| When John Starkwedder drives into a ditch in thick fog on a country road, he walks to the nearest house for help - only to find a woman standing over the body of her dead husband with a gun in her hand. It looks like an open and shut murder case, but it soon becomes clear that the dead man's wife may be covering up for someone - and there are a whole host of people in the house with both motive and opportunity to commit the murder. This is a novel by Charles Osbourne based on the original play by Agatha Christie.
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Somewhat obvious Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Special suspect? - relative Misc. Murder Plotlets - butler provides unemotional service - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Europe Yes European country: - England/UK Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - mostly dialog |
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