The Pale Horse (novel)
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Pale Horse (novel)
The Pale Horse (published in 1961 in literature) is a detective novel by Agatha Christie, featuring her novelist-cum-detective Ariadne Oliver.
Plot
Mark Easterbrook is drawn into a web of mystery when he unwittingly stumbles onto the trail of a murder-for-hire ring that uses thallium poisoning as its modus operandi. But before he stumbles at a solution from chemistry he has searched deeply into witchcraft and magic - one of the very few Christie novels that touches upon such a topic.
This novel is notable amongst Christie's books as it is credited with having saved at least two lives, including that of a 19-month old infant, after readers recognised the symptoms of thallium poisoning from its description in the book.
It is also notable as several of her earlier characters reappear in this book. As mentioned initially, Ariadne Oliver plays a prominent part - without her normal colleague, Hercule Poirot. Major Despard and his wife Rhoda who met and became infatuated in "Cards on the Table" are also participating in the plot - but this time the major is not one of the suspects. Mrs Dane Calthrop from "The Moving Finger" also reappears in approximately the same role as she played in that book - the rational but devoted christian who wants the Evil stopped.
Film versions
Adapted for television in the United Kingdom in 1996.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.