A Murder Is Announced

A Murder Is Announced
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
AuthorAgatha Christie
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime novel
PublisherCollins Crime Club
Publication date
June 1950
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Pages256 (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded byCrooked House (publication)
The Moving Finger (series) 
Followed byThree Blind Mice and Other Stories (publication)
A Pocket Full of Rye (series) 

A Murder Is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month.[2][3] The UK edition sold for eight shillings and sixpence (8/6)[1] and the US edition at $2.50.[3]

The novel features her detective Jane Marple. The murder is announced in advance in a local newspaper in a small village; Miss Marple is staying at a spa hotel there for treatment. She works with Inspector Craddock of the county police.

The novel was well-received at publication. Remarks included: "The plot is as ingenious as ever, the writing more careful, the dialogue both wise and witty;";[4] and "Not quite one of her top notchers, but very smooth entertainment";[5] the murderer was "run to earth in a brilliantly conducted parlour game".;[6] and "This jubilee whodunit is as deft and ingenious a fabrication as Agatha Christie has contrived in many a year."[7] A later review was more mixed: "Superb reworking of the standard Christie setting and procedures, marred only by an excess of homicide at the end."[8]

The book was heavily promoted upon publication in 1950 as being Christie's fiftieth book, for example the first UK edition stated “For the fiftieth time the Queen of detection defies her readers”, although this figure could only be arrived at by counting in both UK and US short story collections.

A "distantly related" storyline had previously been explored in Christie's Miss Marple short story "The Companion", where the characters also lived in Little Paddocks.[8]

  1. ^ a b Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (March 1999). Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (Second ed.). Dragonby Press. p. 15.
  2. ^ Cooper, John; Pyke, BA (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 87. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
  3. ^ a b Marcum, JS (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: The Golden Years 1945 - 1952".
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference McLarenRoss1950 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Richardson1950 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shrapnel1950 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference TorontoStar1950 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).