After the Funeral

When Richard Abernethie, the master of Enderby Hall, dies his heirs assemble at the vast Victorian mansion to hear the reading of the will. It is then that Cora, Abernethie's sister, comes out with an alarming proposal: "But he was murdered, wasn't he?" The next day Cora is found brutally bludgeoned to death in her home. None other than Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is summoned to Enderby in pursuit of the murderer. Suspects abound including a wayward nephew unlucky with women and horses, a favorite and seemingly blameless sister-in-law, two feuding nieces, a nosey housekeeper, and a disingenuous art collector. Poirot must conjure all of his deductive powers in order to unmask the killer and his final conclusion is a brilliant and unexpected as ever. After the Funeral is classic Christie at her best. Published in 1953, and appearing in the United States under the title Funerals are Fatal, Christie dedicated the novel to her nephew, James Watt III "in memory of happy days at Abney", her sister's family home. The novel formed the basis for MGM's Murder at the Gallop, although they chose to swap Poirot for Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple and took 'artistic licence' with the book's plot! It was broadcast in 2006 with David Suchet as Poirot.