Agatha Christie’s final masterpiece was written under the shadow of war
In short: In 1975, the world received the final appearance of Hercule Poirot. Written while Christie lived in fear of the Blitz, this dark country house mystery explores the terrifying reality that anyone can be driven to murder by the mere power of suggestion.
Published in September 1975, *Curtain: Poirot's Last Case* serves as the definitive conclusion to Agatha Christie's most famous detective series. The novel reunites Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings, who had not appeared together since 1937's *Dumb Witness*. The story returns the duo to Styles Court in Essex, the setting of Christie's first novel, *The Mysterious Affair at Styles*, though the once-glorious estate has since become a shabby guest house.
The plot centers on the elusive figure "X," a person suspected of five previous murders. The antagonist is eventually revealed to be Stephen Norton, an unassuming birdwatcher who operates through psychological manipulation rather than material greed. Unlike many of Christie's villains who kill for profit, Norton is described as an "honest Iago" driven by pure schadenfreude—malicious joy. He uses the power of suggestion to influence others into committing crimes, effectively acting as a catalyst for violence.
The novel's creation was deeply influenced by the tensions of the Second World War. Writing during the Blitz, Christie moved to London's Isokon Flats and worked in a hospital pharmacy to refine her knowledge of poisons. She wrote *Curtain* and *Sleeping Murder* with the grim anticipation of being killed in air raids, even instructing her daughter, Rosalind, to keep the manuscripts in a bank vault until after her death. This sense of impending doom permeates the narrative, mirroring the political unease of the era.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
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