History Literature / Curtain

* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Norton is a doozy of an example, being addicted to the thrill of power he gets from encouraging the worst in others in order to tempt them to murder. He is a {{Satan}} figure on par with Iago from ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and the aliens from ''[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E22TheMonstersAreDueOnMapleStreet The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street]]''.]]

''Curtain: Poirot's Last Case'' is a 1975 novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, and the final story to feature the detective Literature/HerculePoirot. The novel was written by Christie in the 1940s and locked away, as she was unsure of her own survival during WWII and wanted a proper conclusion for Poirot. She authorised its release shortly before her death.

** A further problem is that other novels written later in the Poirot series clearly are set much later than this book's presumed 1940s time frame. ''Literature/TheClocks'' has a ColdWar espionage plotline, ''Literature/ThirdGirl'' makes references to the 1960s, and the last Poirot novel Christie actually wrote, ''Literature/ElephantsCanRemember'' has a specific reference to the year being 1972 so presumably this book must be set some time after. Since ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' has Hastings specifically say that he's thirty, if the book is set in the early 1970s he would have to be in his later eighties, and the character is clearly not supposed to be that old.

** Hastings mentions the Evelyn Carlisle case, which was ''Literature/SadCypress''.

** When wondering if there's a financial motive for X's crimes Hastings remembers the Evelyn Carlisle case, presumably ''Literature/SadCypress''.[[note]]although Hastings was not in that book, and the character in question was called ''Elinor'', not Evelyn[[/note]]

* MurderByProxy: The villain "[[EvilGenius Mr. X]]" ([[spoiler:Stephen Norton]]) possesses a knack for picking up on people's fears and insecurities. Using seemingly innocuous comments, he plays on their emotions and plants ideas in their heads, subtly pushing them into committing murder, apparently just because [[ForTheEvulz he enjoys it]]. He has been responsible for at least five murders in this fashion, and nearly tricks Franchise/HerculePoirot's best friend Captain Hastings into killing a man he wrongly suspects of having an affair with his daughter (fortunately Poirot intervenes by drugging Hastings' drink, knowing he'll feel different in the morning), as well as managing to goad another man into shooting his wife (she survives) and convincing a woman to poison her husband (by chance, the drinks are swapped and she ends up being the one to die). [[spoiler:Poirot, who has figured out what Norton is doing but also knows that he hasn't technically broken any laws, ends up committing a VigilanteExecution in order to stop him -- meaning Norton also managed to make ''Poirot himself'' a murderer. He then atones for this by allowing his heart condition to kill him.]]

** Many references in the novel indicate that it's supposed to be set during World War II or not long thereafter. Hastings met his wife in ''Literature/TheMurderOnTheLinks'' in 1923, and they have four grown children. He refers to being wounded in "the war", which he further explains was "''the'' war" for him even though it "was wiped out now by a second and a more desperate war", which would indicate that the story is set some time after the beginning of World War II. He mentions that his daughter Grace married a soldier and is now living in India, which would seem to date the story before Indian independence in 1947.

** Also played straight in that Christie wrote ''Curtain'' in the 1940s and locked it away until she was no longer healthy enough to write.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: Averted, as ''Curtain'' actually does provide a timeframe for her stories (or at least the ones about Poirot, though this would probably drag a lot of others into the mix as well by proxy due to overlapping characters), placing them in the period of the early 1920s through the early 1940s. This may not always be consistent with the details of all of her stories but at least it's established.
** Possibly not averted, as ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' was set in 1916. This is referred to by a background character as having happened twenty years earlier.

** When wondering if there's a financial motive for X's crimes Hastings remembers the Evelyn Carlisle case, which is ''Literature/SadCypress''.[[note]]Hastings is not a character in ''Sad Cypress''. Was someone else writing Poirot stories?[[/note]]

* TheBadGuyWins: It's a PyrrhicVictory, but still true, when you think about it. [[spoiler:Norton's method is to manipulate other people to commit murder, so what greater victory is there than forcing Poirot to kill somebody? That Poirot [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself]] afterwards is just icing on the cake.]]

** Possibly not averted, as The Mysterious Affair at Styles was set in 1916. This is referred to by a background character as having happened twenty years earlier.

* OhCrapFakeout: Mr. X starts sobbing when Poirot says that the MommasBoy's mother was ashamed and scared of him -- then immediately stops, smirks, and says [[NoSell "Nice try"]].

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Norton's pièce de résistance is driving Poirot himself to murder--the vigilante killing of Norton himself.]]

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Poirot neatly arranges his own death by putting his medicine out of reach, in order to atone for the murder he committed, leaving behind clues and a letter to Hastings.]]
* TitleDrop: Poirot observes that when Hastings finally discovers the truth about what has been happening at Styles, he might wish he hadn't found out, that instead he might say "Ring down the curtain."

%%* VillainWithGoodPublicity

%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Poirot.]] Understanding he has the capacity for this is part of what makes him [[spoiler: "help along" his own death]].

* WhosLaughingNow: During his childhood, [[spoiler:Norton]] was bossed around by his mother, and was bullied by his peers. [[spoiler:He becomes X, who manipulates people to commit murder for him]] in order to assert his superiority.