Three Act Tragedy

Infobox Book
name = Three Act Tragedy


image_caption = Dust-jacket illustration of the US (true first) edition. See "Publication history" (below) for UK first edition jacket image.
author = Agatha Christie
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Crime novel
publisher = Dodd, Mead and Company
release_date = 1934
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 279 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = NA
preceded_by = Parker Pyne Investigates
followed_by = Death in the Clouds

"Three Act Tragedy" is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1934 under the title of "Murder in Three Acts" [John Cooper and B.A. Pyke. "Detective Fiction - the collector's guide": Second Edition (Pages 82 and 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8] [http://home.insightbb.com/~jsmarcum/agatha30.htm American Tribute to Agatha Christie] ] and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1935 under Christie's original titleChris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. "Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions". Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 15)] . The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).

The book features Hercule Poirot and Mr. Satterthwaite. This is the one book where Satterthwaite collaborates with Poirot. He previously appeared in the stories which feature Mr. Harley Quin, in particular those collected in "The Mysterious Mr. Quin" (1930).

Plot summary

When a clergyman dies at a dinner party thrown by theatre actor Sir Charles Cartwright, it is thought by nearly everyone (Poirot included) to be an accidental death. Shortly afterwards, however, a second death in suspiciously similar circumstances and with many of the same people present puts both Poirot and a team of sleuths on the trail of a poisoner whose motive is not clear.

The solution to this mystery is one of Christie's classic pieces of misdirection and is a plot device that has been widely imitated. Poirot reveals that the first murder - in which the murderer could not have predicted who would get the poisoned glass and had no motive to kill the eventual victim - had only been a "dress rehearsal" for the second murder.

Literary significance and reception

The "Times Literary Supplement" of January 31, 1935 admitted that "Very few readers will guess the murderer before Hercule Poirot reveals the secret" but complained that the motive of the murderer "injures an otherwise very good story". ["The Times Literary Supplement" January 31, 1935 (Page 63)]

Isaac Anderson in "The New York Times Book Review" of October 7, 1934 said that the motive was "most unusual, if not positively unique in the annals of crime. Since this is an Agatha Christie novel featuring Hercule Poirot as its leading character, it is quite unnecessary to say that it makes uncommonly good reading" ["The New York Times Book Review" October 7, 1934 (Page 20)] .

In "The Observer"'s issue of January 6, 1935, "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers) said, "Her gift is pure genius, of leading the reader by the nose in a zigzag course up the garden and dropping the lead just when she wishes him to scamper to the kill. "Three Act Tragedy" is not among this author's best detective stories; but to say that it heads her second best is praise enough. The technique of misleadership is, as usual, superb; but, when all comes out, some of the minor threads of motive do not quite convince. Mrs. Christie has, quite part from her special gift, steadily improved and matured as a writer, from the-strange-affair-of-style to this charming and sophisticated piece of prose" ["The Observer" January 6, 1935 (Page 7)]

Milward Kennedy in "The Guardian" of January 29, 1935 opened his review with, “The year has opened most satisfactorily. Mrs. Christie’s "Three Act Tragedy" is up to her best level.” He summarised the set-up of the plot but then admitted, “A weak (but perhaps inevitable point) is the disappearance of a butler; the reader, that is to say, is given rather too broad a hint. But the mechanics of the story are ingenious and plausible, the characters (as always with Mrs. Christie) are life-like and lively. Poirot does not take the stage very often, but when he does he is in great form.” ["The Guardian" January 29, 1935 (Page 7)]

Robert Barnard: "The strategy of deception here is one that by this date ought to have been familiar to Christie's readers. This is perhaps not one of the best examples of the trick, because few of the characters other than the murderer are well individualised. The social mix here is more artistic and sophisticated than is usual in Christie." [Barnard, Robert. "A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie" - Revised edition (Page 207). Fontana Books, 1990. ISBN 0-00-637474-3]

References in other works

Colonel Johnson alludes to the events of this story in part 3, section V of "Hercule Poirot's Christmas".

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

A 1986 television film was made under the title "Murder in Three Acts", starring Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis, which relocated the action to Acapulco. The character of Mr Satterthwaite was replaced by Hastings.

A radio production was made for the BBC in 2003, starring John Moffatt (Poirot), Beth Chalmers (Egg Lytten Gore, the heroine) and Clive Merrison (Sir Bartholomew).

Publication history

* 1934, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), Hardback, 279 pp
* 1935, Collins Crime Club (London), January 1935, Hardback, 256 pp
* 1945, Avon Books (New York), Paperback, (Avon number 61), 230 pp
* 1957, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp
* 1961, Popular Library (New York), Paperback, 175 pp
* 1964, Pan Books, Paperback (Pan number X275), 203 pp
* 1972, Greenway edition of collected works (William Collins), Hardcover, 253 pp, ISBN 0-00-231816-4
* 1973, Greenway edition of collected works (Dodd Mead), Hardcover, 253 pp
* 1975, Ulverscroft Large Print Edition, Hardcover, 351 pp, ISBN 0-85-456326-1
* 2006, Poirot Facsimile Edition (Facsimile of 1935 UK First Edition), HarperCollins, November 6, 2006, Hardback ISBN 0-00-723441-4

The novel's first true publication was the serialisation in the "Saturday Evening Post" in six instalments from June 9 (Volume 206, Number 50) to July 14, 1934 (Volume 207, Number 2) under the title "Murder in Three Acts" with illustrations by John La Gatta.

References

External links

* [http://us.agathachristie.com/site/find_a_story/stories/Three_Act_Tragedy.php "Three Act Tragedy"] at the official Agatha Christie website
*imdb title|id=0091572|title=Murder in Three Acts (1986)