Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
AuthorAgatha Christie
Cover artistGilbert Cousland
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime novel
PublisherCollins Crime Club
Publication date
September 1934
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages256 (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded byThe Listerdale Mystery 
Followed byParker Pyne Investigates 

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934[1][2] and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue.[2][3][4] The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[1] and the US edition at $2.00.[4]

The novel is set in Wales and Hampshire. Bobby Jones finds a man dying at his local golf course. A photo he saw in the man's pocket is replaced, as police seek his identity. Bobby and his friend Lady Frances Derwent have adventures as they solve the mystery of the man's last words: "Why didn't they ask Evans?"

The novel was praised at first publication as "a story that tickles and tantalises",[5] and that the reader is sure to like the amateur detectives and forgive the absence of Poirot.[6] It had a lively narrative, full of action,[7] with two amateur detectives who "blend charm and irresponsibility with shrewdness and good luck".[8] Robert Barnard, writing in 1990, called it "Lively" but compared it to Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies and felt that the detectives were too much the amateurs.[9]

  1. ^ a b Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (1999). Collins Crime Club: a checklist of the first editions (2nd ed.). London: Dragonby Press. p. 15.
  2. ^ a b "Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | Agatha Christie – The official information and community site". Agatha Christie. 18 September 1935. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  3. ^ Cooper, John; Pike, B A (1994). Detective Fiction: The Collector's Guide (2nd ed.). Aldershot: Scolar Press. pp. 82, 86. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
  4. ^ a b Marcum, J S (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: The Classic Years: 1935 – 1939". Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference TimesLit1934 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimes1935 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Observer1934 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian1934 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).