Fata Morgana (novel)
Fata Morgana (original title They Do It with Mirrors ) is the 43rd detective novel by Agatha Christie . It was first published in 1952 in the USA by Dodd, Mead and Company under the title Murder with Mirrors and on November 17 of the same year in the UK in the Collins Crime Club under its original title. The Scherz Verlag , 1958 (Bern) published the German edition.
It determines Miss Marple in her fifth novel.
action
At the beginning of the novel, Miss Marple is visiting her childhood friend Ruth Van Rydock. Miss Marple, Ruth and Ruth's sister Carrie Louise had attended boarding school together in Florence as young girls. Ruth went back to America, but they hadn't lost sight of each other. Carrie Louise lives with her husband Lewis Serrocold on Stonygates, a Victorian estate. There they run a boarding school for young people who are difficult to educate. Ruth reports to Miss Marple that something is wrong there. She doesn't know what, but she can convince Miss Marple to go to Stonygates and see that things are going well.
Lewis Serrocold is Carrie Louise's third husband. From her first marriage, she has a daughter, Mildred Strete, her only biological daughter. Her first husband was Mr. Gulbrandsen, who made his fortune with corn plasters. After his death, he left Carrie a sizable fortune and the Stonygates Foundation. From Gulbrandsen's first marriage there is a son who manages his father's inheritance and the foundation. Gulbrandsen was a great philanthropist who turned Stonygates into a modern boarding school. Carrie's third husband is now in charge. The difficult-to-educate youngsters move around the site completely freely during the day, are instructed, do simple tasks and also receive musical training and thus also play theater.
In addition to Mildred, Carrie also had an adopted daughter, Pippa, who died giving birth to her own daughter, Gina. All of them now live in Stonygates with two stepsons from Carrie's second marriage. The house is run by Juliet Bellever (nicknamed Jolly).
Edgar Lawson also lives on Stonygates, a young man who looks slightly crazy and suffers from both paranoia and megalomania. He has served himself up to Lewis Serrocold's assistant. He tells everyone that he is the illegitimate son of a famous man and that his inheritance is about to be robbed.
Christian Gulbrandsen is on Stonygates and really wants to speak to Lewis Serrocold. After dinner he says goodbye to the table because he still wants to write a letter. Miss Marple and all the other guests are seated in the great hall. Suddenly the light goes out because a fuse has blown. Walter, Gina's husband, goes out to fix the fuse.
Edgar Lawson storms into the dark room, yelling that Lewis Serrocold is his real father. Edgar and Mr. Serrocold go into his adjoining study and lock the door behind them. Everyone in the hall can now hear the loud argument between the two of them. Suddenly you hear several gunshots. When the door is finally opened, you can see that Mr. Serrocold survived and that the shots left several holes in the walls.
Everything seems to have gone well until Juliet Bellever goes to see Christian Gulbrandsen. She finds him hunched over his typewriter dead. Along with hints that Carrie is allegedly being poisoned, Alex Restarick is the first to come under suspicion.
Alex and Miss Marple also go to the theater, where Alex explains many of the tricks on the stage. Among other things, one that creates illusions with mirrors: They do it with mirrors - They do it with mirrors. With that he seems to have said too much because he is being murdered.
Miss Marple can now clarify the connections. Christian Gulbrandsen found out that Lewis Serrocold embezzled large amounts of money from the foundation. He wanted to talk to Lewis about that. To disguise the occasion of this visit, Lewis started the rumor that Carrie was poisoned. While everyone in the hall heard the argument with Edgar, who is his son and accomplice, who has the talent to imitate voices, Lewis ran across the terrace and shot Christian Gulbrandsen.
Confronted with this investigation, Edgar storms out of the house, runs across the grounds and takes a boat out onto the lake. However, the boat is leaking and is beginning to sink. Lewis jumps after them and they both drown.
people
- Miss Marple, the amateur detective
- Carrie Louise, a childhood friend of Miss Marple
- Ruth van Rydock, her sister and also a childhood friend of Miss Marple
- Lewis Serrocold, husband of Carrie Louise
- Juliet Bellever, housekeeper with the Serrocolds
- Mildred Strete, daughter of Carrie Louise
- Gina, granddaughter of Carrie Louise
- Walter Hudd, husband of Gina
- Alex Restarick, stepson of Carrie Louise
- Stephen Restarick, stepson of Carrie Louise
- Edgar Lawson, a student at the boarding school
- Christian Gulbrandsen, Carrie Louise's stepson
- Inspector Curry, police inspector
- Dr. Galbraith, the Bishop of Cromer, friend of the house
Film adaptations
Double-bottomed murder
The novel was first adapted for television in 1985 with Helen Hayes as Miss Marple. John Mills as Lewis Serrocold, Bette Davis as Carrie Louise and Tim Roth as Edgar Lawson also play in other roles .
Miss Marple (TV series)
For the television series of the BBC Miss Marple the novel was filmed again and on December 29, 1991 broadcast for the first time. Joan Hickson plays the role of Miss Marple . Other roles include Jean Simmons as Carrie Louise Serrocold, Joss Ackland as Lewis Serrocold and Faith Brook as Ruth van Rydock.
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple
For the fourth season of the British television series Agatha Christie's Marple , a film was made with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple and Penelope Wilton as Carrie Louise Serrocold, Brian Cox as Lewis Serrocold and Joan Collins as Ruth van Rydock. The juveniles were changed to adult offenders. It was first broadcast on January 1, 2010.
Killer ahoy!
A few elements of the novel can be found in the 1964 feature film Murderer ahoy! with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple along with a tribute to Christie's play "The Mousetrap". In the film, the pupils do not live in a Victorian country house, but on a sailing ship, the Battledore. Aside from this broad similarity, the film is not based on any work by Christie.
Major expenses
- 1952 Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1952
- 1952 Collins Crime Club (London), 17th November 1952
- 1958 German first edition Scherz Verlag (Bern)
Audio books
- 2003 Fata Morgana (five CDs). Unabridged reading. Speaker: Ursula Illert. Director: Hans Eckardt. Translation by Rudolf Hermstein: Publishing house and studio for audio book productions (Marburg / Lahn)
- 2003 Fata Morgana (three CDs). Abridged version by Michelene Wandor. Translated from the English by Susanna Daum. Read by Katja Brügger. Director: Sven Stricker. Authorized reading version Der Hörverlag (Munich)
Web links
- They Do It with Mirrors on the official Agatha Christie website
- Murder with Mirrors (1985) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- They Do It with Mirrors (1991) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (2009) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 87) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Audiobook (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library