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A review by thaurisil
Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie
3.0
While I read through Agatha Christie's novels with the Appointments with Agatha group, I'm putting a templated synopsis of each novel in my review. It has spoilers!
Book: 16 of Christie's novels, 11 of Hercule Poirot novels
Setting: England
Detective and Companions: Hercule Poirot, Mr Satterthwaite, Sir Charles Cartwright, "Egg" Hermione Lytton Gore
Crime: Reverend Stephen Babbington suddenly dies in a dinner party hosted by Sir Charles Cartwright. Later, Sir Charles' friend Sir Bartholomew Strange dies in a similar way in a dinner party he hosts and is found to have been poisoned by nicotine.
Suspects:
- Mr Satterthwaite, a lover of arts and an observer
- Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous actor
- Egg Lytton Gore, a young lady in love with Sir Charles
- John Ellis, Reverend Strange's new butler who mysteriously disappears
- Miss Milray, Sir Charles' efficient secretary
Guests at both dinner parties
- Captain Dacres, a gambler and alcoholic
- Cynthia Dacres, Captain Dacres' wife and a successful dressmaker
- Angela Sutcliffe, a famous actress
- Muriel Wills, a playwright with a nondescript character
- Lady Mary Lytton Gore, Egg's mother in financial hardship
- Oliver Manders, a young man with an inferiority complex in love with Egg
Twists and Turns:
- Poirot only takes a dominant role late in the book. Before that, Sir Charles is the dominant amateur detective, and it is unexpected that he would be the murderer. It is even more surprising because the focus is on the characters who were guests at both dinner parties, and Sir Charles was only known to be present at the first party.
- There is no nicotine found in either Babbington's or Sir Bartholomew's glasses. Poirot shows the glass could have been exchanged for a new one during the psychological moment when the guests' attention were focused on the dead man.
- John Ellis, the mysterious butler who disappears, is thought to either be the killer or an innocent man who knew too much and was either paid off to disappear or killed himself. It turns out that John Ellis was merely Sir Charles acting as a butler, and that Sir Bartholomew was in on the joke, treating it as a joke on his guests.
- Many of the dinner guests have reasons for disliking Sir Bartholomew, giving them motives for killing Sir Bartholomew.
- Poirot says he has solved the mystery except for the motive of why Reverend Babbington was killed. Indeed, there was no chance for the poison to have been slipped into only the glass that Babbington took. It turns out that Sir Charles did not mind who he killed, as he was treating it as a dress rehearsal for Sir Bartholomew's murder.
- Towards the end, Mrs de Rushbridger, a patient in Sir Bartholomew's sanatorium, dies. Sir Charles uses this merely as a red herring that ultimately fails.
In the Mysterious Harley Quin, Mr Satterthwaite is a connoisseur of arts and an observer of life whose observational storytelling voice conveys a sense of wonder and awe about Mr Quin. I was surprised to see him in a Poirot novel, and he brings the same personality and tone to his observations of Poirot and Sir Charles. Just like Poirot, he is sympathetic and sensitive and understands the people around him, but unlike Poirot, he has no arrogance. His personality is distinct as a man with his own original thoughts and interests, but who prefers to let others shine while he observes their actions. I enjoyed reading this book and seeing the world from his perspective.
Interestingly, Oliver Manders crashes his car into Sir Bartholomew's wall and thereby gains entry into his house, which is reminiscent of Why Didn't They Ask Evans, in which Frankie crashes her car into a wall to gain entry in the house. Unlike Frankie, who deliberately did it to enter the house, Oliver does it because he received a telegram telling him to. Agatha Christie uses the same plot device in both stories, but if we were to extrapolate Frankie's actions to Oliver's, we might be fooled into thinking Oliver is the killer. It's like Christie is playing with her readers. If her readers think they know what secrets she is hiding, she proves them wrong.
Book: 16 of Christie's novels, 11 of Hercule Poirot novels
Setting: England
Detective and Companions: Hercule Poirot, Mr Satterthwaite, Sir Charles Cartwright, "Egg" Hermione Lytton Gore
Crime: Reverend Stephen Babbington suddenly dies in a dinner party hosted by Sir Charles Cartwright. Later, Sir Charles' friend Sir Bartholomew Strange dies in a similar way in a dinner party he hosts and is found to have been poisoned by nicotine.
Suspects:
- Mr Satterthwaite, a lover of arts and an observer
- Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous actor
- Egg Lytton Gore, a young lady in love with Sir Charles
- John Ellis, Reverend Strange's new butler who mysteriously disappears
- Miss Milray, Sir Charles' efficient secretary
Guests at both dinner parties
- Captain Dacres, a gambler and alcoholic
- Cynthia Dacres, Captain Dacres' wife and a successful dressmaker
- Angela Sutcliffe, a famous actress
- Muriel Wills, a playwright with a nondescript character
- Lady Mary Lytton Gore, Egg's mother in financial hardship
- Oliver Manders, a young man with an inferiority complex in love with Egg
Twists and Turns:
- Poirot only takes a dominant role late in the book. Before that, Sir Charles is the dominant amateur detective, and it is unexpected that he would be the murderer. It is even more surprising because the focus is on the characters who were guests at both dinner parties, and Sir Charles was only known to be present at the first party.
- There is no nicotine found in either Babbington's or Sir Bartholomew's glasses. Poirot shows the glass could have been exchanged for a new one during the psychological moment when the guests' attention were focused on the dead man.
- John Ellis, the mysterious butler who disappears, is thought to either be the killer or an innocent man who knew too much and was either paid off to disappear or killed himself. It turns out that John Ellis was merely Sir Charles acting as a butler, and that Sir Bartholomew was in on the joke, treating it as a joke on his guests.
- Many of the dinner guests have reasons for disliking Sir Bartholomew, giving them motives for killing Sir Bartholomew.
- Poirot says he has solved the mystery except for the motive of why Reverend Babbington was killed. Indeed, there was no chance for the poison to have been slipped into only the glass that Babbington took. It turns out that Sir Charles did not mind who he killed, as he was treating it as a dress rehearsal for Sir Bartholomew's murder.
- Towards the end, Mrs de Rushbridger, a patient in Sir Bartholomew's sanatorium, dies. Sir Charles uses this merely as a red herring that ultimately fails.
In the Mysterious Harley Quin, Mr Satterthwaite is a connoisseur of arts and an observer of life whose observational storytelling voice conveys a sense of wonder and awe about Mr Quin. I was surprised to see him in a Poirot novel, and he brings the same personality and tone to his observations of Poirot and Sir Charles. Just like Poirot, he is sympathetic and sensitive and understands the people around him, but unlike Poirot, he has no arrogance. His personality is distinct as a man with his own original thoughts and interests, but who prefers to let others shine while he observes their actions. I enjoyed reading this book and seeing the world from his perspective.
Interestingly, Oliver Manders crashes his car into Sir Bartholomew's wall and thereby gains entry into his house, which is reminiscent of Why Didn't They Ask Evans, in which Frankie crashes her car into a wall to gain entry in the house. Unlike Frankie, who deliberately did it to enter the house, Oliver does it because he received a telegram telling him to. Agatha Christie uses the same plot device in both stories, but if we were to extrapolate Frankie's actions to Oliver's, we might be fooled into thinking Oliver is the killer. It's like Christie is playing with her readers. If her readers think they know what secrets she is hiding, she proves them wrong.