History Literature / AfterTheFuneral

There was a LighterAndSofter [[Film/MissMarple film adaptation in 1963]], replacing Poirot with Literature/MissMarple (played by Margaret Rutherford). The novel also got adapted in 2006 as one of Series/{{Poirot}} episodes.

!! The novel provides examples of:

* SanitySlippage: The murderer slips into happy ravings after getting arrested, and it is discussed that they might end up in Broadmoor. [[spoiler: It's probably the closest Miss Gilchrist could have gotten to a happy ending.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: There is something decidedly off about Greg Banks, the husband of Richard's niece Susan -- he's secretive and sulky, and prone to flying off the handle at odd moments. [[spoiler:While it's implied that there is some deeper underlying issue, his main problem is that he simply doesn't want to be married to Susan... but can't actually bring himself to say so, between his own inferiority complex and her strong personality, as well as the fact that, by most standards, she's a beautiful, intelligent woman any man would be lucky to have.]]

''After the Funeral'' (published in the [=US=] as ''Funerals Are Fatal'') is a 1953 novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring Literature/HerculePoirot.

* ConvictionByContradiction: Poirot deduces that Cora, who showed up at the titular funeral was actually Miss Gilchrist ''disguised'' as her. The two clues he notices? One: when Miss Gilchrist later comes to the house where the repast was held supposedly for the first time, she comments on a vase of flowers that she could have only seen if she'd been there before. Two: Cora had a habit of twisting her head to one side when she asked probing questions, but the imposter had practiced her mimicry in a mirror and thus [[ImposterForgotOneDetail turned her head in the opposite direction]]. That's enough to start him on a path toward the real motive behind the murder.

* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] It turns out that [[spoiler: Miss Gilchrist killed Cora to acquire the original Vermeer painting that the latter had acquired, in the hopes of selling it for at least two thousand pounds (which, in 2022, is nearly ''60,000'' pounds). The rest of the family is appalled by Miss Gilchrist seemingly murdering Cora over money, but Poirot correctly deduces that she planned to use the funds as capital to open a tea shop just like the one she'd had before the war, which was her dream. As Miss Gilchrist ruefully describes the shop she so desperately wanted to open, the room grows silent, with no one able to resist getting swept up in the force of her words.]]

* GrailInTheGarbage: The real motive for the murder. Among all the otherwise crappy art that Cora had acquired over the years was a genuine Vermeer. Miss Gilchrist realized this and hid it behind another painting.

* ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter: A major part of how one of the murders was carried out: [[spoiler:there's only one real murder, and the real Cora Lansquenet]] is never seen alive. [[spoiler:None of the family having seen the real Cora in over twenty years, the woman who impersonates her at her brother's funeral is ultimately revealed to have been her lady-in-waiting Miss Gilchrist in disguise. Gilchrist drugged the real Cora the morning of the funeral and attended in her place -- then murdered her that evening, making sure to disfigure the face beyond recognition. Gilchrist's impersonation was perfect, deliberately seeding doubt as to whether Richard did in fact die of natural causes so as to cast suspicion on the rest of the family, even mimicking Cora's painting style... painting over the one painting Cora owned that was actually worth anything so that she could persuade the Abernethies to let her keep it as a memento. Her three mistakes: practicing Cora's trademark QuizzicalTilt in a mirror causes it to appear reversed, so that her relatives knew something was off but not quite what; remarking on a vase of wax flowers which she could only have seen on the day of the funeral, not during her later stay at Enderby, as the vase had been broken in the interim; and painting her forgery from a postcard, when the real Cora always painted from life.]]

* QuizzicalHeadTilt: Cora "tilted her head on one side with a birdlike movement" before wondering out loud if Richard was murdered. The manner in which she tilts her head is a ChekhovsGun.

* ContinuityNod: Poirot recalls "the killing of [[Literature/LordEdgewareDies Lord Edgeware]]" and how "the extremely simple cunning of a vacant brain" almost defeated him. He has to resist the temptation sometimes to overcomplicate things.

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: The parents of George, Rosamund and Susan have all been dead for some time (although its unclear how old the kids were in those cases). This is relevant in that Richard spent the last year of his life "auditioning" his siblings' children to replace his son, who died in an accident, as his heir.

* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] It turns out that [[spoiler: Miss Gilchrist killed Cora to acquire the original Vermeer painting that the latter had acquired, in the hopes of selling it for at least two thousand pounds (which, in 2022, is nearly ''60,000'' pounds). The rest of the family is appalled by Miss Gilchrist seemingly murdering Cora over money, but Poirot correctly deduces that she planned to use the funds as capital to open a tea shop, which was her dream. As Miss Gilchrist describes the shop she so desperately wanted to open, the room grows silent, with no one able to resist getting swept up in the force of her words.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Rosamund Shane is very similar in character to her aunt Cora Lansquenet, though in appearance the two couldn't have been less similar.

* InadequateInheritor: Richard Arbenethie spent time with all his nieces and nephews in the last few years of his life, looking for one upon which to settle the bulk of his estate. He apparently found them all lacking in some way, with Enderby to be sold off and the estate divided relatively evenly between them. He tried out George, but was put off by his dishonesty. He then turned to Susan, but was put off by something about her devotion to her husband Greg.

{{Jerkass}}: Timothy is a grumpy old man who always belittle anyone that doesn't meet his standards.

* InTheBlood:
** There is a definite streak among the Abernethie women to fall deeply in love with undeserving husbands who don't love them back half as much.
** George's father was also apparently a crooked businessman.

* MySecretPregnancy: [[spoiler:Helen]] has a son born from a fling [[spoiler:after her husband, Richard's brother, died]{. She pretends he's her nephew due to fearing that [[spoiler:Richard would see this as a betrayal and cut her off.]]

* OnlyChildSyndrome: George, Rosamund and Susan are all only children, despite how big their respective parents family was.

* MySecretPregnancy: [[spoiler:Helen has a son born from a fling after her husband, Richard's brother, died. She pretends he's her nephew due to fearing that Richard would see this as a betrayal andcut her off.]]

There was a LighterAndSofter film adaptation with 1963, replacing Poirot with Literature/MissMarple (played by Margaret Rutherford). The novel also got adapted in 2006 as one of Series/{{Poirot}} episodes.

* YourCheatingHeart: Michael Shane has been cheating on Rosamund. [[spoiler:Rosamund is somewhat blase about it, as it's very common among actors, but ''is'' considering leaving him. When it's revealed that she's going to have a baby, however, it's implied that [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter this will put an end to his philandering and save their marriage]].]]