Five Little Pigs is a mystery novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in May 1942 under the title Murder in Retrospect and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1943 (although some sources state that publication was in November 1942). The UK first edition carries a copyright date of 1942 and retailed at eight shillings
Maurice Richardson reviewed the novel in the 10 January 1943 issue of The Observer, writing: "Despite only five suspects, Mrs Christie, as usual, puts a ring through the reader's nose and leads him to one of her smashing last-minute showdowns. This is well up to the standard of her middle Poirot period. No more need be said."
J D Beresford in The Guardians 20 January 1943 review, wrote: "...Christie never fails us, and her Five Little Pigs presents a very pretty problem for the ingenious reader". He concluded that the clue as to who had committed the crime was "completely satisfying".
Robert Barnard has strong praise for this novel and its plot. He remarked that it was "The-murder-in-the-past plot on its first and best appearance – accept no later substitutes. Presentation more intricate than usual, characterization more subtle." His judgment was that "All in all, it is a beautifully tailored book, rich and satisfying. The present writer would be willing to chance his arm and say that this is the best Christie of all."
References and allusions
The novel's title is from the nursery rhyme This Little Piggy, which is used by Poirot to organise his thoughts regarding the investigation. Each of the five little pigs mentioned in the nursery rhyme is used as a title for a chapter in the book, corresponding to the five suspects. Agatha Christie used this style of title in other novels, including One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Hickory Dickory Dock, A Pocket Full of Rye, and Crooked House.
Hercule Poirot mentions the celebrated case of Hawley Harvey Crippen as an example of a crime reinterpreted to satisfy the public enthusiasm for psychology.
Romeo and Juliet is a theme among characters recalling the trial, starting with solicitor Caleb Jonathan reading Juliet's lines from the balcony scene: "If that thy bent of love...". Jonathan compares Juliet to the character of Elsa Greer, for their passion, recklessness, and lack of concern about other people.
Coniine (in the story, specifically coniine hydrobromide, derived from poison hemlock) was indeed the poison with which Socrates took his own life, as described by Phaedo, and has indeed been used to treat whooping cough and asthma. The "poisons act" referred to is the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933, now superseded by the Poisons Act 1972.
thumb|[[Hope (Watts)|Hope by George Frederic Watts]]
The painting that is hung upon the wall of Cecilia Williams' room, described as a "blind girl sitting on an orange," is by George Frederic Watts and is called "Hope." In it, a blind girl is featured with a harp, which, though it has only one string left, she does not give up playing. The description is by Oswald Bastable, a character in the third book in the Bastable series by E. Nesbit, titled The New Treasure Seekers. The other identifiable prints are Dante and Beatrice, and Primavera by Botticelli.
Two of Amyas's paintings are in the Tate. Miss Williams remarks disparagingly that "So is one of Mr Epstein's statues," referring to American-born British sculptor Jacob Epstein.
When Poirot approaches Meredith Blake, he introduces himself as a friend of Lady Mary Lytton-Gore, a character known from Three Act Tragedy. This case is later referred to by Poirot many years later, in Elephants Can Remember, published in 1972.
"Take what you want and pay for it, says God" is referred to as an "old Spanish proverb" by Elsa. The same proverb is cited in Hercule Poirot's Christmas. The proverb is mentioned in South Riding (1936), by Winifred Holtby, and in Windfall's Eye (1929), by Edward Verrall Lucas.
The "interesting tombs in the Fayum" refers to the Fayum Basin south of Cairo, famous for Fayum mummy portraits.
Angela Warren refers to Shakespeare, and quotes John Milton's Comus: "Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave".
In the UK version of the story Five Little Pigs, Poirot refers to the novel The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham, when he asks Angela Warren if she had recently read it at the time of the murder. Poirot deduces that Angela must have read The Moon and Sixpence from a detail given in Philip Blake's account of the murder, in which he describes an enraged Angela quarrelling with Amyas and expressing the hope that Amyas would die of leprosy. The central character of The Moon and Sixpence, Charles Strickland, is a stockbroker who deserts his wife and children to become an artist and eventually dies of leprosy.
Adaptations
1960 play
In 1960, Christie adapted the book into a play, Go Back for Murder, but edited Poirot out of the story. His function in the story is filled by a young lawyer, Justin Fogg, son of the lawyer who led Caroline Crale's defence. During the course of the play, it is revealed that Carla's fiancé is an obnoxious American who is strongly against her revisiting the case, and in the end, she leaves him for Fogg. Go Back for Murder previewed in Edinburgh, Scotland. It later came to London's Duchess Theatre on 23 March 1960, but it lasted for only thirty-seven performances.
Go Back for Murder was included in the 1978 Christie play collection, The Mousetrap and Other Plays.