Ordeal by Innocence
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Detective, Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Released | 1958 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (first edition hardcover) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | 4.50 From Paddington |
| Followed by | Cat Among the Pigeons |
Ordeal by Innocence (published in 1958) is a detective novel by Agatha Christie, which is regarded by critics as one of her best works, and was also one of her two favorites of her own novels, the other being Crooked House.
[edit] Plot summary
While serving a sentence for killing his mother - a crime he insisted he didn't commit - Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, the man who could have supported Jacko's alibi suddenly turns up, and the family must come to terms with the fact not only that suspicion falls upon each of them, but that one of them is the real murderer. Christie's focus in this novel is upon the psychology of innocence, as the family members struggle with their suspicions of one another.
While two outsiders attempt to find the murderer, it is an insider - Philip Durrant - whose clumsy efforts to uncover the truth force the killer to strike again. Ultimately it is revealed that the murderer was indeed acting under the influence of Jacko Argyle, and that the failure of his (carefully planned) alibi was, in hindsight, an ironic stroke of Fate.
The witness, Arthur Calgary, had believed that when he cleared the name of their son the family would be grateful. He failed to realise the implications of his information. However, once he did so he was determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer. In order to do so he visited the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to ask him about the cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he thought that murder was outside Jacko's 'moral range' but because he thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself, that if he wanted to murder somebody he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty work. Dr MacMaster said "the kind of murder I'd have expected Jacko to do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid; then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say 'Biff him on the head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.' They're willing for murder, ready to incite to murder, but they've not got the nerve to do murder themselves with their own hands" (italics added). This description seems to be a reference to the Craig and Bentley case which had occurred in 1952 (the book is copyright 1958).
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A close film adaptation was made in 1984, starring Donald Sutherland, Christopher Plummer and Sarah Miles. Its musical score (by Dave Brubeck) has in many quarters been heavily criticised as totally inappropriate for this style of mystery and has given the film a certain notoriety.
The novel will be adapted for the third season of Geraldine McEwan's Miss Marple canon.
The novel was also adapted into a stage play by Mary Jane Hansen and performed for the first time by the New York State Theatre Institute in Troy, New York. The original run lasted from February 4th to February 17th, 2007, and included 14 performances.
