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| Image Credit: Amazon |
Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul are revealed by your actions.
- Agatha Christie
Movie in a Phrase: Classic Christie mystery with good plot twists
Introduction
Author - Agatha Christie
Country - United Kingdom
Language - English
Genre - Detective fiction, mystery
Publisher - UK: Faber and Faber
Publication date- UK: 1928
US: 1928
Collections - The Best Detective Stories of the Year 1928
Followed by Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage
Adaptations - This story has never been adapted.
A Tuesday Night Club is newly established by Miss Marple and her friends. Every Tuesday, the members get together and take turns narrating an actual mystery which the others then attempt to solve. Sir Henry Clithering begins the first discussion by recounting how three people got sick after being poisoned at dinner and one of them died.
Synopsis - Spoiler alert!
Tuesday Night Club conducts its first investigation. Three people got unwell after eating tinned lobster for dinner and canned trifle for dessert and Mrs. Jones is pronounced dead. Although botulism is suspected, the Tuesday Night Club seeks to go in there deeper. To find who was the culprit?
Background to the Publication History
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| Image Credit: Goodreads |
“Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend.”
-Agatha Christie
The tale first appeared in The Royal Magazine in the United Kingdom in 1927, and it was Miss Marple's first appearance in print. The title was altered to The Solving Six and was first published in Detective Story Magazine in June 1928, in the United States.
It was initially published in book form in Faber and Faber's Best Detective Stories of the Year collection in 1928 and later compiled in The Thirteen Problems (UK title- the short stories collection) in 1932. The Tuesday Club Murders was the title of the US version of this collection.
The Plot - Spoiler Alert!
Being of varied professions and life experiences, The Club wants to see which of them is the finest at uncovering the truth and solving the mystery. The story is concise, yet engaging. The other members of the group appear to dismiss Jane Marple since a spinster can't possibly perceive life and human nature, as well as people more exposed to the world, can, right? *Smile*
Now Sir Henry starts: the story is set in the late nineteenth century at the home of a well-to-do husband and wife, and Christie's own summary, given by the narrator at the beginning of the novel, is
“The facts are very simple. Three people sat down to a supper consisting,
amongst other things, tinned lobster. Later in the night, all three were taken
ill […] Two of the people recovered, the third one died.”
(Christie 1997: 7)
These three people are Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones – his wife, who died – and a Miss Clark. At this point, no further characters are mentioned. Following the funeral, Mr. Jones is accused of killing his wife for monetary gain, even though there is no visible evidence of his involvement; the symptoms of his wife's death seem to be caused by food poisoning.
He is accused of murder because, following his wife's funeral, an incomplete letter penned by Jones was discovered, which appears to incriminate him in his wife's death. The police, on the other hand, blame the lobster - it had gone bad, they concluded, and the woman died as a result of food poisoning.
Until Sir Henry respectfully points out the omission, the people in the room present their various opinions as to who the culprit is, but they omit to question Miss Marple.
The younger, more worldly class dismisses the aging spinster, but she skillfully identifies the murderer by spotting clues from her experience as an observer, watching regular people grapple with their passions.
Then Miss Marple shows her mystery-solving skills by telling that it was Mr. Jones who had combined arsenic with sweets to be sprinkled on top of the dessert and handed them to Gladys to use in the trifle. Sir Henry validates Miss Marple's assertion. Mr. Jones had gotten Gladys pregnant and used the promise of marriage after his wife's death to tempt her to murder.
Personal Verdict
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| Image Credit: Goodreads |
“Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody.”
-Agatha Christie
Miss Marple is my classic favorite. The unassuming way that she sits back there knitting and then destroys all the other characters' joy by mapping out whodunit without skipping a stitch is really charming!
It wasn't until later that I realized this one was Miss Marple's first appearance. Miss Marple's novels are so thoroughly and quintessentially British and upper-class, and I really like them. It somehow lessens the thrill of a murder mystery but yet blows your mind with utter classicity.
As Mr. Henry told us the story, we knew the husband had murdered his wife, but we didn't know HOW. Then it comes out, expertly crafted by Miss Marple. As usual, an excellent read. You're left guessing till the very end. In particular, as readers, we get to focus on Christie's treatment of character role assumptions to shield a guilty party from the reader's scrutiny.
There are numerous red herrings to be found, which is a must for Agatha Christie fans. In this way, one can see how Christie's puzzlelike storyline and plot-twists draws a reader's participation while she uses psychological tactics to distract reader attention and urge them to choose the wrong 'route' to the story's climax.
The Bottom Line
Christie's soul is in her works, communicating to us via her characters just as simply and forthrightly as she would speak to a friend if she walked into her drawing-room.
It also has a sporting component and is far less expensive than horse racing or card games, so it's no way your loss, give it a read and you’ll be a forever fan of Christie.
My ratings for the Story - 5 on 5
Written By - Prakriti Chaudhary
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