Stop the Christie Murder: Endless Night

Stop the Christie Murder posts presuppose detectives who travel through Christie's books, attempting to prevent murders from happening.

One of the fascinating outcomes of this fan-fiction approach is how much I've learned to appreciate Christie's insights.

Take Endless Night. In this novel, lots of people DO try to prevent the subsequent murder. And when the murderer is caught, it is due to research others have already put in motion.

*Spoilers*

Like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Endless Murder is told in first-person by the murder. Unlike the prior book, Endless Night is in some ways believable. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a clever book in which language is used to create a puzzle. In Endless Murder, Michael's first-person pretending almost seems as much self-deceit as part of his grifting personality. He could have gone the "other way" and remained married to a woman he is coming to love rather than the grifting girlfriend with whom he planned the murder.

In other words, he isn't entirely stable. I discuss his lack of stability here. Here I want to discuss why, if a large number of people attempt to stop the marriage and subsequent murder, it still happens. They research Michael. They disclose his previous behavior. Eventually, they will find the link between him and the girlfriend (though that proof comes later).

Still--you'd think they had enough. So why do they fail?

Here is where Christie is so psychologically astute. They fail because the wife, Ellie, doesn't want to believe it.

I've written elsewhere that part of mourning is the loss of routines. Recently divorced couples are warned about rushing back together. Loneliness is hard for some people. The unknown is scary. The lack of routines leaves people flailing. People rush into relationships and rush into the same damaging relationships because the familiar is comforting. Ellie connects with Michael. She refuses to give up that connection.

Christie makes clear that part of Ellie's refusal is that Michael could "go the other way." He is not entirely unsalveagable. He is writing his account in retrospect and almost doesn't want to believe it. He might have been that other guy.

Nevertheless, Ellie is ultimately the one who called the shots. Christie believed that the risk was worthwhile, no matter the outcome. A young woman had to leave home, find a lover, try out marriage. Even if she fell on her face, she had to grow up.

In the end, my investigators might be able to help those who are trying to help Ellie, and they might retrieve documents more quickly (more hands on deck!) but they will ALSO be fighting Ellie herself.