Crooked House

Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year.

The action takes place in and near London in the autumn of 1947. Christie said this and Ordeal by Innocence were her favourites.

It is one of only five Christie novels to have not received a screen adaptation (although one is planned) - the others being Death Comes as the End, Destination Unknown, Passenger to Frankfurt and Postern of Fate.

Title meaning

The title refers to a nursery rhyme ("There Was a Crooked Man"), a common theme of the author. Narrator Charles' fiancée Sophia says it refers not to dishonesty, but rather "we hadn't been able to grow up independent...twisted and twining," meaning unhealthily interdependent on the intensely strong personality of the family patriarch, Aristide.

Plot summary

Three generations of the Leonides family live together under wealthy patriarch Aristide. His first wife died; her sister Edith has cared for the household since then. His second wife is the indolent Brenda, decades his junior, suspected of having a clandestine love affair with the grandchildren's tutor. After Aristide is poisoned by his own eye medicine (eserine), his granddaughter Sophia tells narrator and fiancé Charles Hayward that they cannot marry until the killer is apprehended. Charles' father, "The Old Man", is the Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, so Charles investigates from the inside along with assigned detective, Chief Inspector Taverner.

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She also wrote six romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best known for the 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections that she wrote under her own name, most of which revolve around the investigative work of such characters as Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, Parker Pyne, Harley Quin/Mr Satterthwaite and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. She wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap. In 1971 she was made a Dame for her contribution to literature.

Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She served in a hospital during the First World War before marrying and starting a family in London. She was initially unsuccessful at getting her work published, but in 1920 The Bodley Head press published her novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring the character of Hercule Poirot. This launched her literary career.

House

A house is a building that functions as a home, ranging from simple dwellings such as rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and the improvised shacks in shantytowns to complex, fixed structures of wood, brick, marble or other materials containing plumbing, ventilation and electrical systems. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock (like cattle) may share part of the house with humans. The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household. Most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, although households may also be other social groups or individuals. The design and structure of the house is also subject to change as a consequence of globalization, urbanization and other social, economic, demographic, and technological reasons. Various other cultural factors also influence the building style and patterns of domestic space.

The Crooked House

The Crooked House is a public house and restaurant in South Staffordshire, England.

Its name and distinctive appearance are the result of 19th century mining subsidence. One side of the building is now approximately four feet lower than the other.

It stands in an isolated location close to Himley just off the B4176 road between Dudley and Telford, approximately three miles from the nearest town centres of Sedgley and Dudley. Although the entrance to the road leading to it lies within the West Midlands, The Crooked House itself is located just within the South Staffordshire boundary.

History

The Crooked House was built in 1765 and was originally a farmhouse. During the 1800s, mining in the area caused one side of the building to begin gradually sinking. It later became a public house called the Siden House, siden meaning "crooked" in the local Black Country dialect. The building was later named the Glynne Arms after the local landowner.

The building was condemned as unsafe in the 1940s and was scheduled for demolition. It was rescued by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries who made the structure safe using buttresses and girders so as to retain its lopsided appearance. The pub was briefly featured in episode 3 of the 1989 BBC adaptation of David Lodge's Nice Work.

Crooked

Crooked bmay refer to:

See also