Study Material

B. A.
(Programme) Semester-V English
DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC ELECTIVE (DSE)

Detective Literature
Study Material
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi
Department of English
Graduate Course
Discipline Specific Elective (DSE)

Detective Literature
Study Material
Contents
Title Writer Editor Page
The Adventure of the Akansha Goswami Dr. Neeta Gupta 1-13

Solitary Cyclist by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Menagerie by Akansha Goswami P.K. Satapathy 14-25

Saradindu
Bandopadhyay
A Murder is Announced Renu Koyu Dr. Seema Suri 26-50

by Agatha Christie
The Murders in Rue Komal Dabas Nalini Prabhakar 51-60

Morgue by Edgar Allan
Poe
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction 1
2.0 Learning Objectives 1
3.0 A Word about Detective Fiction 2
3.1 What is Detective Fiction 2
3.2 Features of Detective Fiction 2
3.3 Emergence of Detective Fiction 2
3.4 Self Check Questions 3
4.0 ‘The Adventures of the Solitary Cyclist’ – A Summary 3
5.0 Analysis 6
5.1 Title 6
5.2 Themes 7
5.3 Narrative Structure 8
5.4 Style and Language 8
5.5 Setting 9
6.0 Character Analysis 9
6.1 Sherlock Holmes 9
6.2 Dr John H. Watson 11
6.3 Miss Violet Smith 12
6.4 Mr. Carruthers 12
6.5 Mr. Woodley 12
6.6 Self-Check Questions 13
Suggested Readings 13
The Menagerie
Saradindu Bandopadhyay
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction 14
3.0 Summary 15
4.0 Characters 20
4.1 Detective Byomkesh Bakshi 20
4.2 Ajit 21
4.3 Mr Nishanath Sen 21
5.0 Minor Characters 22
6.0 Analysis 23
References 25
A Murder is Announced
Agatha Christie
CONTENTS
Part I 26-39
1.1 Introduction 26
1.2 Summary 26
Part II 40-50
2.1 Agatha Christie: A Brief Biography 40

2.2 The Cozy Crime Genre 40
2.3 Themes in the Novel 42
2.4 Challenging the Idea of a Traditional Detective 44
2.5 Critical Analysis of the Novel 44
Questions 48
Bibliography 49
The Murders in Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
CONTENTS

2.0 Introduction 51
3.0 Detective Fiction as a Genre 51
4.0 Summary 53
5.0 Critical Analysis 56
6.0 Main Characters 59
7.0 Summing Up 60
Suggested Readings 60
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Akansha Goswami
1.0 INTRODUCTION
“The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist” brings us back to one of the most famous fictional
characters in English Literature - Sherlock Holmes. This story was written by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle and was first published in the US magazine Collier's and then in The Strand
Magazine in Britain in December 1903 and January 1904 respectively. Later in 1905, it
was republished in Doyle’s short-story collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was
also adapted into various TV and radio series. Some of them kept the original storyline like
the 1968 BBC series with Peter Cushing while others added some new elements like
comedy in The Granada TV version with Jeremy Brett.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a British Physician and writer who was born in 1859
and died in 1930. He had first created Sherlock’s character for his story A Study in Scarlet
but ended up using it in four novels and fifty-six short stories. Whereas he is primarily
known for his detective stories of Sherlock Holmes, his other works include novels like
The Mystery of Cloomber, Narrative of John Smith, a science fiction novel The Lost World,
to name a few. In terms of genre, other than detective fiction, he wrote plays, romances,
science fiction, fantasy fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and also historical novels.
Doyle’s fictional character Sherlock Holmes is a highly intelligent detective who
lives at 221B Baker street London during the late Victorian era and solves some of the most
mysterious crimes in England. Sherlock lives with his best friend who is a retired army
doctor named Dr. Watson. The duo solves the crimes together where Sherlock uses his
unique methods of deduction and Dr Watson helps him in the process. Watson is also the
narrator in most of the stories and writes a book on Sherlock. Since its first appearance, the
characters of Sherlock and Watson have gained eternal fame in the world of detective
fiction even though the stories and contexts have changed. Although “The Adventure of
the Solitary Cyclist” is not one of the most famous and mysterious stories, it is indeed
worthy of a quick reading if you like detective stories.
2.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

● To read and analyze this text as Detective Fiction.
● To understand the writing style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle using this story as an
example.
● To further understand the plot, theme, structure, style, symbols and metaphors (if
any) used in the text.
● To understand the features of characters in detective fiction.
● To understand the narrative style used in this short story.
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3.0 A WORD ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION
While reading this text, you should try to understand how detective fiction is different from
other forms of fiction writings. Why are readers still reading this century-old story? How
is a character like Sherlock still popular and very much alive in literature? And last but not
the least take a note of your reading experience and see how is it different from reading any
other short story? Let us first try and understand what detective fiction is and what all does
a crime story involve.
3.1 What is Detective Fiction
Detective Fiction is known as a subgenre of Crime Fiction in which a detective or an
investigator solves a crime. This detective is usually a person with extraordinary skills. For
example, Sherlock is brilliant at deduction and logical reasoning, understands chemistry,
has excellent observation skills, etc. Detective Fiction belongs to the genre of popular
fiction. It is neither considered to be of high literary standards nor read and appreciated by
the intelligentsia. Detective stories are popular among middle-class readers. Laura Marcus
in her essay “Detection and literary fiction” in Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction
writes that:
Detective fiction, like other genre fiction, is seen as a popular and lesser subset of high
or ‘proper’ literature. On the other, the literature of detection, with its complex double
narrative in which an absent story, that of a crime, is gradually reconstructed in the
second story (the investigation), its uses of suspense, and its power to give aesthetic
shape to the most brute of matter, has been seen as paradigmatic of literary narrative
itself. (245)
3.2 Features of Detective Fiction
All detective stories usually give a thrill to readers, a sense of achievement and satisfaction
when they read how a mystery is solved and justice is served. The detective becomes a hero
who will always have the answer at the end of the story. W. H. Auden called it “an addiction
like tobacco or alcohol” in his article “The Guilty Vicarage Adjust: Notes on the Detective
Story, by an Addict” published in Harper’s magazine. In the same essay, he has also tried
to give a general formula or recipe for detective stories. For example, there is a peaceful
state before murder then murder revelation. After that, there are false clues, secondary
murder, etc. Then, the detective provides a solution and assists in the arrest of the murderer
and the earlier peaceful state is retained. Like Auden, many other writers and critics have
also tried to give a perfect formula for the reader's addiction to such stories.
3.3 Emergence of Detective Fiction
There were majorly two factors that led to the rise of detective fiction. One was the creation
of the official police force and the need for investigation rather than just prevention of
crimes and the other was the rise of magazine culture which made these stories easily
available to the reading public at an affordable price.
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Judith Flanders in her incisive article ‘Creation of the Police and the Rise of Detective
Fiction’ traces the emergence of the detective to the establishment of the official police
force in 1829. Later when the need for investigation and detection was addressed the
Detective Division was set up at the famous Scotland Yard in 1842. The stress was on
investigation is evident from the fact that this department was renamed as the Criminal
Investigation Department or CID in 1878. Fictional detectives then came on the scene
because as Flanders writes: ‘readers became fascinated not just by the crime itself but by
its solution’ (https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians).
Parallel to this was the growth of a market for affordable fiction. Martin A. Kayman in
“The Short Story from Poe to Chesterton”, argues that magazine culture has widely
contributed to the flourishing short story detective culture in the Nineteenth Century. He
writes:
The destinies of both the short story and the detective story were, then, closely related
to the history of magazine publication in each country. These followed different
rhythms, but, in the magazines aimed at the general public, works of fiction, literary or
popular, were to be found, in varying proportions, alongside texts dealing with history
and biography, travel and adventure, and information on contemporary society and
public affairs (41).
Detective fiction is still very popular. It is widely written and read in different cultures like
Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Indian, etc. Besides this sometimes it overlaps with
science fiction, fantasy fiction and nowadays new emerging genres like interactive fiction
and video games etc. Hence the writings of this genre and theories about it have evolved
over the years.
3.4 Self Check Questions
1. How is detective fiction different from other forms of fiction writings?
2. Why are readers still reading this century-old story?
3. What are the features of detective fiction?
4. What led to the emergence of detective literature?
4.0 ‘THE ADVENTURES OF THE SOLITARY CYCLIST’ – A SUMMARY

The story begins with Watson describing how the famous detective Sherlock Holmes has
solved many crimes from 1894 to 1901. He explains that he is telling this story of Miss
Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist of Charlington Hall, because of the “dramatic quality of
the solution” to the problem that surfaced in her case (1). Miss Violet Smith comes to visit
Sherlock when he is already engaged in another business. However, he listens to her and
asks her to explain why she needs his assistance.
She begins by saying that she is a teacher who lives with her mother in London and
has no other relatives. Her father is dead and she has one uncle who had gone to Africa
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twenty-five years ago and they have never heard a word from him. One day she receives
news that an advertisement in the Times is inquiring about their whereabouts so she goes
and meets the lawyer whose name is given in the paper. Here she is introduced to two
gentlemen, Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Woodley. They inform her about her uncle’s death in
Africa and offer to help in any possible way. She does not have a very good opinion of Mr.
Woodley and is afraid that her lover Cyril Morton, who is an electrical engineer, will not
like him either. However, she gets a job offer with a good salary and benefits from Mr.
Carruthers to teach his ten-year-old daughter at Charlington Hall.
At present she is living in Chiltern Grange at Charlington Hall. She comes back to
London every weekend to meet her mother who is not in very good health. Every Saturday
she rides her bicycle to Farnham Station, to get the 12.22 train to town. Her adventure
began when two weeks ago she was followed by a mysterious cyclist on her way to the
train station. This person does not harm her or trouble her in any way. He only follows her
at a safe distance. This action continues even when she returns on Monday and the same
pattern follows the next week. She explains the situation to Mr. Carruthers who promises
to provide a carriage for her on her next visit.
She also explains how Mr. Woodley tried to molest her and got into a fight with
Mr. Carruthers. She is suspicious that Mr. Carruthers also has special feelings for her. She
wants to know about the mystery cyclist and asks Mr. Sherlock for help. Sherlock assures
her that he will look into this matter when she goes back to Chiltern Grange and advises
her not to do anything on her own as she might get into trouble. Miss Smith leaves and
Sherlock asks Watson to keep an eye on her on her next journey.
As Watson follows Miss Smith, he hides behind the bushes and waits for the
appearance of the mystery cyclist. The mystery man appears and in turn waits for the arrival
of Miss Smith and starts following her at a safe distance when she comes. Watson watches
all of this secretly. Suddenly, Miss Smith turns her bicycle and starts moving toward her
mystery follower. He panics and runs away. Not successful at uncovering the identity of
the cyclist Miss Smith returns to Charlington Hall. The last thing Watson sees is that the
man appears again and changes his necktie near the Charlington Hall gate. Later Watson
enquires about Charlington Hall from a local property dealer and returns to London. He
reports everything to Sherlock who is not very happy. According to him Watson’s hiding
position was wrong and for gathering information he should have gone to the nearest public
house which is the centre of country gossip. The next morning they receive a note from
Miss Smith with the same details as Watson has told Sherlock. She also informs that Mr.
Carruthers has asked her to marry him but she has rejected the proposal.
Meanwhile, Sherlock makes another trip to the countryside and tries to get
information from locals in a bar where he gets into a fight with Mr. Woodley. On Thursday
they receive another letter from their client Miss Smith in which she updates them about
her plans. She has decided to leave her job and return to London that weekend. She is also
disturbed by the fact that Mr. Woodley has returned and is living in the same
neighbourhood.
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Sherlock worries about her safety and decides to go to Charlington Hall to ensure her safe
return to London.
On Saturday morning Sherlock and Watson reach Farnham Station and walk on the
same route which Miss Smith is supposed to take. On their way, they see an empty carriage
and Miss Smith missing from the scene. Sherlock cries that they are too late and the tragedy
has already befallen Miss Smith. He regrets coming late for her help. He says to Watson
that he can only make amends for his blunder now as Miss Smith is probably already
murdered by someone. In the meantime, they see someone running towards them on a
bicycle- this person is the mystery cyclist. The identity of the man is revealed as Mr.
Carruthers. He explains to Sherlock and Watson that she must have been kidnapped by
Woodley before their arrival. Relieved and worried at the same time, all three of them
follow Mr. Carruthers’ directions to find Miss Smith’s location. They find Peter, the driver
of the carriage, in the nearby bushes with a deep cut on his leg. Making sure that they are
on the right track, as they move further, they hear a painful cry of a woman. Running
towards the direction of the cry, they find Woodley holding Miss Smith who is unconscious
and the ex-clergyman Mr. Williamson standing by. Looking at them, Woodley claims that
Miss Smith is his wife now and they are already married.
Mr. Carruthers bursts into anger and shoots Woodley with his pistol. Woodley
shouts in pain and takes out his revolver. However, before he could do anything, Sherlock
and Watson take control of the situation. Sherlock writes a note and asks Peter, who has
just arrived at the scene, to deliver it to the Farnham Police Station. Watson checks
Woodley’s injuries and confirms that he will live. Hearing this, Mr. Carruthers gets hyper
and wants to kill him. He worries that Woodley will destroy Miss Smith’s life if he lives.
Sherlock ensures him that a forced marriage is not valid by law.
As they await the police, Sherlock explains that Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Woodley
have known Miss Smith’s uncle from Africa who must have left his large fortune to her.
To get that fortune they made a plan that one of them will marry Miss Smith and the other
person will get an equal share of the fortune. They played cards for her and Woodley won.
He was the one to have married Miss Smith. Their plan failed when Mr. Carruthers fell in
love with Miss Smith and she rejected Mr. Woodley’s courtship. Finally, the story ends
with Watson explaining how justice is served by the law and Miss Violet Smith is saved.
1. Where is this story set?
2. Write the name of all characters in the story.
3. What is this story about?
4. How was Miss Violet Smith saved?
5. Can you create a timeline of all major events in the story?
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5.0 ANALYSIS
Solving crime is usually the main goal in detective fiction. Readers get satisfaction when
smart detectives solve crimes and uphold justice in society. There is suspense, thrill,
complications and solutions, all revolving around certain events and people. To create these
elements of surprise, suspense and adventure Doyle uses a first-person narrative voice,
exact dates, direct sentences, flashback stories, letters, and references to the country and
town life of the late Victorian period This makes for a realistic description of the story. The
dialogue narrative helps readers to imagine the plot of the story and also to believe in it.
The quick pace plot to find out about the mystery cyclist and the reason why he follows
Miss Smith creates suspense and thrill for the reader. Readers get surprised when Sherlock
says that Miss Smith is probably already murdered. The possibility that the famous
detective can also make mistakes- creates a surprise and excitement for readers.
As a characteristic of popular and cheap fiction, readers are hooked onto the story
from the beginning. Some readers might feel that compared to other stories of Doyle, this
one is relatively slow paced. In the end, there are some loose ends like readers get no
concrete information about Mr. Carruthers' punishment. There is also no information about
“John Vincent Harden, the well-known tobacco millionaire” (1), mentioned at the
beginning of the story. However, it cannot be denied that the story provides sufficient
elements of mystery, surprise and thrill.
Even before we move into the story however, readers begin to have expectations of
adventure from the title of the story itself.
5.1 Title: The title of the story matches the common pattern followed by Doyle and other
detective fiction writers i.e. to use words that can create expectations, anxiety, excitement
in readers to read the story. This technique is very often seen in popular and cheap fiction
to incite readers to pick the story. This is not the first time that Doyle has used the word
“adventure” in his title. Several of his short stories share a similar title. Noun “Adventure”
is described as “a reckless or potentially hazardous action or enterprise” or “excitement
associated with danger or the taking of risks” in the dictionary. However, whose adventure
is Doyle talking about? And what are the reckless and dangerous actions in this adventure?
All these questions raise a sense of excitement and anxiety in readers.
The next word in the title is “the solitary cyclist”. This further adds suspense to the
reader’s expectation. The reader wants to know who is the solitary cyclist and why is the
cyclist called solitary. Here students should question Doyle’s intention in using “solitary”
as an adjective to define the cyclist in the story. A ‘solitary’ person is someone lonely,
alone or odd. There are two cyclists in the story- Miss Violet Smith and Mr. Bob Carruthers.
Who fits best with the adjective solitary? In the very first paragraph, Doyle writes “Miss
Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist of Charlington” (1). Miss Smith is “solitary” as she is
unlike other Victorian women. She has a unique personality, she does not wear gloves, she
is bold and courageous. She rides her bicycle alone.
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On the other hand, Doyle uses the same adjective to describe the arrival of Mr.
Carruthers after Miss Smiths kidnapping- “A solitary cyclist was coming towards us” (6).
He is described in this manner because Watson recognizes him as the lonely cyclist who
follows Miss Smith.
Hence, this story is not just an adventure of Miss Smith but also of Mr. Carruthers.
Both the characters are “solitary” in their own way. Both of them are involved in reckless
or potentially hazardous actions or enterprises.
5.2 Themes: The story also unravels the theme of solving crime and serving justice.
Besides this other common Victorian themes like saving vulnerable women in distress,
class hierarchy, colonial pride, belief in sciences, sports and readiness for physical combat,
and seeking knowledge are also present in this short story.
Now let’s take some textual examples to understand how Doyle is working with
these themes in the text. Sherlock is busy with his work but as a chivalric Victorian man,
he cannot reject a woman’s call for help. Victorian men can think of women as having
lower intellectual capabilities but they cannot disrespect them. When Miss Smith comes
for a consultation, she becomes Sherlock’s responsibility. Watson says:
My friend, who loved above all things precision and concentration of thought,
resented anything which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet
without a harshness which was foreign to his nature, it was impossible to refuse to
listen to the story of the young and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly,
who presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening and implored his assistance
and advice (1).
Sherlock’s comment on Mr. Carruther’s house and finances hints at a class
hierarchy when he questions, “What sort of a menage is it which pays double the market
price for a governess, but does not keep a horse although six miles from the station? Odd,
Watson—very odd!” (3). At the same time it shows that his detective mind is already
sensing an ulterior motive behind Mr. Carruther’s action.
The story is set in a time when England ruled the world through its various colonies.
We can detect a sense of colonial pride when there is talk about South Africa and Miss
Violet Smith’s uncle having amassed great wealth in his sojourn there. No clear reference
is provided as to how he gained his fortunes but the fact is that England’s colonies presented
great opportunities for British men to better their prospects in life. They were considered
mysterious places where these men could go and explore and be enterprising. The flip side
to it is that their exploration is more like exploitation of both natural resources and people
of colonized countries.
Knowledge is also one of the major themes in Victorian literature and detective
fiction. Unlike Dr Faustus, Sherlock is not just obsessed with knowledge, he wants to use
it to solve crime mysteries. His passion lies in using any possible skill to achieve his goal
of solving crime and serving justice. Besides this, Sherlock is ready for physical combat.
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He is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman which is very characteristic of
Victorian men.
5.3 Narrative Structure: From the very first paragraph in the story, the reader can detect
Watson’s admiration for Sherlock’s intellectual abilities. The story does not start with the
crime scene. It starts with Doyle establishing Sherlock’s reputation as a detective via
Watson’s narrative. He writes that it is safe to say that “there was no public case of any
difficulty in which he was not consulted during those eight years, and there were hundreds
of private cases, some of them of the most intricate and extraordinary character, in which
he played a prominent part” (1).
In the previously mentioned essay, Laura Marcus talks about the complex double
narrative of detective fiction. However, here three narratives are present in the story. First
is Doyle telling the story to the readers. Second is Watson writing the story as Sherlock’s
biographer and third is Miss Smith as a character telling her story to Watson and Sherlock.
Doyle as a narrator is completely absent for readers. He has given the complete
authority of a narrator to Watson. Moreover, Watson is ironically just a fictional character
completely controlled by Doyle. This illusion that Doyle has only written what Watson has
lived and seen with his own eyes, makes the reader believe in Watson’s narrative as a true
and real story. Therefore, readers ultimately believe that Doyle’s stories are real stories. As
a result, when in one of the stories “The Final Problem” Doyle kills Sherlock, he has to
revive him because readers refuse to accept the death of Sherlock Holmes.
5.4 Style and Language: The story is written with a first-person narrative voice, exact
dates, direct sentences, flashback stories, letters, and references to the country and town
life of the late Victorian period. Doyle has used several stereotypical adjectives to describe
the characters in the story. For example, Miss Violet Smith is described as “...the young
and beautiful, woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented herself at Baker Street
late in the evening and implored his assistance and advice”(1). And Mr. Woodley is
described as “...a coarse, puffy-faced, red-mustached young man, with his hair plastered
down on each side of his forehead” (2).
The conversational style of writing with short and simple sentences used by
characters creates a kind of intimacy—ideally by using language and phrasing familiar to
the audience. It makes the story read like a conversation between two people rather than a
text. As a result, readers can easily picture the narrative moving forward in their
imagination. For example:
Holmes sat in silence for some little time.
“Where is the gentleman to whom you are engaged?” he asked, at last.
“He is in the Midland Electrical Company, at Coventry.”
“He would not pay you a surprise visit?”
“Oh, Mr. Holmes! As if I should not know him!”
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“Have you had any other admirers?”
“Several before I knew Cyril.”
“And since?”
“There was this dreadful man, Woodley, if you can call him an admirer.”
“No one else?”
Our fair client seemed a little confused.
“Who was he?” asked Holmes (3).
Letters add another layer of style to these stories. Instead of giving information
only, the letters are included in the plot. Watson is not simply giving the information of
Miss Smith’s letter. Doyle has included the letter in the story which makes readers believe
more in the story. This style of epistolary writing adds realism to the story. It also mimics
the real-life of late Victorian society.
5.5 Setting: In most of the Sherlock stories, Doyle has chosen London with its busy
lifestyle and rising crime. Readers can visualize Sherlock living and solving crimes in
London at 221B, Baker Street. Doyle has created a typical image of Victorian London and
the British countryside. Sometimes there are also references to British colonies but usually,
it’s in flashbacks. Kayman discusses how Doyle’s stories celebrate the materialism of the
Victorian age as he writes:
The stories celebrate the materialism of the age, showing that the ordinary small
objects of everyday existence, if observed properly, have stories, create
atmospheres, and point directions. At the same time, they celebrate the capacity of
rationalism to organize the material of existence meaningfully, and the power of the
rational individual to protect us from semiotic and moral chaos. Yet the crimes are
rarely excessively troubling (and, although we do find murders, on the other hand
in many stories there is no crime at all) (48, 49).
1. Write about the narrative structure of this short story and highlight the
characteristics of commonly used narrative styles of detective fiction.
2. What are the common Victorian themes present in “The Adventures of the Solitary
Cyclist”? Give suitable examples from the text.
3. Write a brief note on the London lifestyle. Talk about advanced railways,
communication networks like telegram, availability of newspaper and magazines,
etc. in the late Victorian society of “the adventures of the solitary cyclist”.
6.0 CHARACTER ANALYSIS

6.1 Sherlock Holmes: First time the character of Sherlock Holmes appeared in A Study in
Scarlet written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He calls himself a “consulting detective”. As
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Sherlock famously says to Watson in the pilot episode of the TV series- "I'm a consulting
detective. The only one in the world. I invented the job". In the story, he travels by train,
knows about railway routes and stations, uses telegrams, receives letters, has a house
address, helps Scotland Yard, has a daily routine, gets sick, fights with people and plays
the violin. His intellectual powers amaze readers and his remarks on other’s inability to
observe things like him, make readers laugh. In this story also, he does not refrain from
pointing out Watson’s mistakes- “You have done remarkably badly. He returns to the house
and you want to find out who he is” (4).
He knows Chemistry, Botany, Geography, Anatomy, and Law. He is skilled in
deduction, observation, memorizing, boxing and swordplay. On the bad side, he uses
cocaine, morphine, cigarettes, cigars and pipes. However, all of these drugs were legal in
late Victorian England. (In fact, England was a big dealer in the tobacco business. It was
produced in countries like India and sold to the rest of the world by British companies.) He
is known as a man of habits and likes to work in a certain way. He gets annoyed if he has
to change something. His emotions make him more real for readers.
Sherlock is like a hero but his personality fits more into the category of an anti-
hero. Hero is someone who does heroic acts, saves people, is kind, does not bend rules,
follows the law, and serves justice. Hero is like a model figure in society whom everyone
looks up to. An anti-hero, on the other hand, is willing to cross the moral line to help others
and does everything which a hero can do. An anti-hero is not always a role model in society
but that does not mean that such figures are not loved by people. Every reader might want
to have Sherlock’s fame and powers but very few can accept his vices. Here learners should
understand that Sherlock in this story and his modern representation in TV series have
several differences. Readers and viewers have to decide for themselves and give suitable
arguments when they call Sherlock a hero or an anti-hero.
Sherlock is also sometimes misunderstood as sexist and misogynist. According to
Oxford dictionary definitions, a sexist is a person with sexist views who stereotypes and
discriminates people based on their sex, especially women. Misogynist, on the other hand,
is a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women. The reason for
this misunderstanding is the popular representations of Sherlock in modern TV and web
series. However, particularly in this story, Sherlock is just a busy man who does not like to
be bothered by the trivialities of common people. He is not disrespectful towards Miss
Violet Smith. In contrast, he behaves politely and courteously with Miss Smith. He has
made some sexist remarks on women in some other stories however, that is very typical of
his Victorian understanding. One cannot judge his character with 21st century standards.
It can be summarized that he is one of the most famous fictional detectives in
English Literature. He has been an inspiration for several works of Literature even in the
21st century. His character has a history of development. This development is on two
levels- one is a Sherlock created by Doyle in A Study in Scarlet. This character was further
developed in four novels and fifty-six short stories. The second plan is the development of
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Sherlock from Doyle’s fictional character to the modern version of Sherlock in 21st century
TV, cinema, web series, comics, novels and stories etc. Modern Sherlock has a more
detailed family history, friends, modern skills, vices and virtues. It should not be confused
with Sherlock in this short story.
6.2 Dr John H. Watson: He is a retired army physician who is Sherlock’s best friend and
biographer. He does not write about Sherlock’s life but his cases. At first, Arthur Conan
Doyle named the character Ormond Sacker (see the manuscript in A Study in Scarlet). But
he changed his mind later and renamed him John H. Watson (The Arthur Conan Doyle
Encyclopedia). Where Sherlock is seen as impatient and insensitive, Watson is known for
his patience and sensitivity. He tolerates the uncommon lifestyle and behaviour of
Sherlock.
He writes about Sherlock’s cases and how he solves them. Sometimes he also provides his
help when Sherlock is busy with matters of more importance. For example, in this story
also, Sherlock sends Watson first to collect details. He says that “This may be some trifling
intrigue, and I cannot break my other important research for the sake of it” (3). From time
to time he asks questions to Sherlock and gives his input also. His timely questions are
reflections of the reader’s curiosity. When Sherlock replies to his queries or explains some
things to him, it is also for the benefit of the reader. Watson is not envious of Sherlock’s
skills. He is fully aware of Sherlock’s potential so he never feels bad about being criticized
by his friend. His skills are considered elementary in comparison to Sherlock but no doubt,
he has his virtues. Watson is intelligent and sharp.
As a narrator of the story, Watson looks humble and generous when he admires
Sherlock and criticizes his mistakes. He is involved in most of the cases so his first-person
narrating style makes these stories more real. However, he is not always with Sherlock. So
sometimes there is a gap in narration when Sherlock works alone. Such an example can be
seen when Sherlock goes to Charlington Hall alone and gets into a fight. As a narrator,
Watson can only provide a secondary account of Sherlock’s adventure. Hence, Watson’s
character as a narrator of the story has some limitations. Doyle has used a conversational
mode of writing to overcome such limitations.
Adiba Qonita Zahroh in “The Case of the Sidekick: The Roles of Dr John Watson
in Sherlock Holmes Cannon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle” (2015) published in Lexicon:
Journal of English Language and Literature, discusses Watson’s role as a sidekick. Zahroh
writes:
As a sidekick, Watson does not merely play as a follower or as a man-behind
Sherlock Holmes as a protagonist. Watson’s roles are very crucial and exceptional.
With his roles as a best friend, a narrator or biographer, a colleague, and a doctor,
Watson can influence Holmes’s life, especially his role as a narrator and a
biographer. This role determines how stories should be received and how Holmes’s
image should be appreciated by the readers (48).
11
Therefore, Watson’s character serves multiple purposes not only for Sherlock’s
character but also for Doyle and the reader. He is a friend, narrator, sidekick, biographer,
and much more.
6.3 Miss Violet Smith: She is a music teacher who lives with her mother. She is already
engaged to Cyril Morton who works at Midland Electrical Company, at Coventry. She is
an energetic and lively cyclist. She explains her story very precisely. She is also very
courageous to reject and oppose Mr. Woodley’s molestation. As a woman in Victorian
society, she does not wear gloves when she visits Holmes in London. Riding a bicycle and
not wearing gloves is very unladylike and Sherlock sees her differently from other women
of his times.
Doyle writes that “My friend took the lady’s ungloved hand and examined it with
as close an attention and as little sentiment as a scientist would show to a specimen”(1).
Here the metaphor of specimen is hinting towards the abnormal style of Miss Smith.
Specimen refers to an individual animal, plant, piece of a mineral, etc. used as an example
of its species or type for scientific study or display. It is also used to make fun of someone
different from others.
Felicia Appell in Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on Victorian
Relationships writes that “Victorian men also expected women to possess feminine
qualities as well as innocence; otherwise, they would not be of marriage potential”. In the
Victorian era, the main duty of a woman was to get married and serve her husband. She is
supposed to take interest in her husband’s interests and behave accordingly. Miss Violet
Smith here, is working but she is also very concerned about her fiancé’s opinions. She is
not a good example for an ideal Victorian lady but she is not beyond the Victorian social
norms.
Miss Violet Smith is the central protagonist, she is courageous, outstanding and
brave. However, she does not qualify as a heroine. She doesn't have any special qualities
or powers which can make her a heroine. As described by the Cambridge dictionary, a
heroine is a woman who is admired for having done something very brave or having
achieved something great. Miss Smith here is only a protagonist in the story. Although her
actions are full of bravery, she should not be misunderstood as a heroine.
6.4 Mr. Carruthers: He is one of the conspirators who falls in love with Miss Smith. Later,
he tries to protect her from Mr. Woodley’s evil plan. He is a selfish man who is not ready
to tell the truth. He wants to keep Miss Smith with him knowing that she is already engaged.
However, he also loves her enough that he shoots Mr. Woodley. He is later punished by
law for shooting.
6.5 Mr. Woodley: He is the main villain in the story and is a co-conspirator in the plan.
His hatches an evil plan with Mr. Carruthers that one of them will marry Miss Smith to
gain her fortune. His pervert behaviour of molesting Miss Smith annoys both Mr.
Carruthers and readers. Miss Smith describes him as “a most odious person “and a “coarse,
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puffy-faced, red-mustached young man, with his hair plastered down on each side of his
forehead.” She thinks he is “perfectly hateful…”(2). Mr. Carruthers calls him “Roaring
Jack Woodley”(7).
He is a selfish, evil and greedy man. He is unscrupulous and doesn’t think twice
about attacking and assaulting Miss Smith and forcing her into marriage.
6.6 Self-Check Questions
1. Write a short bio-note on the character of Sherlock Holmes in “The Adventures of
the Solitary Cyclist”.
2. What is Watson’s role in the story?
3. Can we call Sherlock Holmes a modern hero of Victorian society?
4. Write a short note on the character of Miss Smith as a working woman in late
Victorian society.
5. Write a brief account of your own experience of reading in “The Adventures of the
Solitary Cyclist”. Is it different from reading a novel or another short story?
SUGGESTED READINGS
● Cambridge Companion Crime Fiction
http://detective.gumer.info/txt/cambridge.pdf
● https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/pdf/a4/1-sided/soli.pdf
● Re-imagining Sherlock Holmes as the hero in detective fiction by Olivia-
Dumitrina Nechita.
http://www.beaconsociety.com/uploads/3/7/3/8/37380505/nechita_olivia-
dumitrina_--_re-
imagining_sherlock_holmes_as_the_hero_in_detective_fiction.pdf
● Sherlock – hero or antihero?
https://rucforsk.ruc.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/59855234/Sherlock_S17_ENG_F3_16
1.433.pdf
● The Other Sherlock Holmes: Postcolonialism in Victorian Holmes and 21st
Century Sherlock by Sarah E. Robinson.
https://www.proquest.com/openview/1c37fd9860cc1194d2be86a128f653cf/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
● The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia https://www.arthur-conan-
doyle.com/index.php/John_H._Watson
● “Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on Victorian Relationships”
https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm
● “Creation of the Police and the Rise of Detective Fiction by Judith Flanders”
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-creation-of-the-police-
and-the-rise-of-detective-fiction
13
The Menagerie
Saradindu Bandopadhyay
Akansha Goswami
1.0 Introduction
Saradindu Bandyopadhyay was born on 30 March 1899 in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh and died
on 22 September 1970. He received the Rabindra Puraskar for his novel Tungabhadrar
Tirey and Sarat Smriti Purashkar in 1967. He started his literary career with a book of
poems in 1919 when he was studying Law at Vidyasagar College, Calcutta. In 1938, he
moved to Bombay and wrote screenplays for cinema. In 1952, he came to Pune and focused
on writing books. He was famous for ghost stories, historical romances, and children’s
stories in Bangla.
“The Menagerie” was from the second phase of his writing career when he revived
Byomeksh’s character after leaving the film industry in 1952. He published it in 1953.
Satyajit Ray, in 1967, made it into the film Chiriakhana. The award-winning movie helped
revive the charms of Byomkesh Bakshi for a new generation. Saradindu Bandyopadhyay
first created Byomkesh Bakshi’s character in 1932 and continued with it till 1936.
Byomkesh’s character was inspired by Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Chesterton’s
Father Brown. Like Sherlock Holmes, he also used his observation skills to scrutinise the
situation to solve the cases. Similar to Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Byomkesh also had a best
friend who helped him in his adventures. As Sherlock had Watson as his chronicler,
Byomkesh had Ajit.
In “The Menagerie”, Byomkesh deals with a double murder case involving the
Golap colony's residents. The owner of the Golap Colony, Mr Nishanthbabu, requests
Byomkesh to solve the mystery of broken motor parts that he has received in his house. All
the residents of the Golap colony have done something shady in their past and are hiding
something. Byomkesh reveals the truth about residents and solves the murder mystery with
his keen observation and analytic skills.
2.0 Learning Objectives

After going through the lesson you will be able to:
• learn about detective fiction by reading Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s “The
Menagerie”.
• understand and analyse the plot and themes of the story.
• study and critically analyse the characters of the story.
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3.0 Summary
Saradindu Bandyopadhyay has divided the story into twenty-six short chapters. Ajit is the
narrator who tells the story from his point of view. He directly speaks to the reader and
often uses dialogues in the story.
3.1 Chapter 1: The story begins in one summer, after the second world war, in Calcutta.
Ajit and Byomkesh Babu are playing chess in the absence of any new cases. Then,
Nishanath Sen, a middle-aged man, visits them with a case. After a simple introduction,
Byomkesh deduces that Nishanath Sen is a civil servant- a judge or a magistrate. Impressed,
Nishanath Sen shares the purpose of his visit. He wants Byomkesh to solve the mystery of
broken motor parts he has received in his house at the Golap colony. Someone has been
sending the broken motor parts to Mr Sen, and he thinks someone is either blackmailing
him or pranking him. He tells Byomkesh about the residents of the Golap colony and that
none of them have a regular source of income. Some of them have disabilities by accident
or have done something shady in their past. Like Panugopal is physically handicapped, Dr
Bhujangadhar has a dubious history, and Mushkil Mian has a problem (mushkil) in
everything.
Byomkesh asks further about motor parts. Mr Sen recalls giving a life sentence to a motor
mechanic Lal Singh twelve years ago. Then he provides the advance with a commission to
Byomkesh Bakshi, and while leaving, he asks him to look him into one more matter. He
wants him to trace a B-grade film actress Sunayana and find her photograph. After Mr Sen
goes, Byomkesh counts the money and deduces that Mr Sen is intelligent but a trifle
careless about money as he has given them sixty rupees instead of fifty. At last, Byomkesh
and Ajit contemplate Mr Sen’s main reason for the visit.
3.2 Chapter 2: With Ajit’s help, they meet a film expert, Ramen Mullick. Mullick informs
them that Sunayana, known as Netyakali, is missing after the murder of a famous jeweller
Murari Dutta. He praises Sunayana’s remarkable performance in Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee’s The Poison Tree and Tarak Ganguly’s The Golden Maid. He confirms that no
one has ever seen her without makeup, and maybe her real name was not Sunayana or
Netyakali. Then he narrates the story of Murari Dutta’s murder by nicotine poison and how
an expensive diamond necklace went missing.
3.3 Chapter 3: Byomkesh, Ajit, and Ramen Mullick Babu visit Mr Sen’s farm at
Mohanpur. Mushkil Mian receives them at the station. He asks them to wait for
Rashikbabu, who goes to Calcutta daily to sell fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. He
tells them the farm has no money to buy a new motor van. When Rashikbabu arrives, they
introduce themselves and move towards the Golap colony farm.
3.4 Chapter 4: On the road, Ajit notices telephone poles and abandoned military vehicles
used in the second World War by Britishers. They reach the Golap colony hoping that
Sunayana or Netyakali is probably living there in disguise. Mr Sen greets them at the door.
15
Mrs Sen- Damyanti Devi- brings sherbet for them, and after some small talk, he shows
them the broken motor parts he had received previously. After a brief examination,
Byomkesh confirms that no fingerprints were on them. Then, they visit huts of all residents,
Bhujangadhar babu’s pharmacy, well, stable, cowshed, dining room, kitchen, an abandoned
greenhouse and a mechanical mausoleum of wartime relics looking for more clues about
the case.
They first meet Pannugopal, a differently-abled person. He takes care of the cows and
cannot speak under pressure. Next, they meet Bijoy, Mr Sen’s nephew. He is a young boy
who helps Mr Sen in running the farm.
3.5 Chapter 5: After that, they meet professor Dr Nepal Gupta and his daughter Mukul.
Ajit notices that Dr Gupta addresses his benefactor as equal. Dr Gupta talks about his
inventions and shares his insight on the farm business. He plays chess with Byomkesh and
trounces him. While leaving his hut, they see a young nineteen-year-old girl Mukul.
Byomkesh inquires with Ramenbabu, he says he has seen this girl in films, but she is not
Netyakali or Sunayana.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS:
• Why does Mr Sen visit Byomkesh Bakshi’s house?
• What does Ramen Mullick tell Byomkesh and Ajit?
• How do they reach the Golap colony farm?
• What do you know about the Golap colony?
3.6 Chapter 6: Byomkesh enquires further about the arrival of Dr Gupta at the Golap
colony. He also knows that Mrs Sen attended a girl’s school at Calcutta for ten months.
Then they meet Brojodas, who has become a Vaishnava after spending six years in jail.
Meanwhile, another resident Dr Bhujangdhar plays Gaur Sarang on the sitar. He criticises
the visitor for visiting on a hot afternoon. Also, when Mr Sen asks him about Bonolokhi,
he clearly shows his dislike of her.
3.7 Chapter 7: Next, they meet Bonolokhi, and all of them feel attracted to her simple face
with a perfectly proportioned body. Byomkesh enquiries again with Ramenbabu to see if
she has any resemblance to Sunayana. Disappointed with the negative answer, Byomkesh
asks Mr Sen how he has concluded Sunayana is living on the farm. He refuses to answer
the question with an excuse that someone else’s privacy is at risk and invites them for a
delightful lunch. Mr Sen arranges a few mattresses to have a nap in the afternoon. Before
rest, they hear about Bonolokhi’s past and how a rogue duped her in Calcutta.
3.8 Chapter 8: After a good nap, Mrs Sen serves them buttermilk and Mr Sen orders
Mushkil Mian to drop them at the station. While drinking, they get another opportunity to
meet the residents. The first one to visit is Dr Gupta and his daughter Mukul. Full of pride,
he invites Byomkesh for another round at chess, but before he can answer, Brojodas arrives.
Mr Sen asks him about the cow’s health, and Dr Gupta gets angry that they did not let him
16
treat the cow. In a fit of anger, he says that he will disclose Mr Sen’s secret. However,
before he can say anything, he is sent away by Mr Sen. Dr Bhujangadhar drops in to treat
Mr Sen’s blood pressure which spiked because of his anger. Byomkesh asks him about his
felony and wife. He replies that his wife is abroad, and his felony was to save an unmarried
girl’s virtue.
3.9 Chapter 9: After the incident with Dr Gupta, Byomkesh, Ajit, and Ramenbabu leave
for the station in Mushkil Mian’s buggy. Dr Bhujangadhar joins them to ask about the
case's progress. He says that Dr Gupta wants to run the farm, as he is close to Mrs Sen, and
his daughter is also a part of the conspiracy. He leaves the buggy in-between, and they
continue their journey to the station. On the way, they agree that no woman at the farm
resembles Sunayana, but then she may be living there in disguise. Byomkesh asks
Ramenbabu to send him the pictures of Sunayana’s from the movies that she acted in.
3.10 Chapter 10: Next morning, Byomkesh randomly asks Ajit about his dream. Baffled,
Ajit says that he dreamt of Bonolkhi, but her teeth fell from her mouth. Byomkesh says that
he had a similar dream about Satyavati, his wife. Then, Bijoy visits them with a letter from
Mr Sen. Byomkesh asks him if Dr Gupta is still on the farm. Bijoy replies with a yes and
explains that Mukul is very hardworking, and she has begged Mrs Sen for forgiveness. In
the letter, Mr Sen has asked Byomkesh to stop the investigation. After Bijoy leaves,
Byomkesh writes the character sketch of each resident and shares it with Ajit.
• Write a brief note on Byomkesh’s first visit to the farm.
• What do Ajit and Byomkesh see in their dream?
3.11 Chapter 11: Next morning, Bijoy calls to inform them that Mr Sen is dead and he
thinks it's a murder. Byomkesh examines the dead body and notices that Mr Sen has been
wearing socks in the summer. He also notices that all the windows are closed. Rashik babu
has also been missing since morning. Byomkesh further questions all residents about their
whereabouts. Then Dr Nagendra Pal tells the time of death and agrees to do the post-
mortem at Byomkesh’s request.
3.12 Chapter 12: Byomkesh takes a round of the farm with Ajit when Bijoy and Mrs Sen
are lamenting over their loss. They meet Pannugopal at the cowshed. He tried to say
something but could not utter it because of his shock. Next, they meet Dr Gupta, and he
tells them about his daughter and Bijoy’s broken engagement.
3.13 Chapter 13: The police arrive at 11 o’clock and examine the crime scene again.
Byomkesh shares his details with inspector Bharat and asks him to look out for syringe
marks on the body. He also informs him to look for missing Rashik De, and then they leave
the farm together. At home, he collects some information about Dr Bhujangadhar and Lal
Singh. Meanwhile, Ajit receives a call from Bijoy that Brojodas has been missing since the
afternoon.
17
3.14 Chapter 14: Next morning, inspector Barat and Bijoy arrive at the same time to meet
Byomkesh and Ajit. Bijoy shows the post-mortem report, which states that the body has no
signs of injection. Byomkesh explains that the murderer used a sandbag to knock out Mr
Sen, then hanged him upside down to cause the death by cerebral vein rupture. He also
deduces that the murderer is a man. Bijoy also reveals that Mr. Sens has bequethed the
whole property to Mrs. Sen and Bijoy in his will.
3.15 Chapter 15: The same evening, Ajit and Byomkesh visit the farm. Mushkil Mian
picked them up at the station. On the way, Mushkil Mian drops hints that not everyone is
as innocent as they look, and women fool around with young men at night at the farm.
Byomkesh asks him to explain further, but hMushkil does not disclose any names. Then
they go to the police station, where Byomkesh asks inspector Bharat to collect all the
residents’ fingerprints and interrogate them.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
• How does Mr Sen die?
• What happens at the farm after Mr Sen’s death?
• What information does Byomkesh collect about Lal Singh?
3.16 Chapter 16: They start the interrogation in Mr Sen’s room. First, Byomkesh
interrogates Mrs Sen about her marriage, life, and where she was last night. Next,
Byomkesh asks Bijoy about his marriage arrangement with Mukul and why he went back
to Calcutta on the night of the murder. Mukul says that someone had sent him an
anonymous note. Meanwhile someone attacks Bonolokhi standing near the window. Dr
Bhujagadhar takes Bonolokhi to her hut for treatment. In the meantime, Byomkesh resumes
his interrogation of Dr Gupta. Dr. Gupta says that he played chess with his daughter and
knows nothing about the murder. Listening to this, Pannugopal wants to say something but
nothing comes out of his mouth. Byomkesh continues and asks Mukul about her film
career. She accepts that she has visited the film studios but never acted in one. At last,
Byomkesh questions Dr Bhujanghadar, and he answers that he played the sitar on the night
of the murder.
3.17 Chapter 17: Next, Ajit and Byomkesh visit Bonolokhi in her room. Byomkesh asks
Bijoy, already present, to talk to Pannugopal, who cannot say anything under stress.
Bonolokhi tells them that Mukul and Dr Gupta do not like her. Dr Bhujangadhar also
dislikes her because she has rejected his proposal in the past. Then Bijoy returns and
informs that Pannugopal cannot utter a word. In the end, Byomkesh requests inspector
Bharat to watch the farm and inform him if any resident goes to Calcutta. They come back
home around 11 pm.
3.18 Chapter 18: Next morning, they get news on the telephone that Pannugopal is dead
from nicotine poison. Byomkesh reads the report and deduces that Sunayana is related to
18
the murder as the same poison killed Murari Dutta. He asks inspector Bharat to deploy a
secret informer near the farm.
3.19 Chapter 19: After a few days of silence, Byomkesh finds out that Damyanti Devi is
a Punjabi woman. Inspector Bharat also calls him to say that Dr Bhujangdhar has left the
farm for Calcutta. Byomkesh follows him in western clothes. He finds that Dr
Bhujangadhar visits a house at unpopular Mirza Lane and returns to the farm. He requests
inspector Bharat to find out more about that house.
3.20 Chapter 20: Dr Gupta visits the police station three days later and complains that
Bijoy has murdered his uncle. Unable to prove his acusation, he leaves the police station in
frustration. Meanwhile, Byomkesh and Ajit come, and inspector Pramod receives the news
of Rashik De and Brojodas’s arrest. Unaware of deaths at the farm, Rashik keeps his mouth
shut during interrogation. However, Brojodas reveals that Damyanti Devi is not Mr Sen’s
but Lal Singh’s wife.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
• How does Byomkesh interrogate the residents?
• What happens with Bonolokhi during interrogation?
• Who visits the Miza lane house?
3.21 Chapter 21: Byomkesh leaves with Ajit and asks inspector Pramod to meet them at
the railway station at six in the evening. Then together at six, they go to the farm and
confront Damyanti Devi and Bijoy. They both confess that someone has been blackmailing
Damyanti Devi as Lal Singh. She explains that on the night of the murder, she went to send
money to the blackmailer.
3.22 Chapter 22: Byomkesh makes a plan to observe everyone at night. He asks Ajit to
watch Bijoy’s cottage and places inspector Bharat outside Damyanti Devi’s room. Both
Bonolokhi and Mukul leave their hut at night, and one person visits Bijoy.
3.23 Chapter 23: Bikas comes to Byomkesh’s place in Calcutta the following day. He tells
that two women live at the Mirza lane house, and one room is vacant for the house owner.
Then, Byomkesh sets a trap to catch the criminal. He sends the photos of Sunayana in
sealed envelopes to Dr Gupta and Dr Bhujangadhar. He tells them that he was attacked by
a criminal and if he dies, they can open the envelope to reveal the murderer.
3.24 Chapter 24: Next day, Byomkesh investigates more about the owner of the Mirza
lane house and artificial teeth. Then, he and Ajit go to the farm and tell them that the police
has arrested the attacker. They collect the envelopes back from Dr Gupta and Dr
Bhujangadhar to check if any one of them has opened them.
3.25 Chapter 25: Byomkesh requests inspector Bharat to get the fingerprints from the
photos in the envelope. He confirms that Dr Bhujangadhar had opened the envelope. Next,
Byomkesh announces to all residents that they have solved the case and gives a last chance
19
to the culprit to confess. He reveals that Bijoy and Rashik De have embezzled money from
the farm and kept it with Bonolokhi. Also, Bonolokhi, Sunayana, and Netyakali are the
same person and that she is Dr Bhujangadhar’s wife. Together they have blackmailed
Damyanti Devi and murdered Mr Sen and Pannugopal. Dr Bhujangadhar says that
Byomkesh has no proof of his theory. Then, Byomkesh tells about the stolen diamond
recovered by the police from the Mirza lane house as proof of Murari Dutta’s murder.
Suddenly with no option left, Dr Bhujangadhar kisses Bonolokhi, and they commit suicide
with a poison capsule hidden in the mouth.
3.26 Chapter 26: The last chapter opens with Byomkesh accounting for the loss and profit
in this case. Bijoy and inspector Bharat are eager to know the whole plot of the case.
Byomkesh narrates the story of the anti-social couple. He tells that Dr Bhujangadhar, a
skilled plastic surgeon, changed Bonolokhi’s appearance when she became a suspect in
Murari Dutta’s murder. Later, they lived at the farm and put up an act of mutual antipathy.
Bonolokhi used her charms to collect money from Bijoy and Rashik De. They both had
hopes of marrying Bonolokhi and live somewhere else. Bijoy also told the secret of Mr Sen
and Damyanti Devi’s life to Mukul and Bonolokhi. As a result, the couple blackmailed
Damyanti Devi. However, Mr Sen suspected something and hired Byomkesh. When
Ramenbabu visited the farm, the couple had no choice but to kill Mr Sen. Panugopal knew
something about this, so they also killed him. In the end, Bijoy gives Byomkesh the
insurance money of Mr Sen to show his gratitude. The story ends with Byomkesh joking
that he will open an animal farm near the Golap colony.
• Who kills Mr Sen and Pannugopal?
• Why does Byomkesh give Netyakali’s photos to Dr Gupta and Dr Bhujangadhar?
• Who all die in the story?
• How does the story end?
• Write an alternate ending of the story in 100 words.
4.0 Characters
4.1 Detective Byomkesh Bakshi: A fictional character solves crimes with observation and
analytic skills. Bandyopadhyay called him a “truth seeker”. He earns his living by solving
crimes as a private detective. In this story, he is a law-abiding citizen, a faithful husband, a
good friend, a kind and honest person. He is not like any genius who is smarter than
everyone and has everything under control. Byomkesh makes mistakes, and he misses
things in his observations.
A few examples in the text make him more human than a genius. Dr Gupta defeats him in
chess. He overlooks the need to provide security for Pannugopal. He does not get all his
20
answers at once; instead, he systematically and logically unsolves the case. He wanst able
to foresee the danger to Dr Bhujangadhar and Bonolokhi’s life.
Moreover, like an ordinary middle-class man, he has to worry about his finances and
household expenses. Pinaki Roy, in “The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and
Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories”, writes that
Bandhopadhyay’s detective is a “family man with middle-class values”(8). He also notes
how this disregards Van Dine’s western rule that a detective should be unmarried and the
story should focus on detection, not romance. Readers can imagine a living detective like
Byomkesh Baksi in Calcutta, who cracks jokes on his friends and enjoys solving cases. A
comparison of Byomkesh with Sherlock Holmes and other famous detectives is inevitable.
However, one should read his character beyond this comparison. He is an intelligent hero
with a sense of humour and much more.
4.2 Ajit: He is the narrator, Byomkesh’s chronicler, biographer, and best friend. He is a
writer by profession in the story. He knows Byomkesh before his marriage, and since then,
they have been together. Ajit’s character also provides support in the plot development of
these stories. For example, whenever there is any jump in the plot, Byomkesh explains that
to Ajit. These explanations facilitate readers with conciseness in reading the story. At the
same time, Bandhyopadhyay uses Ajit’s character to avoid unnecessary details in the plot.
For example, Byomkesh’s visits to enquire about Damyanti Devi’s school life, Mirza lane
houses ownership details, etc., are skipped in the story. As Watson is necessary for Sherlock
similarly, Ajit is necessary for Byomkesh.
4.3 Mr Nishanath Sen: He is a retired judge who left his job to live with the wife of a man
he sent to prison. Byomkesh is of the view that he is intelligent but reckless with money.
Though it looks normal for a rich person to spend money carelessly, it is a proof of his
privilege as a British-government employee. Sunit Kumar Barui compares his Golpa
colony farm with British government colonial institutions in his essay “Depiction of women
in the Detective Stories of Saradindu Bandyopadhyay: A Postcolonial Critique”. He says
that “while all modern civic amenities and luxuries are in store for the owner, the employees
manage a bare living in exchange for their expertise” (173). He lives with Damyanti Devi
without marrying her, but he is against his nephew marrying a disgraced woman like
Bonolokhi. When he tells Byomkesh about his business at the Golap colony, he presents
himself as a benefactor of others. However, his proud undertone reveals his sense of
superiority over other residents. He says, “All the people who work under me in Golap
Colony, apart from the gardeners, belong to a respectable class of society … The usual
ways of earning a livelihood are closed to them. So they have all congregated on my
doorstep. I give them a place to stay, food to eat and some pocket money every month.
These are the terms under which they work at the farm. It is like a sanctuary.
(Bandhopadhyay 5)”
21
His double standards is an examples of the wealthy upper-caste mindset of the Hindu
community in post-colonial times.
• Write a brief character sketch of Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit.
• What do you think of Mr Sen as the owner of the Golap colony farm?
• Point out the similarities or differences between Byimkesh-Ajit and Sherlock-
Watson?
5.0 Minor Characters

Damyanti Devi: She is Lal Singh’s lawful wife, but she marries Mr Sen without divorcing
Lal Singh. She is a devoted, kind-hearted, gullible, and helpless woman incapable of
hurting anyone. She is also selfless and generous in giving all insurance money to
Byomkesh to show her gratitude for his service.
Bijoy: A young nephew of Mr Sen. He loves almost all women in the story- Damyanti Dvi,
Mukul, Bonolokhi. He is not intelligent but very emotional. He discloses his family secret
to both Mukul and Bonolokhi, which causes the whole tragedy in the story. His uncle calls
him a victim of a man’s mischief.
Dr Bhujangadhar: He is a plastic surgeon with a cancelled medical license. His wife
Bonolokhi and him are skilled criminals. He is also an expert in Sitar.
Bonolokhi: She has many alias in the story- Sunayana, Netyakali, Nita. She has seductive
charms and is also a master of playing the Sitar.
Dr Nepal Gupta: He is an ambitious middle-aged professor who lacks skills in his
chemistry profession. He is arrogant and a chess expert. He lives with his daughter Mukul.
Mukul: She is a hard-working young girl who wants a stable life. She tries her luck in the
film industry and loves Bijoy.
Rashik De: He is a thirty-five-year-old man who lost his fingers in the hand-saw machine
at a cotton mill. He is dissatisfied with his life and steals money from the shop accounts.
Brojodas: He used to work under Mr Sen, but he was in jail for theft. Now, he is a Vaishnav
and takes care of the cows at the farm.
Pannugopal: He is a differently-abled person with an ulcer in his ears. He cannot speak
when distressed. He also takes care of the animals at the farm.
Mushkil Mia: His real name is Syed Nuruddin. He is the buggy driver at the farm. He is
also an opium addict and lives with his new wife, Nazar Bibi.
Nazar Bibi: Mushkil’s second wife, and she keeps an eye on all the gossip on the farm.
22
Ramen Mullick: He is a rich man obsessed with the film industry. He is also a friend of
Murari Dutta, a wealthy jeweller murdered by Sunayana.
Pramod Barat: He is a young inspector and likes to work with Byomkesh Bakshi.
Puttiram: He is a servant of Byomkesh Bakshi.
Note: Students can refer to chapter 10 of the book for details of the characters. Byomkesh
has briefly provided character sketches of all the residents of the Golap colony.
• Why does Dr Gupta and Dr Bhujangadhar live at the farm?
• Who is Rashik De, and what does he do on the farm?
• Who is Netyakali, and what is her relationship with Dr Bhujangadhar?
6.0 Analysis
The early Byomkesh stories set in a British Raj-era Calcutta are what Bandhopadhyay
wrote early in his writing career. Later on, the setting of Byomkesh stories shifted to post-
independence Calcutta. In this story also, hints of post-World War I are visible.
Bandyopadhyay uses Ajit’s point of view to remind readers about roadways and telephone
lines built by the British during the war; numerous abandoned military vehicles stand in
line as a mechanical mausoleum (Bandhopadhyay 22).
In another instance, Ajit tells Byomkesh that his dress is like “Guanci Pedru”. To this
Byomkesh replies that dressing up in western clothes “ precludes the need for any further
disguise”(Bndhopadhyay 107-108). He means that western clothes look all the same as
they are mass-produced. This comment hints at the demise of the textile industry in India.
Britishers imposed heavy taxes on local textile workers and sold cheap western clothes to
Indians, which resulted in locals wearing western clothes in post-colonial India. Byomkesh
is a native detective, and he prefers native garments.
Pinaki Roy, in “The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of
the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories”, argues that the failed union of Dr
Bhujangadhar and the belly dancer Nita alias Bonolokhi is a warning against the marital
collaboration between Indians and Westerners. He says that the result of this “unnatural
union” is that they emerge as a criminal couple and the union ended with their suicide
(198).
Another critic, Sunit Kumar Barui, looks at the death of Dr Bhujangadhar and Bonolokhi
as an escape from the colonial society. He says that “they exhibit their undaunted spirit till
the end of the show … withdraw themselves from the scene forever … They slip away
from the clutch of law to save themselves from further persecution in a colonial regime”
(174).
23
At the end of the novella, Byomkesh advises Bijoy to marry Mukul. Ironically, there is no
successful marriage shown in the story. Byomkesh’s wife is not present in the story, and
Ajit’s marriage is not there at all. Mr Sen lives with Damyanti Devi, but she did not divorce
Lal Singh. Bijoy has cancelled Mukul’s marriage. Mushkil Mian has divorced his first wife
and lives with a new one. The only real couple, Bonolokhi and Dr Bhujangadhar, commit
suicide in the story.
Bandhopadhyay has given various female characters in this story. Bonolokhi is attractive,
clever and skilful at her work. Mukul is young and hardworking and can be perfect for
running a farm if she marries Bijoy. Damyanti Devi is beautiful and ideal housewife
material. Nazar Bibi is bold not to do purdah at the farm. All these women have their
identities. Even though the professional options for women were limited in 1950, these
women have taken action and made their own choices. Bonolokhi has earned her living,
dancing, acting, tailoring, and even murdering. Mukul has tried to work in the film industry.
Unsuccessful in her attempts, she works hard at the farm. In a patriarchal society, their
options were limited, but they fought and worked hard for themselves.
The title, “The Menagerie”, is perfect for this story that is full of a variety of people with
different personalities, ambitions and pasts. They all come together at the Golap colony
and have no option but to live together. Even if they do not like each other, they have no
choice but to work at the farm. It is like a zoo where different animals live together. The
last dramatic kiss of Bonolokhi and Dr Bhujangadhar also adds more meaning to the title.
It’s like they give an ending to the perfect show at the zoo.
At last, reading “The Menagerie” gives the readers an adrenaline rush. Readers enjoy the
mystery and humour of the story. Readers laugh together with Ajit at Byomkesh when
arrogant Dr Gupta defeats him. The vivid background descriptions of Calcutta make
readers believe that Byomkesh Bakshi and his friend Ajit are not fictional but living
characters. One can say that the best achievement of this story is that it feels more like an
honest account of solving a crime than fiction.
• Write a short note on the Calcutta presented in the story from a post-colonial
perspective.
• Write a brief note on women characters in “The Menagerie”.
• Do you agree that the story's title “The Menagerie” is justified?
• Find examples in the text to support the argument that “The Menagerie” is a post-
colonial text.
• What is your experience of reading “The Menagerie”?
24
REFERENCES
• Bandyopadhyay, Saradindu, et al. The Menagerie and Other Byomkesh Bakshi

Mysteries. Penguin, 2006.
• Barui, Sunit Kumar. "Stories of Saradindu Bandyopadhyay: A Postcolonial
Critique." 168.
• Roy, Pinaki. The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Culture Rereading
of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. Sarup & Sons, 2008.
25
A Murder is Announced
Agatha Christie
PART-I
Renu Koyu
1.1 Introduction
The main objective of this study material is to introduce the genre of cozy crime through
Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced (1950). After reading this study material, you
will;
• learn about the cozy crime genre;
• appreciate Agatha Christie’s contribution to the genre, and
• understand how female detectives like Miss Marple challenged the idea of a
traditional male detective.
References to the novel in this study material are to the following edition;
Agatha Christie. A Murder is Announced. Harper Collins, 2005.
The first part of this Study Material comprises a detailed summary and Part II includes a
brief biography, critical analysis, and discussion of themes.
1.2 Summary
Chapter 1-7
In the village of Chipping Cleghorn; the Swettenhams, the Easterbrooks, the Harmons and
Miss Hinch and Miss Murgatroyd read the announcement about a murder in the local
newspaper, the Gazette:
A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little
Paddocks at 6.30 p.m. Friends please accept this, the only intimation.
Taking the announcement as a general invitation to a Murder Game - most probably
planned by the playful Patrick Simmons - and naturally curious about it, they all decide to
go. Meanwhile, at Little Paddocks, when Dora Bunner informs everyone during breakfast
about the announcement; they are all surprised. She suspects it to be one of Patrick’s
practical jokes but he assures her that it isn’t. Letitia Blacklock predicts that there will be
visits from their nosy neighbours and decides to be prepared for them. Later, Miss Bunner
approaches Miss Blacklock in her study and asks if she is worried. Miss Bunner is Miss
Blacklock’s girlhood friend, whom she had brought to Little Paddocks to live with her after
she received a letter from her asking for help. Their foreign cook Mitzi enters just then and,
26
thinking that the murder announcement is meant for her, declares that she is leaving her
job because the Nazis are coming to kill her, just the way they killed her family.
In the evening, Little Paddocks is ready to receive guests. When Patrick observes
that the central heating has been lit, Miss Blacklock tells him that she had it turned on
because the house has been clammy of late. Phillipa Haymes enters and asks if there is a
party. Patrick playfully remarks that she must be the only one in the whole of Chipping
Cleghorn who doesn’t know. Meanwhile Miss Blacklock, refusing everyone’s offer, goes
to shut the ducks herself while Phillipa is brought up-to-date about the mysterious
announcement.
True to Miss Blacklock’s prediction, her neighbours arrive – first the Easterbrooks,
Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd, and the Swettenhams. All make excuses for their
presence and all comment on the central heating. Mrs Harmon is the last to arrive. Miss
Blacklock tells them that if the game is to begin, it will begin soon. At the eventful time,
the lights go out. The room erupts with excitement and the door crashes open. A man’s
powerful voice directs everyone to “stick ’em up” and flashes a powerful flashlight across
the room. (48) Everyone is excited and does as directed, when suddenly two shots are fired.
Silence spreads when everyone realises that it is not a game: “The figure in the doorway
whirled suddenly round, it seemed to hesitate, a third shot rang out, it crumpled and then it
crushed to the ground.”(49) While everyone tries to make sense of the situation and bring
back order, Mitzi starts to scream in the kitchen. Someone seems to have locked her in.
Eventually, unable to ignore her screams, Edmund unlocks the kitchen door and frees her.
Taking full control of the situation, Miss Blacklock orders Mitzi to get some candles and
Patrick to go check the fuse box. Miss Blacklock is covered in blood but she assures
everyone that her ear has merely been grazed by a bullet.
Meanwhile, the man on the floor is more closely examined. He is draped in a cloak,
a mask and gloves - all in black. Easterbrook suggests that the man must have shot himself
accidentally as he tripped on the cloak he was wearing. Just then, the lights come on and
Miss Bunner recognises the dead man as the man who came to the house to ask Miss
Blacklock for money. Miss Blacklock orders Patrick to call up the police.
Investigating the case is Detective Inspector Craddock. The following morning, he
informs his superior, Chief Constable Rydesdale that the dead man is a Swiss man named
Rudi Scherz. He worked as a receptionist at the Royal Spa Hotel in Medenham. Just then,
Sir Henry Clithering, ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard, enters Rydesdale’s office and
they discuss the case. Craddock informs them that the advertisement was handed in to The
Gazette by Rudi himself on Wednesday.
At the hotel, Craddock interviews the manager Mr Rowlandson, who tells him that
the deceased had been working at the hotel for about three months now and had good
credentials, and all his documents were in order. But there were suspicions that Rudi had
been filching money from the customers. Next, Craddock interviews Myrna Harris, the girl
27
Rudi Scherz was seeing. She denies knowing Rudi’s plans and declares that if she knew
what kind of man he was, she would not have gone out with him.
When Inspector Craddock arrives at Little Paddocks to interview and interrogate its
residents; Sergeant Fletcher reports that Scherz’s fingerprints are nowhere to be found and
he probably came through the front door as that door wasn’t shut for the night, according
to Miss Blacklock. But according to Mitzi, the door had been locked all afternoon.
Craddock enters the house and observes that it is a typical Victorian double
drawing-room; a pleasant room with a vase of dead violets the only indication that
something untoward has recently happened there. He learns from Miss Blacklock that it is
where the incident had occurred. When Craddock asks, Miss Blacklock tells him that Rudi
had approached her at the Royal Spa Hotel. He had remembered her from her stay at his
father’s hotel, the Hotel de Alps at Montreux, Switzerland. However, Miss Blacklock did
not remember him. Ten days later, he had come to the house asking her for money to go
back to Switzerland and be with his ailing mother. Miss Blacklock explains that she found
the story fishy and so she had refused. Craddock believes that it was actually an excuse to
check the layout of the house and she agrees. However, she finds the entire logic of the
hold up and attempted robbery improbable as the house has nothing valuable in it. Miss
Bunner believes that Rudi had come to kill Miss Blacklock and reminds her that he
deliberately shot at her twice. Craddock requests Miss Blacklock to recount the incident as
she remembers it. She does so with some interruptions from Miss Bunner, who adds that
before the lights went out there was a flash and a cracking sound. Craddock asks Miss
Blacklock where she was standing when it all happened. Before she can give any answer,
Miss Bunner excitedly says that she was standing by the table with the vase of violets in
her hands. Miss Blacklock corrects her and clarifies that she was actually holding the
cigarette case.
Miss Blacklock tells Craddock about the rest of the residents: her two second
cousins Patrick and Julia Simmons, the lodger Mrs Phillipa Haymes, who works as an
assistant gardener at Dayas Hall, and Mitzi the foreign cook. Subsequently, Craddock
questions the others and they all tell him their own versions of what they saw that night.
But everybody believes Rudi Scherz’s death was either an accident or suicide, and not a
robbery gone wrong or a probable attack on Miss Blacklock.
Chapter 8- 13
From the Swiss police, Craddock and Rydesdale learn that Scherz was involved in petty
crimes like embezzlement and jewellery theft in Switzerland, and may have attempted to
rob the people gathered at Little Paddocks. Rydesdale sees it as a case of accidental death
even though the reason for Rudi’s action is a big mystery. Craddock suspects Mitzi but
admits that it could simply be prejudice on his part. But if Mitzi and Rudi had schemed
together, it would imply that there were valuables in the house but the residents of Little
28
Paddocks have denied having anything of value in the house. The only other motive was
the one offered by Miss Bunner: someone wanted to kill Miss Blacklock.
Rydesdale takes Craddock and Sir Henry to the Royal Spa Hotel for lunch and to
interview an old woman named Miss Marple who has sent him a letter and seems to know
something in connection with the incident at Little Paddocks. Sir Henry is beyond excited
to know that Miss Marple is in the area at the time of a murder and sings her praise to the
others. When they meet her at the hotel, Craddock is initially not impressed with her but
changes his mind after they begin discussing the case. Miss Marple informs them that she
has found out this morning that Rudi has altered one of her cheques very efficiently, making
her suspect that he has done this before. Rydesdale informs Miss Marple that Rudi had a
police record in Switzerland and she does not seem surprised.
Rydesdale gives her the report to read as he wants to get a second opinion before
closing the case. She remarks on how there are so many different versions of what
happened. Craddock remarks that despite the variations, the facts are indisputable and they
had all seen a masked man with a revolver who held them at gun point and fired two shots
before killing himself with the third. Miss Marple points out that they could not have
possibly seen him, as it was dark. Also, it would be impossible for Rudi to hold the door
open, flash the light, and shoot simultaneously. Miss Marple comes to the conclusion that
Rudi was the “fall guy”; who was paid by someone to stage the hold-up as a joke. She tells
them that she believes Rudi never had a revolver and someone probably came behind him,
fired the shots, killed Rudi and dropped the revolver beside him. Sir Henry accepts this as
a possible theory. Miss Marple suggests that they find out who wanted to harm Miss
Blacklock and reminds Craddock to interview Myrna Harris again, as she might know who
paid Rudi to go to Little Paddocks.
During Craddock’s second interview with Myrna, she confesses that Rudi had told
her that someone had paid him to put the advertisement in the paper, but she doesn’t know
who. They had both laughed it off as a joke but Myrna understood the seriousness of the
situation when she read about Rudi’s death the next day. She had no idea that he had a
revolver with him. On his way back to the station with Rydesdale, Craddock mulls over
Miss Marple’s theory and suggests Mitzi as the possible killer. The revolver used for the
shooting was German made and definitely not Rudi’s. Next, they discuss the motive.
Craddock decides that the best way to find the motive would be to talk to Miss Blacklock
herself.
As the inquest has been adjourned for another week; Craddock is at Little Paddocks
to investigate further. Craddock informs Miss Blacklock that Rudi Scherz’s first job was
actually as an orderly in a hospital at Berne, Switzerland. Throughout his various jobs, he
was known to have committed petty thefts and had migrated to England on fake papers.
When Craddock tells her Rudi’s intention might have been to kill her, Miss Blacklock is
still sceptical and wonders what motive he would have to kill her. Craddock re-interrogates
29
Mitzi, who accuses him of suspecting her because she is a foreigner. She tells him that she
had actually overheard Rudi ask Mrs Haymes for money in the summerhouse and the latter
had told him to come back later at a quarter past six. When Craddock asks why she had not
mentioned it before; Mitzi tells him that she had forgotten all about it.
As Craddock re-enters the hall to go to the drawing room, he gets confused and tries
to open the wrong door, as there are several doors in that room. Miss Bunner tells him that
the door he had tried opening actually opens to the smaller drawing room but as they did
not use it, they had locked it up. They had put a table against it but it had recently been
moved at Mrs Haymes’ suggestion. Intrigued, Craddock pushes it and it opens smoothly
without any creaking sound. It strikes him that the door has been recently oiled, contrary
to Miss Bunner’s claim that it had been unused for years.
Craddock informs Miss Blacklock about the oiled door and its significance:
someone must have come behind Rudi Scherz to fire the shots and therefore, someone
present in the house at the time of the incident is a murder suspect. He tells a shocked Miss
Blacklock that she must know the possible reason someone might want her dead but she
reassures him that she does not know. When Craddock bluntly asks her about her will, she
informs him that she has bestowed her money to Patrick and Julia and her furniture to Miss
Bunner. She assures Craddock that she is not worth murdering, at least not now. Asked
what she means by that, she tells him that she could possibly be a “very rich woman”
someday. In explanation, she informs him that she had worked as a secretary to Randall
Goedler - a famous millionaire - for more than twenty years and the childless Goedler had
left his fortune in a trust for his wife, and after her death it would go to Miss Blacklock.
She had to leave her job after her father died to look after her invalid sister, Charlotte
Blacklock. They had gone to a sanatorium in Switzerland before the Second World War
for her sister’s treatment. Once the war broke out, they could not come back to England
and decided to stay on in Switzerland. During that time, Randall had died and she had been
surprised and grateful when she found out about his will. Sadly, Charlotte had died of
consumption in Switzerland. Miss Blacklock tells Craddock that Randall’s wife Belle is a
sickly woman who lived in Scotland. They had not met each other in years. Belle had
apparently just a few weeks left to live, after which she, Letitia Blacklock, would inherit
the money. However, if she died before Mrs Goedler the money would go to Pip and Emma,
children of Randall’s estranged sister, Sonia. Miss Blacklock informs Craddock that,
displeased with Sonia’s decision to marry a young crook named Dmitris Stamfordis,
Randall had a huge quarrel with her. This had led to a fallout between the siblings. The
only time Sonia had written was to inform Belle that she had given birth to twins named
Pip and Emma. Miss Blacklock tells Craddock that Belle might be able to tell him more
about them. Craddock concludes that there is a strong motive for two people to want her
dead.
30
Later, Craddock visits Miss Marple at the Vicarage and warns her that Chipping
Cleghorn is not safe to snoop around. She tells him that old women always snoop and in
fact, it would be odd and more noticeable if she didn’t. Craddock tells Miss Marple about
Randall Goedler and the twins Pip and Emma and admits that he does not know their real
names, ages, or their present whereabouts. They could be anywhere, even in Chipping
Cleghorn. When Craddock voices his doubts about the authenticity of Patrick and Julia’s
identity, Miss Marple offers to find out for him. Craddock plans to go to Scotland to talk
to Belle Goedler.
When Mrs Harmon takes Miss Marple to Little Paddocks for tea and the
conversation naturally turns to the hold-up. Miss Marple requests them to give her a recap
of what had happened during the hold-up. So, Miss Bunner and Mrs Harmon recount the
events with occasional corrections and additions from Miss Blacklock. Soon, Patrick joins
in and reenacts some of the scenes as Rudi Scherz. When Miss Blacklock tells Miss Marple
that she was getting the cigarette box when the lights went out and the shots fired, Miss
Bunner complains how someone had left cigarette burns on the table. Miss Marple
smoothly navigates the conversation about furniture to one about memories and
photographs. Subsequently, she comments that Miss Blacklock must have a lot of
photographs of Patrick and Julia as children. Miss Blacklock explains that since they were
distant cousins, she did not keep the pictures that their mother sent her.
Meanwhile, Edmund proposes marriage to Phillipa Haymes when he comes to
Dayas Hall on his mother’s errands. Back at Little Paddocks, Sergeant Fletcher searches
the house when Mitzi and the ladies are out. He believes that someone in the house had
oiled the door. Just then, he hears something and looks down the stairs to find Mrs
Swettenham entering the house with a basket. As she returns from the dining room without
the basket, she is startled by Fletcher. From her, Fletcher finds out that it is common for
neighbours to enter each other’s houses at any time of the day to drop off things as no one
in the village locked their doors in the daytime. Thus, Fletcher realizes that anyone, not
just the residents, could have come in and oiled the door when the house was empty.
At the Boulders, Miss Hinchcliffe conducts her own experiment with Murgatroyd
and concludes that Rudi must have had someone hold the door open for him during the
hold-up. Meanwhile, Colonel Easterbrook discloses to Mrs. Easterbrook that he cannot find
his German-made revolver. After shrewdly determining that it went missing after the
incident at Little Paddocks, they decide to keep quiet about it as it would cause unnecessary
problems for Colonel Easterbrook if the police found out about it. Meanwhile, at the
marketplace, Miss Marple deliberately runs into Miss Bunner at the Blue Bird café and is
invited to sit with her. The two women discuss their physical afflictions for some time
before Miss Marple seizes the opportunity to know more about Phillipa and Miss Bunner’s
friendship with Miss Blacklock. Miss Bunner gets emotional when she starts talking about
her dear friend Miss Blacklock and, at one point, murmurs that true patience and resignation
31
ought to be rewarded and Miss Blacklock deserves all the happiness that comes her way.
Thinking that Miss Bunner is talking about the fortune that Miss Blacklock would inherit,
Miss Marple remarks that money does help make life comfortable. Recounting her own
struggles from a lack of money, Miss Bunner tells Miss Marple that she had written to
“Letty” for help and “Lotty” had come to take her away to Little Paddocks and had even
made provisions for her in her will. Miss Bunner also confides to Miss Marple that she had
caught Patrick with a bowl of oil and feather the other day. She suspects that he had also
tampered with the lamp in the drawing room to make the lights go out before the hold-up.
Just then, Miss Blacklock and Mrs Harmon arrive. It’s apparent that Miss Blacklock is
annoyed at Miss Bunner for gossiping. Miss Blacklock and Miss Bunner leave, and Mrs
Harmon settles down and orders her coffee and gets into a discussion of the case with Miss
Marple. Mrs Harmon speculates that only two people could be Pip and Emma; Patrick and
Julia, as they are the right age. Miss Marple tells her that it’s not as simple as that.
Chapter 14-20
Meanwhile, Inspector Craddock reaches Scotland to interview Mrs Goedler. When he
enters her room, he finds her lying in a large bed. She tells him that she has not seen Letitia
Blacklock in a very long time and they only sent each other cards on Christmas. Addressing
the will, she tells him that Randall had decided to leave the money to Letitia Blacklock
because they had no one else to leave the money to. From her, Craddock learns that the
Blacklock sisters had a terrible childhood because of their father. Letitia Blacklock had run
away, came to London and trained to become a chartered accountant. She had ended up
working as an assistant to her husband, Randall Goedler. But after their father’s death, she
had left her job to take care of her sick sister, Charlotte Blacklock. Craddock asks her about
Randall’s sister, Sonia Goedler. Mrs Goedler tells him that Sonia and Randall had a huge
quarrel about her engagement to Dmitri which led to a fall-out between them and the couple
had lost touch with her. When Craddock asks her about nominating the twins for his estate
in case Miss Blacklock predeceased Mrs Goedler, she tells him that she had convinced her
husband to do that as an alternative, in case Miss Blacklock died before her.
At Little Paddocks, Miss Blacklock instructs Mitzi to make sandwiches and a
chocolate cake that Patrick calls “Delicious Death” on the occasion of Miss Bunner’s
birthday. Later in the evening, the guests come; consisting of the Swettenhams, the
Easterbrooks, Hinch, and Murgatroyd. Miss Bunner is happy and everyone has a good time
but the decadent chocolate cake makes everyone feel sick afterwards. With Fletcher
keeping an eye on the house and the trial adjourned; the guests are curious about new
developments to the case and a discussion follows. After the guests leave, Miss Blacklock
asks Miss Bunner if she enjoyed herself. Miss Bunner assures her that she did but she has
a terrible headache and decides to take an aspirin. As Miss Bunner’s newly bought bottle
of aspirin seems to be missing, Miss Blacklock tells her to take it from the bottle on her
bedside table.
32
Later, Miss Blacklock talks to Phillipa; telling her that she has recently changed her
will and left everything, except what she has already promised Miss Bunner, to her. Instead
of being happy, Phillipa looks horrified and tells Miss Blacklock she does not want her
money, as she is not related to her but Miss Blacklock says that she has grown fond of
Phillipa and wants to help her. Julia overhears the conversation and after Miss Blacklock
leaves, she accuses Phillipa of playing her cards well but reminds her that now, if anything
happens to Miss Blacklock, she would be the first suspect.
The next day, back at Milchester, Craddock reports to Rydesdale about what he
learnt on his trip to Scotland and suspects that Julia and Patrick are Pip and Emma.
Rydesdale informs him that Miss Marple had found out that Miss Blacklock had not
seen/met Julia and Patrick at all till two months ago. However, Rydesdale has checked their
backgrounds and found them to be authentic. Further he updates Craddock about Fletcher’s
discovery that any of the neighbours could have entered the house to oil the door. As they
discuss the case, Rydesdale gets a call from Constable Legg informing him that Miss
Bunner has been found dead; after taking two aspirins from Miss Blacklock’s bedside. The
doctor has confirmed that Dora’s death was not natural and most likely due to poisoning;
he has sent a sample of the aspirin for analysis. Rydesdale informs Craddock that
incidentally all the suspects, except Mrs Harmon, had gathered at Little Paddocks the day
before to celebrate Miss Bunner’s birthday. Thus, anyone of them could have substituted
the aspirin with poison.
Miss Marple goes to Little Paddocks with a note from Reverend Harmon and to
convey the Harmons’ apologies for not being able to come owing to more pressing matters.
As she waits for Miss Blacklock, she looks around the room to find the lamp that Miss
Bunner had mentioned in their last conversation. When Miss Blacklock finally comes out
to meet her, she hands her the letter. Miss Marple offers her condolences to Miss Blacklock
and suddenly, Miss Blacklock weeps uncontrollably for some time before telling Miss
Marple that Miss Bunner was her last link to the past, “The only one who - who
remembered.” (255) Miss Marple sympathises with her as she understands what it’s like to
lose an old friend.
When Craddock arrives, he looks at Miss Marple with displeasure. A flustered Miss
Marple hurriedly announces her departure so that Craddock can continue with his
investigation. After she leaves, Craddock remarks that old women are “Nosey Parkers”.
(256) Craddock asks Miss Blacklock who would want to kill Miss Bunner. She tells him
that she doesn’t know. Craddock tells her about his visit to Mrs Goedler and asks if she
would be able to recognise Sonia Goedler if she were to see her now but Miss Blacklock is
doubtful. When Craddock asks her what Sonia looked like, she describes her as small and
dark. Craddock asks her for a photograph of Sonia and Miss Blacklock goes to look for her
photo album. When she can’t find it, she calls Julia to help her search for it. Julia comes
33
down from the attic and finds it for her. However, they find that all the pictures of Sonia
have been taken out of the album.
Later, Craddock privately tells Phillipa that the police have found out that her
husband is actually a war deserter and not a martyr as she had told everyone. She is angry
at their meddling and tells him that she does not want her son to know that his father was a
deserter. Craddock asks her if she met her husband at the summerhouse but Phillipa
maintains that she did not meet anyone at the summerhouse. After Phillipa leaves,
Craddock wonders what Julia was doing in the attic and goes to investigate. There, he
discovers an attaché that had belonged to Charlotte Blacklock. In it, he finds letters that the
devoted Letitia wrote to Charlotte. Snapshots are also enclosed with some of the letters. It
occurs to Craddock that, among these letters and snapshots, there could be clues and even
a picture of Sonia Goedler. To an amazed Miss Blacklock; he asks permission to take the
letters with him to read. Miss Blacklock angrily tells him that he would take them away
even if she said no, and asks him to take them all away and burn them afterwards.
That afternoon, Craddock visits the Vicarage and he asks Miss Marple to look at a
letter written by Letitia Blacklock to her sister, Charlotte. He tells her how he has found
Charlotte’s old letters. Miss Marple looks distracted after she finishes reading the letter.
Craddock wants to know her impression of Sonia, based on the letter, but Miss Marple tells
him that a single letter is not enough to determine anything concrete about a person.
Craddock informs her that the revolver’s owner is yet to be identified. It is clear that it
didn’t belong to Rudi Scherz. Mrs Harmon informs him that Colonel Easterbrook also has
a revolver, which he keeps in his collar drawer. Mrs Butt, the cleaning lady that they share,
has told her about it. Craddock wonders aloud that the Colonel could have very easily oiled
the door when he went to Little Paddocks when nobody was at home but he has told the
police that he went there to lend a book to Miss Blacklock. Unlike the suspicious Miss
Hinchcliffe, who refuses to tell the police why she had visited the house. Miss Marple
explains to Inspector Craddock that Miss Hinchcliffe had refused to do so because she had
gone there to drop a block of butter, illegally procured from a farmer.
Craddock is curious to know what Sonia looks like. Even though the letters have
some snapshots attached to them, he argues that none of them could be that of Sonia. When
Miss Marple asks how he knows, he replies that Miss Blacklock had described Sonia
Goedler as small and dark and he could locate no such person in the snapshots. To this,
Miss Marple remarks, “that’s very interesting.” (278) Just then the phone rings. The call is
for Craddock from Rydesdale who tells him that Ronald Haymes, ex-Captain in the South
Loamshires and Phillipa Haymes’ husband, had died yesterday. Ten days ago, he had met
with an accident while saving a child. Rydesdale and Craddock believe that he had probably
visited Phillipa, to ask her for money and their conversation was overheard by Mitzi.
Phillipa denied having met him because she was scared that he might have had something
34
to do with the hold-up at Little Paddocks. However, he could not have been part of the
hold-up because the accident occurred on the 28th and the hold-up was staged on the 29th.
At the Vicarage, before going out to town, Mrs Harmon decides to put a lamp by
Miss Marple who is knitting. As she brings the lamp to Miss Marple’s side, the wire pulls
across the table and their cat leaps upon it and bites and claws it until it frays. After scolding
the cat, she moves a bowl of flowers so that Miss Marple can switch on the lamp. The cat
playfully claws her hand; making her spill some water, that falls on the frayed part of the
wire just as Miss Marple turns on the switch; resulting in a fuse and all the lights in the
house go out. Miss Marple startles and says that she finally figured out something. After
Mrs Harmon leaves, Miss Marple sits still for two minutes and starts making notes on a
piece of paper.
Meanwhile at the Boulders, Miss Hinchcliffe again reconstructs the crime scene
with Miss Murgatroyd. In a bid to solve the mystery, she urges Miss Murgatroyd, who was
near the door, and hence spared the glare of the torch, to try and remember who was not
there when the torch flashed on everyone’s faces one by one. Before Miss Murgatroyd can
tell her what she saw, Hinchcliffe has to leave urgently to collect her dog from the station.
Murgatroyd calls after her; “But Hinch, she wasn’t there . . .”
In the evening, Mrs Blacklock receives a letter from Julia Simmons, informing her
that she will be arriving Tuesday. This puzzles her and she asks Phillipa to call Patrick and
Julia. When Patrick arrives, Miss Blacklock hands him the letter. After he finishes reading
it, Miss Blacklock asks if the letter is from his sister Julia and he answers yes. Just then,
Julia enters and Patrick tells her that their secret is out. In a grim voice, Miss Blacklock
asks who the woman in front of her is. Patrick begins to explain in a rambling manner that
his sister Julia wanted to join the theatre but their mother was opposed to the idea. However,
when Julia received a chance to join a theatre group based in Perth; they planned to bring
another girl to pose as Julia, to keep their mother happy. For Patrick it is all a big joke.
When Miss Blacklock asks the imposter Julia who she is; she replies that she is “one half
of the Pip and Emma combination.” (304) She is Emma Jocelyn Stamfordis; her parents
had split up about three years after Pip and she were born. They had separated and split the
twins too - Pip went to Sonia and Emma to Dmitri. She had an eventful and unstable life
with her father before they got separated during the war and she had not heard anything
from him since. She tells them that after the war, she came to London. Knowing that her
mother’s estranged brother had died a very rich man, she had looked up his will and
discovered the conditions for her inheritance in the will. After finding out that his widow
was on her deathbed, she realised that Miss Blacklock was her “best bet.” Emma believed
that if Miss Blacklock got to know about her misfortunes and her relationship with Randall
Goedler; she would take pity on her and bestow her a small allowance out of kindness. In
a stroke of luck, she had met Patrick in London and came with him to Chipping Cleghorn
posing as his sister, Julia Simmons. When Miss Blacklock asks if he too approved of her
35
lying to the police, Emma tells her that she could not tell the police the truth because she
would be immediately suspected as she had the perfect motive to kill Miss Blacklock. So,
she had decided to continue with her deception and go away later.
Miss Blacklock asks Emma where Pip is; to which Emma replies that she does not
know. Miss Blacklock insists that she is lying and asks when she last saw him. After a
momentary hesitation, she tells Miss Blacklock that she has not seen him since their
parents’ separation and she did not know where they were either. Just then Craddock enters
the room and tells them that Miss Murgatroyd has been murdered and asks Julia where she
was around the estimated time of the murder. She tells him that after coming back from
Milchester, she had gone for a walk across the fields, but she has no alibi to support her
claim. Just then the telephone rings. Mrs Harmon is on the other end and she worriedly tells
Craddock that Miss Marple has not come back home. Craddock tells her that Miss Marple
was at the Boulders when Miss Murgatroyd’s body was discovered but she had left half an
hour ago. The Vicarage is just a ten-minute walk away from the Boulders but no one has
seen her. Mrs Harmon informs him that Miss Marple has written down some things on a
paper before going for her walk. Overwhelmed by the news, Miss Blacklock pulls at her
pearl choker and says in a hoarse voice, “It’s getting worse and worse. Whoever’s doing
these things must be mad, Inspector - quite mad. . .” (312) The choker breaks because of
her nervous pulling and, clutching her throat, she goes out of the room sobbing. As Phillipa
picks up the pearls from the floor, she comments that she has never seen Miss Blacklock
so upset before and wonders if someone special, like Randall Goedler, gave her the pearls.
Craddock wonders the same. This meant that the pearls could be real and worth a lot of
money.
At the Vicarage, Craddock finds Mrs Harmon and her husband anxiously waiting
for him. Miss Marple has not returned yet. Craddock tells them that he saw her talking to
Fletcher before he saw her heading out. Incidentally, Fletcher cannot be located either.
Then he remembers about Miss Marple’s notes and he asks to see them. The note read:
“Lamp…Violets…Where is the bottle of aspirin?...Delicious Death…Making
enquiries…severe affliction bravely borne…Iodine…Pearls…Lotty…Berne…Old Age
Pension” (315). The note does not make any sense to them. Determined to search for Miss
Marple, he walks towards his car when he hears Sergeant Fletcher beckoning to him
urgently.
Chapter 21-Epilogue
At Little Paddocks, the atmosphere is tense during dinner. The imposter Julia is still at the
house because, as she explains, the police won’t allow her to leave now. She wonders why
she hasn’t been arrested yet and Miss Blacklock explains that they are looking for Miss
Marple. Inspector Craddock gives them a call at 8:30 p.m. He informs them that he will be
there in a quarter of an hour with the Easterbrooks and the Swettenhams.
36
However, Miss Hinchcliffe is the first to arrive and explains that Craddock had
given her the choice to come or not and she had decided to come. Craddock arrives later
with the Easterbrooks and the Swettenhams. They all settle down around the room.
Craddock announces that Miss Murgatroyd has been murdered and he has reasons to
believe that the murderer is a woman and he wants three women to account for their
whereabouts between four and four-twenty that afternoon. First, he asks Julia to repeat her
statement. He warns her to be mindful of her answer as her words may be used as evidence
in court. Mrs Swettenham is questioned next. Finally, Craddock questions Mrs Easterbrook
and brings the interrogation to a close and a bitter Mrs Easterbrook asks why he is not
interrogating the others. Craddock replies that before her death, Miss Murgatroyd had made
a statement that during the hold-up, someone was absent from the room and taken some
names of those who were present.
Just then, Mitzi makes one of her dramatic entrances and claims that she knows
more than the others about the murderer, admitting that she wanted to use what she saw as
blackmail to extort money from the killer but now she is scared that she too might be killed.
Mitzi proceeds to tell everyone that contrary to what others believed, she was actually in
the dining room when she heard the gunshots. She had looked through the keyhole and in
the dark room, when the gun went off the second time, she had seen Miss Blacklock
standing behind Rudi Scherz. A surprised Miss Blacklock exclaims that she must be mad.
Just then, Edmund says that it was not possible for Mitzi to have seen Miss Blacklock.
Craddock asks him why and suggests that Edmund knew it wasn’t Miss Blacklock because
he was the one who did it and accuses him of being Pip. Phillipa interrupts the two and
announces that she is Pip. She remarks that everybody assumed that Pip was a boy and
even Julia had not corrected Miss Blacklock that afternoon. Julia explains that she did it in
“family solidarity” when she herself had realised Phillipa’s real identity that very afternoon.
Phillipa explains that she had come to Little Paddocks with the same motive as Julia - to
gain Miss Blacklock’s sympathy and get an allowance from her. But after the hold-up, she
got scared that she would be the only one suspected. She had no idea Julia was her long
lost twin, as they were not identical twins. After her confession, Edmund and Craddock
continue to argue, when suddenly, they hear “a long unearthly shriek of terror” from the
kitchen.
While Craddock and Edmund are arguing, Miss Blacklock follows Mitzi back to
the kitchen and tries to kill her by pulling her head down in the dish water. Just then, Miss
Bunner’s voice is heard, “Oh Lotty – Lotty – don’t do it…Lotty”. (340) A terrified Miss
Blacklock screams and tries to run away but is blocked by Sergeant Fletcher. Miss Marple,
who was mimicking Dora Bunner’s voice, comes out of hiding and reveals to everyone that
the woman who had tried to kill Mitzi is actually Charlotte Blacklock and not Letitia
Blacklock.
37
At the Vicarage, a small crowd comprising the Harmons, Inspector Craddock, Julia,
Patrick, Edmund and Phillipa eagerly listen to Miss Marple’s story of how she solved the
mystery. Miss Marple explains that she first suspected Miss Blacklock because she was the
only one capable of organising the hold-up as she was the only one who had been in contact
with Rudi Scherz and it would be much easier to pull such a stunt in one’s own house. The
central heating meant no fire and hence no light in the room and the only person who could
have arranged not to have a fire was the mistress of the house herself. Like everyone, Miss
Marple had initially believed that someone wanted to kill Letitia Blacklock. Together, Miss
Marple and Craddock tell them the story of how they arrived at the truth.
Charlotte Blacklock had been a pretty, light-hearted and affectionate girl. But then,
she got the goitre. Her father, Dr Blacklock, was a rigid and conservative man who denied
her treatment. Without treatment, the goitre grew and she became more depressed and
shunned people and society. Letitia Blacklock had already left home to live an independent
life from her father. But she wrote almost every day to her home-bound sister to keep her
morals high. After their father’s death, Letitia had immediately left her job and devoted
herself completely to Charlotte. She took her to Switzerland for treatment and when the
war broke out, the sisters decided to continue living there. There, they had received the
news that Goedler had left his fortune to Letitia, after his wife’s death. The prospect of
inheriting Goedler’s fortune had meant much more to Charlotte than to Letitia because it
meant a second chance at living life as a normal woman and to enjoy life. Sadly, Letitia
died of pneumonia. Desperate to inherit the fortune, she had impersonated Letitia. After
the war was over, she came back to England and bought a house in a different part of
England to avoid being identified by someone from her past. For the most part, she
succeeded in her impersonation owing to her old age, arthritis and short sightedness and
the fact that she knew everyone from Letitia’s life through the detailed letters she used to
receive from her. Being recognised as Charlotte was the only thing she feared. So, when
Rudi had recognised her as Miss Blacklock at the Royal Spa Hotel in Medenham, she felt
threatened. Rudi knew Charlotte from his days working as an orderly at Dr Adolf Koch’s
clinic in Berne, where she had gone to get her goitre removed. Till then, she had been
secure in her deception. At Little Paddocks, the coming of Patrick and Julia had helped
increase her credibility as Aunt Letty. When she had gone to bring Miss Bunner to Little
Paddocks -after receiving a letter for help addressed to Letitia- the latter had immediately
recognised her as Charlotte. So, she had told Miss Bunner everything and swore her to
secrecy. Unfortunately, Miss Bunner would muddle names and let out some specific
allusions, which made Charlotte regret her decision. However, being recognised as
Charlotte Blacklock by Rudi Scherz posed a bigger danger to her. So, she had planned the
hold-up as a ruse to kill him. On the day of the hold-up, she had let Rudi Scherz in when
she went out to shut the ducks. Then, at 6:30 p.m., under the guise of getting the cigarette
box, she dropped water from the vase of violets on the frayed wire of a lamp to cause a
fuse. (Charlotte had exchanged the lamps so that the next day, Fletcher found no evidence
38
of any fuse or frayed wire.) After the lights went out, she came behind Rudi through the
second door, wearing her gardening gloves, and shot at the point where she had been
standing and then shot Rudi before dropping the gun near him. Later, she had nipped her
ear to deceive people into believing that she had been shot at.
But the investigation was not closed as suicide or accidental death as she had
planned. So, Charlotte designed a motive and suggested Pip and Emma as potential
suspects. She knew that Phillipa was Sonia Goedler’s daughter due to their physical
resemblance. Miss Bunner began to pose a bigger risk to her due to her forgetfulness and
Miss Blacklock decided that she had to die. She had also removed all pictures of herself
from the photo album, which incidentally also had Sonia Goedler in them. This made
Craddock think that Sonia was amon,g them and someone had removed the pictures so she
couldn’t be identified. At Hinchcliffe’s urging, Murgatroyd had tried to reconstruct the
night of the hold-up and was killed because she had remembered that Miss Blacklock was
not at her spot when the torch flashed there.
Miss Marple tells her audience that she had actually come to the truth by linking all
the isolated pieces that she had scribbled in her note. But after Murgatroyd was killed, she
had devised a plan with Fletcher to catch Miss Blacklock in the act of committing another
crime and had convinced Mitzi to help them with it. The charade played by Craddock and
Edmund had helped set the opportunity for Charlotte to try to commit another murder and
fall right into the trap laid down by Miss Marple.
After the recounting, Emma (formerly Julia) tells everyone her plan to explore a
career in acting and Edmund and Phillipa are engaged to get married. In the epilogue, a
newly married Edmund and Phillipa are back in the village after their honeymoon. Edmund
has successfully written his first book, a play called “Elephants do Forget.”
39
PART II
Renu Koyu
2.1. Agatha Christie: A Brief Biography

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England
to Clara and Frederick Miller; the last of three children. Interestingly, her mother did not
want her to learn to read and write until she was eight, believing that it was bad for child
development but Agatha taught herself to read by the age of five! She wrote her first poem
at the age of ten – called ‘The Cowslip,’ but only started writing seriously at the age of
eighteen, after she returned from her schooling in Paris. She married Archie Christie on the
Christmas Eve of 1914 before he was deployed as a pilot to France. She too volunteered as
a nurse and worked as a dispenser (pharmacist) during the First World War. In fact, her
first published novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) was written while working as
a dispenser during the war. This introduced the world to the dandy Belgian detective
Hercule Poirot. She also used her extensive knowledge of poisons in most of her mysteries.
In her auto-biography, she revealed that she and her sister were avid readers of
murder mysteries and she actually started writing mysteries herself because her sister,
Madge told her that she could not write one. It is safe to say that she proved her worth as a
detective story writer as two of her fictional detectives- Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple-
remain the most beloved detectives. In fact, her contribution to the genre led to the creation
of a new sub-genre called “cozy crime.” She is lovingly called the Queen of Crime and is
the world’s best-selling author of all time. She also wrote six romance novels under the pen
name Mary Westmacott. Like the characters of her mysteries, she lived an eventful life -
writing books, travelling extensively, helping her husband with his archaeological works
and died at the ripe age of eighty-five in 1976. She was a prolific writer and wrote over
sixty-six detective novels, fourteen collections of short stories, the world’s longest running
play- The Mousetrap- and three non-fictions. Her books have been adapted and readapted
for a variety of mediums like the television, the theatre and the radio, both during and after
her lifetime.
2.2. The Cozy Crime Genre

Detective stories have been around for a long time. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders in the
Rue Morgue (1841) is considered to be the first modern detective story. By the late
nineteenth century, the demand for detective fiction increased with detectives like Arthur
Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes becoming a household name across the world. Britain
was the main producer of detective fiction in the first half of the twentieth century and
many started associating the genre with the English. English detective fiction has certain
recurring motifs and themes. P. D. James, a cozy crime writer herself, writes:
40
In the detective novel we may expect to find a mysterious murder, a closed
circle of suspects, each with a credible motive for the crime, a detective,
amateur or professional, who comes in rather like an avenging deity to solve it
and a solution usually in the last chapter which the reader should be able to
arrive at himself by logical deduction from clues which are planted by the
writer with deceptive cunning but essential fairness. (James 638)
Since writers do not focus on the crime or the criminal but on the process of solving
it and returning a sense of balance to the world by identifying and subsequently removing
evil from the world, English detective fiction is called “Cozy Crime.”
The popularity and demand for detective fiction reached a peak in the period
between the two World Wars and was therefore called the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
During this period, the English detective story writers created a Detective Club and Christie
was also a member. Other prominent members of the group included Anthony Berkeley,
G.K. Chesterton, and Ronald Knox. Subsequently, Knox made a list of rules for detective
writers to follow and these are known as Knox’s Ten Commandments (or, “Decalogue”).
Writers were expected to follow these rules while writing their mysteries and one of the
rules states that all the clues must be mentioned in the story so that the readers can attempt
to solve the mystery along with the fictional detective(s). The question of whether the
writers followed all the rules faithfully is still a subject of contention.
Christie’s Trademark Style

In Christie’s stories, double bluffs and red herrings are used to send readers on the wrong
trail as they try to solve the mystery, alongside her detective(s). A double bluff is a situation
in which all the evidences point towards an individual as the culprit but the obviousness of
the situation makes readers wary of the guilt of the individual. However, the said individual
might or might not be the real culprit. In some cases, the murderer(s) is the least expected
person(s) in the story. Christie takes the readers on a wild goose chase as characters
eventually reveal their secrets, that might be the potential reason for the murder. These are
called “red herrings.” She manages to rivet the readers’ attention till the very end of the
story and surprise them with the reveal. It is usually the little details that everyone, except
the detective, doesn’t notice that lead to revelation of secrets and ultimately, the solving of
the crime. Her signature style is the dramatic reveal at the end of a mystery; when the
detective(s) gather all the suspects and the police; reveals the name of the criminal and
explains the method through which the criminal was identified from a group of suspects.
Her critics accuse her of compromising on the quality of her story and the characters
in favour of the “puzzle” form of her mysteries. However, this is what has made her stories
popular and remain in demand through the decades.
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Miss Marple: A Brief Introduction
The character of Miss Marple was first introduced to the readers in The Tuesday Night
Clubs (1926). Subsequently, she featured in nineteen other short stories, as well as twelve
novels. In her autobiography, Christie reveals that Miss Marple was based on the old
women she came across in various English villages she had stayed in during her childhood,
as well as her own grandmother. Like them, Miss Marple knows through experience that
people are capable of doing the worst things imaginable. The official Agatha Christie
website describes her as “surprisingly worldly.” Christie also admits that she did not want
to make Miss Marple a central character and her success actually surprised her.
At first glance, Miss Marple is an old gentlewoman with white hair, a pink face,
and twinkling eyes. She appears to be a stereotypical old woman: mild-mannered, fluttery,
harmless, interested in gossip and always knitting. She is often overlooked as just another
prying old woman. In the novel, Julia calls her, “A real Victorian type.” (235) Even though
her brain works in a “muddly way,” she always manages to get to the bottom of a mystery.
Her years of experience have taught her all about human nature and her naturally observant
nature helps her draw parallels between people she meets and people she knows in her
village of St. Mary Mead. In fact, her famed method of detection is drawing parallels
between people; through which she categorises people into groups who are certain to do
things a certain way and this is always accurate. Though seemingly banal, this method helps
her put people into categories with similar habits, behaviours and criminal tendencies
(much like a psychologist) and use logic and available clues to solve crimes. She has a
sharp mind and integrity of character that abhors wrong-doing and strongly believes that
the guilty must be punished. Her insights help her accept that even kind and weak people
are capable of murder.
Conclusion
The cozy crime detective stories are formulaic and follow the rules laid out in Knox’s
Golden Rules of Detective fiction. Its readers find solace in these stories where “evil” can
be reduced to a single person who will eventually be identified. In a cozy crime mystery: a
crime is committed, it is investigated, eventually resolved and sorder restored. In a world
that was changing at an alarming rate, her books with a puzzle-like plot, tame characters,
and uncomplicated solutions acted as a refuge for her earliest readers. Perhaps, this is the
reason for her continued popularity.
2.3 Themes
Modern Identity in Post-war Britain
The question of identity looms large in A Murder is Announced. As modernity ushered in
new social systems- of identity cards and ration cards- the identity of an English village in
itself had to be considered anew. Earlier, villages used to resemble islands where the
population was insulated from the rest of the world and everyone knew everyone else, and
42
their identity could be vouched for by their neighbours; who knew them intimately in their
daily domestic lives. But in a modern English village, this was rapidly becoming a thing of
the past. People could come from anywhere in the world - expatriates returning from the
colonies or other countries and even foreign immigrants - and one had to trust their word
for who they claimed to be. With an unidentified murderer on the loose; the identity of
almost everyone who attends the party comes under the scanner for Inspector Craddock.
This is particularly reflected in Inspector Craddock’s increasing paranoia; believing that
the twins Pip and Emma or either of their parents, Sonia Goedler or Dmitri Stamfordis,
could be in the village, posing as one of the suspects and waiting for a chance to murder
Miss Blacklock. Government documents had their limitations as documents could very
easily be forged or stolen. Moreover, they could not provide intimate details of a person’s
character or past as people who knew them could. It lacked the personal connection.
The Rapidly Changing English Village

The village of Chipping Cleghorn appears to be in a state of flux throughout the story. The
war has forced a lot of change on the English way of life - the arrival of foreigners in an
intimate space like the village, the decline of traditional jobs, a much - discussed scarcity
of servants and a rationing of resources. In such a dynamic environment, where things are
no longer what they used to be, the changing demography of the village itself is the most
telling sign - with residents claiming to have come back from all corners of the world. Also,
a more marked change is that beside the traditional family units represented by the
Swettenhams, the Harmons and the Easterbrooks; the rest of the characters, who are
incidentally all women (except Patrick Simmons), live a non-traditional lifestyle and work
non-traditional jobs. For instance, Letitia Blacklock worked as a private secretary to the
business mogul, Randall Goedler. Her loyalty and moral fortitude made her a trustworthy
friend and employee. She is described as having a man’s mind with no “feminine feelings
or weaknesses.” Amy Murgatroyd and Miss Hinchcliffe are two friends who live together
in a cottage called the Boulders and work as farmers, Phillipa Haymes works as an assistant
gardener, and Miss Marple is an amateur detective.
Murder and the Domestic Space

A Murder is Announced contains the traditional themes of a cosy crime detective story- a
crime is committed in a small picturesque little village where everybody knows everybody;
the culprit is someone among them and gossip fuels most of the conversations at get-
togethers. Almost everybody has secrets but, at the same time, secrets do not remain secrets
for long. Like all Miss Marple stories, Christie proves that murder, a traditionally male-
centric topic is not distinct from the domestic space. In fact, the knowledge of the domestic
sphere can help one solve crimes and identify criminals. With women at the centre of this
domestic sphere, Inspector Craddock must rely on Miss Marple to help him navigate it.
The clues of the murder also lie in the everyday; like a changed lamp, dried violets or burnt
cigarette mark on furniture; things that a woman is most likely to notice.
43
2.4 Challenging the Idea of a Traditional Detective
Miss Marple, as the amateur detective who solves the murder mystery, is not the traditional
detective one is used to. First of all, she is a woman; an old woman who the characters in
the story see as the usual prying kind, hungry for a piece of gossip. And interestingly, Miss
Marple does not oppose this perception of her. She uses it to her advantage, investigating
cases by posing as the curious old woman who loves to pry into other people’s business.
She also tackles the stereotype that women rely on their strong feminine intuition to solve
the cases. The story clearly shows that intuition alone is not enough. This is demonstrated
through the character of Miss Bunner, who has the intuition to understand that something
is wrong but does not know what. Miss Marple’s intuition, on the other hand, is supported
by her experiences and her keen observations. Along with this, she uses village parallels to
help her find the correct pattern of human behaviour and logically solve crimes. Though
she is different from the traditional detective one reads about, like all self-respecting
detectives, she too ultimately uses the available facts and logic and deduction to arrive at
the truth of the problem.
2.5 Critical Analysis of the Novel

A Murder is Announced was first published in 1950. The book was heavily promoted upon
publication as being Christie's fiftieth book. Christie had previously explored its plot in a
Miss Marple short story called “The Companion”; published in the anthology The Thirteen
Problems (1932). On publication, it received positive reviews. For the June 1950 issue of
The Time Supplement, the critic Julian MacLaren Ross wrote, “A Murder is Announced,
establishes firmly [Christie’s] claim to the throne of detection.” Through the years, it has
been adapted for the television in America, Britain, Japan, France, and Korea. It was also
adapted for the stage in 1977 by the dramatist Leslie Darbon and remains in production
even today. A Murder is Announced explores the usual themes of the English detective
fiction: a dangerous stranger threatens the peace, stability and security of a picturesque
English village by committing a murder, the suspects are within the community itself and
an amateur detective helps the police solve the crime and restore the village to its former
state.
Acknowledging Christie’s recurring return to the village as the preferred location
for her mysteries, critics credit her for making the English villages famous worldwide
through her writing. The crime writer Edmund Crispin once commented that, “When one
thinks of [Agatha Christie], one thinks inevitably of English country life.” Likewise, the
fictional village of Chipping Cleghorn is a picturesque little location away from the bustle
of the city; inhabited by a number of middle class and upper middle-class families with a
working-class population that caters to their needs. Some critics have observed that the
reason for choosing the village as the setting for a cozy crime mystery is because country
houses offer numerous opportunities for the plot of the story. The interior of a country
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house can be used to place clues and its comfortable environment is symbolic of the
insularity of village communities. The smallest diversion from the “normal” stands out in
a place and a space where out of ordinary incidents do not usually happen.
Set in 1950, fresh with the trauma and the lingering effects of the Second World
War, the village of Chipping Cleghorn is steeped in nostalgia for old times and the symbolic
sense of security, stability and abundance it offered. Till 1954, the Ministry of Food of
Britain rationed food, fuel and other resources throughout the country. (IWM) According
to historical records, housewives faced more problems securing food and other amenities
after the war than during the war years. Likewise, discussions about the shortage of
resources are a recurring topic in A Murder is Announced. In fact, during the police
investigation, Miss Hinchcliffe comes under suspicion because she refuses to tell the police
what she was doing in Little Paddocks when none of its residents were in the house. Later,
Miss Marple apologetically explains to Inspector Craddocks that Miss Hinchcliffe had gone
to keep a block of butter in the kitchen. She did not tell the police about it because it was
procured illegally and during the rationing period, such actions were heavily penalised.
In such a familiar and seemingly safe domestic space, where women break the law
to get a block of butter, the feeling of dread multiplies as the unknown presence of the
stranger threatens this haven of safety and security. With foreigners and expatriates
returning from all around the world to live in the English countryside, the stable and
security associated with a close-knit English village is challenged. In such circumstances,
Craddock’s paranoia about the identity of the people who attended the “murder party” is
justified. As most of the suspects have newly settled in Chipping Cleghorn, Craddock’s
concerns become more urgent. Any of them could be Pip/Emma/Sonia/Dmitri. Initially,
the police suspect the foreigners Rudi Scherz and Mitzi of working together but the idea is
soon proved incompatible. Ironically, Mitzi is one of the few characters who has not
performed any kind of deception; she is who she claims to be and yet Mitzi is frequently
referred to as a pathological liar. The English, including Inspector Craddock, expose their
xenophobia in their treatment of Mitzi. Ironically, the only time she actually lies is to help
Miss Marple reveal Charlotte Blacklock as the murderer.
Through Mitzi, the outspoken and over-dramatic foreign cook, Christie brings
attention to the rapidly changing landscape of the English village. A new normal was
emerging, one in which foreigners intermingled with the English crowd in the most
homogenous space of a country - its villages. The changing social dynamics in the story
are also seen in the characterisation of the women characters. 1950 was still a conservative
time for women; the general expectation of society being that women should get married
and become housewives and take care of their families. However, the same period also saw
a small percentage of women become more independent and occupy more non-traditional
roles. In A Murder is Announced, only three women are in traditional family structures;
Mrs Swettenham, Mrs Harmon and Mrs Easterbrook. Of them, Mrs Swettenham is the
45
stereotype of the doting mother and Mrs Easterbrook is the stereotype of the young wife.
The other women characters are independent and work non-traditional jobs. Phillipa
Haymes works as an assistant gardener, Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd are
farmers, Miss Blacklock worked as a private secretary to a business mogul and Miss Marple
is a spinster who solves crimes as a hobby. Along with the gender dynamics, the class
divisions also see a reshuffling. The narrator makes it abundantly clear that Phillipa is a
“gentlewoman,” born in an upper-class family, who has fallen on hard times due to the war.
Even though she works a job traditionally occupied by working class men, the other
characters make it a point to treat her as an equal.
The gossipy nature of the English village offers great opportunity for the plot of a
murder mystery. When Rudi Scherz recognises Charlotte Blacklock in Medenham, she
immediately sees him as a threat and decides to kill him in such a way that his death would
look either like a suicide or an accident. She depends on the nosiness of her neighbours to
devise her killing of Rudi Scherz. Accordingly, she pays Rudi Scherz to put up a murder
announcement in the Cleghorn Gazette and pays an unsuspecting Scherz to come to the
house for a fake hold-up. There, with her neighbours gathered for an evening of play, she
kills Scherz and secures her alibi. Rudi’s death is initially suspected to be either a suicide
or an accident as she had planned but later ruled as murder with another person behind the
hold-up. The discovery of the oiled door cements Craddock’s suspicion that Rudi was
murdered. Therefore, when her plan fails, gossip becomes anathema for her. She worries
that her girlhood friend Miss Bunner might reveal the secret of her identity during one of
her conversations with her nosy neighbours. To avoid it, she kills Miss Bunner after
throwing her a memorable birthday celebration.
However, despite all the precautions Charlotte Blacklock takes, Miss Marple is not
fooled. She reveals that she had suspected Charlotte Blacklock from the very beginning
because only the owner of the house had the means to make the hold-up a success. Charlotte
Blacklock uses numerous red herrings to throw the police off her scent. She invents the lie
that Rudi knew her because she had stayed at his father’s hotel in Montreux, Switzerland.
When Craddock initially brings up the possibility that Rudi had wanted to kill her, she had
scoffed at the idea. But later, with her options running out, she insinuates that her life could
be in danger because of the money she would inherit in a few months. Later, she removes
all her pictures from the photo albums and gives Craddock a wrongful description of Sonia
Goedler. Her deceptions and lies catch up with her and she commits one crime after another
in an attempt to avoid getting caught by the police.
Though Craddock and Miss Marple have access to the same set of clues, their
approach to and interpretation of the clues are different. Miss Marple pays attention to the
smallest detail; never taking anything for granted and not forming instant conclusions. She
deliberates on the clues and the context, to come to the most plausible conclusions. While
Inspector Craddock thinks that Miss Bunner’s addressing her friend as “Lotty” or “Letty”
46
is a result of her confused mind, Miss Marple notices that these are two different nicknames
that Miss Bunner seems to jumble up again and again. This makes her suspect that there is
a reason for such a confusion, which in turn helps her deduce that Miss Charlotte Blacklock
(Lotty) is actually impersonating her dead sister Letitia Blacklock (Letty). While Craddock
believes that the pearls are of sentimental value to Miss Blacklock and by the end he also
starts to wonder if they might be real pearls and the reason why Miss Blacklock’s life is in
danger; Miss Marple begins to realise that it is a big part of Charlotte’s disguise as it helps
hide her goitre scar. Through her experiences over the years, she knows that people often
use documents of their dead relatives or friends to impersonate them to avail economic
benefits like pensions. She also knows that because one old woman looks the same as
another old woman, this often helps in such impersonations.
Miss Marple is very meticulous in her examination of every detail and clue and
gives attention to the testimony of every character- major or minor. Catano remarks that,
“As an old female, the stratagems Miss Marple uses…to solve the mystery and to find the
criminals, differ from the male detectives, since she gives priority to the triviality of
everyday life in the village, the details about the physical appearance of people by focusing
on the significant characteristics of human nature, therefore she is very good at discovering
the undiscovered world of both women and men through her detailed observations”
(Catano cited by Köseoğlu 132). Miss Marple contributes her empirical knowledge of the
domestic sphere to supplement the limitations of police work. She does this by doing what
society expects her to do- going to people’s houses for gossip and tea. Her unassuming
features make her blend into the background so that she can investigate without any hurdle
or suspicion that the police usually face. Because she is a seemingly harmless old woman,
people intuitively trust her and let their guards down when talking to her.
Gill Plain argues that Christie prefers murder as a “domestic art” and claims that
her “Miss Marple mysteries are ones in which female news and knowledge are vindicated.”
(Plain 182) Miss Marple makes it abundantly clear that it is not just woman’s intuition but
a methodical and careful consideration of all available facts and clues that help her solve
crimes. The clues are scattered everywhere and in itself they make no sense. It is only when
she explains it at the end that the readers see how everything fits like a puzzle. Miss
Marple’s signature method is the drawing of village parallels. She has a tendency to
compare people, situations and crimes to similar ones she had witnessed or experienced in
her village of St. Mary Meads.
Miss Marple understands the psychology of people from observing human nature.
Her fluffy personality disguises her cynical and alert mind. After Blacklock’s arrest, Miss
Marple observes that Charlotte Blacklock was a kind and weak person and such people can
often become dangerous: for themselves and others. She explains that while both the
Blacklock sisters had kind hearts, Letitia was the kind of person who would never do
anything wrong knowingly. In fact, she acted as Randall Goedler’s moral compass when
47
she worked for him. Her sense of morality was stronger than any temptation of money. In
contrast, Charlotte was morally weak. When Letitia had unexpectedly died of pneumonia
in Switzerland, Charlotte had assumed her identity in order to inherit Randall Goedler’s
fortune. She believed that because she and Letitia were so close that they were practically
one person, it was not wrong for her to pose as Letitia. Later, when she found herself in
danger of being identified by Rudi Scherz as Charlotte Blacklock, she kills him. Her greed
for the fortune that never belonged to her makes her take extreme steps; she kills her dear
old friend Miss Bunner and her neighbour Amy Murgatroyd and attempts to kill Mitzi. All
the time believing that she would make-up for these crimes by donating to charities and
living the life she could not in her youth.
Cozy crimes are inherently moralistic in nature. In Christie’s works, criminals are
isolated cases of a weak or evil personality who must be rooted out from society and
punished so that the world can go back to being a stable and secure place for everyone else
to live in. The puzzle form of the cozy crime genre and its straightforward narratives have
attracted readers since its conception. In fact, most readers and writers of detective fiction
claim that the puzzle provides the form's chief appeal. Another reason for Christie’s
continued popularity is her capacity to adapt to the cultural climate of the period she writes
in. A Murder is Announced subtly alludes to the changes in a post-war English village
without it becoming the main concern of the story. The socio-cultural changes are used to
support the story’s plot. Her culprits are usually people one can relate to: ordinary people
who commit crime for their own personal reasons and hence pose no imminent danger to
the social fabric of the society and after they are caught; stability is restored to it. The focus
of cozy crime detective fiction is on catching the culprit and a large part of the story is spent
in determining the culprit with the clues, ends with the identification of the culprit, and a
mechanical reconstruction of how the detective solved the mystery. It excludes all the gory
details of the crime and the legal procedure that follows. It is only befitting that such a
domestic and cozy setting should have a fluffy old woman like Miss Marple with intimate
knowledge of the village and its people as the detective who roots out evil from her natural
habitat.
Endnote
Murder Game: It is an interactive party game in which one of the attendees is secretly
playing a murderer and the other attendees must find out who among them is the culprit.
Murder games were popular party games in the early twentieth century.
Questions
1. Analyse Miss Marple’s style of detection with reference to A Murder is
Announced.
2. Write a short note on the cozy crime genre.
48
3. Write a short note on Christie’s depiction of the post-war English countryside in
A Murder is Announced.
4. In what ways is Miss Marple different from the traditional detective?
5. Write short character analyses of the following
i. Miss Marple
ii. Inspector Craddock
iii. Miss Charlotte Blacklock
iv. Miss “Bunny” Bunner
Bibliography
“1954: Housewives celebrate end of rationing.” On This Day 1950-2005, BBC Home.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_3818000/3818563.st
m
Bolin, Alice. “Miss Marple vs. the Mansplainers: Agatha Christie’s Feminist Detective
Hero.” Electric Lit, 20 May 2015. https://electricliterature.com/miss-marple-vs-the-
mansplainers-agatha-christies-feminist-detective-hero/ Accessed 16 Sep. 2021.
Chandler, Raymond. The Simple Art of Murder. Hamish Hamilton, 1950. pp
Christie, Agatha. A Murder is Announced. HarperCollins, 2005.
Grella, George. “Murder and Manners: The Formal Detective Novel.” NOVEL: A Forum
on Fiction, vol. 4, no. 1, Duke University Press, 1970, pp. 30–48,
https://doi.org/10.2307/1345250.
Jacobs, Alan. “Miss Marple and the Problem of Modern Identity.” The New Atlantis, Fall
2015. https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/miss-marple-and-the-problem-
of-modern-identity. Accessed 11 Sept. 2021.
JAMES, P. D. “The Art of the Detective Novel.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol.
133, no. 5349, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and
Commerce, 1985, pp. 637–49, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41374015.
Köseoğlu, Berna. “Gender and Detective Literature: The Role of Miss Marple in Agatha
Christie’s The Body in the Library.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics &
English Literature, Vol. 4, No. 3, May 2015. https://www.journals.aiac.org.au/
index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1291 Accessed 1 Oct. 2021. pp 132-137.
“Miss Marple.” The Home of Agatha Christie. https://www.agathachristie.com/en/
characters/miss-marple
Pamboukian, Sylivia A. “Delicious Death in Agatha Christie.” Hektoen International,
Summer 2018.
49
Plain, Gill. “‘Tale Engineering’:Agatha Christie and the Aftermath of the Second World
War.” Literature and History, vol. 29, no. 2, 2020. DOI: 10.1177/0306197320945945
journals.sagepub.com/home/la . pp 179-199. Sage
Snell, K. D. M. “A Drop of Water from a Stagnant Pool? Inter-War Detective Fiction and the
Rural Community.” Social History, vol. 35, no. 1, Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 2010, pp. 21–
50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25677338.
Ro, Christina. “The Casual Classism of Agatha Christie.” The Ploughshares Blog, 29 Nov.
2017. https://blog.pshares.org/the-casual-classism-of-agatha-christie/ Accessed on 9
Sept. 2021.
Taylor, Andrew. “Agatha Christie: The Curious Case of the Cosy Queen.” Independent, 22
Oct. 2011. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/agatha-
christie-the-curious-case-of-the-cosy-queen-2032999.html
“What You Need to Know About Rationing in The Second World War”. Imperial War
Museums (IWM) Website. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-
about-rationing-in-the-second-world-war
50
The Murders in Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
Komal Dabas
1.0 Learning Objectives

This lesson will enable you to:
• Understand the important features of Detective fiction genre and Poe’s
contribution to the same
• Summarize and critically analyze the story
• Understand C. Augustine Dupin’s method of Ratiocination
2.0 Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) was an American writer who dedicated his life to writing
poetry, short stories, and many critical works. He is considered as an ‘architect’ of modern
short stories, especially Detective fiction. Edgar Allan Poe focused on the correctness of
form and style, and used language with precision. Poe’s writing style is confined to two
popular genres – Science Fiction and Detective Stories – and his influence can be seen in
the works of literary figures like E. T. A. Hoffman, Ann Radcliffe, Arthur Conan Doyle
and Agatha Christie. “The Murders in Rue Morgue” was published in the year 1841, and
he called the story his first “Tale of Ratiocination” which means a tale written with
analytical reasoning or logic.
Detective fiction is a popular genre in which a crime is committed, investigated, and the
culprit revealed. The investigation rests on the clues found at the murder scene, eye witness
accounts, nature of the crime, character traits of the victims as also their background,
motives, murder weapon etc. The point of interest for the reader is how these various
aspects are analyzed by the detective, often in ingenious ways to expose the criminal.
Dupin’s method is not to ask "what has occurred," but, instead, "what has occurred that has
never occurred before”, and to this end he uses the analytical skills of a mathematician
combined with the imagination of a card player. Poe calls this method ‘Ratiocination”. The
character of C. Augustine Dupin became a prototype for many fictional detectives like
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.
3.0 Detective Fiction as a Genre

Mysteries have always been a part of fiction writing, but ‘Detective Fiction’ as a sub-genre
became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Traditionally a detective story includes a
seemingly perfect crime, a wrongly accused person, dumb-witted and baffled police, an
analytically superior private investigator who reveals the real culprit through his unique
ways of detection, and most importantly the superficial evidence is proved irrelevant at the
51
end. The genre began with a series of short stories (‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’; ‘The
Mystery of Mary Roget’; ‘The Purloined Letter’) written by Edgar Allan Poe, in the 1840s,
featuring his fictional detective Augustine C. Dupin. When the character was introduced,
the term ‘detective’ was still not in use, however, the name Dupin is said to be originated
from the English word ‘Dupe’ or ‘Deception’ – which was not used as a negative
characteristic during that time. Soon the genre of ‘detective fiction’ expanded into novels
and series. William Russell became the first English author to write fiction police memoirs
which later was published, as a twelve stories volume, entitled ‘Recollections of a Detective
Police-Officer’ (1852). Then in the year 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle debuted with his
famous fictional detective series ‘Sherlock Holmes’ whose main character was influenced
by Poe’s Dupin. The school of Detective Fiction became a dominant genre of American
Literature in the 1920s, the era was famously called ‘The Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Notable writers of the age were Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey,
Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh, who set the modern conventions of the detective
genre.
But Poe’s story laid the foundational rules, for writing detective novels, which are followed
by the writers till date:
1. Mostly detective story involves murder, if so, the crime committed will be
significant and worthy of the attention of the readers.
2. The main character of the story -the private investigator – will possess superior
observing skills which will make him/her distinguishable from other authorities
involved. The detective as an outsider will exist spiritually and intellectually
beyond the conventions of ordinary humanity.
3. The challenge faced by the detective/private investigator will involve risks. The
case S/he is dealing with will be equivalent to the exceptional skills of the
detective.
4. The narrator of the story will make sure that the readers are always in the loop
with the methods used by the detective.
5. Towards the end of the story, the solution/reasoning will be logical enough to
make the readers question the abilities of other authorities involved. The detective
ideally will be able to give all the clues and reasons to make the case clear for the
readers.
Edgar Allan Poe’s contribution and influence to the ‘Detective Fiction’ genre was such that
a professional organization, namely – ‘The Mystery Writers of America’ – was founded in
1945, which exerted on the importance of mystery writings through its annual ‘Edgar Allan
Poe Award’.
Self-Check Questions
1. What do you understand by Detective Fiction?
2. What are the key elements of Detective Fiction?
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4.0 Summary
Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue” was the inaugural short story in the detective fiction
genre. Originally titled "Murders in the Rue Trianon", the tale was published in the year
1841 in Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine under the name “Murders in the Rue
Morgue”, to better associate with the theme. The story follows the case of the brutal murder
of two women committed in Paris which was solved by C. Augustine Dupin, a private
detective with extraordinary analytical skills.
Part I
The narrator and Dupin one evening notice a report in the newspaper- ‘Extraordinary
Murders’ of two women living on the fourth storey of a house in the Rue Morgue at Quarter
St. Roach. The neighbors had woken up at 3 in the morning after hearing shrieking sounds
coming out of the apartment of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter Mademoiselle
Camille L’Espanaye. To reach the fourth floor, they had to break the door of the house
open by a bayonet but the screams had ceased by then. They found the apartment
completely trashed. There was expensive crockery, silver spoons littered on the floor, as
also two bags containing 4000 francs in gold, bloody tufts of hair, and a blood-smeared
razor on a chair. The daughter was found stuffed into the chimney shaft in an upside-down
position. The dismembered corpse of the Madame L’Espanaye was found outside at the
rear of the building with her throat slit and head detached. Looking at the trashed apartment,
the money and jewelry on the floor, open safe, bloody hair-tuft, and the bodies, the police
assume that the deed is done by a powerful man, probably someone who has been in close
contact with the victims.
The next day, the newspaper carried additional information gathered from various
witnesses. The mother and daughter had been living a retired life in the house for six years,
were well to do, and were on good terms with each other. Henri Duval- one of the neighbors
claims that there were different voices heard along with the shrill screams. Many others
gave evidence that they heard two loud and angry voices, one was a gruff voice of which
only few French phrases were identified and the other was a loud shrill voice. No one was
sure if the voice was of a man or woman or what was being said by those people, but they
believed that one language was either Spanish, German, or French. Most of the witnesses
claimed that the voice was most similar to that of a French man but they couldn’t
distinguish what was being said. They also pointed to the fact that when they entered the
apartment, nobody was inside except for the one victim in the chimney shaft. The number
of testimonials listed was to draw attention towards the unreliability of the witnesses as
well as the bizarreness of the case. The report also disclosed the opinion of a physician and
a surgeon who gave details of the injuries and cause of death of the victims. In the opinion
of Paul Dumas, the physician, Mademoiselle L. was strangled with such brutality that her
throat was crushed before she was thrust in the chimney and Madame L’Espanaye’s corpse
was dismembered beyond recognition, her leg was crushed, and throat cut with a very sharp
object – probably a razor.
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A postscript in the newspaper mentioned that the police has arrested a bank clerk named
Adolphe Le Bon for the murders. It is only after Dupin reads the name of the bank clerk,
that he decides to investigate the murders himself since he owes a favor to the clerk. He
also comments that Parisian police have handled the investigation, hastily without any
method and probably have the wrong person in custody.
1. What was the original title of the story ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue?
2. How do Dupin and the narrator find out about the murders?
3. Summarize the account of the murders.
Part II
It was the bizarreness of the case that intrigued Augustine Dupin; for him solving this case
is as much about getting justice for the clerk as to use the case as a stimulation and a way
to entertain himself. He acquires all the necessary permissions from the police station to
visit the crime scene and examine the gruesome bodies and go through the apartment with
a fresh perspective. On their way, Dupin notices minute details around the house and the
neighborhood. As they enter the crime scene, the narrator cannot see beyond what was
already mentioned in the newspaper but Dupin looks at everything, it takes a whole day for
him to examine the house and the victims. The next day, Dupin asks the narrator if he had
noticed anything peculiar at the crime scene, which he did not. He then starts to point out
the obvious clues which were missed by the police and were not mentioned in the reports.
Firstly, there was no convincing motive for this brutal murder, secondly, the voices were
heard minutes before reaching the premises but no one was found inside except for the
victim. The police had arrested a bank clerk under suspicion of robbery but since all the
money and jewelry was found lying on the floor, this arrest seemed forced. The voices
heard by the witnesses dismissed the doubt of Madame L’Espanaye killing her daughter
and then committing suicide. So, by the process of elimination, Dupin comes to the
conclusion that there is a third party involved in the case, based on the witness testimonies
that two different sets of voices were heard – one a gruff voice perhaps speaking french
which could not be associated with any gender or language and other a shrill voice which
was louder than the gruff voice.
Keeping the suspense alive, Dupin moves toward the main question of how the culprit
entered and exited without getting caught. The doors were locked from the inside, the
windows were shut, the chimney was too narrow. If the witnesses claim to have heard the
voices coming from inside of the apartment, then how did they exit the crime scene?
Addressing these questions, he starts examining the two windows in the chamber whose
frames were bolted with nails and it seemed impossible to open them. On close
examination, Dupin concludes that the culprit has used the window to gain entry into the
house, but there was still the question of how he got out of the house using the same
54
window. The apartment was on the fourth floor and it’s not an easy task to descend from
the window, without getting hurt. Dupin recalls his walk around the building where he
noticed a lightning rod running above the casement. it is humanly impossible for someone
to reach the window from this rod since the window was very far, but the idea that this is
the entry path was not dismissed by the detective. Previously the police too had examined
the back of the building but dismissed the fact that someone can climb up the window, they
were not wrong in this case, but Dupin is speculating on all the possibilities so he believes
that the lightning rod must have been used by the culprit to reach the window - which he
assumed was open at that time due to the hot weather.
Keeping all the points in mind, Dupin brings together all the obvious clues missed by the
police – he dismisses the case as robbery as no one will leave the place without taking the
money, if the women were assassinated then there is no need for the culprit to hide the
bodies, and then there was the evidence that to gain entry and commit these brutal crimes
someone must have extraordinary skills, one who is powerful enough to detach the head of
a human being with bare hands and can also make high jumps to get in and out of the house.
Dupin reveals the most important evidence in this case- firstly, the tuft of hair found
clutched into the hands of Madame L’Espanaye, after careful examination and
disentangling the hair, he realizes that it is not human hair. Second, the fingerprints found
on the neck of Moiselle L’Espanaye, Dupin traces the handprint on the piece of paper and
then rolls the paper on a piece of thick wood resembling a human throat, he then asks the
narrator to put his hand over the paper. After this experiment it was clear that the prints
were a lot bigger than normal human hands, hence Dupin concludes that these are not
human handprints. Completing the full circle, he then presents an article that described the
anatomy of an Ourang-Outang(Orangutan) of East Indian Islands. After reading about the
ape’s gigantic structure and enormous strength, the case was crystal clear, he fits as the
culprit perfectly.
Dupin slowly untangles the whole case, he knows that the witnesses reported hearing two
different voices - the Ourang-Outang certainly fits the description of the shrill,
unintelligible voice, the second voice, however, according to Dupin, was must be of the
owner of the ape who is most certainly innocent since the crime was committed by the ape.
Now, this Frenchman holds the key to what happened that night at the Rue Morgue house
as he is the only true witness and he must be looking for the lost ape. Dupin hands over the
newspaper to the narrator in which he has taken out an advertisement saying that an
Ourang-Outang was caught and it is requested that the sailor belonging to Maltese Vessel
may claim the animal back after satisfactory identification. He then explains to the narrator
how he discovered that the French man is a sailor of Maltese Vessel, when they were
investigating the backside of the building Dupin picked up a ribbon at the foot of the
lightning rod which had a sailor knot on it. Meanwhile, answering the advertisement, a
Frenchman visits Dupin’s place to collect the animal. Upon arriving Dupin pretends to have
kept the animal at a nearby warehouse and questions the sailor about the animal. The sailor
55
is rather nervous and, in a hurry, to get the animal back and he offers to give a handsome
reward. Dupin is not interested in the reward, instead he wants to know everything about
the murders.
The sailor narrates that during a voyage to Borneo he and his shipmate, had acquired the
Ourang-Outang and brought it back to Paris. One night, the sailor comes home late and
finds that the ape is out of the cage and is trying to imitate the actions of his master whom
he had seen shaving with a razor in his hand. To punish the ape, the sailor takes out his
whip which in turn frightens the animal and he escapes. The sailor runs behind the ape
which is terrified of the punishment. It jumps into the apartment of Madame L’Espanaye
because the open and lighted window had caught his attention. He leaps into the apartment
through the window by standing on the lightning rod. The sailor sees that the ape had seized
Madame L’Espanaye and is trying to shave her head with the razor. The screams and
struggles of the old lady agitated and angered the Ourang-Outang and in an attempt to stop
the screams he slits her throat. Still furious, he launches on the daughter and strangles her
to death, and because of the fear of whip and punishment, he attempts to hide the bodies.
The sailor could not watch any further and he leave the premises while the ape escapes
again.
After listening to the whole event Dupin exclaims that his speculation was correct and the
narrator gives the closing remarks of how the sailor is innocent because he was not party
to the murder and the Ourang-Outang being an animal cannot be tried. The ape is recaptured
and sold. The police is dumbfounded by Dupin’s investigating skills. The narrative ends
with Dupin in a condescending tone summing up the poor investigating skills of the Prefect
whose method is “to deny what is, and to explain what is not.”
1. Who/what was the murderer and why did he commit such a deed?
2. How did Dupin know that the culprit isn’t human?
3. How did the murderer get in and out of the room?
4. How did Dupin test his theory and lure the sailor to his apartment?
5.0 Critical Analysis

‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ is Poe’s first tale of ratiocination and it lays basic features
of detective fiction which were later adopted by other murder mystery novelists – first, in
most cases the murder occurs in a closed environment leaving the police baffled; Second,
the police is all the cases is naïve, bumbling and not very intelligent; and third, the police
invariably based in superficial evidence accuses an innocent person; fourth, the private
investigator using superior analytical skills unravels the case. We have seen that all the
evidence was already there but with his analytical skills Dupin arrives at a logical and
unexpected conclusion. Most detective stories begin with an anomaly occurring in a routine
56
life, its existence seems improbable at first but once it is determined the truth of it remains.
The police determines that all the doors and windows were closed and it's impossible for
anyone to enter or exit the crime scene. But the more complex the case is, the more easily
it is solved – mostly with the help of a private investigator. The brilliance and rational
thinking of the detective is then measured with the single-mindedness of the police. In the
beginning of the story, Poe expresses the views as discussed above, about the need for an
observant and rational detective. He gives examples to prove the superiority of analytical
intelligence and mathematical brilliance, like by comparing the game of chess with the
game of cards and draughts he lays the importance of studying human behavior which will
become crucial as the story progresses. How in a game of chess one only needs the
brilliance of the mind, but in a game of cards one uses their mind as well as the imagination,
to read the faces of their opponent.
The long-winded conversation of the importance of analytical thinking brings us to the
main character of the story – Monsieur C. Augustine Dupin and his acquaintance with the
narrator. They met each other in a library where they bonded over their love for books,
soon they started living together in an apartment in Paris. In later detective stories, this
convention is repeated – the detective and his sidekick often share the same living space.
The narrator is highly influenced by Dupin and treats him with equal curiosity and respect.
He gives us an example of his brilliant analytical ability – one night they were strolling
along the street and the narrator was thinking about a certain actor ‘Chantilly’ and suddenly
M. Dupin interrupts the narrator’s thoughts and reveals what he was thinking about without
ever having asked anything. The narrator is puzzled as to how Dupin is privy to his
thoughts. Dupin then explains how through the logic of their previous conversation, and by
observing the narrator’s actions, he was able to deduct what the narrator was thinking at a
certain point. Not long after this, they read about the murder of two women in the
newspaper and we are given bare facts of the murder – both the women were covered in
bruises, one of them had a severed head and the other was thrust up into the chimney, the
apartment was trashed with all the gold and jewelry on the floor, and the police has arrested
a bank clear under suspicion. Because of his acquaintance with the accused, Dupin decides
to run his independent investigation. He acquires the necessary permission from the police
to visit the crime scene and begins his famous method of Ratiocination by stating that one
should not ask "what has occurred," but, instead, "what has occurred that has never
occurred before." He maintains that no matter how improbable the case is, the solution of
it is rather direct and easy and he is expecting a person who will confirm his theory.
Meanwhile, Dupin points out the obvious clues that were overlooked by the police. The
witnesses who reported to have heard two voices – a shrill voice and a deep voice coming
out of the apartment which could be of an Italian, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, a Hollander,
or an Englishman. They all thought that the shrill voice they heard was of a foreigner but
none of them agreed on the nationality – the Englishman thought the voice belonged to a
German man, but he does not understand German; the Spaniard thought its English but
57
does not understand English; the Italian thought it's Russian but does not understand
Russian, and so on. While they couldn’t agree on the nationality of the speaker of shrill
voice, they all agreed to have heard a rather deep voice uttering some French words. Basing
his investigation on these testimonies M. Dupin concludes that he is sure one of the persons
present in the room was a Frenchman.
As to the matter of escaping a closed room, notion of which was rejected by police because
of its impossibility, M. Dupin, however, manages to reason the possibility of this
impossibility. The police abandoned the search of an escape route once they found out that
the windows were nailed shut, but Dupin decides to examine the windows and discovers a
spring mechanism and a broken shaft of the nail in the window, which appeared to be nailed
down; the nail separated when the window was opened. Thus, the impossibility of the
egress from the room becomes possible, someone could have entered the room from the
open window and closed the window upon leaving. After investigating the outside of the
building, the police dismissed the possibility of someone climbing into the apartment, but
Dupin notices that if the shutters were open then it is possible for someone or something
with exceptional skills to be able to hop on the lightning rod and gain entry. Additionally,
he also points out that no human possesses such strength to kill someone with such
brutality. His intuitive and analytical sense leads him to believe that the deed is done by
someone who has super-human strength, who has no motive for this butchery, and whose
voice is alien to all ears with no specific identification. He then shows the narrator one
crucial clue that was overlooked by the police – the tuft of hair found clutched into the
hands of Madame L’Espanaye – the hair is not human. Further confirming his theory, he
also demonstrates how the handprint found on the body of Mademoiselle L’Espanaye was
too big for a human handprint, rather it is identical to the paws of an Ourang-Outang. He
has also taken out an advertisement for the owner of the animal saying it was found in the
woods, far from the crime scene so as not to arouse suspicion. He is determined that the
owner is a sailor as he found a ribbon in the back of the building which was tied in the way
only a Maltese sailor would wear. As soon as the sailor arrives at the address provided by
Dupin, he was held at gunpoint and was asked to reveal all the information about the
murders. The sailor then reveals how he brought an Ourang-Outang from one of his
voyages to Paris intending to sell it. But, one night the sailor found the ape out of his cage
with a razor in his hand, the sailor tried to get the animal back in the cage by using a whip
but in fright, he escapes into the street. The sailor then followed and watched the animal
jumping into an open window, he too jumped on the lightning rod but had no strength to
swing through the shutters. So, the sailor was forced to look at the horrific scene as the
animal began slashing the victims with the razor. The screams were heard throughout the
neighborhood and led to a frenzy situation because of which the ape tried to hide the bodies
of the victims and escape. Meanwhile, all the sailor could do was watch the gruesome
murder of two women and his horrified exclamations were heard by the witnesses. The
story ends traditionally, with Dupin taking his findings to the Prefect of the police who
resented him for solving the case which the police couldn’t.
58
1. Explain Dupin’s method of ratiocination
2. What essential trait does Dupin possess that the police lack?
3. Why does Poe include the discussion of Chantilly, the actor?
4. What was the reaction of the Prefect of Police to Dupin's solving the murders?
6.0 Main Characters

C. Augustine Dupin
C. Augustine Dupin is a fictional detective character created by Edgar Allen Poe making
his first appearance in the short story ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ in 1841. Then he
reappears in ‘The mystery of Marie Roget’ (1842), and in ‘The Purloined Letter’ (1844).
Dupin appears to be a non-professional detective whose motivations for solving the
mystery changes throughout the three stories. Poe created the character of Dupin even
before the word ‘Detective’ was coined, making Dupin the first detective who has laid the
foundation of all other fictional detectives like Sherlock Holmes, and established most of
the common elements of the detective fiction genre.
The character of Dupin compliments Poe’s term ‘Ratiocination’, as he combines intellect
with imagination and creates a character who is highly observant and analytical. He has a
strange sense of humor and he loves riddles, mathematics, and poetry. His eccentric
analytical thinking helps him to always stay a step ahead of the police and to think like the
criminals. Though Poe’s narrative ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ focuses more on the
mystery and less on the characters, the way Dupin’s character has been developed is
tremendous. The first few pages of the tale focus on the importance of analytical thinking
which leads up to the observation skills of C. Augustine Dupin. He solves the most complex
case in Paris and saves an innocent man from getting arrested by making deductions and
educated guesses. His reason to solve the murders at Rue Morgue was entertainment, but
during the investigation, the narrator throws light on how Dupin’s mind works, how he
observes little details, and how he carefully puts together a scrambled puzzle.
The Narrator
A close friend of C. Augustine Dupin, the narrator does not share the same analytical skills
as the detective but he loves to share his interest and fascination with Dupin’s way of life.
He plays the role of a sidekick of Dupin in the investigation of murders at Rue Morgue and
treats him with sheer admiration and it is through him the readers get an insight into the
crime-solving methods of the detective.
The narrator uses first-person narrative style to give a personal touch to all his observations
about Dupin and the case which follows. He builds up the narrative by discussing the game
of chess and the importance of being analytical and observant and juxtaposing it with the
introduction of C. Augustine Dupin and his methods. He not only paints a picture of
59
Dupin’s character but also manages to focus on the vivid imagery of the murders and
presents the case to the readers leaving no clue behind. The way the tale has been narrated
makes the readers feel that they are in the middle of all the investigation with the narrator.
7.0 Summing Up
In Conclusion, M. Dupin represents a man who has extraordinary intuitive powers and his
method is to identify his own intellect with that of others by thinking ahead. In the first
section of the story, M. Dupin is seen completely associated with what others are thinking
that he is able to answer their questions before they are even asked. However, in this story
there is no human for him to identify with so he starts looks at the possible in impossible
things. Since, it was impossible for a human to commit the murders he goes ahead and look
at other sources. Using the method ratiocination and intuitive perception he was able to
solve a mystery which the police was incapable of solving. Hence, he becomes the
foundation for all the upcoming fictional detectives who can solve a baffling mystery.
Discussion Questions
1) How does Dupin's analytical mind help him throughout the story? Provide
examples.
2) The narrator very much admires his friend, Dupin, and his analytical mind. How
do you think Dupin feels about the narrator? Use examples to support your
answer.
3) Do you think Dupin would have taken such an interest in the crime if he was not
acquainted with Le Bon? Why or why not?
Suggested Readings
• Poe, Edgar Allen. Murders in the Rue Morgue. New York: J.H. Sears, 1900.
English Print.
• Shulman, Robert. “Poe and Powers of the Mind.” The John Hopkins University
Press June 1970: 245-262. Digital.
• Winks, Robin W. “American Detective Fiction.” American Studies Autumn
1980: 3-16. Digital.
60

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B. A.

(Programme) Semester-V English

DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC ELECTIVE (DSE)

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

Discipline Specific Elective (DSE)

Title Writer Editor Page

The Adventure of the Akansha Goswami Dr. Neeta Gupta 1-13

The Menagerie by Akansha Goswami P.K. Satapathy 14-25

A Murder is Announced Renu Koyu Dr. Seema Suri 26-50

The Murders in Rue Komal Dabas Nalini Prabhakar 51-60

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

2.1 Agatha Christie: A Brief Biography 40

1.0 Learning Objectives 51

2.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

4.0 ‘THE ADVENTURES OF THE SOLITARY CYCLIST’ – A SUMMARY

6.0 CHARACTER ANALYSIS

2.0 Learning Objectives

5.0 Minor Characters

• Bandyopadhyay, Saradindu, et al. The Menagerie and Other Byomkesh Bakshi

2.1. Agatha Christie: A Brief Biography

2.2. The Cozy Crime Genre

Christie’s Trademark Style

The Rapidly Changing English Village

Murder and the Domestic Space

2.5 Critical Analysis of the Novel

1.0 Learning Objectives

3.0 Detective Fiction as a Genre

5.0 Critical Analysis

6.0 Main Characters

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