You don't need to know much about the plot ahead of time. Basically a group of people are staying at a seaside home. A tennis player, his current wife, as well as his ex-wife are among the guests, and well, that makes things a bit awkward. Battle also has a secret professional life that is revealed in the denouement to The Seven Dials Mystery, but this is never referred to again. In this novel he states, that He said gently as he came towards her: ‘Last time I had my hands on you, you felt like a bird– struggling to escape. You’ll never escape now…’ Done again when Audrey becomes the new prime suspect, with loud protestations, unconvincing suggestions that this new lead is another frame-up, and so on. I like a good detective story,’ he said. ‘But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that– years before sometimes– with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at a certain time on a certain day.

Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie (revised edition, p. 208). Fontana Books: 1990; ISBN 0-00-637474-3 What makes a good detective story? Suspense? Atmosphere? An outrageous plot? Memorable characters? Twists?

Nevile Strange was coming down the stairs. He was dressed in white flannels and held four tennis racquets under his arm. Both versions of the text follow a similar narrative pattern. The events of both plays explore how the characters, through their various interactions move towards a ‘zero hour’ of murder. Both explore the idea that murder shouldn’t be the beginning of a story but the end. But did she need to do this? Surely, the fact that her Marple and Poirot act as the psychologists to aid the inspectors in her other books is proof enough that there is a partnership between the two?

None of the books I'm currently reading have been drawing me in during the past few days, making me watch movies and Buzzfeed Unsolved instead, so I felt like continuing my little project of re-reading a few of my favorite Christies. Amateur Sleuth: While his line of work is not specified, it is quite obvious that Angus MacWhirter is not an officer of the law. However, when he became involved in Lady Tressilian's murder via Audrey, he did some snooping around (without the police knowing) with some help by Mary Aldin by finding and securing the damp rope used by the murderer, and managed to deduce the truth of the murder while presenting it as an eyewitness account. Averted in the Radio 4 adaptation, which merges Superintendent Battle into his character and makes him a disgraced ex-detective with the Met. Loving a Shadow: Thomas Royde's affections for Audrey are mostly based on the image of the girl he once grew up with, and not the woman she is now. Audrey then asserts that he'd be better off with Mary Aldin as she prepares to go to South America with Angus, feeling she's a far better match for him. Red Right Hand: Mr. Treves mentions that he could recognize his "little murderer" because the child has a very distinctive physical trait. This is a rather unusual example of the trope, since it turns out that most of the guests possess an outstanding attribute: Audrey Strange has a scar on her ear, Thomas Royde has a disfigured hand, Ted Latimer's head is of strange shape, and Mary Aldin has a skunk streak. But only after The Reveal will most readers realize that yet another peculiar physical characteristic was explicitly mentioned in the book - namely, the difference between Nevile Strange's little fingers. Battle arrests Audrey on the evidence and her ready admission of guilt. However, Battle's daughter had previously confessed to a theft she did not commit due to overwhelming pressure, and so he suspects that Audrey is in a similar situation. MacWhirter meets Battle and tells him what he has learned about this case, including his observation of a man swimming across the creek on the night of the brutal murder, and climbing into the house on a rope. Then, Thomas reveals that Audrey had ended their marriage, not Nevile, as she had grown afraid of him. She was about to marry Adrian Royde, Thomas' brother, when Adrian was killed in a road accident. With the parties on a motor launch, Battle uses this information to force a confession from Nevile Strange. He was the mastermind behind all the events and circumstances that should have converged into "zero" – the hanging of his first wife for the murder of Lady Tressilian.This is probably one of the less known books of Christie, which is a shame, because it is a really good book. Which in my opinion would also make a fantastic film. The general structure of this story, of course, does not differ from Christie's typical pattern. A murder in a closed house that could only be committed by one of the small group of people who were there at the time. Each of these people had a motive, sometimes more than one. And basically everyone had the opportunity. Suspicion falls on everyone one after the other. And just as recently I was completely tired of this scheme in After the Funeral, here I truly enjoyed this classic scheme. Interrupted Suicide: Audrey Strange tried to commit suicide when she was about to be arrested and hanged for Lady Tressilian's murder. Angus MacWhirter caught her just in time.

Aggressive Categorism: A very mild example, and likely justified by the prevailing view of gender roles of the time, but when praising Mary Aldin of her intelligence, Lady Tressilian describes how she has the brains of a man. The Quiet One: Thomas Royde is said to be a man of few words, often responding to questions in monosyllables. The novel was adapted for French TV by Studio Canal as L'Heure zéro, first broadcast on 31 October 2007. Serial Killings, Specific Target: While the killer was apprehended before they could get the intended victim, Lady Tressilian's death was actually just a means to get Audrey Strange convicted and hanged for her murder. Nevile wanted to see her go through the emotional torment of being accused of the crime and dying of a painful execution as a "punishment" for wanting to divorce him.

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As per usual, Christie bamboozled me. My nose was pointed in exactly the wrong direction by some (now that I think more about it) rather obvious red herrings. I should know better by now than to be led astray, but 9 times out of 10 I am wrong! Everyone Must Be Paired: At the end of the book, everyone that wasn't guilty is happily paired off, in a way that neatly solves the All Love Is Unrequited issues above. Audrey goes to marry Angus, while Ted is free to pursue Kay after her husband is convincted as the murderer. It is implied that Thomas would eventually get over Audrey and get together with Mary instead. The novel was adapted as episode 3 of series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple television series, first aired 28 Jan 2007 in Canada and 3 Aug 2008 in the UK. Superintendent Battle is replaced with Miss Marple although most of the characters from the original are retained.

Chimunīzu-kan no himitsu is the title of a Japanese manga album published in 2006. The album contains manga adaptations in Japanese of The Secret of Chimneys, Sparkling Cyanide and Towards Zero. It was performed in 2019 at The Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich, England, using the play as written by Agatha Christie in 1945 and recently "unearthed by author Julius Green." [10] As the only prior staging using this script was in Martha's Vineyard, the theatre claims this as the first performance of this version of the 1945 stage play in Europe. While he is quite bitter about his failed suicide at first, Angus's life ends up turning for the better by an eccentric millionaire who admires his integrity, and find a new love. Lady Tressilian invites her ward for his annual visit at Gull's Point. He insists on bringing both his former wife and his present wife, though Lady Tressilian finds this awkward. Her old friend Treves dies, then she is murdered as well; Superintendent Battle and his nephew are called in. The book is the last to feature Superintendent Battle.It was an April day such as usually occurs at least once in a month, hotter than most of the June days to follow.