Book Club

Marple Stories

Christie never intended Miss Marple to rival Poirot in the publics affections, but this spinster sleuth soon proved a hit with the public.  Here's the place to discuss her stories - but beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Miss Marple story, don't worry - more will be added shortly.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

Sleeping Murder

Moderator1 10 Nov 09 at 12:15 p.m. GMT

Newly married New Zealander Gwenda buys a house in Southern England and from the start there is something very familiar about the place - which is ridiculous as she has never been in England before.  When strange and frightening things begin to happen it is just as well Miss Marple is on hand to stop Gwenda from going mad. 

The accepted history of this book being written during WWII and put in a vault until its publication in 1976 is completely turned on its head in John Curran's book Agatha Christie's Secret Diaries in which he shows that it was probably written some considerable time later.  What do you think about this?  If the former was not the case why was it not published earlier?

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48 replies

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Tommy_A_Jones 08 Nov 11 at 1:54 p.m. GMT

Roger Ackroyd I think you have Great Taste when It comes to Agatha Christie Adaptations, I have the same habit as you although I have to wait until I have a big enough window to watch A Murder Is Announced and Body In  The Library as my Adaptations are on Video and those 2 are each on 2 Videos

NightRayDuck 17 Apr 11 at 1:16 a.m. GMT

hi Roger Ackroyd1926 - quite so. I had been puzzling over "A Mouse" since I got my second-hand copy many years ago. I had often wondered.. was Gwenda as a toddler watching serious incidents that she didn't understand, thus she was like a mouse in a busy household full of humans? or was Gwenda spooked by any particular noise inside the house, noise that could be attributed to a mouse? I was sooo puzzled.. lol. 

Roger_Ackroyd1926 12 Apr 11 at 3:04 a.m. GMT

The Miss Marples are being republished by HarperCollins US on April 12th - I'm happy to report that Christie's US readers will now be able to read THE MOVING FINGER in its full length, and that Chapter 1 of SLEEPING MURDER has been corrected to "A House" - the 1976 Dodd, Mead edition and subsequent paperback reprints titled it "A Mouse"!!!

Roger_Ackroyd1926 30 Mar 11 at 1:11 a.m. GMT

After finishing my re-read of SLEEPING MURDER, I re-watched the Joan Hickson TV film, as I often do after re-reading a Miss Marple novel.  The story was somewhat streamlined, but it's still faithful to the novel and, for me, is right up there with A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED, NEMESIS and THE MOVING FINGER as one of the very best adaptations.

Roger_Ackroyd1926 24 Mar 11 at 5:47 p.m. GMT

I'm enjoying my re-read of SLEEPING MURDER - although I've re-read parts of it over the year (and watched the Joan Hickson TV movie several times)s, I haven't re-read it from beginning to end since it first appeared in the US in September 1976 - coincidentally, it was the last Christie novel left for me to read - perfect timing!  I think I gobbled it up in one evening back then (almost certainly because I was anticipating Miss Marple's 'exit,'), but it's taking me a bit longer this time around.

It's still something of a mystery to myself and others why Christie held this one back - while it's certainly Good Christie, there's no reason it shouldn't have fit nicely in the gap between THE MOVING FINGER (1942/43) and A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED (1950) as there's no reason to regard it as "Miss Marple's Last Case" (do current editions even still carry that tag-line?); such a description would have been much more suitable for the elegiac NEMESIS.  Granted, the 'Christie time-line' is sometimes a little vague as to when some novels are set, but although Miss Marple's friend Dolly Bantry had been widowed by the time of THE MIRROR CRACK'D FROM SIDE TO SIDE (1962), her 'late' husband Colonel Bantry makes an appearance in SLEEPING MURDER!

knottyceltic 05 Oct 10 at 2:10 a.m. GMT

Miss Quin, of course you can call me knotty  :)

Yes, Death on the Nile was in the first 3 AC novels I read.  I enjoyed it IMMENSELY and I adore the Suchet movie adaptation.  I don't enjoy the Ustinov adaptation and the snake scene is just horrible.  David Suchet to me is perfection as Poirot.  I can't imagine anyone else doing better justice to the character.

MissQuin 04 Oct 10 at 2:12 p.m. GMT

Have you read Death on The Nile, Knotty? Excellent book, a real favourite of mine. BTW can I call you Knotty?

knottyceltic 02 Oct 10 at 1:47 a.m. GMT

Too true MissQuin.  I've been too influenced by the film adaption of DotN.

MissQuin 01 Oct 10 at 10:40 a.m. GMT

I actually don't think that the relationship betweeen the Allertons,  was anything other that a caring mother and son. It's only the Suchet version that gives that impression (shudders).

knottyceltic 30 Sep 10 at 10:41 p.m. GMT

Interesting points about Dr. Kennedy's relationship with Helen.  I've only read Sleeping Murder once but I didn't get the impression that he had actually ever molested Helen but that he had some sick "obcession" with her where he needed to keep her all to himself.  Whether or not he actually "acted" on his obcession is left to the reader's imagination which is much more appealing to me than to be told one way or the other.  It keeps you thinking about it "did he?" or "didn't he?".

I don't think this novel was kept back as too racy for the time due to the dubious nature of Dr. Kennedy's relations with his sister.  AC had already wrote of dubious inappropriate relations before when she wrote Mrs Allerton and Tim's relationship in Death on the Nile.  IMO that relationship screamed of incest much more than Dr. Kennedy's and Helen's did.

My best guess would be that AC recognized Sleeping Murder as a really great THRILLER and decided on completion that it would be perfect as Miss Marple's final act of detection.

iatowln 22 Sep 10 at 2:12 a.m. GMT

Thanx a lot 4 the ideas GKCfan.

I don’t think Your version is correct either. The meeting at the surgery was only mentioned by Dr Kennedy but the fact that Halliday saw Helen dead on the bed & believed he had killed her is confirmed by the clinic director. This is the biggest problem 4 me cause anything could happen after that. How could Dr Kennedy b sure he’d b able 2 extract the body with no additional witnesses & continue with the no-body-no-crime plan?

The idea that the body also spent time in a hiding place (a 3rd place!) b4 it was buried is introduced by Ms Marple at an early point & can b disregarded.

This part isn’t explained at all.

The 2nd murder didn't need much explanation once we knew the perpetrator...

GKCfan 21 Sep 10 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

I'm afraid that isn't what happened.  First of all, Gwenda's Dad probably never believed that he killed Helen.  He doesn't mention having killed her in any of his diaries.  Miss Marple believes that the doctor simply made up the hallucination for his own purposes and everything he told Gwenda and Giles was tainted to promote the story that Helen was a nymphomaniac who left him and that Gwenda's Dad was insane.  Halliday did have a bit of a breakdown after Helen disappeared- he genuinely believed she'd left him.  Miss Marple suggests that out of blind hatred, Dr. Kennedy gave Halliday drugs that made him hallucinate, before eventually poisoning him and making it look like a suicide, but this cannot be proved.  

The sequence of events is this.  Dr. Kennedy kills Helen.  Little Gwenda sees the dead body, monkey's paws, and hears the Malfi line.  She runs away.  The doctor buries the body, packs a suitcase full of Helen's clothes, and disposes of the suitcase.  He forges some letters later in case anyone wonders.  Halliday collapses after he is told that Helen left him, and he goes to a sanitarium where he may have met the fate described earlier.  Gwenda is sent to live with relatives in Australia.  One servant who witnessed something is sent back to the Continent, along with a prescription filled by Dr. Kennedy.  One of the pills probably contains poison, the maid takes it and dies.  No foul play is suspected.  Years pass, grown-up Gwenda returns to the house, starts remembering, and the investigation starts.  A maid who witnessed something comes back to explain what she say, but Kennedy strangles her before she can reveal incriminating information.  Kennedy poisons the Reeds' brandy, but the housekeeper drinks some first.  Fortunately, she survives.  Kennedy then tries to strangle Gwenda, but Miss Marple stops him and solves the mystery.

iatowln 21 Sep 10 at 6:30 p.m. GMT

I have a little problem.

I finished the book & re-read sum of the descriptions & here’s what I understand happened:

Mr Halliday woke up next 2 his dead wife. He wiped his nose, whatever, & headed str8 4 Dr Kennedy’s surgery. Meanwhile, Dr Kennedy was hiding in the house waiting 4 him 2 do just that! He then hid the body, placed the note etc. & met him there. They came back 2gether & he spent sum time convincing Mr Halliday that it was all a hallucination. After that every1 in the house slept peacefully while Dr Kennedy was digging.

This has a lot of weak spots which probably means that I didn't get it correctly. Any different ideas as 2 what happened after Helen's murder?

Yunakitty 07 Aug 10 at 3:01 a.m. GMT

LOL, MissQuin, I did the same thing yesterday - read the Wiki entry for Duchess of Malfi!  I'm kind of glad I knew nothing of the work when I read Sleeping Murder as it might have made me jump to the correct conclusion too quickly.  And even though I know some people like figuring out whodunnit early, I for one don't.  I did it in Mirror Crack'd because I work in the medical field and *that certain clue* just popped right out at me. 

But yeah, Dr. Kennedy had some very wrong feelings for his sister but let's hope he didn't act on them.  It's horrible enough how it all ended for Helen but yet not as horrible as being molested by your own brother. *shudder*

MissQuin 06 Aug 10 at 9:05 p.m. GMT

SPOILERS!!!! I always thought that Dr Kennedy's feelings for his sister weren't healthy. So I looked up Duchess Of Malfi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duchess_of_Malfi

"Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle. She died young." Was quoted after Ferdinand saw the body of his sister who he had murdered due to an incestrous passion. I think Christie chose this quote as a hint to the murder motive. Why else would the story have said it? It's a key moment to the story.

I beleive that Dr Kennedy would have been emotional abusive, not physically. It was one sided incest, Helen didn't have romantic feelings for her brother. He hurt her because she didn't love him back, he killed her for revenge for not loving him. It's a dark subject for a AC book.

Puffinjill 06 Aug 10 at 3:24 p.m. GMT

Personally, I have never read the relationship between Dr Kennedy and Helen as incestuous but maybe that was just me not wanting to think of a darker, much more disturbing reason for his behaviour. I think a loveless marriage to the ever-doting Walter Fane would have been preferable to returning home to a physically abusive brother IF this was how Dr Kennedy was treating her. In fact, ANY option would have been better. I'm sure, once she married Gwenda's father after returning to this country, she would have stayed well away from Dillmouth if there was ANY chance of being abused again. I think Dr Kennedy DID use mental abuse - which is frightening enough to live with - but I think he was so abusive in this way BECAUSE he had no physical release for his feelings. Perhaps I'm being naive reading it in this way but that is how it has always seemed to me.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 06 Aug 10 at 12:14 p.m. GMT

SPOILERS!!!!

And he gets more sinister once you know what he's been up to when you re-read or re-listen to the story.  How he can calmly sit with Gwen & Giles, waiting for Lily who will never arrive, it's really creepy.

MissQuin 06 Aug 10 at 12:06 p.m. GMT

Spoilers In the Hickson adapt Jane Marple is so sweet and caring towards troubled Gwenda. Patient, understanding, like someones favourite great auntie. But at the same time, prepared to catch a dangerous murderer! The scene at the end is scary, as it should be.

The McEwan adpt is annoying! Everyone gathered in a room, everyone a suspect blah blah blah! Not scary at all.

Well put Miss E. Helen was quite normal and showed no signs of emotinal damage.

I get cross when people sum up Chritie's chaarcters as "to dimensional" I though Dr Kenendy was deeply complex and sinister.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 06 Aug 10 at 12:02 p.m. GMT

I agree Miss Quin, I don't think that Dr Kennedy ever touched Helen either.  She seems to have had quite a natural relationship with Gwen's father and there is no hint of her ever being damaged in the way we understand these days that child abuse victims are damaged and find forming normal healthy relationships difficult.  I think that, as you say, Dr Kennedy was just warped in his feelings for her.  No wonder she was scared of him.

Haven't seen the tv adapts, although if the Hickson one came on TV I might give it a go.

MissQuin 06 Aug 10 at 11:55 a.m. GMT

HUGE SLEEPING MURDERS SPOILERS!!

Ok, Dr Kennedy's feelings for his sister always seemed more that brotherly to me. When I first the book, I worked it out. The Duchess Of Malfi is a play that features brother-sister incest, so it's a subtle refrence.

I'm pretty sure that Dr Kennedy never acted on his feelings towards his sister. He did things to try and keep her indoors, to stop her having male friends round. I think Helen must have sensed something was wrong, so tried to escape by marrying anyone. I think Dr Kenedy's warped feelings festered away for many years, until the point came when he could'nt stand it any longer, so planned to kill her.

If he had abused Helen, she wouldn't have let him come round to see her anymore. Or told her husband. But if she had a hunch that something might be wrong about her half brother's feelings , but couldn't prove so, that makes sense.

The Mc Ewan version, in my eyes is very poor. It has many cheesey moments. The Hickson version is to start off with, very irritating. Gwenda and Giles are too cutesy for words. The final scene on the stairs is good. But overall I don't think any version has done proper justice to the book.

Anyway, look forward to hearing more from you Yunakitty!

Yunakitty 06 Aug 10 at 7:47 a.m. GMT

I never thought of it as incest in the book.  I didn't think that Dr. Kennedy actually did anything to Helen, just thwarted her attempts at normal love so as to keep her close to himself, even though he knew he couldn't actually have her, but he still didn't want anyone else to have her.  But maybe you guys are right and I wasn't reading between the lines well enough.  It's horrible to think of, but do you think that Dr. Kennedy was molesting Helen when she was a teenager?  Now he seems like even more of a monster than before.

And yes, I love the current of sheer terror running underneath this story.  I've never seen it dramatized, but I hope when I do, the actress playing Gwen does that moment justice - the moment when she realizes it's Dr. Kennedy.  Just absolute shock and horror on her face.

MissQuin 05 Jul 10 at 4:20 p.m. GMT

Miss_Eylesbarrow

Yes, do read the autobiography, it's excellent and gives some great insights.  Also worth reading are 'Come Tell Me How You Live' by Agatha Christie Mallowan written about her experiences on the digs with her husband Max and the newer Biography by Laura Thompson, which I found excellent.  It contains lots of stuff which I didn't know before and also extracts from private letters, etc.  Fab!

Yes, Ive got that Laura Thomspn book too! Although it gave away alot of spoilers,  I haven't read all the books, so had to avoid chapters. i do think she was hard on Tommy and Tuppence though!! I mean, peopel do love them and that was LT's opinion rather than an actual fact. If the biog's flawed I'd say it was for that reason, that oininos and facts did merge.

Li_Chang_Yen 04 Jul 10 at 7:04 p.m. GMT

This is one of my fav in Ms. M's series.  It examplifiy who Ms. M is.  The unassuming old lady who is the savior in the time of need.  It took me awhile to accept the "Elder's love" concept happening back in the 40's.  At any rate the story is great.  I want to see how the TV series turn out.

BTW, I just found out the Christie's Fest happing in Sept.  It's rather late, but I am trying to find out more about it.  It looks like most of the interesting event are booked.  Is there anyone can tell me what's the best way to join the fest without costing an arm and a leg?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 02 Jul 10 at 11:52 a.m. GMT

Yes, do read the autobiography, it's excellent and gives some great insights.  Also worth reading are 'Come Tell Me How You Live' by Agatha Christie Mallowan written about her experiences on the digs with her husband Max and the newer Biography by Laura Thompson, which I found excellent.  It contains lots of stuff which I didn't know before and also extracts from private letters, etc.  Fab!

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 4:40 p.m. GMT

Well, it 's comforting to know that this passion is shared by plenty of us,isn 't it?

Thanks for the tip.I think I 'll buy the book anyway though, it 's one I want to have in my library.

MissQuin 01 Jul 10 at 4:19 p.m. GMT

I'm no Chrisite expert, but I have a genuine passion for AC. That's why Im here on this board so often!

There's some facts on the website and some chapters from her autobiography on here, they make good reading.

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 4:15 p.m. GMT

You are probably right, since it is indeed a great book anyhow.Gosh, I feel I should have to buy and study her autobiography before continuing my participation in this blog! You guys are too far advanced for my current level!

MissQuin 01 Jul 10 at 3:12 p.m. GMT

AC said in her autobiograpy, that in her early writing days she wrote a "gloomy play about incest". It wasn't ever published. So it's not like she had an aversion for that subject. I just think she must have considered Sleeping murder to good enough to be the last book, I don;t think that subject has anything to do with it.

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 12:56 p.m. GMT

Oh, did she? My mistake,sorry. When I was in London I watched The Mousetrap in the theater and I heard that all the income from the play goes to a nephew of hers, that 's why I assumed...I should have looked it up first, I 'm so embarrased.

About Sleeping Murder, what I meant was that perhaps she was having second thoughts about publishing it- but that 's just an assumption, probably entirely wrong, too.

Lone_Wolf 01 Jul 10 at 11:43 a.m. GMT

Xrysoula, I find you a bit hard to understand here. Do you mean that AC was unconventional enough to write a book with an incestual subtext, but not unconventional enough to publish it during her lifetime?

And she did have a daughter.

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 9:26 a.m. GMT

I know, but I was referring to her own views of the matter, which might not be keeping abreast of her times.Besides, she didn 't have any offspring, and being wealthy already, why would she annoy herself about what would happen after her death? Looked out for her posthumous fame, you mean?

MissQuin 30 Jun 10 at 3:20 p.m. GMT

Spoilers Other authors had written much grittier books by that time featuring incest.  The Duchess Of Malfi quoted in this book dealt with the subject. AC thought that if she could be killed during WW2, so she wrote the last Marple to be published after she died.

xrysoula 30 Jun 10 at 2:38 p.m. GMT

I actually read it in one!As I usually do with AC 's novels, really.Now, I 've been told that the writer has often been accused of her victorian attitude towards morality.Could it be the incest factor that set the publication of the book back?

Utterly loved it, by the way.

Mr_west 01 May 10 at 7:37 p.m. GMT

the most amazing book in the world!!

i read it in two days!

janemarplefan 20 Mar 10 at 5:12 p.m. GMT

Sleeping Murder is my absolute FAVORITE of all of her novels.  I just found a paperback version in a 2nd hand shop, and since my hardcover version was borrowed (and never returned), I just reread it this past winter.  I go back every 5 years or so.  I love the nostalgic air by which Gwennie sees things, as a child.  I just bought a house next door to my early childhood home so I can relate to this even more.  It appeals to the country girl in me!  I went crazy (good crazy) when she intertwined By the Pricking of my Thumbs into Sleeping Murder (or vice versa) with the old lady in the nursing home questioning Giles and Gwennie about "was it your child buried behind the fireplace?"  That was GREAT!  Everything about this novel I absolutely loved.  Miss Marple is my favorite for sure, but only They Came to Baghdad runs a very close second!

Read more about this story: Sleeping Murder

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Mar 10 at 4:05 p.m. GMT

It is one of my favourite Miss Marple Books, I have got the Audio CD GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT

HeiseiHolmes 18 Mar 10 at 3:26 p.m. GMT

I loved it. It was sooooo good! The only thing that is a little bit out of place for me is the lack of any sense of finality to it, if you know what I mean...

MissQuin 10 Mar 10 at 4:12 p.m. GMT

I watched the Hickson version, which was very hit and miss. Gwenda and Giles were too perky to begin with, very annoying. I dont mind them in the book, but I dint like them in that version.

I think this the only Christie book that deals with incest.

blexie28 20 Jan 10 at 7:08 a.m. GMT

Thanks so much Miss Quin! All in all, it sure is a great book!

MissQuin 19 Jan 10 at 5:34 p.m. GMT

Hello Blexie, I've gotten hazy how many letter were written! Ive checked and it seems to be 3

1st letter -Lily didn't think the doc was the murderer, but mentioned to in he letter him about his car being outside. This was enough to make him scared, so he hatched a plan and he responded.

2nd letter- doctor meets Lily, kills her takes away the letter he wrote to her and replaces it with one faked response from himself, but with a different time mentioned to give himself an albi.

3. A fake response from Lily. He rewrote the letter to take out the bit about his car outside.

Goleafs, yes I love the creepy feel to Sleeping Murder too.

go_leafs_nation 19 Jan 10 at 1:17 p.m. GMT

A simple romantic soul like mine loves stories in which the supernatural figures, only to be explained rationally, which is why I love The Pale Horse even more than AC's much-loved And Then There Were None. While the aspect in Sleeping Murder is not exactly supernatural, the creepiness of the supernatural detective story still exists; for a considerable bit of the book, we're not sure if the corpse seen by Gwenda was murdered in the past, present, or will be murdered in the future...

blexie28 18 Jan 10 at 6 a.m. GMT

Hi again Miss Quin, and thanks for your second reply. I'm so sorry for harping on this, but I really want to get to the bottom of it and, as I mentioned earlier, I don't have the book with me now!

So, just to be clear, Dr Kennedy: (1) wrote two letters to Lily (one we read, the other he whisked away after he knocked her off); AND (2) forged the letter that Lily wrote in response to the notice in the newspaper?

Thank you so much. As you pointed out, there is so much to take in!

christie_greece 17 Jan 10 at 3:01 p.m. GMT

It was the second christie-book I read and it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't think of a reason why Agatha Christie didn't publish ot earlier.

She may wanted to change things.But if she had changed something she would probably write it down on her diary.But what if not???

Anyway, sleeping murder is one of the best Miss Marple stories!

MissQuin 17 Jan 10 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

Your welcome Blexie. Miss Marple tells us at the end the letter was forged. But its really easy to miss some points, as theres always so much to take in- The murderer, the motive, how its done etc.

blexie28 17 Jan 10 at 12:44 p.m. GMT

Thanks very much for that, Miss Quin. Were we actually told that in the book, or is that just your clever guess?! I don't have the book with me at the moment so I'm unable to doublecheck that for myself. Thanks again for your reply.

MissQuin 11 Jan 10 at 10:08 a.m. GMT

I think Blexie, that the REAL letter was switched by the doctor. He subsituted it with one he had faked that didn't make him look guilty.

blexie28 10 Jan 10 at 3:52 p.m. GMT

Forgive me for being a dufus, but there's something I can't quite work out about the denouement of Sleeping Murder. We learn that Dr Kennedy interprets Lily Kimble's letter as blackmail. Miss Marple says that "When he got Lily's letter the words in it that frightened him were that Leonie had told Lily what she had seen out the window and the mention of the car outside." Rereading Lily's letter, however, I find her making no reference to what Leonie told her. Is anyone able to shed any light as to what MM means here? Many thanks!

MissQuin 01 Jan 10 at 9:02 p.m. GMT

I think this amongst the best Miss Marple stories. I can understand Agatha Christie holding this one back. It seems its Miss M's final full length book, so it makes a brilliant end to the Marple stories.  Alot of the later AC books were set a long time in the past. But I find this one more exciting that books like Elephants can remember.

Spoilers: I found the murder an interesting one, as the motive is  complex. Its not done for money or safety. I found Sleeping Murder had quite a sinster undercurrent, I think because of the nature of the murder. I prefer the tone of this book far more than the very light and cheery Caribbean Mystery. I was disapointed with the recent TV version, as they did change the tone of the story.

I'd rate this amongst the best Marple books. I think it's my joint favourite along with Body in the library.