REVIEW: Murder is Easy

 Murder is Easy
Author: Agatha Christie 

This Agatha Christie novel does not feature any of her well-known characters. It is a stand-alone novel. Well.....it's actually listed as a Superintendent Battle book, but he's not really part of the story until the very end. So I stand by my call that this is a one-off.

I have to be honest and admit that I rolled my eyes when this popped up as the next book in my Christie Reading Challenge. I'm reading all of Agatha's mystery books and short stories in publication order. And, I'm not a big fan of reading the stand-alone or side character ones (except for And Then There Were None....that one is superb!!). I don't really enjoy Superintendent Battle, Parker Pyne, Tommy & Tuppence..... But, the intent of my challenge is to read them all -- and I'm reading them all. In order. Period. 

Murder is Easy (AKA Easy to Kill) was first published as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post in 1938. It was published in seven parts. It was also serialized in the UK in early 1939. The story was then released in novel format in the US and UK in 1939. Superintendent Battle does appear for a short time in the story, but doesn't have anything to do with the investigation or catching the killer. He seems a bit of an after thought, really. 

I don't have a paperback copy of this book. I'm sure that is because it wasn't Poirot or Marple, so I never bothered to buy a used copy. I listened to an audio book thanks to Hoopla/my local library (HarperAudio, 2012). The audio is 6 hours long and narrated by Hugh Fraser. Fraser did a great job of narrating, as usual. 

 This story surprised me! I went into it thinking I would be forcing myself to finish a story I didn't really care about. But, the plot is engaging. The characters are interesting and the ending is great! I could have done without the silly romance angle that was a side plot in the book, but it didn't over shadow the mystery portion of the story. I very much enjoyed this book! Once again, I am reminded why I am reading every single book....even the ones that don't have Poirot or Marple in them!

Adaptations: There are several adaptations of this story. That made me hopeful when I first started reading. They wouldn't adapt a boring story multiple times! 

There is a film version from 1982 starring Bill Bixby. In 1993, the movie script was adapted into a stage play. Season 4 of the television show Agatha Christie's Marple had an episode based on this story. In 2015, an episode was made for a French television show. And, in 2023 the BBC released a 2-episode television version. I was able to enjoy 3 of these adaptations.

1982 movie: I found this movie on YouTube.  As usual for 80's Agatha Christie adaptations, it's a star-studded cast -- Bill Bixby, Leslie-Anne Downs, Olivia De Havilland,  Helen Hayes (who later played Miss Marple on television) and others. I was glad to see faces I recognized in the cast, but the movie was not very good. They attempted to modernize it and messed with the plot too much. This story is great the way it was originally written. Their revisions were terrible. I enjoyed watching it for nostalgia.....but it wasn't good.

Agatha Christie's Marple: This episode strays from the original novel pretty heavily as Miss Marple is not in the book. Big changes were made to the plot, and character's motivations. I enjoy Julia McKenzie's portrayal of Jane Marple. Because the plot of this book is good and very entertaining, I see why they adapted it for one of the BBC long-running Agatha Christie shows. And, this one fits Jane Marple much better than it would Hercule Poirot. But -- why so many plot changes? I don't believe the changes, other than interjecting one of Christie's more standard characters, were necessary. Great attempt -- but the episode would have been better without most of the changes.

BBC Television: I very much enjoyed this adaptation! There are a lot of changes -- Luke is from Nigeria, some racial tensions mixed into the plot, and other edits made to the story. But -- the basic plot is the same. The actors are all top notch, and all of the suspense and build-up is left intact. The murders happen a bit closer together than in the novel, but that left time for more investigation and interaction between villagers and Luke. I like the fact that the cast of characters is a bit more balanced....not so white washed as the original.The ending was a bit changed as well as character backgrounds and motivations.....but an extremely creepy key part of the ending was kept intact. So, I'm ok with the changes they made. An excellent movie!

On to the next!