Dumb Witness

Dumb Witness
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
AuthorAgatha Christie
Cover artistNot known
LanguageEnglish
SeriesHercule Poirot
GenreCrime novel
PublisherCollins Crime Club
Publication date
5 July 1937
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages320 (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded byMurder in the Mews 
Followed byDeath on the Nile 

Dumb Witness is a detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 July 1937[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Poirot Loses a Client.[2][3] The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[4] and the US edition at $2.00.[3]

The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and is narrated by his friend Arthur Hastings. It is the last book to feature the character of Hastings until the final Poirot novel, 1975's Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, which he also narrates.

Reviews of this novel at publication in 1937 were generally positive, though several pointed out what they considered to be plot weaknesses. The author does "this sort of thing so superlatively well",[5] while The Times in London questioned one of the actions by the murderer: "who would use hammer and nails and varnish in the middle of the night near an open bedroom door?"[6] In the New York Times, this novel was not considered "Mrs Christie's best, but she has produced a much-better-than-average thriller nevertheless",[7] which is a view shared by "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers), who called this "the least of all the Poirot books" and then concluded "Still, better a bad Christie than a good average."[8] By contrast, Mary Dell considered this novel to be "Mrs Christie at her best".[9] The Scotsman felt the author deserved "full marks" for this novel.[10] A review in 1990 found this novel to be not very interesting, with obvious clues.[11]

  1. ^ The Observer, 4 July 1937 (p. 6)
  2. ^ John Cooper and B.A. Pyke. Detective Fiction – the collector's guide: Second Edition (Pages 82 and 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
  3. ^ a b American Tribute to Agatha Christie
  4. ^ Chris Peers; Ralph Spurrier & Jamie Sturgeon (March 1999). Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (Second ed.). Dragonby Press. p. 15.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference LondonTimes1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimes1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Observer1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mirror1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scotsman1937 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnard19990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).