Murder in the mirror

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Mord im Spiegel (original title The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side ) is the 53rd crime novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared on November 12, 1962 in the United Kingdom at the Collins Crime Club , then in September 1963 in the United States under the shorter title The Mirror Crack'd by Dodd, Mead and Company . The German first edition was published in 1964 by the Scherz Verlag under the title Dummheit ist Gefahr , translated by Ilse Velten. In 1980 the novel was published in a new edition in the translation by Ursula Gaïl, which is still used today, by the same publisher under the title Mord im Spiegel oder Stummheit ist sein .

Miss Marple investigates in her eighth novel, which was inspired by the fate of the American film actress Gene Tierney .

Explanation of the title of the novel

John William Waterhouse : The Lady of Shalott (1888)

The title of the novel comes from the poem The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson .

Out flew the web and floated wide-
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

action

Miss Marple's place of residence , the tranquil St. Mary Mead , is subject to major changes: the modernization of the local shops, but also the construction of a new residential area, in which mostly young married couples live, give the old women of the village plenty of material for gossip.

In addition, the upcoming arrival of Marina Gregg is a much discussed event in the small village. Miss Gregg is a celebrated film actress who plans to move into the former home - Gossington Hall - of Miss Marple's friend, Mrs. Dolly Bantry . Miss Marple is recovering from bronchitis and, at the instigation of her nephew Raymond West, has had a nurse, Miss Knight , in the house. She sacrifices herself for the old lady, but gets on her nerves a lot. Miss Marple therefore sends her minder on a longer shopping trip and uses her absence for a trip to the new housing estate.

There she falls over a pile of stones and is provided with tea by Mrs. Heather Badcock , a kind, motherly woman. Mrs. Badcock sees herself as a "helping angel", but reminds Miss Marple of Alison Wilde, who "never gave a thought to the consequences of her actions for others". Such people are dangerous in Mrs. Marple's opinion because they can get other people into trouble without wanting to be. Like most women in St. Mary Mead, Mrs. Badcock is enthusiastic about the imminent arrival of the celebrity Marina Gregg and tells how, as a young girl, despite illness, she left her hotel bed in Bermuda to get Gregg's autograph.

All local celebrities and, as a friendly gesture to the previous owner, Mrs. Bantry are invited to the housewarming party in Gossington Hall. Shortly after meeting Marina Gregg, Heather Badcock, who told her hostess the story of the meeting in Bermuda, apparently suffers a heart attack and dies.

Mrs. Bantry tells Miss Marple about the incident. She mentions that Marina Gregg was not quite at it when Heather Badcock told her the story of her autograph hunt. Her look reminded Mrs. Bantry of the poem " The Lady of Shalott " by Alfred Tennyson . Gregg looked like someone on whose head a curse had come down ("'The doom has come upon me', cried the Lady of Shalott").

The two older women are surprised at the sudden death of the apparently perfectly healthy Heather Badcock. While they are still discussing various theories, Dr. Haydock , family doctor and old friend of Miss Marple, and gives this the encrypted start signal for a murder investigation. At the same time, Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock of Scotland Yard begins investigating the case. Heather Badcock was poisoned with a lethal dose of a common tranquilizer , which is "part of everyday life", especially in the movie scene.

Everything seems to indicate that it was not Heather Badcock but Marina Gregg who was the target of the murder. Craddock therefore focuses his investigations on the actress's immediate environment. Jason Rudd , the diva's husband, mentions threatening letters his wife has received. Ella Zielinsky, Rudd's secretary and “girl for everything” in the Rudd's household, points out that Marina Gregg tends to have extreme mood swings and suffered a nervous breakdown a few years ago after her child was mentally disabled. None of the domestic workers can interpret the strange look Mrs. Bantry observed at Marina Gregg.

While Miss Marple reads the rainbow press about Marina Gregg's private life, Craddock finds a young woman who was adopted by Marina Gregg as a child, but who was deported after her long-awaited pregnancy. She openly admits that she has no kind feelings for her ex-stepmother. In her photo studio, Craddock finds a picture that documents the "petrified look" described by Mrs. Bantry.

Zielinsky falls victim to another murder attempt. A short time later, Rudd and Gregg's butler is also shot from behind. Chief Inspector Craddock is desperate.

Miss Marple finally comes up with the explanation for the series of murders. Against the advice of her nurse, she sets off for Gossington Hall. There she learns that Marina Gregg is also dead - died from an overdose of sleeping pills. Miss Marple now has all the clues and explains the connections:

The disease Mrs. Badcock suffered from in Bermuda at the time was rubella , a very contagious but harmless infection that causes little discomfort. However, if a pregnant woman becomes infected in the first four months of pregnancy, the disease can result in the child being born dead, blind or mentally disabled. This was exactly the case with Marina Gregg at the time. She always wondered where she got infected. She found out on the day of the housewarming party, from a woman who was clearly proud of what she had done. That realization sparked the "petrified look" that Mrs. Bantry watched. As always, Marina Gregg had her favorite medication on hand and impulsively decided to punish Heather Badcock for her act. An almost perfect murder, because it was unplanned and apparently completely pointless. Still, Ella Zielinsky and the butler had independently drawn the correct conclusions and tried to blackmail Gregg. Therefore, they too were murdered.

Miss Marple remains in the dead man's bedroom with Jason Rudd. Whether Gregg's overdose of sleeping pills was consciously taken or given by her husband - as a last resort in a fatal situation - remains open. The novel ends with the last three verses of the eponymous poem, which Miss Marple quotes:

“He said, 'She has a lovely face.
God in His mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott. '”
“He said, 'What a lovely face.
God in his grace give her beauty,
the Lady of Shalott. '"

Relation to real events

It is very likely that Agatha Christie was guided by the true story of American actress Gene Tierney .

Tierney described the tragedy in her autobiography in 1979, but long before it had become known to a broader public through the gossip press :

As Tierney was pregnant with her first child in June 1943, she became infected in their only appearance in the Hollywood Canteen with rubella and diseased mind. As a result, their daughter Daria was born prematurely on October 15, 1943, weighing only 1.4 kg . The child was deaf, almost blind, mentally handicapped and had to be permanently placed in an institution for the disabled.

Some time later, Tierney was approached by a female fan at a garden party. The woman spoke openly of the fact that she - bedridden with rubella - had snuck to the Hollywood Canteen to get in personal contact with Gene Tierney. In her autobiography, Tierney speaks of the fact that at the end of her story she could only stare at the woman in silence and then walk away without a word. Tierney commented: After that I didn't care whether ever again I was anyone's favorite actress (After that I never cared again if I was someone's favorite actress).

Both incidents and the circumstances under which the actress learned of the reasons for the tragedy in her life are almost verbatim in Murder in the Mirror by Agatha Christie.

Trivia

In the first chapter, Miss Marple recalls the case portrayed in the novel "Murder in the Rectory".

people

  • Miss Jane Marple, the amateur detective
  • Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock
  • Dr. Haydock, Miss Marple's GP
  • Dolly Bantry, friend of Miss Marple and former owner of Gossington Hall
  • Marina Gregg, famous actress
  • Jason Rudd, her husband
  • Ella Zielinsky, his secretary
  • Hailey Preston, his advertising assistant
  • Heather Badcock, secretary of a charity
  • Arthur Badcock, her husband
  • Dr. Gilchrist, Marina's doctor
  • Ardweck Fenn, guest at the charity festival
  • Margot Bence, photographer
  • Gladys Dixon, canteen assistant in the Rudd film studios
  • Mrs. Dixon, her mother

Film adaptations

Murder in the Mirror (1980)

In 1980 the novel served as a template for the top-class English feature film The Mirror Crack'd (German title: Mord im Spiegel ) with Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple and Elizabeth Taylor as Marina as well as Tony Curtis , Rock Hudson and Geraldine Chaplin (directed by Guy Hamilton ).

Miss Marple (TV series)

In 1992 there was a remake for British television under the title The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple and Claire Bloom as Marina (director: Norman Stone ).

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple

In 2009 it was made into a film again and aired in the fifth season of the ITV television series Agatha Christie's Marple with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple.

Major expenses

  • 1962 Collins Crime Club (London), November 12, 1962
  • 1963 Dodd Mead and Company (New York), September 1963
  • 1964 German first edition Scherz Verlag under the title stupidity is dangerous in the translation by Ilse Velten
  • 1980 New edition in the translation by Ursula Gaïl Murder in the mirror or stupidity is dangerous

Audio books

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Observer November 11, 1962 (Page 24).
  2. American Tribute to Agatha Christie
  3. a b German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
  4. a b New translation in the catalog of the German National Library
  5. ^ Gene Tierney and Mickey Herskowitz: Self-Portrait , Peter Wyden Publ. 1979, ISBN 0-883261-52-9
  6. Audiobook (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library
  7. ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library