Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

would feel—lonely—want to talk [Chapter 23 is the nearest match]

In a somewhat lacklustre book the alibi for the Lily Kimble murder shines out as a prime example of Christie ingenuity. And it appears in the book much as outlined in Notebook 17. As usual with the best Christie ploys it is simplicity itself:

Circumstances of Lily’s killing

Writes (against husband’s advice) to Dr. K—He when he comes to see G[iles] and G[wenda] finds Marple— brings her letter—says he has asked her to come on Tuesday by 4.30 train changing at Dillmouth Junction. G and G get there at 4.30. Actually he tells her to come by 2.30 train—two letters—just the same—except for time

Overall, however, Sleeping Murder is not in the same class as other titles written in the early 1940s—One, Two, Buckle my Shoe, Evil under the Sun or The Body in the Library. And, thanks to the Notebooks, we now have a possible reason why.

Notebook 14 contains the first reference to a date in conjunction with this book, September 1947:

Plans Sept. 1947

Dying Harlequin

Cover her face (Helen)

Crooked House (The Alt[eration]s) Done

And it is this date that completely contradicts all the theories we have received about the date of the book’s creation. There is no other novel that could possibly fit the description of ‘Cover her face (Helen)’ so it is definitely a reference to the book that we know as Sleeping Murder. But if it was only in the planning stages (and a very early stage to judge by the brevity of the note) in September 1947 the writing of it is placed much later than heretofore presumed.

This complication is underlined on the following page when we find a date more than a year later again, with still only the barest outline of the plot:

Plans Nov. 1948

Cover her Face

The girl (or young wife) has memories—come back—point it—‘Helen’ is dead at foot of stairs—‘Grey fingers’. Advertisement for Helen Gilliat (name found in a book)—answered by Dr. Gilliat—a plastic surgeon—it was his sister?

And some of the plot outlined here (‘name found in a book—answered by Dr. Gilliat—a plastic surgeon’) bears no relation to the plot of Sleeping Murder, although the reference to ‘Grey fingers’ here and ‘the man with the hand’ above, is reflected in the final confrontation in the book, when their disturbing significance becomes clear. Clearly there was still a lot of planning to complete. So we can move the writing of it nearer to 1950, i.e. almost ten years later than the supposed 1940 date.

There are yet further indications that this book was written several years after the war. In the following extract from Notebook 19 (‘girl at theatre—stumbles out’ clearly identifies Sleeping Murder) we find a reference to ‘in the war years’, a phrase which would surely be written only long after the war had ended:

Jimmy Peterson comes from U.S.A. to look up Val (who was over there in the war years). Girl at theatre— stumbles out—young man follows her

Two final points support the theory that Sleeping Murder was not written during the war. First, why write, in the early 1940s, a ‘final’ case for Miss Marple when at that point her only fulllength case had been The Murder at the Vicarage, published in 1930, and The Body in the Library was not to appear until 1942? And second, in Chapter 24 i of Sleeping Murder Inspector Primer mentions the ‘poison pen trouble down near Lymstock’, a direct reference to The Moving Finger, published in 1943.

Overall, Sleeping Murder is a disappointing climax to Miss Marple’s career. While a perfectly adequate detective story it is not in the same class as the previous year’s technical tour de force, Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case; or, indeed, A Murder is Announced, the real apex of Miss Marple’s career. The possibility that it was written much later than previously suspected would go a long way towards explaining why.

Exhibit E: N or M?—A Titles Quiz

The two essentials for a story were a title and a plot—the rest was mere spadework, sometimes the title led to a plot, all by itself as it were, and then all was plain sailing—but in this case the title continued to adorn the top of the page and not the vestige of a plot was forthcoming.

‘Mr Eastwood’s Adventure’

All of the following were considered, but ultimately discarded, as titles for Christie works. They are drawn from the notebooks, the typescripts or manuscripts, readers’ reports and correspondence. Some are more obvious than others and the list includes novels, short stories, plays and a Mary Westmacott.

1. Tragic Weekend

2. Post Mortem Justice

3. Retrospective Death

4. In Memoriam

5. Death of a Games Mistress

6. The Innocent

7. Aftermath

8. Blood Feast

9. The Hand

10. A Death has been Arranged

11. Operation Deadline

12. Return Journey

13. Death is Folly

14. Easeful Death

15. Viper’s Point

16. 2nd Innings

17. The Tangled Web

18. Laura Finds a Body

19. The Flowing/Incoming Tide

20. A Serpent’s Tooth

21. Cat among the Pigeons

22. The Soul in the Window Seat

23. The Spider’s Web

24. The World’s Forgetting

25. The Manor House Mystery

26. Shadow in Sunlight

Answers on the following page.

Answers[1]

8 Destination Unknown: Murder Abroad