Agatha Christie is at her mind-bending best in this fiendish mystery of who killed a poor charwoman. Published in 1951, Mrs. McGinty’s Dead deals with post-WWII society in Britain where new identities are easy to fashion. Poirot’s investigation explores the troubled past of several families. Plenty of red herrings there. We’ll have to see how this book translates to the television screen tonight on MASTERPIECE MYSTERY. Christie is also playful about her work. She uses the character of mystery writer Mrs. Oliver to deliver her thoughts: “But you have no idea of the agony of having your characters taken and made to say things they never would have said, and do things that they never would have done.” (p. 94) I suppose those words capture my antipathy to books like Spade & Archer. Then, Christie has another character suggest to Mrs. Oliver to kill off her main character: “You might make a Swan Song book of it–to be published after your death.” (p. 148) Which is, after all, exactly what Christie did to Poirot in Curtain and Miss Marple in The Sleeping Murder to prevent them from being “taken over.” GRADE: A.
That one was certainly better than Cat Among the Pigeons, which nearly put me to sleep last week.
I read Cat Among the Pigeons before I watched the PBS version. There were several changes. But it is a later Christie, more of a spy novel than a Poirot mystery. In the book, Poirot shows up near the end of the book to wrap things up. Weak.
Only Miss Marple didn’t die at the end of SLEEPING MURDER.
I think you’re beating the Spade and Archer thing to death, George.
Okay, Rick, I’ll lay off SPADE & ARCHER.
That’s okay, you were expressing opinions and writing reviews when I was a stumbling beginner, barely aware of something called “mystery fandom” and writing my first reviews for Ann Williams’ CRIME RECORD. The only “real” mystery reviewer I knew of was Dick Lochte at the L.A. Times.
Stick to your guns, my friend. We all respect you for that.
With my obsessive/compulsive temperament, it’s good to have your Voice of Reason Rick to reel me in before I go off into the abyss.
One of her best novels–when she was in her prime. Sorry I missed it last night.
Patti, our PBS station rebroadcasts MASTERPIECE MYSTERIES a couple times during the week. MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD is also on DVD and might be on Hulu.com. The next four Sundays will feature Miss Marple so have Phil program your DVR now.
hey, he doesn’t know how to program anything. I am the techno wizard.
Well, Ms. Techno Wizard, program your DVR for MASTERPIECE MYSTERY for the next four Sundays so you don’t miss Miss Marple.