All of Agatha: Lord Edgeware Dies

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

This month, I only tackled one Agatha Christie novel, Lord Edgeware Dies. The interesting thing about reading Agatha in order is that you can see the evolution of ideas. In this, we get the idea of an actress and another actress who looks like her being involved in a crime (alibis, was the one you saw the real one or the imitator) which was seen in "The Affair of the Bungalow" short story earlier. Also, interesting that Edgeware is a sadist and therefore a Bad Dude, so, you know, sort of got what was coming to him (from the book's perspective, not mine). I watched the 1985 film adaptation (called 13 at Dinner) I like Peter Ustinov as Poirot and Faye Dunaway (she steals the show, in my opinion) and was surprised that David Suchet was Japp.

The book was okay. I can't say it's my favourite or really stands out. Hastings is there, which can be a plus in some moods and a minus in other.

The next book in order is a collection of short stories called The Hound of Death in 1933 when it was published. I have found ALL of the stories EXCEPT "Witness for the Prosecution" in a modern collection called The Last Seance and Other Stories so that's on deck for November.

Comments

[smallhobbit]

I like Lord Edgware Dies for the alibis - although it's one I remember very clearly, so I do know what's going to happen now. And yes, I agree about The Affair of the Bungalow.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ah, yes, interesting. Yes, I find the parallels very neat.

[regshoe]

Hee, funny to see an actor playing different characters in different adaptations of the same stories! Reminds me of Jenny Agutter in 'The Railway Children'.

That development of ideas over time is a really interesting thing about doing a read-through. D. K. Broster also has lots of things appearing for the first time in short stories that show up later in novels—lots of interesting literary history and glimpses into the writing process...

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ha, ha! Yes.

Yes, you can almost 'see what she's doing' sort of. Oh, she's trying it on this way or stretching it that way or making it more complicated like this, but the kernel of the idea was in an earlier work.