4 - The Detective’s Psyche in Witness for the Prosecution and The ABC Murders

Summary

Abstract Using Witness for the Prosecution and The ABC Murders, this chapter examines the relationship between the detective genre and the Gothic. Horsley (2001, 2005) and Spooner's (2010) work on the history of these two genres will guide this chapter. Spooner argues that “there are traces of Gothic in most crime narratives, just as there are crimes in most Gothic novels” (2010, 246). She argues that both the detective narrative and the Gothic rely on themes of duality, excess and the return of the past. This chapter argues that Phelps’ adaptations of Witness for the Prosecution and The ABC Murders seemingly appear to be traditional detective miniseries while fundamentally leaning into these Gothic crime tropes.

Keywords: Agatha Christie, crime fiction, detective fiction, noir, adaptation studies, Gothic horror

Introduction

The role of the detective shifts in the Gothicised whodunit. As this Gothic horror tone results in a shift in the borders of rationality, so too does the influence of the detective in the investigation. In her quintet, Sarah Phelps embellishes the dark moods of Christie's writing, which results in the undermining of reason. Through an analysis of Sarah Phelps’ adaptations of The Witness for the Prosecution (2016) and The ABC Murders (2018a), this chapter will examine the relationship between the detective genre and the Gothic mode. As has been established, investigative narratives frequently explore the Gothic themes of strange occurrences, murder and psychological anguish (Miranda 2017; Serafini 2020a). Horsley (2001, 2005) and Spooner (2010) will be instrumental in establishing the important connection between the detective genre and the Gothic. Specifically, Spooner's argument of this intersection's reliance on duality, excess and the return of the past will structure my analysis of these adaptations. Ultimately, embracing these Gothic traces results in a shift in emphasis from the puzzle to the psyche of the detective as they struggle with the shifts in their respective social spaces.

The dichotomy between rationality and disorder is most emblematic between the duality of the detective and killer (Spooner 2010). Traditional detective fiction often exhibited anti-Gothic tendencies through the modern, rational control of the detective. When the puzzle is minimised in these adaptations, this dark excess has the power to take over. Both the Gothic and the detective genre share the pursuit of understanding the past, which forces one to “understand the inexplicable and seemingly irrational events that occur in the present” (Skenazy 1995, 114).