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Mrs. McGinty's Dead
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Plot Summary of Mrs. McGinty's Dead
"Hercule Poirot is contacted by Superintendent Spence (we also met in "Taken at the Flood" and "Hallowe'en Party"). He believes James Bentley, a man convicted and just about to be hanged for the murder of his landlady to be innocent and wants Poirot to investigate. "
sivert_emil, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Mrs. McGinty's Dead
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - "All in the family" murder - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 60's-90's
Eccentric/Mental: Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric
How much violence does he/she use? - none
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - writer
Eccentric: Yes - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 2
Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - blunt clubbing (like seals)
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Mrs. McGinty's Dead
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
For Whom Death Tolls by Kate Kingsbury
Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner
Fire When Ready by Kate Kingsbury


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