philomel Cottage" is a short story by Agatha Christie which was recently identified as the answer to a story-ID question on our site. After seeing it there, I read the story in full - it's only 10 ...
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What does "ongtray" mean?
In "The Bird with a Broken Wing," part of Agatha Christie's story collection, The Mysterious Mr Quin, Inspector Winkfield tells Mr Satterthwaite:
Must find out what terms they were on. That’s ...
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How much did Lombard know about the murders in "And Then There Where None"?
When only Lombard and Vera are left alive, they have this dialogue that makes it seem like Lombard was the murderer. And while you could claim that it was a mutual misunderstanding (both of them ...
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What does Agatha Christie mean with "in a telegraphic style"?
Bold part of this passage from The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Miss Howard shook hands with a hearty, almost painful, grip. I had an
impression of very blue eyes in a sunburnt face. She was a
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Identifying a story described within an Agatha Christie book
About 3/4 of the way through Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' (pub c.1940), is this paragraph, describing a book, or maybe a story in some other kind of format:
She broke off, went on: "...
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Is Hercule Poirot religious?
I recently saw an episode of the Hercule Poirot series where he was portrayed as religious.
I have recently read the book the episode was based on and there is nothing about religion in the book.
In ...
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Which Agatha Christie book was this adaption with an Irish woman committing suicide based on?
When I was a young boy I viewed one filmed book from Agatha Christie on television with David Suchet. Now I would love to read that book but I forgot its name. I remember only few facts.
I remember ...
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How much of Ariadne Oliver's character is self-insertion by Agatha Christie?
The recurring character Ariadne Oliver (present in a number of Agatha Christie's novels) seems to be at least partially self-insertion by Christie. At the very least, both write mystery fiction ...
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What were the three clues mentioned at the end of Agatha Christie's And There Were None?
In the end of the book it is said that the culprit believes, even though the crimes committed were perfect and the police will be unable to solve it, there are three clues left that can help identify ...
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What was the alternate ending of Agatha Christie's 'Death comes as the end'?
I completed reading Agatha Christie's 'Death comes as the end' and while going through the wiki page of the novel I read that Author had changed the ending by suggestion of a friend and she later ...
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Is this quote by Mr Eastwood a pointed remark by Agatha Christie?
In Agatha Christie's book The Listerdale Mystery, in the story Mr Eastwood's adventure, there is the following paragraph:
He knew only too well that the kind of story that the editor in question ...
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Why was Cowen easily seen to have been Cohen?
In Agatha Christie's book The Listerdale Mystery, in the story Swan Song, there is the following qoute:
It required no imagination to realise that his father's name had been Cohen.
This comes ...
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Why was the ending of "And Then There Were None" changed for the stage version?
Agatha Christie's famous crime story And Then There Were None was written both as a book and later as a play by Christie herself. However, when adapting her own story for the stage, she made a ...
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What is the meaning of this paragraph from Philip Lombard's introduction in "And Then There Were None"?
I was reading this paragraph in Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None, from Chapter One and the character introduction of Philip Lombard:
By Jove, he'd sailed pretty near the wind ...
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Why is the Agatha Christie play called "The Mousetrap"?
The Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap has not only the longest initial run of any play in history (it's been running continuously for nearly 65 years, mostly in the very same building in London), but ...
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Is there any merit to reading the Poirot novels in order?
Curtain is Poirot's last case and for fear of spoilers I have not looked up whether it is his last case because he dies.
I intend to read it only after I have read all the other novels featuring him.
...
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In which book did Poirot find a four-foot long clue?
In one of the Poirot books he mentions that though clues are often small he once found a four-foot long one.
Unfortunately I can't remember in which book he mentions this.
Does anyone know which ...
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How old was Hercule Poirot?
The New York Times record Hercule Poirot's age as "unknown" in their obituary:
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was ...
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To what extent did Agatha Christie base Captain Hastings on Dr. Watson?
I've noticed that there are quite a few parallels between Agatha Christie's Captain Arthur Hastings and Arthur Conan Doyle's Dr. John Watson:
Both served in the British military (Hasting in World War ...
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Was Mrs Croft really an invalid?
In Agatha Christie's detective story Peril at End House, was Mrs Croft really an invalid? Or did she just pretend to be one?
We find out in the ending of the novel that Mrs Croft was a criminal. ...
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