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    Three Act Tragedy
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    Three Act Tragedy
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    Three Act Tragedy
    Audiobook5 hours

    Three Act Tragedy

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Hugh Fraser

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A dinner party thrown by theatre actor Sir Charles Cartwright at his home in Cornwall ends in tragedy…

    Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor’s house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died.

    But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison – just as Poirot had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 9, 2006
    ISBN9780007248797
    Unavailable
    Three Act Tragedy
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for Three Act Tragedy

    4/5

    79 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A series of murders involving an egocentric actor.
    • 5/5
      A dinner party at "Crow's Nest", the home of bachelor Sir Charles Cartwright at Loomouth, turns to tragedy when the Rev. Stephen Babbington takes a sip of his cocktail, convulses, and drops dead. Babbington's death is diagnosed as a seizure, and not suspicious. However not all the dinner guests are satisified, and at least one thinks it is murder.Among the dinner party are Mr. Satterthwaite, an actress, an author, Sir Bartholomew Strange, Hermione Lytton Gore, and, making up the numbers at the table, Hercule Poirot. Nothing comes of the suspicions, analysis of the vestiges of liquid in the cocktail glass reveals nothing, and the book moves on.Mr Satterthwaite is a great observer of people and he concludes two things about Sir Charles Cartwright - firstly he is always playing a part. Cartwright is by profession an actor, but in Satterthwaite's estimation, he is always seeking to play out roles, and take centre stage in real life. Secondly he sees that he is head over heels in love with Hermione Lytton Gore who is a good thirty years younger than him, and he is not sure that the young lady reciprocates.The action moves to the Riviera. Mr Satterthwaite is in Monaco for the day and reads an announcement in the newspaper of the death of Sir Bartholomew Strange, in circumstances very similar to Babbington's. He meets Sir Charles Cartwright and learns that many of the Crow's Nest houseparty were also at Sir Bartholomew's dinner party. Hermione Lytton Gore has written requesting Sir Charles return to London as soon as he can. An inquest has already decided the death was due to nicotine poisoning.Strolling in the gardens Sattertwaite comes across a familiar egg-shaped head, that of Hercule Poirot. Separately he and Satterthwaite decide to return to London by the next train.THREE ACT TRAGEDY was also published as MURDER IN THREE ACTS. Indeed the story is laid out to reinforce that impression. There is a frontispiece that saysDirected bySIR CHARLES CARTWRIGHTAssistant DirectorsMR SATTERTHWAITEMISS HERMIONE LYTTON GOREClothes byAMBROSINE LTDIllumination byHERCULE POIROTThe story is broken into 3 acts.In FIRST ACT -SUSPICION Babbington dies and there are suspicions about how he died.SECOND ACT - CERTAINTY begins with the announcement of Sir Bartholomew Strange's death.THIRD ACT - DISCOVERY brings Hercule Poirot into his own.This is a story of coincidences,quite a number of false trails, and one in which both Mr Satterthwaite and Hercule Poirot play the matchmaker. Poirot is determined that the mystery will not defeat him. He is very aggrieved that he did not originally think Babbington was murdered.This is the one book in which Satterthwaite collaborates with Poirot. He previously appeared in the stories which feature Mr. Harley Quin, in particular those collected in The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930). The book gives us quite a detailed description of Mr Satterthwaite, as well as some further background about Hercule Poirot. (this is his 9th appearance in a novel - and there is no mention at all of Captain Hastings).
    • 4/5
      Hercule Poirot was actually NOT the star of this novel. What a shock! Who knew it was possible for someone to overshadow Poirot?? But Christie found a way. I enjoyed it immensely, but I would have liked a bit more Poirot. I also liked the way the murder was turned into a play by use of references throughout the book. Interesting plot twists too - and expert trickery of course.
    • 3/5
      Continuing on in my summer Agatha Christie challenge, I come to Three Act Tragedy. This is my first Hercule Poirot book and I was a little disappointed. I thought he would figure more prominently in the book but after dismissing the first death as accidentally in the beginning of the book we don't hear much more from him until the end. He does not hold the same appeal Miss Marple does for me, at least in this book. I will see if I like him any better as I read other books featuring him this summer. The central mystery at the heart of this novel was not that engaging for me. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning and that was somewhat confusing, although that did get easier as the novel went on. Like in the previous AC mystery I reviewed, the solution was presented in the final pages. I had rather liked the murderer so that was disappointing although Eggs did seem to get her happy ever after. I am off to view the Masterpiece Classic film of Three Act tragedy. Perhaps when I view it on film, I will like it better. If this had been the first AC I read I might have given up on the challenge. I will see if Endless Night is more to my liking.
    • 3/5
      A local vicar keels over dead at an actor's dinner party. His death is assumed to be natural until a knighted neurologist suffers a similar fate at his own home. The actor and a couple of friends decide to investigate, and M. Poirot, who has retired from detecting, can't resist the opportunity to help.I particularly enjoyed the character of Egg, an ambitious young lady; none of the others had much to them. Ms. Christie has some fun with the "three acts" idea. Overall there isn't much to it, other than some typical Poirot cleverness at the end.
    • 4/5
      The more I read Agatha Christie's mysteries the more I like them. It seems like with every new volume there's an extra something that makes them more than just an engaging riddle. Either I'm reading the books with a more pronounced human element or I'm just noticing it more and somehow I'm inclined to think that it is the latter. I really liked Mr. Satterthwaite, the intelligent little man with an absolutely unpronounceable name and a way with people. The Lytton Gore ladies were my "human element" here introducing the subject of being able to see people for who they really are and not in the way Poirot does it. They made mistakes sometimes, sure, but their perceptions felt warm and uncalculating. I liked these characters more than the rest particularly because we learned more about them as people than we did about any of the others and that is really my only gripe - the rest of the cast are barely fleshed out and I wish we knew a little more about them. Of course I didn't figure out who the culprit was even though I suspected everyone. It almost detracted from the story, this constant watchfulness, attentiveness to every word and trying to see in what way it could be a clue, whether it could be a clue. I really need to turn off that part of my brain next time and just enjoy the story. Learn from my mistakes, my friends!
    • 5/5
      i read my first agatha christie book in fifth grade when my teacher, mr. mccandless, suggested i read one of her books. i picked up "the mirror crack'd" and was hooked. i've only read a couple of her books but everytime i read one i fall in love with it. i re-read "the mirror crack'd" senior year of high school and did a report oh ms. agatha, but i haven't read any of her books since. i picked up this one because i needed a nice, fun, short book to read while i was waiting for our annual hanukkah trip to barnes and noble. once agian, i wasn't dissapointed. i was positive i knew who it was- or at least i had an idea, but when i got to the end, i was wrong. very wrong. i had expected exactly who agatha wanted me to expect. i was so bummed, too, because i normally don't fall for stuff like that. i see right through silly twists and turns in a murder mystery- but agatha is too smart for me. i don't think i've read a true murder mystery in a long time, and when i finished my mouth fell open and i was shocked at who did it. i need to read more of her books.
    • 3/5
      I remember feeling, when I first read this book many years ago, that there was something "off" about it. Something didn't quite work. When I reread it recently I was left with the same feeling. And it is one that it difficult to clearly articulate.

      Warning, past here there be spoilers.

      Perhaps the clearest way of explaining it is to say that I think that this would be a far better play than a novel. On stage the things that, in my opinion, worked against it might actually work for it. (Not to mention the wonderfully meta quality of staging a play about a murder that was basically staged and rehearsed much like a play.

      Since he has no Hastings to function as Watson to his Holmes Poirot is forced to discuss the murders in the book with a number of different characters who cannot successfully fill in for the missing Hastings. Poirot does not have the type of relationship with any of these characters that would justify his opening up to (or, for that matter, misleading) them. In order to "play fair" with the reader Christie must provide a limited view into the minds of the various subsidiary characters whose POVs advance the plot since to do otherwise would have immediately given away "whodunnit."

      The characters seem to be rather vaguely "realized" functioning more as types than as individual people and I felt uninvested in any of them on first reading or on rereading. Their failure to come off the page was particularly noticeable in the latter chapters of the book when I often felt that whenever one character, particularly Poirot, was speaking the other characters froze into immobility or faded from the scene. This is especially true in the dramatic "all is revealed" scene when I was as a reader distracted by the lack of distracting responses from the other people in the room.

      In short, what would have been an enjoyable play presented instead as a serviceable book.
    • 4/5
      This is vintage Christie and an enjoyable read. Who would want to murder a kind old vicar at a house party and follow it up by murdering a famous psychiatrist at another house party? That is the puzzle facing three amateur sleuths who, despite their analysis of the events, can't come to any conclusion. It is up to Hercule Poirot who was actually a guest at the scene of the first murder to use his little gray cells and uncover the murderer.The book is divided into three acts, much like an actual play with a murder occurring in each act. Many of the characters come from the theater: Sir Charles Cartwright the retired actor and one of the sleuths, a female playwright who sees too much, an attractive,although aging actress. Add to the mix a charming young woman who is the second sleuth, her maybe former beau, a bookie and his fashion designer wife plus sundry butlers, secretaries, housekeepers. Hercule Poirot is joined by the third amateur sleuth Mr Satterthwaite, a character who was last seen in the Harly Quinn short stories.About a third of the way through the novel I remembered who the murderer was and I enjoyed picking out the clues as Christie laid them down. She certainly plays fair in this one and I think the novel has one of the best last lines in her entire canon.
    • 4/5
      I have a soft spot for this story as I like the idea of applying a three act structure to a novel. Its not classic Christie, but it passes the time very nicely all the same.
    • 4/5
      Three-Act Tragedy is a bit of a gimmick novel, even for Agatha Christie! She structures the book in the promised three acts, each taking place in a different setting. The positives here are the cooperation and interactions between Hercule Poirot and Mr Satterthwaite, her odd, upper-crust-yet-colorless ‘man on the scene’ recurring character. In fact, it’s Satterthwaite who conspires with a team of amateur sleuths to solve the seemingly inexplicable poisoning of a country parson at a dinner party. The solution to the mystery, while not among Christie’s very best, is never the less good fun.On the downside, Poirot’s presence here is limited, which to his fans is of course a small disappointment. The novel also lacks particularly interesting supporting characters.Three Act Tragedy is still an engaging and charming read, however, so I recommend it without hesitation.
    • 2/5
      November 1998 I have been meaning to reread this book for some time and finally I picked i up and read it through in two days. I remembered who the murderer was which is extremely frustrating when Christie tries to move in a red herring. But I couldn’t remember the motive. Poriot takes a back seat to the characters Mr. Satterwaite and Charles Cartwright which doesn’t suite his style much and though Christie tries to make the reader empathize with Cartwright, somehow he is not a very sympathetic character....all along you are hoping Cartwright will be the next murder victim so Manders can win the girl. I believe that Christie gave the true love affair to the ill fated Babbingtons.
    • 5/5
      My favourite Poirot by far! Love the conclusion and the host of characters.
    • 4/5
      Retired actor Sir Charles Cartwright throws a house party in his Cornwall home. He invites several locals to have dinner with his house guests. During the cocktail hour, the local reverend suddenly drops dead. The Harley Street specialist/house guest and the local doctor both attribute the death to natural causes, but are they mistaken? Could it be murder?As the title implies, the novel is structured in three “acts.” The action shifts from Cornwall to Monte Carlo, London, and Yorkshire, and to points in between. A large part of the book is narrated from the vantage point of Mr. Satterthwaite, who first appeared in the short story collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Nevertheless, it is Hercule Poirot who solves the crime and reveals the culprit.
    • 2/5
      Not something I would read again, although I didn't skip to the end to find out "whodunnit" until the 2nd or 3rd-to-last chapter....
    • 2/5
      I found this to be a sub-par Poirot novel. It just wasn't a particularly compelling mystery. Only mildly entertaining, and somewhat predictable.
    • 3/5
      Hercule Poirot has been invited to many parties, but this one was different. The local vicar dropped dead after drinking a cocktail. At first, the death is presumed to be from natural causes. But a few weeks later, a doctor who was a guest at the fatal party also drops dead after finishing a drink.Poirot is not a central character in this book until towards the end. The main character at first is Mr. Satterthwaite, a conventional gentleman of uncertain age. That makes it a little different from the regular Poirot book. Well done and fun, but not extraordinary.
    • 3/5
      Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie - good

      So, I'm an Agatha Christie addict. I'm slowly working through her books as I find them in charity shops or bookcrossing and use them as comfort reading when I need respite from something heavy going or my annual stats are down & I need a quick read. This time it was the stats.

      Of course, this one has been adapted for TV and I've seen it and, more to the point, can actually remember the plot. Normally that doesn't spoil it for me but, for a change, the TV version stuck very closely to the book and I knew from page 1 'whodonit'.

      Still a good read, enough
      changes from my remembrances to make it worthwhile and of course, written

      to the usual AC standards. Not too many ouch moments with the use of

      non-pc language either. A good read.
    • 3/5
      Three amateur sleuths investigate a suspicious death at a house party, with Hercule Poirot's help. Mr. Satterthwaite, the main character from her Harley Quinn stories, also features prominently.This is a fairly entertaining little mystery that employs many of Dame Agatha's signature plot devices: a large cast of potential suspects, clues that both illuminate and mislead, "assistants" who help Poirot along and a final scene in which everything is spelled out for the reader. It's perfectly decent, but it lacks that special something that makes certain of Ms. Christie's books really sparkle. The final twist is also one she's used elsewhere, and to greater effect. Good for completists, but by no means essential reading for anyone not devoted to the author's work.
    • 3/5
      Almost a four-star rating for this 11th Poirot mystery from Agatha Christie. The story was very refreshing and unlike most of the other Poirot's not written from Hasting's first person. It's funny to see how Christie mocks the whole detective genre in this book and I was very surprised by the confindings of Poirot in one of the characters in the very last page about his methods and character.

      I did find the beginning very confusing however, due to the great number of characters introduced and their rather difficult names. I took me a while to start enjoying the book. That's why it's only a three-star rating from me.
    • 4/5
      An actor throws a dinner party, and when someone dies an accident is at first assumed. Hercule Poirot gets involved and solves the mystery in his inimitable fashion. Clever plotting and a bit of humour.
    • 5/5
      One of Christies' best. Well constructed, very good conclusion. A little romance, a little mischief, good body count, Poirot's little grey cells - excellent.
    • 4/5
      Nice change of pace since the investigation is carried out by three characters that don't include Poirot at first. Very surprising resolution which you just don't expect but no deus ex machina here, it all makes perfect sense. I quite liked the touches of romance here and there which are reminiscent of the earlier books. It's no Orient Express but it's such a good read on a rainy afternoon.