All of Agatha: Ordeal by Innocence (1958)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

This series of entries is commentary on my lifelong quest to read all of Agatha Christie's works in UK publication order.

Ordeal by Innocence (1958) is, overall, not one of Christie's best. BUT I do like the plot device of Arthur Calgary. He is a man who picks up a hitchhiker on a certain night, then gets into an accident, has a concussion, forgets about the hitchhiker, then goes on a South Pole expedition, and comes back 2 years later to discover the hitchhiker has died in prison after being found guilty of murder and that Calgary could have given the young man an alibi if he had been around (or aware).

It's very, very contrived, but still interesting and compelling (to me).

The rest of the story is rubbish.

There are five adoptive siblings, and the murdered woman is their adoptive mother. There's a husband and devoted secretary and Christie pulls out that old hobby horse of people being miserable because they suspect the person they love of being a murderer instead of the ASKING THEM. [Communication! Damn it!]

Christie has a lot of rot to say about motherhood. 'Real' motherhood. Adoption. Blood winning out. Etcetera. Yuk. And there's a lot of racism because the one mixed race sibling is ALWAYS compared to an animal. And there's women 'of a certain age' being hysterical morons. And invalid husbands being 100% assholes. And wives who baby their husbands (did those ever exist?)

Next up: Cat Among the Pigeons Poirot! I am going to save this for December. It's set in a girls' school. [I went to a women's college for undergraduate, so been there, done that [without a murder or Poirot, sadly], got the T-shirt, I actually did own a shirt one time from my college which read 'Not a Girls' School without Men but a Women's College without Boys.']

Comments

[debriswoman]

Cheering you on re Agatha Christie…and I like the t shirt :-)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! I am not too far from the end. Maybe next year? I am not in a hurry.

Thank you!!

[smallhobbit]

Yes, probably not one of Christie's best. The family set up is so contrived, although, as you say, bringing in Arthur Calgary is a good way to stir things up.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

He really is the best part of the book. I think that device could've been stellar with a better main plot to go with it.

[kitarella_imagines]

That's a great quest! Good luck!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thanks!

[fred_mouse]

I have not got to that one on my quest to read all the Christie, although I'm not attempting to do it in order.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Not her best, but the opening twist is intriguing (to me).

[autumnia]

Didn't they make a miniseries of this book recently? I remember seeing it on tv somewhere, though they did change things a bit but kept to the overall plot and character arcs of the book. I never read the story itself but thought the adaptation was decent though not really one of my favorites. I found many of the characters not to be too likeable so that didn't help at all.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I don't know. I am not very up on the latest adaptations. Probably. I don't think it's one that would weather modernizing well, but what do I know? Yeah, they aren't likable in the book, either.