The (Agatha Christie) Plot Thickens 2 Quiz

Answer: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The novel, "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", was first published in 1926. Shortly after publication, it was adapted by Michael Morton and made into a stage play, which opened in London in 1928.

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie made the following comments on the modification of her novel: "I much disliked his (Michael Morton's) first suggestion, which was to take about twenty years off Poirot's age, call him Beau Poirot, and have lots of girls fall in love with him" and "I resented the removal of Caroline a good deal: I liked the part she played in village life and I liked the idea of village life reflected through the life of the doctor and his masterful sister...".

It is interesting that the character of Miss Jane Marple was born from a Poirot novel, as the character of Caroline, Dr Sheppard's spinster sister, was the inspiration for Miss Marple.

Answer: Endless Night

The novel, "Endless Night", was published in 1967. In 1979, Agatha Christie recycled the basic plot in her short story, "The Case of the Caretaker", which appeared in a collection entitled "Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories".

In 1972, "Endless Night" was made into a film starring Hayley Mills as Ellie, Hywel Bennett as Michael and Britt Ekland as Greta. According to IMDb, Agatha Christie was allegedly unhappy about the inclusion of a sex scene with nudity (by Britt Ekland) in the film adaptation. In 2013, the novel was adapted for television, starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. Miss Marple was not a character in the original novel, although she was in the short story, "The Case of the Caretaker".

Answer: Death on the Nile

The novel, "Death on the Nile" was published in 1937. It was partly inspired by a trip up the River Nile that Agatha Christie made in 1933 with her daughter, Rosalind, and husband, Max. Previously, she had written "Parker Pyne Investigates", a collection of short stories published in 1934, which included a story called "Death on the Nile".

The subsequent novel, however, was not an expansion of the short story. Despite having the same title, the two plots were quite different. The novel featured Hercule Poirot and the short story featured Parker Pyne.

Answer: And Then There Were None

Although ten people were found dead on the island, ostensibly murdered, in reality eight were murdered and two committed suicide. There was also an eleventh murder which occurred in London. The murderer hired a disreputable lawyer to do the dirty work of purchasing the island, luring the victims to it, and making all the necessary arrangements.

After those arrangements were made, the lawyer was the first to be killed. Agatha Christie acknowledged this as the most challenging book she had ever written.

It was published in 1939.

Answer: The ABC Murders

In "The ABC Murders" (1936), a series of murders occurs, based on the alphabet. The first victim is Alice Ascher from Andover, the second Betty Barnard from Bexhill, and the third Sir Carmichael Clarke from Churston. The fourth murder occurs in Doncaster but deviates from the pattern as the victim is George Earlsfield and not someone whose name begins with a D.

As the police believe the murders to be the work of a homicidal lunatic, they focus on means and opportunity, and do not pay a great deal of attention to motive. Once Poirot considers who benefits from each crime, he is on his way to solving the case.

Answer: Evil Under the Sun

Arlena Stuart had no time or inclination for friendships with women and other women disliked her, describing her as a vamp, a gold‐digger, a parasite and a man‐eater. The police focus on the male suspects, particularly the husband and the lover, because Arlena had been strangled.

The Police Surgeon, Dr Neasdon, suggested that she was strangled by a man with big hands and a powerful grip. Poirot, however, recognised the crime is being very "slick" and realised that the murder had to be the work of more than one person.

Answer: Nemesis

Although he does not give her any information regarding the crime which she is to investigate, Jason Rafiel sets Miss Marple on track when he organises for her to take a bus tour of famous houses and gardens of Great Britain along with a visit to some friends of his, the Bradbury-Scott sisters, who live along the tour route.

He also organised for some other key characters to be on the same bus tour, as well as some protection for Miss Marple, should her quest put her in danger.

Answer: 4.50 from Paddington

Miss Marple deduces that the body must have been pushed out of the train and it is most likely somewhere on the Crackenthorpe estate. She hires Lucy Eylesbarrow to infiltrate the household and find it. Lucy does locate the body in a barn on the estate and, while the police attempt to identify the dead woman, two members of the Crackenthorpe family are also killed.

Answer: Lord Edgware Dies

In this novel, Lord Edgware is the first to die, stabbed at the base of the skull. Within hours, Carlotta Adams is dead from an overdose of Veronal - was it an accident, suicide or murder? The third person to die was Donald Ross, a witness at the dinner party. Like Lord Edgware, Ross was stabbed at the base of the skull with a knife. Ross had previously commented to Poirot that he was the first to leave the table, referring to an old superstition that the first person to arise from a table of 13 will have bad luck or die within a year.

This relates to the novel's American title, "Thirteen at Dinner".

Answer: Cat Among the Pigeons

Hercule Poirot makes a rather late entrance into this novel when school-girl, Julia Upjohn, consults him. Julia is a very intelligent girl who realises the missing jewels are hidden in the handle of her tennis raquet, which had previously belonged to her best friend, Jennifer Sutcliffe. Julia knows of Hercule Poirot's reputation from her Aunt Maureen Summerhayes (a character from the novel "Mrs McGinty's Dead").

After hearing Julia's summation of events, Poirot realises that this case "has many threads".

He eventually unravels the relationships between Princess Shaista's phony kidnapping and the murders of three school teachers, and ascertains that there are, in fact, two very different killers involved.