The Tale of Jerry and Joanna: The Moving Finger | 1943

(image from here)

"The great thing in these cases is to keep an absolutely open mind. Most crimes, you see, are so absurdly simple. This one was. Quite sane and straightforward—and quite understandable—in an unpleasant way, of course." - Miss Jane Marple, The Moving Finger, p. 180

The Sum of It:
The Moving Finger has always been one of my favorite Agatha stories (incidentally, it was one of her favorites too!): the plot is very clever, it has a lot of romance (always a plus), and has some very Tommy and Tuppence-esque witty characters in brother and sister protagonist duo Jerry and Joanna Burton.

Recently-injured-and-now-convelescing Jerry Burton (also this book's narrator) and his sister Joanna begin the book by moving to the small country village of Lymstock for some quality R&R. ALAS they find the village quite twitterpated because someone has been sending nasty anonymous letters to nearly every resident. Jerry and Joanna aren't really bothered by the whole thing, but are quite fascinated to know who is behind them. As they settle into their new house (called Little Furze #namegoals) they make nice with the neighbors, namely:

The Symmingtons: lawyer dad, neurotic mom, spacey yet lovable older daughter, two little boys, and a hot nanny.
Mr. Pye: eccentric bachelor who knows all the town gossip
The Dane Calthrops: Vicar and fairly terrifying wife
Miss Emily Barton: Jerry and Joanna's landlady (Bartons AND Burtons - that won't be confusing at all…will it?)
The Griffiths: Dr. Owen and nosy sister Aimee.
There is also an appropriate sprinkling of housekeepers and housemaids, etc.

The anonymous letters seem to just be an in-bad-taste prank until Mrs. Symmington is found #DEAD, apparently having committed suicide after reading one of the letters. It all seems a straightforward deal, but at the same time, something about it seems fishy and Jerry has more questions than the detectives are willing to ask. Things REALLY heat up when the Symmingtons's maid, Agnes Waddle, is found #MURDERED in a cupboard under the stairs (#notHarry'scupboard). Now that there's an actual murder to solve, a Superintendent Nash shows up to sort it all out. Or at least tries to...

BUT WAIT, you might ask (I certainly did), isn't this a Miss Marple book? Where is Miss Marple? Fear not, she does show up quite near the end as a seemingly random guest of the Dane Calthrops, knits unobtrusively during teas and get-togethers, chats with Jerry, and comes up with a sneaky little plan to oust the killer! I remember the first time I read this feeling SO confident that I had solved the whole thing, but of course the simple answer was quite different, yet right under my nose the whole time!

The YOA Treatment:
As with many of her novels, Agatha has chosen a man as the narrator for this novel. In much the same way as Luke Fitzgerald from Murder is Easy, Jerry Burton plays more of the being-nosy-from-the-sidelines sort of character instead of the pretty formal sidekick-esque Dr. Sheppard from Roger Ackroyd or observer who gets told a lot of secrets Leonard Clement from Murder at the Vicarage. I admire Agatha for not sticking too closely to a formulaic narration style. As much as I love the Hastings/Poirot repartee, you do know what to expect with a Hastings-narrated novel. Being open to telling her stories through the eyes of different men (and women! I'm lookin' at you, Nurse Amy Leatheren from Murder in Mesopotamia!) is part of what makes Dame Agatha such a writing star for me.

As I was considering the subject of narration, I found a couple of interesting articles about book narrators:

Check out this article about books with unreliable narrators and this article about books written by women with great male narrators

Spoiler alert: Agatha makes both lists :)

-A.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Murder is Easy | 1939

(image from here)

"No, no, my dear boy, that's where you're wrong. It's very easy to kill, so long as no one suspects you." -Lavinia Pinkerton, Murder is Easy, p. 10

The Sum of It:
We take a break this week from #DameAgatha's usual protagonists (i.e., Poirot, Miss Marple) and venture into Other Detective Options Land! First this week is Murder is Easy (also known as Easy to Kill). This novel begins with ex-policeman Luke Fitzwilliam returning to England for good from a stint in the Mayang Straits, and heading to do some gambling as soon as he gets of the boat #DerbyDay. In all his excitement of winning some moolah, he has completely forgotten to board his train to London. No matter, he catches the next one, and happens to sit next to a worried elderly woman, Lavinia Pinkerton, who announces her business in London as going to Scotland Yard with information about a murderer in her village. Luke humors her (what he assumes to be) wild fantasies or misunderstandings and asks some polite follow-up questions. Each instance Miss Pinkerton describes seems just like an accident to him...but she is so sincere about having seen an evil look in the murderer's eyes as they are sizing up their victim that he is rather moved by her story. His eyes grow wide a few days later when he reads in the paper that Miss Pinkerton was run over by a car in London THAT SAME DAY SHE WAS GOING TO REPORT THE MURDERS. Oh now something IS up, he concludes, and concocts a plan with his Wodehouse-esque pal, Jimmy Lorrimer to pose as Jimmy's cousin Bridget's OTHER cousin writing a ghost book in the village where Miss Pinkerton lived and sniff out the murderer for himself using his Mayang Straights Police Skillz. (HOW COULD THIS GO WRONG!?)

Luke manages to go really far with his SUPER lame story of being a ghost hunter to get most of the small village to spill on the deets of the many, many "accidental" deaths that have occurred over the past few months. In his down time, Luke bounces ideas off of Bridget (who is mostly described as having like a sexy witch look?), local still-living old lady, Miss Honoria Waynflete, and his own brain and then ALL OF SUDDEN OMG HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH FAKE COUSIN BRIDGET (didn't see that coming #jk). But ALAS Bridget is engaged to her boss, the eccentric old Lord Gordon Whitfield who was also at one time engaged to old Miss Waynflete (#lovesquare #jilted #yikes)! Luke juggles his dramatic love life and the crimes at hand by convincing Bridget to leave her rich Lord fiancé AND eventually getting to the bottom of the pesky murders #missionaccomplished. But just as he is patting himself on the back, Bridget coolly tricks the ACTUAL murderer into confessing everything, but not before finding herself in a dicey situation that may or may not leave her as the murderer's final victim!

The YOA Treatment:
Like Poirot, Luke spends a lot of time having long conversations with people and then having equally long methodical thinks about each of the suspects. This is very Agatha-esque to read and it's fun as a reader to go through the logical process of elimination with Luke, BUT it doesn't ring completely true that a former cop wouldn't spend time finding hard, physical evidence (although, in Luke/Agatha's defense, it would be odd for Luke to be going through people's things and constantly re-creating crime scenes.) Poirot is often mocked for pooh-pooh-ing the typical detective methods (dusting for finger prints, etc.), and while that doesn't seem to be Agatha's cup of tea either, it would have been interesting to see her take on more of a traditional approach, especially with a more traditionally-experienced protagonist in Luke Fitzwilliam.

It is also interesting to note that the 2008 television adaptation of Murder is Easy starring Benedict Cumberbatch (#blessed) has a VASTLY different plot line than the book. HOWEVER, I (eek) will go out on a limb and say I perhaps enjoy that story better? The inclusion of Miss Marple in the story is not totally necessary, but I think the conclusion/motive for the murders in the film story is more compelling and plausible. I'm curious to see if any of the rest of you readers think so as well!

-A.