Endless Night is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 30 October 1967 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings (18/-) and the US edition at $4.95. The novel is dedicated "To Nora Prichard from whom I first heard the legend of Gipsy's Acre." Nora Prichard was the paternal grandmother of Mathew, Christie's only grandson. Gipsy's Acre was a field located on a Welsh moorland. The Times Literary Supplement of 16 November 1967 said, "It really is bold of Agatha Christie to write in the persona of a working-class boy who marries a poor little rich girl, but in a pleasantly gothic story of gypsy warnings she brings it all off, together with a nicely melodramatic final twist."

The Guardian carried a laudatory review in its issue of 10 November 1967 by Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley Cox) who said, "The old maestrina of the crime-novel (or whatever is the female of 'maestro') pulls yet another out of her inexhaustible bag with Endless Night, quite different in tone from her usual work. It is impossible to say much about the story without giving away vital secrets: sufficient to warn the reader that if he should think this is a romance he couldn't be more mistaken, and the crashing, not to say horrific suspense at the end is perhaps the most devastating that this surpriseful author has ever brought off."

Maurice Richardson in The Observer of 5 November 1967 began, "She changes her style again and makes a determined and quite suspenseful attempt to be with it." He finished, "I shan't give away who murders whom, but the suspense is kept up all the way and Miss Christie's new demi-tough, streamlined style really does come off. She'll be wearing black leather pants next, if she isn't already." The poet and novelist Stevie Smith chose the novel as one of her Books of the Year in the same newspaper's issue of 10 December 1967 when she said, "I mostly read Agatha Christie this year (and every year). I wish I could write more about what she does for one in the way of lifting the weight, and so on."

Robert Barnard: "The best of the late Christies, the plot a combination of patterns used in Ackroyd and Nile (note similarities in treatment of heiress/heroine's American lawyers in Nile and here, suggesting she had been rereading). The murder occurs very late, and thus the central section seems desultory, even novelettish (poor little rich girl, gypsy's curse, etc.). But all is justified by the conclusion. A splendid late flowering."

Read also: Pierre Bayard: Qui a tué Roger Ackroyd? Chapter 2: le paradoxe du Menteur. Les Editions de Minuit 1998.

Adaptations

"The Case of the Caretaker"

A short story collection by Agatha Christie, titled Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories, published in October 1979, features a short story called "The Case of the Caretaker" whose overall plot is the same as Endless Night, although the character names are different.

"‘The Case of the Caretaker’ was first published in Strand Magazine, January 1942, and then in the USA in Chicago Sunday Tribune, 5 July 1942." from "Miss Marple – Miss Marple and Mystery: The Complete Short Stories (Miss Marple)" by Agatha Christie

Endless Night (1972 film)

In 1972, Sidney Gilliat directed a film adaption starring Hayley Mills, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, Hywel Bennett and George Sanders (who died by suicide before the film's release). The film received mixed reviews, and following an unsuccessful run in the United Kingdom, was not released theatrically in the United States.

Christie was initially pleased by Gilliat's involvement and the casting. However, she was disappointed in the finished product, calling it "lacklustre". She also voiced her reservations about the film featuring a brief nude scene with Ekland at the end.

Saturday Theatre (BBC Radio 4)

Endless Night was presented as a one-hour radio play in the Saturday Theatre strand on BBC Radio 4 on 30 August 2008 at 2:30pm. The play's recording took place at Broadcasting House and had an original score composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.

Adaptor: Joy Wilkinson<br/>

Producer/Director: Sam Hoyle<br/>

Cast:<br/>

Jonathan Forbes as Mike<br/>

Lizzy Watts as Ellie<br/>

Sara Stewart as Greta<br/>

Joan Walker as Cora/Mike's Mother<br/>

Victoria Lennox as Mrs. Lee<br/>

Chris Pavlo as Mr. Constantine/Auctioneer/Policeman/Assistant<br/>

John Rowe as Philpott/Lippincott<br/>

Joseph Tremain as Young Mike/Army Boy<br/>

Dan Starkey as Santonix/Frank<br/>

Thomas Brown-Lowe as Oscar

Graphic novel adaptation

Endless Night was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 3 November 2008, adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq ().

Agatha Christie's Marple adaptation

Although the book did not feature Miss Marple, the novel was an extension of a Miss Marple story called "The Case of the Caretaker". It was filmed as part of the sixth series of Agatha Christie's Marple, starring Julia McKenzie. It aired first on Argentina's Film&Arts on Wednesday 20 November 2013, Australia's ABC on Sunday 22 December 2013, and aired on ITV on Sunday 29 December 2013. This adaptation by Kevin Elyot remains fairly faithful to the book, although with the exception of adding Miss Marple.

French adaptation

A French adaptation as part of the television series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie was planned for 2021.

Television adaptation

In May 2025, a television series was greenlit by BBC and BritBox International. Sarah Phelps will adapt for Mammoth Screen while Fifth Season has worldwide rights. Filming will occur later on in the year.

New film version

In December 2025, it was announced that a new film adaptation would be made for Studiocanal. It is set to be adapted by Emily Siegel, and directed by Jonathan Entwistle.

Publication history

  • 1967, Collins Crime Club (London), 30 October 1967, Hardcover, 224 pp
  • 1968, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1968, Hardcover, 248 pp
  • 1969, Pocket Books (New York), Paperback, 181 pp
  • 1970, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp
  • 1972, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 342 pp,
  • 2011, HarperCollins; Facsimile edition, Hardcover: 224 pages,

In the US, the novel was first serialised in two parts in The Saturday Evening Post from 24 February (Volume 241, Number 4) to 9 March 1968 (Volume 241, Number 5) with illustrations by Tom Adams.

References

  • Endless Night at the official Agatha Christie website