Great, Ms. Christie at her best! A really imaginative and stirring plot.
From "The Agatha Christie Companion - The complete Guide to Agatha Christie's Life & Work
It is well known that Agatha Christie wrote her last two published books, "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder," during the London blitz in the early years of World War II. She wrote these "two extra books" because she thought she might be killed in the bombing raids that were a daily occurance while she was living and working in London. The books were made over by deeds as gifts: "Curtain" in which Hercule Poirot dies, and which was written first, was for her daughter, Rosalind; the other "Sleeping Murder," was for her husband, Max. The two manuscripts were put in bank vaults and were "heavily insured against destruction."
As we know Christie was not killed in the bombing raids, and the two manuscripts stayed in the bank vaults until 1975. Christie's health deteriorated considerably after a broken leg she suffered in 1971, at age eighty, and it became increasingly clear to her family and associates that she was in her final years. Agatha hoped that the publication of the books would assure her husband of about finances. Bantam, for example, paids $1 for U.S. paperback right to "Sleeping Murder."
From the book back:
Agatha Christie's final(published) novel features the beloved, uncannily perceptive Miss Jane Marple unraveling the most tantalizing, most macabre case of her career. With this exproardinary novel - pervaded by a very real, very memorable sense of evil - Dame Agatha has ensured her retutation as the world's greatest author of detective fiction and has bequeathed her millions of readers one last delicious surprise.
It is well known that Agatha Christie wrote her last two published books, "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder," during the London blitz in the early years of World War II. She wrote these "two extra books" because she thought she might be killed in the bombing raids that were a daily occurance while she was living and working in London. The books were made over by deeds as gifts: "Curtain" in which Hercule Poirot dies, and which was written first, was for her daughter, Rosalind; the other "Sleeping Murder," was for her husband, Max. The two manuscripts were put in bank vaults and were "heavily insured against destruction."
As we know Christie was not killed in the bombing raids, and the two manuscripts stayed in the bank vaults until 1975. Christie's health deteriorated considerably after a broken leg she suffered in 1971, at age eighty, and it became increasingly clear to her family and associates that she was in her final years. Agatha hoped that the publication of the books would assure her husband of about finances. Bantam, for example, paids $1 for U.S. paperback right to "Sleeping Murder."
From the book back:
Agatha Christie's final(published) novel features the beloved, uncannily perceptive Miss Jane Marple unraveling the most tantalizing, most macabre case of her career. With this exproardinary novel - pervaded by a very real, very memorable sense of evil - Dame Agatha has ensured her retutation as the world's greatest author of detective fiction and has bequeathed her millions of readers one last delicious surprise.
