‘A Christie for Christmas’

Blog post by Emma Curryer

As Christmas draws ever closer we are reminded of the inequalities in this world, but the Christmas story brings a sense of justice and hope for the future to many.

In a previous blog I wrote about the concept of justice being established more than 3,000 years ago. It is a concept that’s definition, evolves through time and yet it is unique to each individual. Some elements of justice hold fast, the main one of which is the importance of not killing another human being. Arguably criminal justice at its basic level should see the guilty convicted and the innocent go free. Who decides that though? Who is guilty and who is innocent? Over the centuries that concept of justice may have stayed but it has played out in different ways.

One way of considering justice is to do so through a different lens, someone else’s eyes. We all do that whether we are aware of it or not. When we read a book or watch a film or television programme we are seeing the point of view of the author, or maker, whom we may or not agree with.

Turning to the 20th century one of the most prolific crime fiction authors was Agatha Christie. Each Christmas she would publish a novel. They were publicised as ‘A Christie for Christmas,’ a slogan that was famous in its time. Initially published in December 1938, just before the Second World War, when the death penalty was still in force and later adapted for television, ‘Hercule Poirot’s Christmas’ is one such novel.

Needless to say, there would be no quiet Christmas for Poirot!

Fiction it may be, but full of intrigue and the complexities of human greed and failure, it allows us to view Agatha’s sense of justice as a middle-class woman in twentieth century England.

To many now, justice may be making sure that those that commit the most serious offences are convicted and imprisoned, but this novel goes beyond that as Agatha demonstrates how justice might come about in diverse ways.

Imagine the scene. Set in a country house during the festive season, with a roaring log fire and Christmas tree bedecked with baubles. A family gathers for the Christmas festivities, each with secrets of their own. A closed room scenario so typical of Agatha’s style. The father, Simeon Lee, is a controlling and unpleasant rich man who rules his grown-up children with a rod of iron. An excellent recipe for murder.

Agatha displays no sympathy for Simeon Lee. Why would she, after all he is an adulterous, treacherous, greedy individual with a thirst for power who obtained his wealth through ill-gotten ways, and we are given the impression that he indeed murdered as well. He has not yet faced justice... Well, we can’t have that in a good Christmas novel now can we!

Agatha makes sure that Simeon Lee faces the consequences of his earlier life at the hand of one of his own kin. His sons are depicted as similar in physique, and one has the vengeful, evil nature of his own father. An illegitimate son with the same characteristics as the deceased, a womaniser, a killer. The concepts of time, family similarities and justice are interwoven throughout the novel. Full of clues, twists, and judgements it is the typical Agatha novel.

As a writer, Agatha dispenses her own form of justice where the need arises, and she does so here. There are many twists and turns through the novel but look out for those that concern justice and see what you make of Agatha’s take on justice in the twentieth century.

Emma Curryer, Head of Department, Lecturer in Law, and Criminal Justice Clinic Lead