The Moving Finger
Dust-jacket illustration of the US (true first) edition. See Publication history (below) for UK first edition jacket image.
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
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Publication date
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July 1942 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 229 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Five Little Pigs |
| Followed by | Towards Zero |
The Moving Finger is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in July 1942 and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1943 The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
The Burtons, brother and sister, arrive in a small village, soon receiving an anonymous letter accusing them of being lovers, not siblings. They are not the only ones in the village to receive such vile letters. A prominent resident is found dead with one such letter found next to her. This novel features the elderly detective Miss Marple in a relatively minor role, "a little old lady sleuth who doesn't seem to do much". She enters the story after the police have failed to solve the crime in the final quarter of the book, and in a handful of scenes.
The novel was well-received when it was published: "Agatha Christie is at it again, lifting the lid off delphiniums and weaving the scarlet warp all over the pastel pouffe.." One reviewer noted that Miss Marple "sets the stage for the final exposure of the murderer." Another said this was "One of the few times Christie gives short measure, and none the worse for that." The male narrator was both praised and panned.
The book takes its name from verse 51 of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám:
The poem, in turn, refers to Belshazzar's feast as related in the Book of Daniel, where the expression the writing on the wall originated.
The title shows in the story figuratively and literally. The anonymous letters point blame from one town resident to another. The Scotland Yard agent determines the envelopes were all "typed by someone using one finger" to avoid a recognisable 'touch'.
Jerry and Joanna Burton, a brother and sister from London, take residence in Miss Barton's country house in the quiet town of Lymstock, for the last phase of his recovery. Jerry, a pilot, was injured in a plane crash. Shortly after moving in and meeting their neighbours, they receive an anonymous letter that makes the false accusation that the pair are lovers, not siblings. The Burtons quickly learn that such poison pen letters have been received by many in town. Despite the letters containing false accusations, many in town are quite upset by them and fear something worse to happen. Mrs Symmington, the wife of the local solicitor, is found dead after receiving a letter, stating that her husband, Mr Dick Symmington, was not the father of their second son. Her body is discovered with the letter, a glass containing potassium cyanide, and a torn scrap of paper which reads "I can't go on". While the inquest rules that her death was suicide, the police begin a hunt for the anonymous letter writer. Her daughter, Megan Hunter, an awkward, 20-year-old, stays with the Burtons for a while after the loss of her mother.
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