Starring: Luke Fitzwilliam, Superintendent Battle, Bridget Conway
Important Other People: Lord Easterfield, Mr. Ellsworthy, Lavinia Fullerton, Amy Gibbs, Major Horton, Honoria Waynflete
In Easy to Kill, we are introduced to Luke Fitzwilliam, a police officer just returned from some far corner of the British empire. Luke is similar to characters such as Lucy Eyelsbarrow, Emily Trefusis, and Arthur Calgary in that he's awesome, but we never see him again. He and Bridget Conway are young still, and they talk to each other in much the same way that Tommy and Tuppence did when they were starting out- easily and casually.
Lord Easterfield is a pompous Napoleon-type who is so self-involved that he does not notice what is going on right in front of him. What's happening is...murder. One of the scariest parts of this book is the cover of the copy I have. I actually have two copies of the same version, and they both scare me. I also think this murderer is one of the few of Agatha's culprits who is genuinely insane, and should be regarded as a homicidal maniac, and is also very scary. There are a lot of deaths in this book, and it's scary to think of this happening in a village- so many people are killed, it's a wonder that the village is still thriving.
Marriage is presented in a number of ways: Marriage as safety for women who don't have a lot of options. Marriage as discipline for wayward souls. Marriage as a convenient arrangement. Bridget takes a cynical, modern view of marriage when she recognizes that she doesn't have a lot of potential to live easily for the rest of her life, and so agrees to marry Lord Easterfield so that she can have that safety and financial protection. Luke totally calls her out on it, claiming that marriage should be about love- what an outdated concept!
Interesting facts: First novel with arsenic poisoning! Even though arsenic is the typical poison that people think of, this is the first time that Agatha used it. Also, I think this is the only case in one of Agatha's novels where someone dies because the murderer induces septicemia in them.
Favorite? Kind of. Too scary, but I do like the ending.
Death by: Arsenic, pushed off a cliff and drowned, pushed off a building, poisoning (oxalic acid, aka hat paint), the introduction of septicemia, run over, cosh. (I'm including everyone who was killed by the murderer, even though some of it takes place before the novel begins, because it is all important to the plot)
Body Count: 7; Cumulative: 63
The Count: Poirot-17, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-7, Japp-6, Colonel Race-3, Superintendent Battle-4, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2, Mrs. Oliver-1
Agatha's Life Lessons: It's very easy to kill, so long as no one suspects you. It's a great thing to know what you want. No one human being knows the full truth about another human being- not even one's nearest and dearest. Heroines are never killed. Marriage is a form of discipline. One mustn't quarrel with one's bread and butter. Aunts illustrate the triumph of guesswork over logic. Men are more easily deceived than women. If a woman is not happy, she is capable of terrible things. Liking is more important than loving- it lasts.
Up Next: And Then There Were None
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