Prussic acid (novel)
Hydrocyanic acid (original title Sparkling Cyanide ) is the 36th detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the United States in February 1945 at Dodd, Mead and Company and in the United Kingdom at the Collins Crime Club in December of that year. The Scherz Verlag 1949 (Bern) published the German-language edition. In 2003 a new translation by Regula Venske was published by Fischer Taschenbuchverlag .
It will determine the final Colonel Race , a recurring character in Agatha Christie's novels. He has previously starred in The Man in the Brown Suit , With Open Cards and Death on the Nile . He is friends with Hercule Poirot , but in this case is investigating alone.
introduction
The novel is an extension of the crime story Yellow Iris (Eng. Let flowers speak ) with Hercule Poirot , which appeared in July 1937 in the 559th issue of Strand Magazine . Hercule Poirot no longer plays in the novel. The novel uses the murder method of the crime story, but changes the identity of the perpetrator.
action
The novel is divided into three "books": Rosemary (name of the fictional character, at the same time rosemary ), All Souls' Day ( All Souls ) and Iris (name of the fictional character, at the same time Iris ). All titles of these books have a classic quote as a motto . The first is taken from a poem by John Keats : “What can I do to drive away remembrance from mine eyes”, the second from Shakespeare's Hamlet : “There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance "(There is rosemary / Rosemary, that's a reminder), the third comes from the volume of poems Maud by Alfred Tennyson :" For I thought that the dead had peace / But it is not so ... "(Because I thought the dead would have peace, but it is not).
First book: After the alleged suicide of the young heiress Rosemary Barton on her birthday, the story is told from the perspective of the six people who were present at the time, who remember Rosemary Barton over the course of a year. Rosemary had died from hydrocyanic acid in her champagne glass. It is initially assumed that she killed herself because of depression after a severe flu . On the other hand, that doesn't seem to match Rosemary's somewhat superficial and indulgent character.
Second Book: The late Rosemary Barton's husband, George, does not believe in suicide and recreates the scene a year after Rosemary's death on the birthday of Iris Marle, the sister and heiress of Rosemary. But the tragedy repeats itself. There is another dead person - this time it is George Barton; and he dies in the same way as his wife a year ago - by hydrogen cyanide in his champagne glass. Colonel Race, who was also invited on Rosemary's last birthday but did not appear, and was now also invited by George, does not appear until after the second tragedy. Together with Inspector Kemp, a former student of Inspector Battle known from other Christie novels, he is now investigating the deaths.
Third book: The third book covers the educational work of the inspector and the colonel as well as the further life course of the other participants. Now that Iris Marle is supposed to be the next victim, the case is finally resolved: Rosemary and Iris' cousin Victor Drake, an unscrupulous adventurer, had committed the murders to get the inheritance. George had been accidentally murdered for accidentally swapped glasses, the actual target of the poison attack had been Iris. Ruth Lessing, George Barton's secretary, turns out to be Drake's accomplice and secret lover. Anthony Browne and Iris get closer.
people
- Rosemary Barton, a young heiress
- George Barton, her husband
- Iris Marle, her younger sister
- Anthony Browne, a Rosemary suitor
- Ruth Lessing, George Barton's secretary
- Lucilla Drake, sister of Iris' father
- Stephen Farraday, aspiring politician and an admirer of Rosemary
- Lady Alexandra Farraday, Stephen's wife
- Lord Kidderminster, father of Alexandra Farraday and a powerful and influential man
- Lady Kidderminster, his wife
- Victor Drake, Lucilla's son and cousin of Rosemary and Iris
- Colonel Race, investigator
- Inspector Kemp, investigator
Film adaptations
In 1983 the CBS filmed the book. The plot was set in modern times and Colonel Race doesn't matter. The German film title is Two corpses at supper .
In 2003 Laura Lamson filmed the book for ITV , again in a modern set. Colonel Race was renamed Colonel Reece and received Dr. Catherine Kendall a partner. The relationship between the two is reminiscent of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford .
Important publications in English and German
- 1945 Dodd Mead and Company (New York), February 1945
- 1945 Collins Crime Club (London), December 1945
- 1949 German language first edition Scherzverlag (Bern)
- 2003 New translation by Regula Venske in the Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag
Audio books
- 2003 Hydrocyanic acid (3 CDs): with the original Miss Marple film melody. Read by Stefan Hunstein. Director: Caroline Neven du Mont. Abridged version by John Hartley. Translated from the English by Luis Ruby. The Hörverlag Munich
- 2003 Hydrocyanic acid (6 CDs). Only unabridged reading. Speaker: Manfred Fenner. Director: Hans Eckardt. Translation by E. Picard. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions (Marburg / Lahn)
Web links
- Sparkling Cyanide on the official Agatha Christie website
- Two bodies at supper (1983) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sparkling Cyanide (2003) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions . Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 15)
- ↑ a b German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ a b New translation in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Maud: A Monodrama by Lord Tennyson
- ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Audiobook (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library