''Dumb Witness'' is a
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
novel by British writer
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
, first published in the UK by the
Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club was an imprint of British book publishers William Collins, Sons and ran from 6 May 1930 to April 1994. Throughout its 64 years the club issued a total of 2,012in "The Hooded Gunman -- An Illustrated History of Collins Crime ...
on 5 July 1937 and in the US by
Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.
History Origins
In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...
later in the same year under the title of ''Poirot Loses a Client''.
[American Tribute to Agatha Christie](_blank)
/ref> The UK edition retailed at seven shillings
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...
and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
and is narrated by his friend Arthur Hastings
Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel '' The Mysterious Af ...
. It is the last book to feature the character of Hastings until the final Poirot novel, 1975's '' Curtain: Poirot's Last Case,'' which he also narrates.
Reviews of this novel at publication in 1937 were generally positive, though several pointed out what they considered to be plot weaknesses. The author does "this sort of thing so superlatively well", while ''The Times'' in London questioned one of the actions by the murderer: "who would use hammer and nails and varnish in the middle of the night" near an open bedroom door? In the ''New York Times'', this novel was not considered Mrs Christie's best, but "she has produced a much-better-than-average thriller nevertheless", which is a view shared by "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers
Edward Powys Mathers (28 August 1892 – 3 February 1939) was an English translator and poet, and also a pioneer of compiling advanced cryptic crosswords. Powys Mathers was born in Forest Hill, London, the son of Edward Peter Mathers, newsp ...
), who called this "the least of all the Poirot books" and then concluded "Still, better a bad Christie than a good average." By contrast, Mary Dell considered this novel to be Mrs Christie at her best. ''The Scotsman'' felt the author deserved "full marks" for this novel. A review in 1990 found this novel to be not very interesting, with obvious clues.
Plot summary
Emily Arundell, a wealthy spinster, writes to Hercule Poirot in the belief she has been the victim of attempted murder after a fall in her home in Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. However, her family and household believe she actually fell by accident, after tripping over a ball left by her fox terrier
Fox Terriers are two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terr ...
Bob. When Poirot receives the letter, he learns she has already died; her doctor, Dr Grainger, states her death was from chronic liver problems. While recovering from her earlier fall, a new will she made bequeaths her vast fortune and home to her companion, Miss Minnie Lawson.
Seeking to investigate Miss Arundell's belief that someone wanted to murder her, Poirot, accompanied by Captain Hastings, notes that under her previous will, her nephew and nieces -- Charles Arundell, Theresa Arundell and Bella Tanios -- would have inherited. All three consider contesting the will.
Visiting the house on the pretence of buying it, Poirot discovers a nail covered with varnish at the top of the stairs, deducing a string had been tied to it. Through Miss Arundell's last words, he concludes that Bob had been out all night and that she had therefore fallen down the stairs as a result of a tripwire, and there is a chance Miss Arundell was indeed murdered. Her family thus become suspects in that matter.
During his investigation, Poirot learns that a luminous aura was noticed coming from the dead woman's mouth when she spoke during a seance. Visiting Lawson at her home, he learns that she saw someone moving about on the night of Miss Arundell's fall, who wore a brooch with the initials "TA". At the same time, Lawson's gardener recalls Charles inquiring about his arsenic-based weed killer and is surprised to find the bottle containing it to be nearly empty.
Bella later leaves her husband Jacob, on the implication he bullies her, taking the children with her. After Lawson helps hide them in a hotel, Poirot moves her to another on fear of a second murder; before he does, he gives her a summary of Miss Arundell's death. The next day, Bella is found dead from an overdose of sleeping medication.
Poirot soon brings together the surviving family members and reveals that Bella was the murderer. She hated her husband, never truly loving him, and sought to separate from him and keep her children in England. As she had no means to do so, she decided to kill her aunt to inherit her portion of her wealth. When her first attempt with the tripwire failed, she decided to switch one of her aunt's capsules for her liver troubles, with one filled with elemental phosphorus, knowing that her death from the poison would mimic the symptoms of liver failure. The aura witnessed by those attending the seance was due to the poison Miss Arundell had unknowingly consumed. When she found out her aunt changed her will and that Poirot had discovered the cause of her death, Bella found herself in a far worse quandary. She relinquished her children back to their father before committing suicide; the medication was originally intended to be used to murder Jacob, who was to be her second victim.
Poirot reveals that Lawson saw Bella on the night of Emily's fall, though in a mirror; the brooch's initials were reversed from that of "AT" – Arabella Tanios. The arsenic was stolen by Theresa, who intended to use it, but could not bear to do so in the end. A small sum of cash that went missing was later discovered to have been stolen by Charles; he knew his aunt had changed her will before her death. Knowing Emily wished for no scandal, Poirot honours this, while Lawson decides to share her inheritance with Theresa, Charles, and Bella's children. Meanwhile, Poirot and Hastings find themselves returning home with Bob joining them.
Characters
* Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
: the renowned Belgian detective who solves the case.
* Captain Arthur Hastings
Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel ''The Mysterious Aff ...
: narrator, a friend of Poirot and Bob the fox terrier.
* Emily Arundell: wealthy older woman who never married, owner of Little Green House; last survivor of five siblings, Matilda, Emily, Arabella, Thomas, and Agnes. She was murdered by poison.
* Theresa Arundell: fashionable, attractive niece of Emily Arundell, not yet 30 years old; spent the capital she inherited at age 21 from her father; engaged to ambitious young doctor.
* Dr Rex Donaldson: Theresa's fiancé, and younger partner to Dr. Grainger.
* Charles Arundell: nephew of Emily Arundell and brother to Theresa, in his early thirties; son of Thomas Arundell and widowed Mrs Varley. He also spent the capital of his inheritance from his father, and settled in British Columbia, Canada.
* Bella Tanios: niece of Emily Arundell, cousin to Charles and Theresa; plain looking daughter of Arabella Arundell and Professor Biggs, who taught chemistry at an English university. She is the murderer.
* Dr Jacob Tanios: Bella's husband, of Greek descent, a physician practicing in Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
.
* Edward Tanios: young son of Bella and Jacob.
* Mary Tanios: young daughter of Bella and Jacob, about 7 years old.
* Ellen: long time member of Emily Arundell's household staff.
* Wilhelmina (Minnie) Lawson: Emily Arundell's companion for the last year, and in her final will, sole heiress.
* Isabel and Julia Tripp: two eccentric sisters and amateur spiritualists who share a home near Little Green House.
* Dr Grainger: physician to Emily Arundell; in Market Basing since 1919.
* Miss Peabody: long time resident of village and friend of Emily Arundell, she knew all the Arundell siblings and shared her knowledge with Poirot.
* Bob: fox terrier belonging to Emily Arundell and the titular dumb witness.
Literary significance and reception
John Davy Hayward
John Davy Hayward CBE (2 February 1905 – 17 September 1965) was an English editor, critic, anthologist and bibliophile.
Early life
Hayward was educated at Gresham's School and in France before going up to King's College, Cambridge in 1923 t ...
in the ''Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' (10 July 1937), while approving of Christie's work, commented on some length at what he felt was a central weakness of this book: "Who, in their senses, one feels, would use hammer and nails and varnish in the middle of the night within a few feet of an open door! – a door, moreover, that was deliberately left open at night for observation! And, incidentally, do ladies wear large brooches on their dressing gowns? .. These are small but tantalising points which it would not be worth raising in the work of a less distinguished writer than Mrs Christie; but they are worth recording, if only as a measure of curiosity and interest with which one approaches her problems and attempts to anticipate their solution."[''The Times Literary Supplement'', 10 July 1937 (p. 511)]
In ''The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' (26 September 1937), Kay Irvin wrote that "Agatha Christie can be depended upon to tell a good tale. Even when she is not doing her most brilliant work she holds her reader's attention, leads them on from clue to clue, and from error to error, until they come up with a smash against surprise in the end. She is not doing her most brilliant work in ''Poirot Loses A Client'', but she has produced a much-better-than-average thriller nevertheless, and her plot has novelty, as it has sound mechanism, intriguing character types, and ingenuity.[''The New York Times Book Review'', 26 September 1937 (p. 26)]
In ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
s issue of 18 July 1937, "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers
Edward Powys Mathers (28 August 1892 – 3 February 1939) was an English translator and poet, and also a pioneer of compiling advanced cryptic crosswords. Powys Mathers was born in Forest Hill, London, the son of Edward Peter Mathers, newsp ...
) said, "usually after reading a Poirot story the reviewer begins to scheme for space in which to deal with it adequately; but ''Dumb Witness'', the least of all the Poirot books, does not have this effect on me, though my sincere admiration for Agatha Christie is almost notorious. Apart from a certain baldness of plot and crudeness of characterisation on which this author seemed to have outgrown years ago, and apart from the fact that her quite pleasing dog has no testimony to give either way concerning the real as opposed to the attempted murder, her latest book betrays two main defects. In the first place, on receiving a delayed letter from a dead old lady Poirot blindly follows a little grey hunch. In the second place, it is all very well for Hastings not to see the significance of the brooch in the mirror, but for Poirot to miss it for so long is almost an affront to the would-be worshipper. Still, better a bad Christie than a good average."[''The Observer'', 18 July 1937 (Page 8)]
''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' of 5 July 1937 started off with: "In Agatha Christie's novel there is a minor question of construction which might be raised." The reviewer then went on to outline the set-up of the plot up to the point where Poirot receives Emily Arundell's letter and then said, "Why should the story not have begun at this point? M. Poirot reconstructs it from here and the reader would probably have got more enjoyment out of it if he had not had a hint of the position already. But the detection is good, and the reader has no ground for complaint, for the real clue is dangled before his eyes several times, and because it seems a normal feature of another phenomenon than poisoning that he tends to ignore it. For this Agatha Christie deserves full marks."[''The Scotsman'', 5 July 1937 (p. 15)]
E.R. Punshon of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' began his review column of 13 July 1937 by an overview comparison of the books in question that week (in addition to ''Dumb Witness'', ''I'll be Judge, I'll be Jury'' by Milward Kennedy
Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge (21 June 1894 – 20 January 1968) was an English civil servant, journalist, crime writer and literary critic. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He served with British Military Inte ...
, ''Hamlet, Revenge!'' by Michael Innes
John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (30 September 1906 – 12 November 1994) was a Scottish novelist and academic. He is equally well known for the works of literary criticism and contemporary novels published under his real name and for the cri ...
, ''Dancers in Mourning
''Dancers in Mourning'' is a crime novel by English writer Margery Allingham, first published in 1937, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York City; later U.S. versions used the title ''W ...
'' by Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh.
Alli ...
and ''Careless Corpse'' by C. Daly King) when he said, "Only Mrs Christie keeps closer to the old tradition, and this time she adds much doggy lore and a terrier so fascinating that even Poirot himself is nearly driven from the centre of the stage." In the review proper, he went on to say that the dedication of the novel to Peter was, "a fact that in this dog-worshipping country is enough of itself to ensure success." He observed that Poirot, "shows all of his usual acumen; Captain Hastings – happily once more at Poirot's side – more than all his usual stupidity, and there is nothing left for the critic but to offer his usual tribute of praise to another of Mrs Christie's successes. She does indeed this sort of thing so superlatively well that one is ungratefully tempted to wish she would do something just a little well different, even if less well."[''The Guardian'', 13 July 1937 (p. 7)]
In the ''Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' (8 July 1937), Mary Dell wrote: "Once I had started reading, I did not have to rely on Bob or his cleverness to keep me interested. This is Agatha Christie at her best." She concluded, "Here's a book that will keep all thriller fans happy from page one to page three hundred and something."[''Daily Mirror'', 8 July 1937 (p. 24)]
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard (23 November 1936 – 19 September 2013) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer. In addition to over 40 books published under his own name, he also published four books under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable.
Life and work ...
: "Not quite vintage for the period: none of the relations of the dead woman is particularly interesting, and the major clue is very obvious. The doggy stuff is rather embarrassing, though done with affection and knowledge. At the end the dog is given to Hastings – or possibly vice versa."
References to other works
* Chapter 11: "Poirot's travellings in the East, as far as I knew, consisted of one journey to Syria extended to Iraq, and which occupied perhaps a few weeks". After solving a case in Syria by the request of his friend, Poirot decided to travel to Iraq before returning to England and, while in Iraq, was requested to solve a case, which he did and which is told in Christie's 1936 novel ''Murder in Mesopotamia
''Murder in Mesopotamia'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 July 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retai ...
'', after which Poirot returned to Syria and boarded Orient Express to return home and en route solved ''Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
''.
* Chapter 18: Poirot gives a list of murderers from previous cases of his, more precisely ''Death in the Clouds
''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on 10 March 1935 under the title of ''Death in the Air'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in ...
'' (1935), ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles
''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United ...
'' (1920), ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926 in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Sons and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company. It is the third no ...
'' (1926), and ''The Mystery of the Blue Train
''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in ...
'' (1928).
Possible errata
The son of Bella and Jacob Tanios is mentioned as Edward and, twice, as John in the novel. The boy is mentioned by name by his mother in Chapters 2, 16, 17 and by his father in Chapters 2 and 17 as well. At any other time, they are mentioned as "the children". At the very end of Chapter 16 in one print version, when Bella, her daughter Mary and Poirot are joined by Jacob Tanios and their son, Poirot asks Bella a question and she replies:
''"When do you return to Smyrna, madame?" "In a few weeks' time. My husband – ah! here is my husband and John with him."''
At the start of Chapter 17, Jacob Tanios then calls his son John:
''"Here we are," he said, smiling to his wife. "John has been passionately thrilled by his first ride in the tube. He has always been in buses until today."''
Other print versions have more switches between John and Edward (in Chapter 2 a few sentences apart, for example).
However, in the audiobook edition read by Hugh Fraser, the boy is always called Edward, even in those two instances where the print version has the wrong name. Thus they are termed errata
An erratum or corrigendum (plurals: errata, corrigenda) (comes from la, errata corrige) is a correction of a published text. As a general rule, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing pro ...
. It is not clear when the errata were corrected for the audiobook.
The book is inconsistent in its references to Bella Tanios' maiden name. There is an early reference to her as Bella Winter (see Chapter 1, page 8 "For Bella Winter, Emily Arundell's niece, had married a Greek"). Later she is referred to as Bella Biggs, daughter of Professor Biggs (see Chapter 10, page 74 "Emily was alone in the world then, and they and Bella Biggs were the only kith and kin she had.")
Also in the audio book, the title of Chapter 18 is A Cuckoo in the Nest, changed from A Nigger in the Woodpile, in early texts.[ That change is more likely attributed to changing values as to accepted language, than considered errata.
]
History
''Dumb Witness'' was based on a short story entitled "The Incident of the Dog's Ball". For many years, this short story was kept along with Agatha Christie's other papers in a room at Greenway that came to be known as the so-called “fax room”. To add dramatic effect at the time of the story's eventual publication, it was claimed that the story had been thought lost until it was located by the author's daughter in a crate of her personal effects, in 2004. "The Incident of the Dog's Ball" was published in Britain in September 2009 in John Curran's '' Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making''. The short story was also published by ''The Strand Magazine'' in their tenth anniversary issue of the revived magazine in 2009.
Quotes
Poirot on lying as needed to learn the facts, in conversation with Hastings in Chapter 26:
H: "More lies, I suppose?"
P: "You are really very offensive sometimes, Hastings. Anybody would think I enjoyed telling lies."
H: "I rather think you do. In fact, I'm sure of it."
P: "It is true that I sometimes compliment myself upon my ingenuity," Poirot confessed naively.
Adaptations
Television
In 1996 the novel was adapted by Douglas Watkinson Douglas Watkinson is an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter, specializing in crime and mystery. His books feature the hard-bitten, soft-centred Nathan Hawk, a police officer who was 'required to retire' and now works as a private detective ...
as part of the television series ''Agatha Christie's Poirot
''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...
'', starring David Suchet
Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenh ...
as Poirot. The adaptation made a number of changes to it, which included the following:
* The setting was changed from Berkshire to England's Lake District
The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
.
* Poirot visits the Arundell home before Emily dies, and not after; he does not use the pretence of buying it to examine the house. In addition, after learning of her fall, he influences her to change her will to favour Miss Lawson, and later advises her companion to share out her inheritance to the Arundell family after the court case.
* Charles Arundell is a motor-boat racer and a friend of Captain Hastings, who attempts to beat the water speed record, and uses his aunt to finance the attempts. His sister Theresa is changed from the vain, young, engaged woman in the novel to a single woman in her late thirties.
* Bella Tanios does not leave on her own with the children, but is helped by Poirot and Hastings to the home of Emily's friends the Tripp sisters.
* No arsenic is stolen in the adaptation.
* The role of the dog, Bob, the dumb witness who is suspected of causing Emily's fall, is slightly altered in the television adaptation – in the novel the dog often left the ball on the landing, and the people of the house put it away, but on the night of Emily's fall the dog had been outside all night with the ball in a drawer. In the adaptation, the dog always takes the ball with him to his basket, never leaving it anywhere else, proving that when it was found on the stairs, it could not have been the dog's doing but must involve someone else; Bob was not outside the house when Emily fell in this adaptation.
* An additional murder was added into the adaptation – that of Dr Grainger. Whilst talking to Miss Lawson about Emily's death, he had suddenly realised the significance of the mist coming out of Emily as a sign, realising how she was poisoned with elemental phosphorus, but foolishly alerted Bella to his suspicions. Thus, Bella went to his room while he slept, and opened up an unlit gas heater, flooding the room with coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...
, killing him as a result.
* When Poirot reveals his findings to all, Bella does not commit suicide; she is present with the others, and exposed as the murderer, rather than being given a summary of it by Poirot on her own.
* Bob the dog does not return to London with Poirot and Hastings but is taken in by the Tripp sisters.
The cast includes:
* Hugh Fraser as Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
*Ann Morrish
Ann Morrish (born 15 June 1928) is a British actress. Her television appearances include regular roles in ''Compact'' and '' The Expert'', as well as '' The House of Eliott'', '' Minder'', '' Softly Softly'' . She appeared in the 2006 ''Midsomer ...
as Emily Arundel
*Patrick Ryecart
Patrick Geoffrey Ryecart (born 9 May 1952) is an English actor.
Early life and career
Ryecart was born in Warwick, Warwickshire.
His first West End appearance was in Bernard Shaw's ''Candida (play), Candida'' at the Albery Theatre, playing t ...
as Charles Arundel
*Kate Buffery
Katharine Rose Buffery (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress. She is known for her numerous roles on British television, including the ITV drama series '' Wish Me Luck'' (1988–1990), BBC miniseries ''Close Relations'' (1998), Channel 5 ...
as Theresa Arundel
*Paul Herzberg
Paul Herzberg (born 1953) is an actor and writer, known for ''The Honourable Woman'' (2014), ''Black Earth Rising'' (2019), ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011), '' Room 36'' (2005), ''Blood'' and ''Cry Freedom'' (1987).
Early life
Born in Cape To ...
as Jacob Tanios
*Julia St. John
Julia St John is an England, English actress. Her television credits include ''A Touch of Frost'', ''The Brittas Empire'', ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', ''Lovejoy'', ''Minder (TV series), Minder'', ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme, Harry E ...
as Bella Tanios
*Norma West
Norma West (born 19 November 1943) is a British actress,
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, her best known television appearance was as Queen Elizabeth of York in the BBC series ''The Shadow of the Tower'' (1972). She played the part of Number 6 ...
as Wilhelmina Lawson
*Jonathan Newth
Jonathan Newth (born 6 March 1939) is an English actor.
Early life
Newth trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Newth's theatre work includes appearances with the RSC, in the West End and on Broadway.
His television cre ...
as Dr. Grainger
2013: It was adapted as a 2013 episode of the French television series ''Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie
is a French (comedic Police procedural, police crime drama) television program consisting of two series based loosely on Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie's works of detective fiction, first broadcast on France 2 on 9 January 2009 in television ...
''.
Radio
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
broadcast a full cast adaptation of the novel in 2006, featuring John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot and Simon Williams as Captain Arthur Hastings. Music was composed by Tom Smail.
The production was recorded for sale as an audio book on cassette or CD. Three editions of this BBC Radio Full Cast Drama were released in the UK and US markets, the latest being the January 2010 US edition on CD, .[
]
Graphic novel
''Dumb Witness'' was released by HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
as a graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
adaptation on 6 July 2009, adapted and illustrated by " Marek" ().
Publication history
* 1937, Collins Crime Club (London), 5 July 1937, Hardcover, 320 pp
* 1938, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1937, Hardcover, 302 pp
* 1945, Avon Books
Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...
, Paperback, 260 pp (Avon number 70)
* 1949, Pan Books
Pan Books is a publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany.
Pan Books began as an independent publisher, est ...
, Paperback, 250 pp (Pan number 82)
* 1958, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
), Paperback, 255 pp
* 1965, Dell Books
Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and so ...
, Paperback, 252 pp
* 1969, Pan Books, Paperback, 218 pp
* 1973, Ulverscroft Large-print
Large-print (also large-type or large-font) refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the typeface (or font) are considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the medium is also increa ...
Edition, Hardcover, 454 pp
* 1975, Fontana Books, Paperback, 255 pp
* 2007, Poirot Facsimile Edition (Facsimile of 1937 UK First Edition), HarperCollins, 3 January 2007, Hardback,
In addition to those listed above, thirteen paperbacks issued from July 1969 (Macmillan UK edition) to June 2011 (William Morrow US edition ) are shown at Fantastic Fiction. The most recent hardback edition was issued in April 2013 for the US market by Center Point .
The book is in continuous publication, and in several forms. Two Kindle editions have been issued: one in January 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks (ISBN B000FC2RRM) and again in October 2010 by HarperCollins (ISBN B0046RE5CW). Four audio editions for the UK and US markets are listed, from August 2002, all read by Hugh Fraser by HarperCollins Audiobooks in the UK, and by BBC Audiobooks America and Audio Partners, The Mystery Masters February 2006 in the US.[
The book was first serialised in the US in '']The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'' in seven instalments from 7 November (Volume 209, Number 19) to 19 December 1936 (Volume 209, Number 25) under the title ''Poirot Loses a Client'' with illustrations by Henry Raleigh.
In the UK, the novel was serialised as an abridged version in the weekly ''Women's Pictorial'' magazine in seven instalments from 20 February (Volume 33, Number 841) to 3 April 1937 (Volume 33, Number 847) under the title ''Mystery of Littlegreen House''. There were no chapter divisions and all of the instalments carried illustrations by "Raleigh".[Holdings at the ]British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
(Newspapers – Colindale). Shelfmark: NPL LON TB12.
References
External links
''Dumb Witness''
at the official Agatha Christie website
*
{{authority control
1937 British novels
Hercule Poirot novels
Works originally published in The Saturday Evening Post
Novels first published in serial form
Novels set in Berkshire
Collins Crime Club books
British novels adapted into television shows