Appointment with Death

Appointment with Death

Appointment with Death is a mystery novel by the famous British writer Agatha Christie. It was first published in the United Kingdom on May 2, 1938, by the Collins Crime Club, and later that same year in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company.

The story features the well-known Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The book is inspired by Christie’s real-life travels in the Middle East with her husband, archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. The main events of the story happen in the historic cities of Jerusalem and Petra. These places make the story exciting and full of mystery.

Plot introduction

In Jerusalem, a detective named Hercule Poirot hears a man named Raymond Boynton say to his sister, "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Their stepmother, Mrs Boynton, is very strict and controls her family. She is later found dead during a trip to Petra. Poirot decides to solve the mystery quickly, but he does not yet know if it was a crime.

Plot summary

The story begins with a strict woman named Mrs Boynton and her family. Mrs Boynton has been very harsh with her stepchildren and daughter.

Dr Sarah King, a new doctor, cares for one of the stepchildren, Raymond. Another person, Jefferson Cope, wants to help Nadine leave her husband, Lennox. When they reach Petra, Mrs Boynton sends her family away. Later, she is found dead with a small injury.

The famous detective Hercule Poirot, who is visiting Baghdad, is asked to investigate. He finds that the timing makes it seem impossible for the family to have done it. He suspects someone outside the family.

Poirot discovers that the person responsible is Lady Westholme. She was afraid Mrs Boynton would reveal her past. She disguised herself and committed the murder. After hearing Poirot’s explanation, Lady Westholme leaves the room. The family, now free from Mrs Boynton’s control, finds happiness: Sarah marries Raymond, Carol marries Jefferson, and Ginevra becomes a successful actress.

Characters

This book has many interesting characters. The main detective is Hercule Poirot, a famous Belgian detective. Other important characters include Colonel Carbury, a senior figure in the Emirate of Transjordan, and Mrs Boynton, who is the victim of the story. Her family members appear in the book too, like her daughter Ginevra, stepson Raymond, stepdaughter Carol, and others. There are also friends and professionals involved, such as Jefferson Cope, a family friend, Dr Gerard, a French psychologist, Sarah King, a young doctor, Lady Westholme, a member of Parliament, and Miss Amabel Pierce, a former nursery governess.

Literary significance and reception

When Appointment with Death was published, reviewers had mixed opinions. Simon Nowell-Smith in the Times Literary Supplement liked how the detective, Hercule Poirot, solved the mystery, even if the ending seemed a bit simple.

Kay Irvin in the The New York Times Book Review thought it was not one of Agatha Christie’s best books. She said the story lacked a strong plot but still kept readers interested as Poirot looked at the clues.

“Torquemada,” writing in The Observer, praised the book highly, saying it was very clever, especially with fewer suspects than usual. The Scotsman felt the solution was surprising but made sense based on the clues given. E. R. Punshon in The Guardian thought the book was one of Christie’s best, with a clever plot and interesting characters.

Mary Dell in the Daily Mirror warned that the story’s scary parts might give readers bad dreams. Robert Barnard praised the book’s setting and the tense family story, though he felt the detection part was a bit like another writer’s style from that time.

References to other works

In this book, detective Hercule Poirot tells Colonel Carbury a story from one of his past cases, Cards on the Table. Colonel Race, who helps solve the mystery, is also in this story. Nadine Boynton mentions what happened at the end of Murder on the Orient Express. Miss Pierce talks about The A.B.C. Murders and knows Poirot as a famous detective.

Publication history

The book Appointment with Death was first published in the UK on May 2, 1938, by the Collins Crime Club. That same year, it was published in the US by Dodd Mead and Company. The book came out in many formats over the years. These included paperback editions by Dell Books in 1946, Penguin Books in 1948, Pan Books in 1957, and Fontana Books in 1960. A large-print edition was also published by Ulverscroft in 1975.

Before the book was released, the story was published in magazines. In the US, it appeared in nine parts in Collier's Weekly from August to October 1937. In the UK, it was published in twenty-eight parts in the Daily Mail from January to February 1938 and was called A Date with Death.

Adaptations

Stage

Agatha Christie turned her book into a play in 1945. The play changed the story a lot. The detective Hercule Poirot did not appear, and a different person did the crime. In the play, a sick woman named Mrs Boynton passed away and left clues. This made her family suspect each other. Some characters were also changed or removed.

Film

The book was made into a movie in 1988. Peter Ustinov played Poirot. The movie kept the main idea but moved the setting from Petra to Qumran in Palestine. Many famous actors were in the film, including Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, and Sir John Gielgud. Some character names were changed, and one character, Dr Gerard, was removed.

Television

United States

The first TV version was shown on the CBS series Danger on January 16, 1951.

British

The book was turned into an episode of the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot in 2008. David Suchet played Poirot. It was filmed in Casablanca, El Jadida, and Morocco. The story was changed in several ways, including new characters and different motivations for some people.

French

The novel was made into an episode of the French series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie in 2019.

Japanese

In Japan, the story was turned into a special two-hour TV program called Shi to no Yakusoku (死との約束, meaning "Promise of Death") by Fuji Television.

Radio

The book was turned into a radio show for BBC Radio 4 by Michael Bakewell, with John Moffatt playing Poirot.