Thirteen at Dinner

First Published: 1933

Setting: London

Starring: Poirot, Hastings, Lady Edgware

Important Other People: Japp, Carlotta Adams

First of all: I will never understand why people in Agatha's fictional world constantly call Hercule Poirot in to look into some mystery, when they are the ones culpable in the end. Why do so many people think so little of him?? You think they would have learned by now. Sigh.

The plot of the book revolves around the personality of Lady Edgware, and how self-absorbed she is, to the point of total disregard of the rest of humanity. She is similar to Nick Buckley in that they both know what they want and they don't care who gets hurt so that they can get it.

This is the first of Agatha's books with what I call the "three death pattern." One person is murdered, for some specific motive, and then two other people are eventually killed, usually for safety reasons. Both the second and third murders in this book are purely for the murderer's safety, whereas the first murder is solely for gain. Many of Agatha's next books follow this three death pattern, and while it keeps the book moving and the plot full of twists, it becomes kind of a standard.

There are a lot of allusions to other books in this story. There is a mention of the one clue Poirot ever found, which happened in Murder on the Links. There is also the idea of a chance statement by a stranger leading to the discovery of the crime (The Boomerang Clue). We'll explore that in a few books.

Interesting facts: Dedicated to archaeologists who Agatha and her husband (Max Mallowan) were on a dig with at the time. There was some consternation over an expensive table she wanted to write the book on, and Dr. Thompson was not happy about it. He eventually gave way, which lead to Agatha dedicating the book to him. Also, according to her autobiography, a skeleton they dug up was named Lord Edgware. Oh, archaeological humor!

Favorite? Eh. I like the questions posed by Poirot, although it takes so long for them to get resolved!

Death by: Stabbing, veronal

Body Count: 3; Cumulative: 29

The Count: Poirot-7, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-5, Japp-4, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: People interested only in themselves lead dangerous lives. Every human being has the right to live. One will stand a good deal from a beautiful woman. Everyone has got to put up with something. The less said in life, the better. Each individual should develop his own powers to the utmost, not try to imitate those of someone else (even though Carlotta Adams was praised in the book for her imitation skills). It is a great misfortune for a man to have a wife who loves him. Sons never want to marry the girls their mothers want them to marry.

Up Next: Murder on the Orient Express

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- Day 7

First Published: 1926

Setting: King's Abbot, England

Starring: Hercule Poirot, Dr. James Sheppard

Important Other People: Caroline Sheppard, Inspector Raglan, Ralph Paton, various Ackroyds

First and foremost, this book totally changed the way detective stories are written and reinforced the idea that we should always suspect everybody. It is completely unnecessary for me to say that Agatha was ahead of her time and is an absolute genius, but then again, I just said that. And now we all know it's true.

Weakness of character is the major theme throughout the book. We see weakness as a motive for the actions of many people- the one who stole the money, the marriages and engagements that abound, and of course, the blackmail and murder that occur. Weakness tends to be the downfall of most of the people in King's Abbot, and it takes the genius of Poirot to unravel the various ways this trait shows in different individuals throughout this story. The one person whose weakness is never explicitly mentioned in Caroline's. Her particular weakness lies in her fierce loyalty and compassion for her brother. Because of this weakness where he is concerned, she is often blinded to some of his actions and decisions. Thus, she never confronts him about some of the curious points in the narrative that he glosses over or chooses not to focus on. He says at the end of the book that he feared her the entire time and that it is curious she did not guess what actually happened. In fact, it is not curious at all, once we recognize that she chose not to draw the (obscurely) obvious conclusions regarding James because she could not allow herself to attribute these actions to him. Thus, weakness once again becomes a character flaw for nearly everyone in the village. Her not jumping to conclusions where the murderer is concerned is completely uncharacteristic- meaning that it is done deliberately, albeit unconsciously. I also am confused when he says that she will never know what happened. The truth will have to come out at the end, won't it?

There is much talk about Caroline as the inspiration for Miss Marple. I would like to first share what Agatha has to say on that point: "I think it is possible that Miss Marple arose from the pleasure I had taken in portraying Dr. Sheppard's sister...she had been my favorite character in the book- an acidulated spinster, full of curiosity, knowing everything, hearing everything: the complete detective service in the home." She says it is possible. I believe that she only got that idea once people starting saying it, because really, they are extremely dissimilar. I've already talked about Caroline's weakness. That characteristic is not at all apparent in Miss Marple. She's much too elderly and badass. More realistically though, Caroline is known throughout the village as a gossip and someone who jumps to conclusions that are usually correct. Miss Marple is not a gossip- she is a seer. She knows everything, plain and simple, and doesn't need to jump to conclusions because she already knows the facts. Also, Caroline seems much more sprightly and dependent on others (what would she do without James in her life?), while Miss Marple is OLD and can take care of herself very well, thank you.

One last thing: it all depends on what is sufficient to break a man. The whole story is about relativity.

Interesting facts: Colonel Melrose is in this book as well. Superintendent Hayes makes a brief appearance. Japp is mentioned again!

Favorite? For sure. Of Agatha as well. She should be proud of herself, seeing as it completely rewrote the typical detective story.

Death by: Veronal (suicide x 2), Stabbing

Body Count: 3; Cumulative: 9

The Count: Poirot-3, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-2, Japp-1, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: All the troubles in the world can be put down to money- or the lack of it. Many crimes have been committed for the sake of less than 500 pounds- it all depends on what is sufficient to break a man. "Never worry about what you say to a man. They're so conceited they never believe you mean it if it's unflattering." And lastly, and most importantly... Everyone always has something to hide.

Up Next: The Big Four