Written by Agatha Christie
SUMMARY:
First released in 1961, this 259-page HarperCollins/William Morrow paperback reprint was issued in 2011. On a foggy London night, Father Gorman is summoned for a dying woman’s confession in a blue-collar neighborhood. Soon after scribbling a list of enigmatic surnames she told him, Gorman is fatally bludgeoned in a dark alleyway. Scotland Yard’s investigation is assigned to Divisional Detective-Inspector Lejeune and police surgeon Jim Corrigan.
By chance, historian Mark Easterbrook becomes involved in their homicide case when he senses a potentially ominous link among names on Gorman’s list. Despite skepticism from both Jim Corrigan and his would-be girlfriend, Hermia Redcliffe, Mark reluctantly finds himself playing amateur sleuth. Is this list really proof of a shadowy murder-for-hire racket somehow using black magic, he wonders.
At the core of his macabre theory is a rural old pub called The Pale Horse, now inhabited by three reputed witches, in the quiet village of Much Deeping. Only adventurous Katherine “Ginger” Corrigan and possibly Lejeune himself share Mark’s suspicions that all isn’t what it seems. The enigma becomes: to safeguard The Pale Horse’s dark secret, will one of them become a diabolical killer’s next victim?
Notes: 1. Appearing for the only time without either Hercule Poirot or Parker Pyne, Ariadne Oliver contributes a minor role. Her involvement in 1956’s (Poirot) Dead Man’s Folly, for instance, is referenced. 2. Much Deeping’s vicar and his wife are Mr. & Mrs. Dane Calthorp, from 1942’s (Marple) The Moving Finger.
3. Mark’s likable cousin, Rhoda (whose maiden name isn’t revealed), and her husband, Col. Despard, are presumably the same pair from 1936’s (Poirot) Cards on the Table.
Yet, some inferences suggest that Christie is merely recycling their names. One might notice that Major John Despard is now ‘Col. Hugh Despard.’ More significantly, neither Mrs. Oliver nor these Despards acknowledge they’ve already been acquainted for several years, let alone stemming from Cards’ scandalous Shaitana murder investigation. From what little readers are told, it’s indeed plausible that Mrs. Oliver first meets the Despards in The Pale Horse. One element is undeniable — The Pale Horse refrains from directly referencing either Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot.
REVIEW:
Though it isn’t among Agatha Christie’s best-known works, The Pale Horse is still a satisfying standalone whodunnit for the Halloween season. Her plotting makes reasonably good sense, as Mark & Ginger become an endearing tandem. Christie’s potentially silly reliance on black magic/voodoo (like she later would with A Caribbean Mystery) is played with enough straightforward realism to keep even skeptical readers tuned in. At a minimum, there’s enough clues inferred that the culprit’s identity is definitely fair game. Even better that is the mystery’s eerie plot twists swerve at the right moments.
No one is likely to be awed by the climax, but Christie’s storytelling magic won’t disappoint readers, either. Suffice to say, The Pale Horse’s loose TV adaptations inexplicably fall short of this novel’s originality — it already works best as is.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
The first page is a brief Christie bio.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars
