The Pale Horse, Agatha Christie
The Book
Writer Mark Easterbrook is staying with his sister while he tries to finish his book when he is swept into the investigation of the murder of a priest by one of his school chums. The priest was murdered after hearing the dying confession of a Mrs. Davis, who says there is great evil in the world and it must be stopped. She doesn't know who is killing people, but she does have a list of people who were or are going to be killed. The priest takes the list with him, but is murdered before he can get back to the presbytery. The coroner who takes the case is none other than Jimmy Corrigan, who is surprised to find his name on the list. Mark drinks in the story, looking for something to prompt him to finish writing the book.
Mark discovers a rumor that the ladies who purchased The Pale Horse can supernaturally get rid of an unwanted person for you. Intrigued, Mark takes the tour and is given the sales pitch. He is directed to go to a certain gambler, a man known to commit petty fraud now and then and place a wager that person he wants dead will be alive on such and such a date. If the person is dead on that date, Mark would have to pay up. Mark takes it under consideration.
Without the means, how will Mark, much less the cops ever prove it was murder?
My Thoughts
So I figured out the who but not the how in this book. When I got to the end, I wondered if I had missed something in my reading, since I wasn't sure why Mark would know the how. Here Christie is at her most genius. She's using an unusual poison, with symptoms that don't present the same way each time. Genius. Like I said, I figured out the mastermind, after all of the books I've read, if I haven't figure out a Christie set up, I have no business being a mystery novelist.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This book came to me from Lake Villa Public District Library. This was the last book I checked out of my library before it unexpectedly closed for 4 weeks. (Shakes fist at the sky.) The day I picked it up, it was marked with water damage by my clerk. Honestly, the water damage isn't that bad, however the edges of the cover are fraying. Lake Villa helpfully puts the date the book entered into the system on the side pages of the book. It says FEB 2018. The "sticker" on the book says it was adapted for Masterpiece Theater. It is listed as $13.99. A quick run by Amazon tells me today it goes for $10.99. There's a limited TV series, originally airing on BBC, but currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Which I presume is the reason the paperback is discounted. These two adaptations likely drove library demand for this book, hence the wear and tear. However, for an 8 year old book, it's not in really bad shape. We will use the $13.99 price for my list.
This Book $13.99
Library Items Reviewed This Year $142.88
Private Books
This Book $00.00
Total of Private Books $52.75
Total of All Items Reviewed This Year $207.63
Still Here?
Comments