History Literature / MrsMcGintysDead

Literature/HerculePoirot is approached by an old acquaintance, Superintendent Spence. Spence was the investigating officer in the murder of one Mrs. [=McGinty=], an old cleaning lady. Evidence led the police to her lodger, an unemployed man named James Bentley--Bentley couldn't explain his whereabouts, some blood was found on his clothes, and Mrs. [=McGinty=]'s money was found hidden in the yard. It seemed like an OpenAndShutCase and Bentley was swiftly convicted. However, Spence's gut instinct tells him that Bentley isn't guilty, and he goes to Poirot for help. It's an urgent matter as Bentley is due to be executed in a matter of weeks. Poirot, who has nothing on his plate, agrees to take the case.

** GenderFlipped version with the young postal clerk, Edna, who is described as resembling a skinned rabbit, yet turns out to be playing with the affections of at least two different young men (one of whom is married), much to Major Summerhayes's wonder.

Literature/HerculePoirot is approached by an old acquaintance, Superintendent Spence. Spence was the investigating officer in the murder of one Mrs. [=McGinty=], an old cleaning lady. Evidence led the police to her lodger, an unemployed man named James Bentley--Bentley couldn't explain his whereabouts, some blood was found on his clothes, and Mrs. [=McGinty=]'s money was found hidden in the yard. It seemed like an open-and-shut case and Bentley was swiftly convicted. However, Spence's gut instinct tells him that Bentley isn't guilty, and he goes to Poirot for help. It's an urgent matter as Bentley is due to be executed in a matter of weeks. Poirot, who has nothing on his plate, agrees to take the case.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Poirot pulls one against Robin Upward to trick him into letting his guard down, by insinuating that Mrs Summerhayes committed the crimes, as Robin had planned]].

* CallForward: Mrs Summerhayes is the god-mother of Julia Upjohn, a character in the next Poirot mystery to be published, ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons''.

** Mrs. Summerhayes opens up a jar of raspberries only to find that they're moldy, but elects to serve them anyway, thiking they are "practically penicillin."

* OrgyOfEvidence: When Mrs. Upward's body is found, the number of clues that point to a woman having visited -- lipstick stains on a cup, scent of perfume in the air -- eventually makes Poirot realize that a man must be behind it.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The Craig affair, one of the four cases mentioned in the newspaper story that Mrs. [=McGinty=] clipped out. A married man, Mr. Craig, is unhappily married and has an affair with pretty young Eva Kane. Mrs. Craig disappears and is said to have gone abroad and later died. Mrs. Craig is actually found buried in the basement, and Mr. Craig is convicted of murder and hanged, but Eva Kane beats the rap when her lover says she wasn't involved, after which Eva leaves for America. This is Christie using the real life notorious murder case of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawley_Harvey_Crippen Hawley Harley Crippen]], Crippen's wife Cora, and Crippen's young mistress Ethel Le Neve.

* SweaterGirl: Bitchy Mrs. Sweetiman complains about Maude Williams' "tight jumpers" (and Poirot already described Maude as having a "full buxom figure").

Literature/HerculePoirot is approached by an old acquaintance, Superintendent Spence. Spence was the investigating officer in the murder of one Mrs. [=McGinty=], an old cleaning lady. Evidence led the police to her lodger, an unemployed man named James Bentley--Bentley couldn't explain his whereabouts, some blood was found on his clothes, and Mrs. [=McGinty=]'s money was found hidden in the yard. However, Spence's gut instinct tells him that Bentley isn't guilty, and he goes to Poirot for help. It's an urgent matter as Bentley is due to be executed in a matter of weeks. Poirot, who has nothing on his plate, agrees to take the case.

Literature/HerculePoirot is approached by an old acquaintance, Superintendent Spence. Spence was the investigating officer in the murder of one Mrs. [=McGinty=], an old cleaning lady. Evidence led the police to her lodger, an unemployed man named James Bentley--Bentley couldn't explain his whereabouts, some blood was found on his clothes, and Mrs. [=McGinty=]'s money was found hidden in the yard. However, Spence's gut instinct tells him that Bentley isn't guilty, and he goes to Poirot for help--and it's an urgent matter as Bentley is due to be executed in a matter of weeks. Poirot, who has nothing on his plate, agrees to take the case.

Literature/HerculePoirot decides to take on the murder case of an old charwoman, Mrs [=McGinty=], as a favor to his friend Superintendent Spence, who is not convinced that the person accused, James Bentley, is guilty of the crime.

* {{Matricide}}: In a variation, [[spoiler:Robin is revealed to have killed his adoptive mother, Mrs Upward]].

* AuthorAvatar: The return of Ariadne Oliver, who makes her second appearance in a Poirot novel 16 years after ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', but would appear in five of the last nine Poirot books as well as non-Poirot book ''Literature/ThePaleHorse''. She is a very thinly veiled cartoon of Agatha Christie, being a tall woman who is a bestselling mystery novelist about a fictional detective who is a FunnyForeigner (hers is a Finn, Sven Hjerson). Mrs. Oliver complains about her mistake in making a blowpipe (for the purpose of shooting a poison dart) a foot long when it should be more like 4 1/2 feet long, which is a mistake Christie made in ''Literature/DeathInTheClouds''. Mrs. Oliver is arguing with Robin Upward about changes made to the plot for a stage adaptation of one of her books; Christie was strong-armed into changing the ending of ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' when it was adapted for the stage.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Poirot pulls one against Robin Upward to trick him into letting his guard down, by insinuating that Mrs Summerhayes committed the crimes, as Robin had planned]].

* AuthorAvatar: The return of Ariadne Oliver, who makes her second appearance in a Poirot novel 16 years after ''Literature/CardsAtTheTable'', but would appear in five of the last nine Poirot books as well as non-Poirot book ''Literature/ThePaleHorse''. She is a very thinly veiled cartoon of Agatha Christie, being a tall woman who is a bestselling mystery novelist about a fictional detective who is a FunnyForeigner (hers is a Finn, Sven Hjerson). Mrs. Oliver complains about her mistake in making a blowpipe (for the purpose of shooting a poison dart) a foot long when it should be more like 4 1/2 feet long, which is a mistake Christie made in ''Literature/DeathInTheClouds''. Mrs. Oliver is arguing with Robin Upward about changes made to the plot for a stage adaptation of one of her books; Christie was strong-armed into changing the ending of ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' when it was adapted for the stage.

* ContinuityNod: Superintendent Spence comes to Poirot, because he is uneasy about the conviction of James Bentley. Spence was the investigating officer in the previous Poirot novel, ''Literature/TakenAtTheFlood''.

* TheEeyore: James Bentley, who has a tendency to be constantly depressed about his situation.

* CreatorBacklash: In-universe, [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] gets angry when talking about her own character, a {{F|unnyForeigner}}innish detective with a bizarre quirk (he grates his vegetables before eating them).

* CallForward: Mrs Summerhayes is the god-mother of Julia Upjohn, a character in the next Poirot mystery to be published, Literature/CatAmongThePigeons.

* CallForward: Mrs Summerhayes is the aunt (by blood or or courtesy) of Julia Upjohn, a character in the next Poirot mystery to be published, Literature/CatAmongThePigeons.

* CallForward: Mrs Summerhayes is the aunt (by blood or or courtesy) of Julia Upjohn, a character in Literature/CatAmongThePigeons.

* AdaptationDecay: Adriane Oliver works on a theatre adaptation of her book, and complains that the characters are completely changed. Ironically, in real life, Agatha Christie's main complaint about early stage adaptations of her plays was that they stuck too closely to the books, as she felt that a murder mystery should surprise people.

* CreatorBacklash: In-universe, [[AuthorAvatar Adriane Oliver]] gets angry​ when talking about her own character, a {{F|unnyForeigner}}innish detective with a bizarre quirk (he grates his vegetables before eating them).

* Matricide: In a variation, [[spoiler:Robin is revealed to have killed his adoptive mother, Mrs Upward]].