Three Act Tragedy
Dust-jacket illustration of the US (true first) edition.
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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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1934 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 279 first edition, hardback |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Parker Pyne Investigates |
| Followed by | Death in the Clouds |
Three Act Tragedy is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1934 under the title Murder in Three Acts and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1935 under Christie's original title. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
The book features Hercule Poirot, supported by his friend Mr Satterthwaite, and is the one book in which Satterthwaite collaborates with Poirot. Satterthwaite previously appeared in the stories featuring Harley Quin, in particular those collected in The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930). The novel was adapted for television twice, first in 1986 titled Murder in Three Acts, and again in 2010 as Three Act Tragedy.
A dinner party is thrown by theatre actor Sir Charles Cartwright at his home in Cornwall. His guests include Dr. Bartholomew Strange, Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione "Egg", Captain Dacres and his wife Cynthia, Muriel Wills, Oliver Manders, Mr Satterthwaite, and the Reverend and Mrs Babbington. Cartwright mixes cocktails, which are passed to guests by a serving girl with a tray. After sipping one of the cocktails, Reverend Babbington collapses and dies. Cartwright is convinced it was murder. Investigation of the glass shows no poison, and the death is ruled natural causes at the inquest. Cartwright is so upset that he informs Poirot he intends to retire to Monte Carlo.
In his home in Yorkshire, Dr Strange hosts a party with many of the same guests at the party in Cornwall, though missing Sir Charles and Poirot. Oliver Manders arrives in an unusual way, as his motorcycle breaks down in front of the manor. Dr Strange has a new, temporary butler named Ellis, who reports that a new patient has arrived at the sanatorium, a Mrs De Rushbridger, called "Mrs D". After dinner, Ellis serves port to all the guests, after which Dr Strange dies. Although no poison is found in his glass, the coroner determines that he died of nicotine poisoning. Given the similarities, Babbington's body is exhumed, revealing that he too died of nicotine poisoning.
Poirot learns of Dr Strange's death from Sir Charles in Monte Carlo. The two return to England, where they investigate the deaths. The serving maid at Dr Strange's manor notes that Dr Strange gave his usual butler a two-month vacation about two weeks before his death and brought on Ellis, now disappeared from the house. She said Ellis seemed to know a butler's duties, although he went about them in a strange way. In Ellis' room, Cartwright finds hidden papers suggesting that Ellis was blackmailing Dr Strange. In London, Emily Wills reports that she noticed something unusual at the Yorkshire dinner. She observed that Ellis had a birthmark on his right hand. Poirot then receives a telegram from "Mrs D" at Dr Strange's sanatorium. When Poirot arrives in Yorkshire, he finds "Mrs D" murdered by nicotine poison hidden in chocolates sent to her anonymously. Returning to Cornwall, Poirot stops Miss Milray before she can destroy chemical equipment hidden in an abandoned building near the vicarage.
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