Crooked House
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''Crooked House'' is a work of
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...
by
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
first published in the US by
Dodd, Mead and Company Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. ...
in March 1949American Tribute to Agatha Christie
/ref> and in the UK by the
Collins Crime Club Collins Crime Club was an imprint of British book publishers William Collins, Sons and ran from 6 May 1930 to April 1994. Throughout its 64 years the club issued a total of 2,012in "The Hooded Gunman -- An Illustrated History of Collins Crime ...
on 23 May of the same year. The action takes place in and near London in the autumn of 1947. Christie said the titles of this novel and ''
Ordeal by Innocence ''Ordeal by Innocence'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 November 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retai ...
'' were her favourites amongst her own works.


Title meaning

The title refers to a
nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...
("
There Was a Crooked Man "There Was a Crooked Man" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 4826. Origin The rhyme was first recorded in print by James Orchard Halliwell in 1842: There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, H ...
"), a common theme of the author. Narrator Charles's fiancée Sophia says it refers not to dishonesty, but rather "we hadn't been able to grow up independent... twisted and twining", meaning unhealthily interdependent on the intensely strong personality of the family patriarch, Aristide Leonides.


Plot introduction

Three generations of the Leonides family live together under wealthy patriarch Aristide. His first wife Marcia died; her sister Edith has cared for the household since then. His second wife is the indolent Brenda, decades his junior, suspected of having a clandestine love affair with Laurence, the grandchildren's tutor. After Aristide is poisoned by his own eye medicine (
eserine Physostigmine (also known as eserine from ''éséré'', the West African name for the Calabar bean) is a highly toxic parasympathomimetic alkaloid, specifically, a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor. It occurs naturally in the Calabar bean and ...
), his granddaughter Sophia tells narrator and fiancé Charles Hayward that they cannot marry until the killer is apprehended. Charles's father, "The Old Man", is Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, so Charles investigates from the inside along with assigned detective Chief Inspector Taverner.


Plot summary

Towards the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Charles Hayward is in Cairo and falls in love with Sophia Leonides, a smart, successful Englishwoman who works for the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
. They put off getting engaged until the end of the war when they will be reunited in England. Hayward returns home and reads a death notice in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'': Sophia's grandfather, the wealthy entrepreneur Aristide Leonides, has died, aged 87. Due to the war, the whole family has been living with him in a sumptuous but ill-proportioned house called "Three Gables", the crooked house of the title. The autopsy reveals that Leonides was poisoned with his own eserine-based eye medicine via an
insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...
injection. Sophia tells Charles that she can't marry him until the matter is cleared up. The obvious suspects are Brenda Leonides, Aristide's much younger second wife, and Laurence Brown, a conscientious objector who has been living in the house as private tutor to Sophia's younger brother and sister, Eustace and Josephine. They are rumoured to have been carrying on an illicit love affair under old Leonides's nose. The family members hope these two prove to be the murderers because they despise Brenda as a gold digger and also hope to escape the scandal that a different outcome would bring. Charles agrees to help his father, an assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, to investigate the crime. He becomes a house guest at Three Gables, hoping that someone might reveal a clue at an unguarded moment. All the family members had motive and opportunity, none has an alibi; and each of them knew that Aristide's eye medicine was poisonous as he had told all the family after being asked by Josephine. According to the will, they all stand to gain a healthy bequest from the old man's estate. The servants do not get bequests but would lose their (increasing) annual wages or bonuses, so are not suspects. Aside from this, the family members have little in common. Edith de Haviland, Aristide's unmarried sister-in-law, is a brusque woman in her 70s who came to stay with him after his first wife's death to supervise his children's upbringing. Roger, the eldest son and Aristide's favourite, is a failure as a businessman. He has steered the catering business bestowed to him by his father to the brink of bankruptcy and he longs to live a simple life somewhere far away. Roger's wife Clemency, a scientist with austere and unsentimental tastes, has never been able to enjoy the wealth offered by her husband's family. Roger's younger brother, Philip, has suffered under his father's preference for Roger, and retreated into a distant world of books and bygone historical epochs, spending all his waking hours in the library. Philip's wife Magda is an only moderately successful actress to whom everything, even a family murder, is a stage show in which she wants to play a leading part. Sixteen-year-old Eustace has polio. He is handsome and intelligent, yet embittered by his disability. His twelve-year-old sister Josephine, on the other hand, is ugly, precociously intelligent, and obsessed with detective stories. She spies continually on the rest of the household, letting everyone know that she is writing down her observations in a secret notebook. Leonides had secretly personally rewritten (to the surprise of his lawyer Mr Gaitskill) his will to leave everything to Philip's daughter Sophia. He believed that she alone had the strength of character to assume his place as the head of the family. Josephine, who had been bragging that she knows the killer's identity, is found lying unconscious in the yard from a blow to the head from a marble doorstop. Charles discovers a cache of incriminating love letters from Brenda to Laurence, and the two are arrested. While they are in custody, the children's nanny dies after drinking a
digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and Biennial plant, biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are ...
-laced cup of cocoa that had apparently been intended for Josephine. The family realises that the killer is still among them. Charles, afraid for Josephine's life, tries in vain to induce her to disclose the murderer's name. Edith de Haviland invites Josephine to come out with her in the car for an ice cream soda. The car drives over a cliff and both are killed. Back at Three Gables, Charles finds two letters from Miss de Haviland. One is a suicide note for Chief Inspector Taverner taking responsibility, although not explicitly confessing, to the murders of Aristide and Nanny. The second letter, intended for Sophia and Charles only, reveals the truth of the matter: Josephine was the murderer. As proof, de Haviland has enclosed the child's secret notebook, the first line of which reads "Today I killed grandfather." Josephine killed her grandfather because he wouldn't pay for her ballet lessons; she then revelled in all the attention she received afterwards and planned her own assault with the marble doorstop as a way of diverting attention. She poisoned Nanny for encouraging Magda to send her to Switzerland, and also because Nanny called her a "silly little girl". She also included threats against Magda if her mother seriously considered sending her away. Miss de Haviland had discovered Josephine's notebook hidden in a dog kennel, and committed the murder-suicide car crash as she did not want Josephine to suffer in a prison or asylum if and when the police learned she was the murderer.


Characters

*Charles Hayward, fiancé to Sophia Leonides, narrator *Sophia Leonides, daughter of Magda and Philip Leonides, granddaughter of Aristide *Brenda Leonides, spoiled much younger widow of Aristide Leonides, married at 24 and now aged 34 years *Magda West, a flamboyant stage actress *Edith de Haviland, Sophia's elderly spinster great-aunt, sister of Aristide Leonides' first wife, Marcia de Haviland *Roger Leonides, son of Aristide Leonides *Clemency Leonides, his wife, a scientist *Philip Leonides, Magda's husband and Roger's brother *Laurence Brown, tutor to Josephine and Eustace; in love with Brenda. Aged about 30 *Josephine Leonides, Magda's 12-year-old daughter *Eustace Leonides, Magda's 16-year-old son; brother of Sophia and Josephine *Janet Rowe, nanny to the Leonides children *Chief Inspector Taverner, Scotland Yard inspector assigned *"The Old Man", Sir Arthur Hayward, Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, father of Charles Hayward *Aristide Leonides, the man who was murdered; born in Smyrna, Turkey, he arrived in London in 1884 when he was 24 *Mr Gaitskill, his family (but not always business) solicitor for 43½ years


Reception

Maurice Richardson, in the 29 May 1949 issue of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', gave a positive review in comparison to his opinion of ''Taken at the Flood'' the previous year: "Her forty-ninth book and one of her best seven. Poisoning of aged iniquitous anglicised Levantine millionaire. Nicely characterised family of suspects. Delicious
red herring A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring may be used intentiona ...
s. Infinite suspense and shocking surprise finish make up for slight looseness of texture." An unnamed reviewer in the ''
Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...
'' of 12 March 1949 wrote: "Chief Inspector Taverner of Scotland Yard was as brilliant as usual but barking up the wrong tree – as Agatha Christie demonstrates in a surprise ending which introduces a novel idea in murder mystery."
Robert Barnard Robert Barnard (23 November 1936 – 19 September 2013) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer. In addition to over 40 books published under his own name, he also published four books under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable. Life and wor ...
: "'Pure pleasure' was how the author described the writing of this, which was long planned, and remained one of her favourites. As the title implies, this is a family murder – and a very odd family indeed. The solution, one of the classic ones, was anticipated (but much less effectively) in
Margery Allingham Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four " Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. All ...
's 'prentice work ''The White Cottage Mystery''." In the "Binge!" article of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' Issue #1343-44 (26 December 2014–3 January 2015), the writers picked ''Crooked House'' as an "EW favorite" on the list of the "Nine Great Christie Novels".


Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel was adapted for
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
in four weekly 30-minute episodes which began broadcasting on 29 February 2008. It starred
Rory Kinnear Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor. He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in ''The Man of Mode'', and for playing the William Shakespeare villain ...
(Charles Hayward),
Anna Maxwell Martin Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 10 May 1977), sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is an English actress who won two British Academy Television Awards, for her portrayals of Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of ''Ble ...
(Sophia Leonides), and Phil Davis (Chief Insp. Taverner). The radio play was dramatised by
Joy Wilkinson Joy Wilkinson is a British screenwriter, playwright, author, and director. Early life Wilkinson was born in Burnley, Lancashire. At age 14, she co-wrote ''Fried Eggs & Fag Ends'', a play at the Lancashire Young Writers Festival that got reviewed ...
and directed by Sam Hoyle. It was subsequently issued on CD. This version removed the character of Eustace. In 2011, US filmmaker Neil La Bute announced that he would be directing a feature film version, for 2012, of the novel with a script by
Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford (born 17 August 1949), known professionally as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, writer, producer, film director, and Conservative peer. He has received nume ...
. On 15 May 2011,
Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is a British actress. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature-film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' (2007). She p ...
,
Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is an English actor. He made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's television film '' Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy '' Chasing Liberty'' (2004), f ...
,
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...
and Dame
Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
were announced to lead the cast. In a report issued on 10 June 2012,
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) is a specialty film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms. History The group became a stand-al ...
acquired all rights in the US, Canada and internationally for the film, which could help secure it a lucrative release, though the cast and creative team had changed. The film, directed by
Gilles Paquet-Brenner Gilles Paquet-Brenner (born 14 September 1974) is a French director and screenwriter. He is the son of the opera singer Ève Brenner. Paquet-Brenner's first feature film in 2001, ''Pretty Things'', won an award at the Deauville American Film Fe ...
and starring
Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards, as ...
,
Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
,
Max Irons Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English and Irish actor. He is known for his roles in films such as ''Red Riding Hood (2011 film), Red Riding Hood'' (2011), ''The White Queen (miniseries), The White Queen'' (2013), '' ...
,
Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...
,
Julian Sands Julian Richard Morley Sands (4 January 1958 – ) was an English actor. He had his breakout role as George Emerson in '' A Room with a View'' (1985) and went on to appear in '' The Killing Fields'' (1984), '' Gothic'' (1986), '' Siesta'' (1987), ...
,
Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...
,
Stefanie Martini Stefanie Martini (born 6 October 1990) is an English actress, known for her leading role in ITV's 2017 production ''Prime Suspect 1973''. She also starred in ''Doctor Thorne'' (2016), ''Emerald City'' (2017), the 2017 film ''Crooked House'' and ...
and
Christian McKay Christian Stuart McKay (born 30 December 1973) is an English stage and screen actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Orson Welles in the 2008 film '' Me and Orson Welles'', for which he was nominated for over two dozen awards includ ...
, was released digitally on 21 November 2017 and first broadcast on Channel 5 on 17 December 2017. On 22 December 2017, it received a modest (16 theatres) theatrical release in the U.S. via
Vertical Entertainment Vertical (formerly Vertical Entertainment) is an American independent film distribution company founded by producers Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. Vertical releases films across all mediums, including theatrical, video on demand, physica ...
.


Publication history

* 1949, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), March 1949, Hardback, 211 pp * 1949, Collins Crime Club (London), 23 May 1949, Hardback, 192 pp * 1951,
Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...
(New York), Paperback, (Pocket #753), 200 pp * 1953,
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
, Paperback, (Penguin #925), 191 pp * 1959, Fontana Books (Imprint of
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
), Paperback, 191 pp * 1967, Greenway collected works (William Collins), Hardcover, 223 pp * 1967, Greenway collected works (Dodd Mead), Hardcover, 223 pp * 1978 Omniprose collected works with Passenger to Frankfurt, Hardcover, 472 pp, * 1991, Ulverscroft
Large-print Large-print (also large-type or large-font) refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the font size is considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the Recording medium, medium is al ...
Edition, Hardcover, A condensed version of the novel was first published in the US in ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' magazine in the issue for October 1948 (Volume 125, Number 4) with an illustration by Grushkin. In the UK the novel was first serialised in the weekly magazine ''
John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...
'' in seven abridged instalments from 23 April (Volume 85, Number 2234) to 4 June 1949 (Volume 85, Number 2240) with illustrations by Alfred Sindall.Holdings at the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
(Newspapers – Colindale). Shelfmark: NPL LON LD116.


References


External links


''Crooked House'' at the official Agatha Christie website
{{Agatha Christie 1949 British novels Fiction set in 1947 Novels by Agatha Christie Works originally published in Cosmopolitan (magazine) Novels first published in serial form Dodd, Mead & Co. books British novels adapted into films Novels set in the 1940s Novels set in London Fiction about poisonings Cairo in fiction Novels set during World War II