Murder is Easy
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
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| Cover artist | Not known |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
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Publication date
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5 June 1939 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Hercule Poirot's Christmas |
| Followed by | And Then There Were None |
Murder is Easy is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 June 1939 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill. Christie's recurring character, Superintendent Battle, has a cameo appearance at the end, but plays no part in either the solution of the mystery or the apprehension of the criminal. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Luke Fitzwilliam happens to share a London-bound train carriage with Lavinia Pinkerton, an elderly lady who informs Luke that she is travelling to Scotland Yard to report a serial killer, responsible for the deaths of three people i.e. Amy Gibbs, Tommy Pierce and Harry Carter, and that another man, Dr John Humbleby, will be the next victim. Luke, unsure of how to respond, feels that this is unimportant and pays lip service only.
However, he is soon surprised to find the obituaries of not only Miss Pinkerton, who has been killed in a hit-and-run car accident, but also a Dr Humbleby, who has died of septicaemia. Luke, a retired policeman, travels to this seemingly quiet village, Wychwood under Ashe, and poses as a researcher for witchcraft and superstition to try and uncover the true murderer. Staying in a large estate with the wealthy Gordon Whitfield and pretending to be a cousin of Bridget Conway, Whitfield's fiancee, he makes inquiries into the deaths. He and Conway receive the assistance of Honoria Waynflete, an elderly but observant spinster whom they believe may know the identity of the person behind the deaths. By asking several villagers – including Mr Abbot, a solicitor who fired Tommy Pierce from his service due to an incident with a letter; the Rev. Mr Wake, local preacher; Mr Ellsworthy, an antique shop owner who appears to be mentally insane, and Dr Thomas, Humbleby's medical partner (who had had several rows with Humbleby and would have benefited from his death) – it becomes apparent that the deaths had been understood to be accidents. Amy Gibbs died after confusing her cough remedy with hat paint in the dark, Tommy Pierce died from falling off the library roof after cleaning the windows, Harry Carter fell from a bridge while drunk and drowned in the mud, and Humbleby died from a cut that became infected. Luke learns that Mrs Lydia Horton was another victim of these "accidents" -– she was recovering from acute gastritis and was progressively getting better before she had a sudden unexpected relapse and died.
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