Lesbian Suspects in Agatha Christie’s Mysteries

Filed Under Books & Mags, Lesbian matters | April 2nd, 2008 

I got hooked on Agatha Christie’s mystery novels in my early teens and until last summer I thought I had read all of them; as it turns out, not by a long shot.

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha ChristieMost recently I quickly finished off reading Agatha Christie’s ‘A Murder Is Announced‘ which happens to be one of her Miss Marple mysteries.

For those of you who are familiar with Agatha Christie and her detectives; have you ever wondered about Miss Marple’s sexual preferences? I know I have. Some people might think that an odd thing to think about. Others might even think that it’s even odder that a gay man would wonder if Miss Marple is a lesbian. But for some strange reason, I can’t help but wonder.

Unfortunately my suspicions and theories haven’t been answered by reading ‘A Murder Is Announced‘. However, there are some mighty ’suspicious’ lesbian suspects in this book.

But first, a quick synopsis of the novel:

“The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’

A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out…”

And now, back to my lesbian theory:

My prime suspects are an odd couple by the names of Miss Hinchcliffe; known affectionately as ‘Hinch’, and Miss Murgatroyd, who is called just ‘Murgatroyd’ by her ‘friend’ Hinch. To my mind, these two ‘friends’ who live together in a small village cottage are the most ‘blatant’, (for lack of a better term) example of lesbians portrayed in any of Agatha Christie’s novels that I’ve read.

The descriptions of their manner of dress, their personal appearances, their manner of speaking and their interaction with each other, smacks juicily of a late 1940’s to early 1950’s English lesbian couple in a small village setting.

The final proof of Hinch and Murgatroyd’s relationship comes at a pivotal moment in the story when the manly Hinch reacts to an event that happens to her companion, Murgatroyd. It strikes me that only a lover would react that way.

I won’t say more but that’s how I view this case of possible lesbians in literature.

If you haven’t read ‘A Murder Is Announced‘, I highly recommend it. It’s a darn gripping mystery.