Three Act Tragedy

First Published: 1935

Setting: Yorkshire, Cornwall

Starring: Hercule Poirot, Mr. Satterthwaite, Sir Charles Cartwright, Egg Lytton Gore

Important Other People: The Dacres', Oliver Manders, Bartholomew Strange, Miss Temple

The idea that events come to people, not people to events, seems to be Christie's way of explaining Poirot's propensity for murder. Aside from getting called into cases or idiotically asked for help by the murderer, Poirot does seem to stumble upon murder extremely often. I would say that people go to events, as well as events go to people. I mean, Poirot does a lot of traveling, and there seem to be a lot of murders where he goes. He usually gets called into the case if he is in a place where there is a murder. I guess a specialist on murder has to go where a murder could occur- a specialist on some sort of rare animal would have to go to where that animal lives...sort of similar?

A theme that continually pops up throughout Agatha's novels is that of the boasting criminal. The characters talk about how boasting is a sign of an inferiority complex, which relates to murderers- cocky and conceited to cover a deep-seeded belief of unworthiness. I would say that the murderer in this novel is one of the most boastful she writes about, and if we went by that adage, we would know from the beginning who was responsible. Unfortunately, there is still the problem of the motive, which leads to the discussion of motives in this novel. They talk about gain, revenge, fear, and homicidal mania. I would agree with Poirot that the motive in this case is a bit obscure, and not really likely to be used very often.

Interesting facts: One of the few novels where Poirot's life was in danger (due to the carelessness of the murderer). Mentioned in other novels, and other stories are mentioned in this one.

Favorite? Not really. Too much of the plot is uninteresting to me.

Death by: Nicotine poisoning

Body Count: 3; Cumulative: 35

The Count: Poirot-9, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-5, Japp-4, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: Events come to people, not people to events. A man hates being run after. Beware of the day when your dreams come true. Everything comes right in the end. Girls are attracted to bad men; they think their love will change him. Not everyone knows the difference between right and wrong. The language might be different but human nature is the same everywhere. Women keep up appearances better than men. Men are dull when they settle down. Women aren't usually cruel to men, only to other women. Bitterness leads nowhere.

Up Next: Death in the Air