This month for the Read Christie challenge we are reading Christie novels published in the 1930s and I have chosen Three Act Tragedy from 1934. The book was also published in the US as Murder in Three Acts and that’s not the only difference – apparently the motive for one of the murders was also changed for the US edition. I’m not sure if there are any other Christie novels with significant differences between editions or if this is the only one.
Three Act Tragedy is a Poirot mystery but also features one of Christie’s other recurring characters, Mr Satterthwaite, who appears in The Mysterious Mr Quin and Murder in the Mews. At the beginning of the novel, Satterthwaite and Poirot are both attending a dinner party hosted by the stage actor Sir Charles Cartwright at his home in Cornwall. When one of the other guests, the Reverend Babbington, suddenly drops dead after taking a sip of his cocktail, several people suspect murder – yet there are no traces of poison in his glass. Soon afterwards, another death occurs under similar circumstances at a party attended by many of the same guests, but this time the victim is confirmed to have died from nicotine poisoning. Are the two deaths connected and if so, did the same person carry out both murders?
This is another entertaining Christie novel; maybe not one of her strongest plots, but the motive for the first murder is very unusual and I didn’t guess either that one or the motive for the second murder. I did start to suspect who was responsible, but not until much later in the book, so I can’t claim to have solved the mystery. We don’t see very much of Poirot himself as this is one of the books (like Lord Edgware Dies, which I read last month) where he sits at home and waits for other characters to provide him with information, rather than going out to interview suspects and search for clues himself. Instead, the deaths are investigated by Mr Satterthwaite and Sir Charles, with help from Miss Lytton Gore, affectionately known to her friends as Egg.
I would have liked Poirot to have played a bigger part in the story as although I like the elderly Mr Satterthwaite, he’s not very skilled at detecting, and I never really felt fully engaged with either Sir Charles or Egg. There’s an interesting cast of supporting characters, such as Muriel Wills, who writes plays under a male pseudonym, but I felt that some of these weren’t really used to their full potential. This wasn’t a favourite Christie, then, but I did still enjoy it – and it was good to see Poirot sharing a little bit of his personal history in a conversation with Satterthwaite, as he usually reveals very little about himself.
Next month for the Read Christie challenge (and for August and September as well) we are moving on to the 1940s and 1950s. There are plenty of books I still have to read from those decades, but one I definitely have lined up is N or M?, the third in the Tommy and Tuppence series. I’m hoping to make that one a July read.
This is book 5/20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2024.
She Reads Novels 
I remember reading this one when I was in on exchange visit in France. It was quite a slog reading it in French and there was a lot referring to my English/French dictionary!. I’ve never forgotten the story though!
Well done for managing to read it in French!
It’s been a while since I last read this but I do remember enjoying it overall. It was fun to see Mr Satterthwaite outside of the Harley Quin stories. I had no idea that there were plot changes in the American edition though but I’m now curious and will try and track down a copy.
Yes, it was good to see Mr Satterthwaite again – I remember really liking him in the Harley Quin book. I’m not sure whether or not the plot change is still in the modern American editions or just the earlier ones.
Oh, will have to do some searching.
Tommy and Tuppence are my favorite Christie detectives, so I’ll be interested to see what you think of N or M? I really enjoyed Partners in Crime, where they channel other Golden Age detectives in solving cases. especially now that I’ve read more of the authors Christie was borrowing from!
I enjoyed Partners in Crime too, although at the time when I read it I wasn’t familiar with most of the fictional detectives she was alluding to and felt that I was missing something. I’m looking forward to N or M? next month!
I haven’t read this one. It’s interesting they changed up the US version like that. I wonder why. My library has this book listed under the UK title Three Act Tragedy, but I’m curious if it has the original motive for murder, or the changed version.
It’s confusing. I had no idea about the changed motive and ending until I read the Wikipedia entry for the book, but it doesn’t explain why the changes were made.
Not one I’ve read, but my Poirot reading has been pretty sparse up till now. I’ll probably start working my way through them after I *eventually* finish off Miss Marple.
I’ve been reading Christie’s books more or less at random, but I wish I’d taken a more organised approach. Too late now!
Very interesting about the changes between editions. I wonder why the motive was changed? Titles are often changed and the covers are often wildly different, but part of the story? Wow. Good find on that.
I didn’t know about the changed motive until I read about it on Wikipedia, but now I’m curious to read the other edition and see which one is best!
Ha! Fun project–do a post!
Another Christie I haven’t read yet! Despite my having read many, there seem to be many more.
I hope one day I’ll have read all of them, but I have enough unread ones left to last a few more years!
At some point I may have to make a list of all of them and start checking them off. I’ve read a lot more than I have reviewed on this blog. I’ve revisited some. But maybe I should concentrate on reading the ones that I haven’t read yet.