History Literature / LordEdgwareDies

* [[PsychopathicManChild Psychopathic Womanchild]]: [[spoiler: Jane is ultimately revealed to be this. She has absolutely no moral code and cares about nothing but her own happiness, dressing up in pretty clothes, and getting whatever she wants. The problem is that she's incredibly ''socially'' intelligent and able to manipulate people into either playing along with her games or underestimating her, even if she lacks a classical education. All in all, she comes across as an overgrown toddler with the money and means to indulge her every whim -- and who kills those who stand in the way of those indulgences.]]

%%* DumbBlonde: [[spoiler:Subverted and exploited by Jane.]]

* DubInducedPlotHole: In the Italian translation, the plot point where the killer [[spoiler:tears an "s" off the corner of a letter to change "she" into "he"]] is altered: [[spoiler:the page is ripped so that only the final "i" from "lei" ("she") would be read, so it might as well be "lui" ("he"). Not only is assuming it's about a man a bit of an unjustified leap, but it also makes it obvious that the start that the letter was ripped to begin with]].

* BeneathSuspicion: At the time of the murder, Jane was at a party with twelve distinguished people, none of whom had any reason to lie for her. [[spoiler:Only she wasn't; Carlotta was impersonating her.]]

** Poirot reflects that the one time he took notice of a physical clue, no one would believe him because it was "four foot long instead of four centimetres". This is, of course, a reference to ''Literature/TheMurderOnTheLinks'', where Poirot found a metal pipe near the victim's body, which everyone else dismissed as a part of the construction site.

* ChekhovsParty: Two. The first is obvious, as Jane is at a party when her husband is murdered. Then, Donald Ross is killed... and that happens at ''another'' party. [[spoiler: Donald overhears Jane mistake the "judgment of Paris" as referring to the city of Paris. This appears to be a simple social embarrassment, but it's much more significant to Donald because he was talking about culture with "Jane" at the dinner party. He puts these two parties together to figure out Jane had an impersonator - and so she killed him.]]

** Donald Ross has one when [[spoiler:Jane overhears a reference to the judgement of Paris at a dinner party and responds as if it's referring to the city. Having been at the party where Carlotta had impersonated Jane and was able to converse easily about topics like history, Ross realised that the Jane he'd met at the previous party was not the Jane he was presently dining with. Unfortunately, this revelation cost him his life.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Poirot invites and sits Hasting, Japp, Jenny Driver, and Bryan Martin when he is about to explain the case. [[spoiler:He invites Jenny Driver and Bryan Martin because Bryan Martin gave him a foolish/fake story, so he sits Jenny Driver and Bryan Martin who are about to marry to shame Bryan Martin]] and encourage Jenny not make their marriage "a typical Hollywood marriage where Bryan can divorce her after 4-5 years".

* OhCrap: A double whammy, both centered on the same gaffe. While attending a dinner party, someone makes reference to [[spoiler: "the judgment of Paris," a term from Greek mythology, but Jane thinks the speaker is referring to the city. Everyone is embarrassed, but Donald Ross falls into this trope and seems more troubled--because he realizes that the "Jane" who he spoke to at the dinner party on the night of Lord Edgware's murder was a cultured, intelligent lady who spoke freely and articulately about myths and legends. He immediately deduces that ''this isn't the same woman,'' and rushes off to make a phone call...triggering the trope in Jane, who follows and promptly murders him.]]
* [[PsychopathicManChild Psychopathic Womanchild]]: [[spoiler: Jane is ultimately revealed to be this. She has absolutely no moral code and cares about nothing but her own happiness, dressing up in pretty clothes, and getting whatever she wants. The problem is that she's incredibly ''socially'' intelligent and able to manipulate people into either playing along with her games or underestimating her, even if she lacks a classical education. All in all, she comes across as an overgrown toddler with the money and means to indulge her every whim--and who kills those who stand in the way of those indulgences.]]
* RagsToRiches: Ronald Marsh is poor but extravagant, nobleman and he suddenly becomes rich because he inherits his uncle's wealth. He of course lampshade this saying (paraphrasedly), "Yesterday, I was rejected by every potential father-in-law. Today I am chased by every investor."

** [[spoiler: The ruby-encrusted box with Carlotta's initials on it and the inscription about Paris. It ''is'' evidence--but not of anything Carlotta actually did. It was planted on her by the murderer to make the "accidental overdose" theory more plausible, by making it seem as though she had a drug habit.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Agatha Christie first got the idea for this novel after seeing a highly talented vaudeville artiste, who in her show portrayed a range of characters ranging from five to fifty, of both genders and over a dozen varied walks of life. Christie basically started wondering 'if this woman can do all that, what else could she do - could she impersonate someone specific?'. Plot Ensued.
* RevengeByProxy: Ms. Carroll says that Lord Edgeware treated Geraldine cruelly as a form of revenge against her mother for leaving him.
* SmarterThanYouLook: Ronald Marsh is a drunken, overly-talkative man whose always hitting up people for money and seems like just another UpperClassTwit fallen on hard times, but Poirot notes that he isn't really a foolish man, as he is well aware that Poirot and the police see him as a murder suspect and quickly and decisively produces an alibi to yank the rug out from under Poirot almost before the detective has begun interviewing him.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: At the end of the novel Poirot speculates that Lord Edgeware was willing to give his wife a divorce due to a letter she sent him threatening to reveal some form of marital cruelty. He comes to this belief because Lord Edgeware states his decision is "not on account of anything in that letter", before Poirot even mentions the letter.

* TitleDrop: Ronald makes one, while mockingly describing the case against himself. "Nephew quarrels with Lord Edgware, that very night Lord Edgware Dies." He immediately {{Lampshades}} this by pointing out "Lord Edgware Dies" would make a great name for a book.

* ChekhovsParty: Two. The first is obvious, as Jane is at a party when her husband is murdered. Except in fact she isn't - Carlotta was, impersonating her. Donald Ross is killed when he figures it out... and that happens at ''another'' party. Donald overhears Jane mistake the "judgment of Paris" as referring to the city of Paris. This appears to be a simple social embarrassment, but it's much more significant to Donald because he was talking about culture with "Jane" at the dinner party. He puts these two parties together to figure out Jane had an impersonator - and so she killed him.

* [[PsychopathicManChild Psychopathic Womanchild]]: [[spoiler: Jane is ultimately revealed to be this. She has absolutely no moral code and cares about nothing but her own happiness, dressing up in pretty clothes, and getting whatever she wants. The problem is that she's incredibly ''socially'' intelligent and able to manipulate people into doing what she wants, even if she lacks a classical education. All in all, she comes across as an overgrown toddler with the money and means to indulge her every whim--and who kills those who stand in the way of those indulgences.]]

* OhCrap: A double whammy, both centered on the same gaffe. While attending a dinner party, someone makes reference to [[spoiler "the judgment of Paris," a term from Greek mythology, but Jane thinks the speaker is referring to the city. Everyone is embarrassed, but Donald Ross seems more troubled--because he realizes that the "Jane" who he spoke to at the dinner party on the night of Lord Edgware's murder was a cultured, intelligent woman who spoke freely and articulately about myths and legends. He immediately deduces that ''this isn't the same woman,'' and rushes off to make a phone call...triggering the trope in Jane, who follows and promptly murders him.]]

%%* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Jane]] after the slip-up about [[spoiler:Paris]].

* AbusiveParents: Mostly implied. Lord Edgware is a ruthless man who enjoys having people fear him, and his daughter has an unpleasant childhood as a result. However, his treatment of Geraldine is never described.

* HaveAGayOldTime: Jane refers to the Duke of Merton as 'kinky'.

** [[spoiler: The ruby-encrusted box with Carlotta's initials on it and the inscription about Paris.]]

** [[spoiler: Both the butler who has a criminal past and Ronald and Geraldine Marsh's visit to the Edgwares' house don't count for the reader but serve as in-universe Red Herrings.]]
* RefugeInAudacity: The murderer openly visits Lord Edgware's house [[spoiler:''as herself'', knowing that the word of the servants will be worthless against that of the twelve distinguished friends at the dinner where Carlotta is impersonating her]].

The story was adapted as a film called ''Thirteen at Dinner'' in 1985, starring Peter Ustinov and Faye Dunaway, and then in 2000 as part of the seventh season of ITV's ''{{Series/Poirot}}'' starring Creator/DavidSuchet. [[#FilmAdaptation The 1985 film adaptation has its own trope section,]] while tropes for the 2000 ITV adaptation are listed on [[Series/{{Poirot}} the page for the TV series]].

* CallBack: Poirot reflected that the one time he took notice of a physical clue, no one would believe him because it was "four foot long instead of four centimetres". This was, of course, a reference to ''Literature/TheMurderOnTheLinks'', where Poirot found a metal pipe near the victim's body, which everyone else dismissed as a part of the construction site.
** The fact that Poirot was recommended to Duchess of Merton by Lady Yardly (a victim of theft in "The Adventure of the Western Star" short story) qualifies as well.

* EurekaMoment: Poirot stumbles onto the truth as a result of an irrelevant remark made by a stranger who passed him in the street: "If they had just had the sense to ask Ellis right away..."

* ItsAllAboutMe: Jane is pretty open about this being her philosophy in life; she believes that everyone, everywhere ought to be working to make her happy. She really doesn't care about the damage she might do to other people. [[spoiler: And in the Epilogue Letter, says she thinks it was mean of Poirot to have her arrested for doing what she needed to do to be happy merely because that resulted in the murders of three people, and that Carlotta Adams betrayed her trust by mentioning the impersonation in a letter to her sister. The last words in her letter are her speculating that Madame Tussaud's might have a figure of her]].
** Jane is self-obsessed to the point that after her husband dies, she shows absolutely no concern or worry for her own well-being, despite the fact that it was obviously murder. [[spoiler:Given that she killed him, she had nothing to worry about, but she didn't even try to look worried about her potentially being a target.]]

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Thirteen people are at that dinner party (in fact, the American title of this novel is ''Thirteen At Dinner''), and the superstition that ill luck will befall the first to rise is lampshaded. Donald Ross says that he rose first, [[spoiler: and Hastings remembers this when Ross is murdered]]. However, Poirot points out that that isn't strictly true; Ross might have gotten up first at the end of dinner, but actually Jane rose first when she went to answer the HarassingPhoneCall. [[spoiler:Only it is really Carlotta impersonating her, and she dies that night. And the real Jane is most likely to hang after the events of the novel.]]

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Thirteen people are at that dinner party (in fact, the American title of this novel is ''Thirteen At Dinner''), and the superstition that ill luck will befall the first to rise is lampshaded. Donald Ross says that he rose first, [[spoiler: and Hastings remembers this when Ross is murdered]]. However, Poirot points out that that isn't strictly true; Ross might have gotten up first at the end of dinner, but actually Jane rose first when she went to answer the HarassingPhoneCall. [[spoiler:Only it is really Carlotta impersonating her, and she dies that night.]]

* WomanScorned: A male version: [[spoiler: Poirot initially speculates that, after Jane rejected Bryan Martin for the Duke of Merton, Bryan committed the murder for the purposes of framing Jane and getting her hanged.]]

** Donald Ross has one when [[spoiler:Jane overhears a reference to the judgement of Paris at a dinner party and responds as if it's referring to the city. Having been at the party where Carlotta impersonated Jane, and was able to converse easily about topics like history, Ross realised that the Jane he'd met at the previous party was not the Jane he was dining with then. Unfortunately, this revelation cost him his life.]]

%% * FemmeFatale

%% * TheVamp

* ItsAllAboutMe: Jane is pretty open about this being her philosophy in life; she believes that everyone, everywhere ought to be working to make her happy. She really doesn't care about the damage she might do to other people. [[spoiler: And in the Epilogue Letter, says she thinks it was mean of Poirot to have her arrested for doing what she needed to do to be happy merely because that resulted in the murders of three people]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Poirot invites and sits Hasting, Lestrade, Jenny Driver, and Bryan Martin when he is about to explain the case. [[spoiler:He invites Jenny Driver and Bryan Martin because Bryan Martin gives him foolish/fake story, so he sits Jenny Driver and Bryan Martin who are about to marry to shame Bryan Martin]] and encourage Jenny not make their marriage "a typical Hollywood marriage where Bryan can divorce her after 4-5 years".

** Also anything about [[spoiler:Bryan Martin's story he tells to Poirot and Hasting.]]

* TitleDrop: Ronald makes one, while mockingly describing the case against himself. "Nephew quarrels with Lord Edgware, that very night Lord Edgware Dies." He immidiately {{Lampshades}} this by pointing out "Lord Edgware Dies" would make a great name for a book.

* DubInducedPlotHole: The German translation of the book altered the plot point where the killer [[spoiler:tears an "s" off the corner of a letter to change "she" into "he" to make it look like a man was being written about]], because this would not work in German. It was replaced by [[spoiler:the tearing of an uppercase "J" (signifying "Jane") to turn it into a lowercase "j" (signifying "jemand", German for "someone"). The only problem with this is that a "j" is not gender-specific and does not justify the characters thinking that it must have been a man]].
** Similarly, in Italian [[spoiler:the page is ripped so that only the final "i" from "lei" ("she") would be read, so it might as well be "lui" ("he"). Not only is assuming it's about a man a bit of an unjustified leap, but it also makes it obvious that the start that the letter was ripped to begin with]].

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The story was adapted as a film called ''Thirteen at Dinner'' in 1985, starring Peter Ustinov and Faye Dunaway, and then in 2000 as part of the seventh season of ITV's ''{{Series/Poirot}}'' starring David Suchet. [[#FilmAdaptation The 1985 film adaptation has its own trope section,]] while tropes for the 2000 ITV adaptation are listed on [[Series/{{Poirot}} the page for the TV series]].

** [[spoiler: Both The Butler who has criminal past and Ronald and Geraldine Marsh came to the Edgware's house don't count for the reader but serve as in-universe RedHerring-s.]]