The Big Four is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on 27 January 1927 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It features Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, and Inspector Japp. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

Development

In 1926 Christie was already deeply affected by the death of her mother earlier in the year and the breakdown of her marriage to Archibald Christie. Her brother-in-law, Campbell Christie, suggested that, rather than undergo the strain of composing a completely new novel, Christie should merely compile her most recent series of Poirot stories into a full length book. Campbell helped her revise the stories, which had been written for The Sketch, into a more coherent form for book publication. His assistance mainly took the form of revising the beginnings and ends of the stories to make them flow better into a novel – the substance of each story remains the same between the short story version and the novel version. Unlike the later Partners in Crime (1929), the order of the stories was retained.

Around this time, a novel was offered for publication to The Bodley Head and was rejected. No other information exists on this novel, but Zemboy suggests it was The Big Four. They have a secret hideaway in a quarry of the Dolomites. It is owned by an Italian company, which is a front company for Abe Ryland. The quarry conceals a vast subterranean base, hollowed out in the heart of the mountain. From there they use wireless communications to transfer orders to thousands of their followers across many countries. The characters comprise typical ethnic and national stereotypes of 1920s British fiction. They are:

  • Abe Ryland – Number Two, the so-called American Soap King. He is stated to be richer than John D. Rockefeller and being the richest man in the world. Early in the novel, Ryland attempts to hire Poirot and invites him to Rio de Janeiro, allegedly to investigate the goings-on in a big company there. Poirot is offered a fortune and is tempted to accept. He eventually declines and the plot point is no longer elaborated. Presumably Ryland intended to recruit him for the organization. He dies when the hidden base of the Four explodes. He represents the power of wealth. She is said to look more like a priestess out of the past than a modern woman. She dies when the hidden base of the Four explodes. She represents scientific research devoted to political goals.

Armin Risi agrees that this was to be the great case of Poirot's life, as the character himself claims that all other cases will seem tame by comparison (similar to Sherlock Holmes' statement about his own confrontation with Professor Moriarty). Poirot does not track down a murderer; he must face and expose a supranational association of high-ranking personalities who are working towards world domination.

Black adds that Christie's work is, in its way, typical of the literature of the interwar period, much of which reflected a concern about foreign threats and links between domestic and international challenges. The Big Four, the characters, are positioned as the hidden cause and connecting threat between the world-wide unrest, labour disputes, and the revolutions of the period—in particular, the October Revolution, with Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky described as their puppets. The Big Four also have advanced technology in their arsenal.

Literary significance and reception

This novel was published a year after The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and was overshadowed by its predecessor.

The New York Times Book Review of 2 October 1927 outlined the basics of the plot and stated Number Four' remains a mystery almost to the end. This, of course, makes it more difficult for the detective to guard against attack and to carry on his investigation, and it provides most of the thrills of the story."

The reviewer in The Observer of 13 February 1927 did not expect originality when reading a book dealing with the themes of The Big Four, but did admit that "When one opens a book and finds the name Li Chang Yen and is taken to subterranean chambers in the East End 'hung with rich Oriental silks', one fears the worst. Not that Mrs Christie gives us the worst; she is far too adroit and accomplished a hand for that. But the short, interpolated mysteries within the mystery are really much more interesting than the machinations of the 'Big Four' supermen." The conclusion of the book was "pretentious" and "fails to be impressive" and the reviewer summed up by saying, "the book has its thrills – in fact, too many of them; it seeks to make up in its details what it lacks in quality and consistency."

The Scotsman of 17 March 1927 said, "The activities of Poirot himself cannot be taken seriously, as one takes, for example, Sherlock Holmes. The book, indeed, reads more like an exaggerated parody of popular detective fiction than a serious essay in the type. But it certainly provides plenty of fun for the reader who is prepared to be amused. If that was the intention of the authoress, she has succeeded to perfection".

Robert Barnard: "This thriller was cobbled together at the lowest point in Christie's life, with the help of her brother-in-law. Charity is therefore the order of the day, and is needed, for this is pretty dreadful, and (whatever one may think of him as a creation) demeaning to Poirot."

Publication history

  • 1927, William Collins and Sons (London), 27 January 1927, Hardcover, 282 pp
  • 1927, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1927, Hardcover, 276 pp
  • 1957, Penguin Books, Paperback (Penguin number 1196), 159 pp
  • 1961, Pan Books, Paperback (Great Pan G427), 155 pp
  • 1964, Avon Books (New York), paperback
  • 1965, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), paperback, 159 pp
  • 1965, Dell Books (New York), paperback, 173 pp
  • 1974, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardback, 414 pp
  • 1984, Berkley Books, Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) (New York), paperback, 198 pp
  • 2006, Poirot Facsimile Edition (Facsimile of 1927 UK First Edition), HarperCollins, 6 November 2006, Hardcover,

Adaptations

Graphic novel

The Big Four was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 3 December 2007, adapted and illustrated by Alain Paillou (). This was translated from the edition first published in France by Emmanuel Proust éditions in 2006 under the title of Les Quatre.

Television

The novel was adapted for television with David Suchet as Poirot, as part of the final series of Agatha Christie's Poirot. The film premiered on ITV on 23 October 2013 and on PBS on 27 July 2014 in the United States; it also guest-starred Sarah Parish, Patricia Hodge, Tom Brooke, Nicholas Burns, and Simon Lowe. Suchet's former co-stars Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, and Pauline Moran reprised their roles as Hastings, Japp, and Miss Lemon. The episode is very loosely based on the novel, considered by writer Mark Gatiss to be "an almost unadaptable mess".

References

Bibliography

  • The Big Four at the official Agatha Christie website