Agatha Christie Titles In Other Words (1) Quiz

Answer: Death on the Nile

A classic variation of the "locked room" style of mystery stories. The murder of a beautiful newly-wedded heiress takes place on a boat trip on the Nile and the murderer must be on board.

Answer: Crooked House

"Crooked House" was one of Agatha Christie's personal favourites among her many works. In her autobiography, she said "Of my detective books, I think the two that satisfy me best are "Crooked House" and "Ordeal by Innocence".

Answer: Sleeping Murder

The novel involves a past murder which has been "sleeping" undetected for many years until the childhood memories of a young newly-wed brings the case to light. This is the last case of Miss Jane Marple.

Answer: Ordeal by Innocence

As mentioned in the interesting information for Question 2, "Ordeal by Innocence" was one of Agatha Christie's personal favourites of the many books she has written. The plot involves the delayed appearance of a witness who is able to clear an accused murderer by providing him with an alibi. Unfortunately, the accused has already been executed and the murderer is no longer secure.

Answer: Endless Night

The title of this novel is derived from the poem "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake, which contains the line "Some are born to endless night". Agatha Christie often "borrowed' from other works of literature for her titles, particularly from nursery rhymes (e.g. "Crooked House"), Shakespeare (e.g. "Sad Cypress") and the Bible (e.g. "Evil Under the Sun").

Answer: Cards on the Table

This novel is unique in that it brings together several of Agatha Christie's sleuths into one story - Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle and Colonel Johnny Race. It is Ariadne Oliver's first appearance in a novel. The plot involves a bridge party consisting of four sleuths and four murderers.

When the host is killed, the sleuths must determine which of the murderers is the perpetrator.

Answer: Towards Zero

The title for this novel is derived from the idea, expressed by two of the main characters, that most murder mysteries start with the murder, whereas the murder is really the end of the story, not the beginning. "The murder begins a long time beforehand. A murder is the culmination of a lot of different circumstances, all converging at a given moment at a given point...towards zero".

Answer: After the Funeral

As the title implies, this novel commences with the funeral of an elderly man and what happens after that event. An interesting aspect of this novel is the glimpse of what life was like in post-war Britain, such as the impact of the war on society, changing societal norms, the post-war polio epidemic, taxation, food shortages and rationing.

Answer: Dumb Witness

Agatha Christie was a dog-lover and this novel is dedicated to her own dog, Peter. The book dedication reads "To dear Peter, most faithful of friends and dearest of companions. A dog in a thousand". The title character, the "dumb" (as in speechless, not stupid) witness, was a wire-haired terrier called Bob.

Answer: Five Little Pigs

The novel is similar to "Ordeal by Innocence" in that it involves a murder which is solved many years later, long after an innocent person has been executed for the crime.