An Agatha Christie Denouement

Agatha Christie mysteries were the first "grown up" books I got into. As for the denoument, I liked it. It was a chance for me to see if I caught on to the things I was supposed to, and to resolve things I saw but couldn't figure out. It was fun. It was even more fun when I was right (which wasn't often).

However, I suspect such endings are currently out of style. I think a lot of people would see it at best as a Scooby-dooish cheesefest, and at worst the author showing off how clever he was.

They were quite the thing on TV in the 70s and 80s: Barnaby Jones, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock.

Probably a lot more common in cozies. I'd be glad to give it an alpha or beta read if you want a specific opinion.

Mark, if it's fun for you, then do it.

That little voice echoing in the depths of your mind won't relent until you do--and you know it.

Besides, we all know you could pull it off with style . . . Go for it!

I don't know that it's a 'terrible, corny, cheesy' idea, but have a good explanation why a) the detective is doing this in someone's home, instead of at a police station (whether private detective, amateur sleuth, or policeman - surely they'd want official back-up and not just rely on ethics to make the accused wait for the police to arrive?) and b) why the murderer, on hearing "Can we please all gather in the drawing room, I have something to disclose" wouldn't just bolt out the nearest exit?

I can better understand the variant in which the police arrive, haul off the suspect (or grab the suspect off-stage) and then the detective gathers up the group of suspects and explains what happened and why.
I suppose IRL most people just have to hear through the grape-vine, but in a confined setting, or with an amateur detective, this would be more likely. (You would know better than I, if telling this stuff to the others involved would potentially mess with the testimony at the trial.)

I think it could be delightful. One of my AC favorites has always been The Tuesday Club Murders.

I say: go for it!

MM

Another vote for go for it. I'd love to come across an ending like this in a contemporary mystery.

Do it!

Definitely go for it! There's a reason she's the best there ever was.

Well, these types of endings are not passe, not at all. A lot of good literary mysteries, particularly those with a sense of fun, incorporate this style of ending. Often, however, they're set in the past, but not always. For example, Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crime Unit novel, A MEMORY OF BLOOD has such a denouement in a theatre (and even a ticking clock -- you know, the murderer MUST be unveiled at the stroke of midnight). One of Fred Vargas' Commissaire Adamsberg mysteries (though off the top of my head I can't remember which one) ends this way. Reginald Hill also had a mystery that ended with an assemblage of the suspect. And of course, Louise Penny enjoys this style of ending, though in a more post-climatic ending. And lots of others, too. And if you go into the Victorian-era, there's lots more, but the books I've mentioned are all contemporary. So, the Agatha Christie denouement is very much alive and well. Hugo fits right in -- he's in good company.

Do it! It's one of the devices I love about Death in Paradise (which is TV not books, granted, but a successful current example). I find it very entertaining and satisfying, as would many devoted readers of the genre I think.

Chris P said:

Agatha Christie mysteries were the first "grown up" books I got into. As for the denoument, I liked it. It was a chance for me to see if I caught on to the things I was supposed to, and to resolve things I saw but couldn't figure out. It was fun. It was even more fun when I was right (which wasn't often).

However, I suspect such endings are currently out of style. I think a lot of people would see it at best as a Scooby-dooish cheesefest, and at worst the author showing off how clever he was.

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I don't think there's anything inherently bad about a 'cheesefest'. I mentioned it above, but the contemporary TV series Death In Paradise is about as slapstick and cheesy as TV mysteries get at the moment, and it's one of the highest-rating British shows in years. It's an incredibly fun watch, I would say largely because its tropes are so familiar and comforting.