 Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition | |
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Superintendent Battle |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
Publication date | 5 June 1939 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 256 (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-713682-7 |
| Preceded by | Hercule Poirot's Christmas |
| Followed by | And Then There Were None |
Murder Is Easy is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1939,[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September the same year under the title Easy to Kill.[2] Christie's Superintendent Battle has a cameo appearance at the end, but plays no part in either the solution of the mystery or the apprehension of the criminal. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6),[3] and the US edition at $2.[2]
The novel concerns the efforts of a retired police officer, Luke Fitzwilliam, to discover the identity of a serial killer active in the village of Wychwood under Ashe. He learns that the series of deaths were mistaken for accidents by the locals, while the nobleman Lord Whitfield mysteriously attributes most of them to divine justice.
- ^ The Observer 4 June 1939 (Page 6)
- ^ a b "American Tribute to Agatha Christie". Home.insightbb.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (p. 15)