Agatha and the Truth of Murder is a television movie which speculates how Agatha Christie herself would solve a murder. It takes place during the time of her eleven-day disappearance in 1926 and revolves around the murder of Florence Nightingale’s goddaughter which actually did take place in 1920.
Ruth Bradley leads the cast as the Queen of Crime herself. Other cast members include Pippa Haywood, Bebe Cave, Blake Harrison, and Ralph Ineson.
Tom Dalton penned the script with Terry Loane calling the shots as director.
In 1926, Agatha is facing the dissolution of her first marriage as well as frustrations of her mystery novels being found to be too predictable. A long-time nurse has come to Agatha to ask for her assistance in solving the murder of her friend, who happens to be the goddaughter of Florence Nightingale. The woman was beaten to death while riding a train. Her own private investigations do happen to lead to a small group of suspects. Agatha disappears for a time and goes undercover as a legal representative to look into some of these people who knew the young nurse.
Another murder occurs at the estate, and Agatha finds herself working alongside a detective who is short-handed due to the authorities frantically trying to locate the already renowned author herself.
This was actually a pretty fun movie, and Ruth Bradley seems to be a pretty solid casting choice. It’s still a somewhat predictable British murder mystery with all of the usual tropes, but it was still entertaining.
The disguise Agatha adopts is pretty simple but still rather effective. It works because this version of the writer is still recognizable in spite of the change in hair style and glasses.
I do not know much about Ruth Bradley, but she is a compelling actress. I was kind of aware of her because she had performed in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas a few years ago.
I also found Ralph Ineson to be a great addition to the cast as Detective Inspector Dicks. There is a kind of a sweet moment when Agatha and the inspector bond over their failed marriages.
The plot is a little too much like one of Agatha’s novels at times and could have benefited from something a little original than the expected comparison.
Anyway, it was a bit more enjoyable than I expected. I think most Agatha Christie devotees would get a kick out if it.
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