For the past several years, I've made an effort to include a Halloween themed book for the last week in October. This one came my way accidentally, and sure fit the bill!
Wow!
MY THOUGHTS:
This 1961 title is one of the scariest Agatha Christie mysteries that has come my way so far. It gave me more than a few goosebumps, and I consider it a very appropriate choice for Halloween.
Poor old Catholic priest, Father Gorman, is called out one night to take the confession of a dying woman, Mrs Davis, who makes the cryptic remark that wickedness must be stopped. On his way home, while musing about the enormity of whatever he's just heard, Father Gorman is brutally bludgeoned from behind. But the killer overlooks a hastily scrawled list of names which the old cleric poked down into his shoe. Detective Inspector Lejeune is quick to figure out that most people on that list have died quite recently of supposedly natural causes.
Meanwhile, a young historian named Mark Easterbrook has a puzzle of his own to solve. Mark, who narrates several sections of this story, is taken by friends to visit the Pale Horse, an ancient Inn which is now the home of three old hags who seem to be straight from the pages of Macbeth. Thyrza Grey is an occultist, Sybil Stamfordis is a medium, and their cook, Bella, is a witch. Mark is uneasy about the creepy trio, because he's heard rumors that the Pale Horse is the place to visit if you want to get somebody bumped off.
It seems the three ladies use their black arts on behalf of clients who wish to have people killed without hiring actual hitmen. But is murder by supernatural methods, or 'remote control' even possible? When Mark realizes that he's had brushes with a few of the people on Father Gorman's list, it becomes a matter of honor not to turn a blind eye, even though he's quaking in his shoes.
I find it refreshing when Agatha Christie departs from Poirot and Marple to use young novice protagonists. When Mark and his friend, Ginger, attempt an experiment to discover firsthand what really goes on within the walls of the Pale Horse, they're flying by the seats of their pants and secretly terrified. In spite of the vibe of malevolence all through the story, these two are lots of fun to read about. Could the methodology used by the heartless crooks really be a lot less mystical than everyone is led to believe?
This book features a recurring character, Ariadne Oliver, a successful mystery writer and fictional counterpart of Dame Agatha herself. I'm sure Oliver is also Christie's mouthpiece to vent about some of the same challenges she faces. 'I only write very plain murders about people who want other people out of the way and try to be clever about it.' This story itself ticks the box, for what could be more ingenious than killing a person by means of pointing the bone types of methods, which can't possibly be convicted as murder in an English court of law?
It's fascinating and unnerving, with some excellent dialogue sequences and a wow factor to the solution. And the premise contains chilling spiritual elements founded on mind power which I'm sure Agatha Christie, who was herself a committed Christian, knew full well. The name of the Inn itself is found in Revelation 6:8, 'And I looked, and behold, a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.' It is these undertones most of all, that had me biting my nails. Christie has Mrs Dane-Calthorp, the minister's wife, comment, 'Sin is such a wretched, mean, ignoble little thing. It's terribly necessary to make it seem grand and important.'
A jolly good, spooky yarn.
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