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''Elephants Can Remember'' is a 1972 murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring detective Literature/HerculePoirot.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' is a 1972 murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring detective Literature/HerculePoirot.
Franchise/HerculePoirot.
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* AlmostDeadGuy: As Mme. Zelie relates, she and Alistair found Margaret mortally injured but not quite dead. Margaret has enough life in her to go on a quite long speech in which she makes Alistair promise not to turn Dorothea in and get her once again committed to an asylum.
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* AlmostDeadGuy: As Mme. Zelie relates, she and Alistair found Margaret mortally injured but not quite dead. Margaret has enough life in her to go on a quite long speech in which she makes [[spoiler:makes Alistair promise not to turn Dorothea in and get her once again committed to an asylum.]]
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* ContinuityNod: Superintendent Spence, a character in three previous Poirot novels, pops up again. They discuss ''Literature/MrsMcGintysDead'' and ''Literature/HalloweenParty'', two cases that they were both involved in.
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* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod:
** Superintendent Spence, a character in three previous Poirot novels, pops up again. They discuss ''Literature/MrsMcGintysDead'' and ''Literature/HalloweenParty'', two cases that they were both involved in.
** Superintendent Spence, a character in three previous Poirot novels, pops up again. They discuss ''Literature/MrsMcGintysDead'' and ''Literature/HalloweenParty'', two cases that they were both involved in.
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After twelve years, Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of the secret, and Mrs Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding: After twelve years, Celia [[spoiler:Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of the secret, and Mrs Mrs. Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
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* InspectorLestrade: Superintendent Garroway, who investigated the death of the Ravenscrofts, could not possibly imagine how they could be connected to the death of Margaret Ravencroft's sister Dorothea just three weeks before. They are, of course.
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: Dorothea killed her twin sister. After a dying Margaret begged her husband not to turn Dorothea in, Alistair switched their identities, passing off Dorothea as his wife--but then he shot her three weeks later, before killing himself.
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: Dorothea killed her twin sister. After a dying Margaret begged her husband not to turn Dorothea in, Alistair switched their identities, passing off Dorothea as his wife--but then he shot her three weeks later, before killing himself.
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* InspectorLestrade: Superintendent Garroway, who investigated the death of the Ravenscrofts, could not possibly imagine how they could be connected to the [[spoiler:the death of Margaret Ravencroft's sister Dorothea just three weeks before. before.]] They are, of course.
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled:Dorothea [[spoiler:Dorothea killed her twin sister. sister.]] After a dying Margaret begged [[spoiler:begged her husband not to turn Dorothea in, Alistair switched their identities, passing off Dorothea as his wife--but then he shot her three weeks later, before killing himself.]]
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled:
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* PetPositiveIdentification: The family dog bites its longtime mistress Margaret. It is one of the clues that Margaret has really been replaced by her twin sister Dorothea.
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* PetPositiveIdentification: The family dog bites its longtime mistress Margaret. It is one of the clues that Margaret [[spoiler:Margaret has really been replaced by her twin sister Dorothea.]]
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* SiblingTriangle: In the backstory, back in Malaya, Alistair Ravenscroft first fell in love with Dorothea Preston-Grey before transferring his affections to her twin sister Margaret. It's suggested that Alistair perceived something wrong with Dorothea, namely the mental illness that eventually drove Dorothea to murder.
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* SiblingTriangle: In the backstory, back in Malaya, Alistair Ravenscroft first fell in love with Dorothea Preston-Grey before transferring his affections to her twin sister Margaret. It's suggested that Alistair perceived something wrong with Dorothea, namely the [[spoiler:the mental illness that eventually drove Dorothea to murder.]]
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* TwinSwitch: Dorothea killed her twin sister Margaret. Then Alistair arranged for his sister-in-law to assume his wife's identity. ItMakesSenseInContext.
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* TwinSwitch: Dorothea [[spoiler:Dorothea killed her twin sister Margaret. Margaret.]] Then Alistair arranged [[spoiler:arranged for his sister-in-law to assume his wife's identity. identity.]] ItMakesSenseInContext.
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After twelve years, Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of such secret, and Mrs Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After twelve years, Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of such the secret, and Mrs Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
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* SummationGathering: Even when all the characters involved in the mystery are dead! Poirot gathers together Mrs. Oliver, Celia and Desmond, and Celia's old nanny Mme. Zelle, at the scene of the tragedy to explain what happened.
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* SummationGathering: Even when all the characters involved in the mystery are dead! Poirot gathers together Mrs. Oliver, Celia and Desmond, and Celia's old nanny Mme. Zelle, Zelie, at the scene of the tragedy to explain what happened.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1066.jpeg]]
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* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: Dorothea killed her twin sister. After a dying Margaret begged her husband not to turn Dorothea in, Alistair switched their identities, passing off Dorothea as his wife--but then he shot her three weeks later, before killing himself.
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* PetPositiveIdentification: The family dog bites its longtime mistress Margaret. It is one of the clues that Margaret has really been replaced by her twin sister Dorothea.
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* TwinSwitch: Dorothea killed her twin sister Margaret. Then Alistair arranged for his sister-in-law to assume his wife's identity. ItMakesSenseInContext.
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* AlmostDeadGuy: As Mme. Zelie relates, she and Alistair found Margaret mortally injured but not quite dead. Margaret has enough life in her to go on a quite long speech in which she makes Alistair promise not to turn Dorothea in and get her once again committed to an asylum.
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* SummationGathering: Even when all the characters involved in the mystery are dead! Poirot gathers together Mrs. Oliver, Celia and Desmond, and Celia's old nanny Mme. Zelle, at the scene of the tragedy to explain what happened.
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* BleakAbyssRetirementHome: Mrs. Matcham is the very very old nanny who knew Capt. Ravenscroft and the girls Margaret and Dorothea back in Malaya. She relates how much she hated living in the Sunset House of Happiness for the Aged, where she wasn't allowed to keep her own stuff.
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* InspectorLestrade: Superintendent Garroway, who investigated the death of the Ravenscrofts, could not possibly imagine how they could be connected to the death of Margaret Ravencroft's sister Dorothea just three weeks before. They are, of course.
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* ReplacementGoldfish: Mrs. Burton-Cox adopted her son Desmond specifically as a replacement for her biological child who died in an accident.
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* SiblingTriangle: In the backstory, back in Malaya, Alistair Ravenscroft first fell in love with Dorothea Preston-Grey before transferring his affections to her twin sister Margaret. It's suggested that Alistair perceived something wrong with Dorothea, namely the mental illness that eventually drove Dorothea to murder.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' is a murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring detective Literature/HerculePoirot. First published in 1972, it is the last novel written by Christie to feature the detective, with ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' having been written thirty years before but published only in 1976.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' is a 1972 murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring detective Literature/HerculePoirot. First published in 1972, it is the last novel written by Christie to feature the detective, with ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' having been written thirty years before but published only in 1976.
Literature/HerculePoirot.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet and Creator/ZoeWanamaker. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
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This was the last Poirot novel Christie wrote, although one more book, the pre-planned series finale ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'', was published in 1975 after sitting on the shelf for 35 years. ''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet and Creator/ZoeWanamaker. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
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* AuthorAvatar: The last appearance of Christie's avatar, Ariadne Oliver, the scatterbrained author of mystery stories. Mrs. Oliver is at a literary luncheon when Mrs. Burton-Cox approaches her and kickstarts the plot.
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* ContinuityNod: Superintendent Spence, a character in three previous Poirot novels, pops up again. They discuss ''Literature/MrsMcGintysDead'' and ''Literature/HalloweenParty'', two cases that they were both involved in.
** Poirot mentions re-investigating the murder of a long-dead artist, which was ''Literature/FiveLittlePigs''.
** Mr. Goby, a guy with a knack for finding out secret information who popped up in a few Poirot novels, also makes a last appearance.
** Poirot mentions re-investigating the murder of a long-dead artist, which was ''Literature/FiveLittlePigs''.
** Mr. Goby, a guy with a knack for finding out secret information who popped up in a few Poirot novels, also makes a last appearance.
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* TitleDrop: Variations on the phrase "elephants can remember" are repeated several times, including the very last line where Mrs. Oliver says that elephants can remember, but people can forget.
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* ScatterbrainedSenior: Downplayed. While still bright and inquisitive, Mrs. Oliver seems to have trouble recalling past events and sometimes gets lost in her thoughts.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet.Creator/DavidSuchet and Creator/ZoeWanamaker. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
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* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Dorothea killed Margaret by pushing her off a cliff.]]
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* TheMentallyDisturbed: Margaret's sister Dorothea spent time in various psychiatric nursing homes after being suspected of drowning her own child.
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* VagueAge: This being the last novel written by Christie featuring both of them, Poirot and Mrs. Oliver are still around in the early Seventies (or the late Sixties) despite them being probably middle-aged during the events of ''Literature/CardsAtTheTable'', which was published in 1936.
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* VagueAge: This being the last novel written by Christie featuring both of them, Poirot and Mrs. Oliver are still around in the early Seventies (or the late Sixties) despite them being probably middle-aged during the events of ''Literature/CardsAtTheTable'', ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', which was published in 1936.
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* CentralTheme: Memory.
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* VagueAge: This being the last novel written by Christie featuring both of them, Poirot and Mrs. Oliver are still around in the early Seventies (or the late Sixties) despite them being probably middle-aged during the events of ''Literature/CardsAtTheTable'', which was published in 1936.
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''Elephants Can Remember'' is a murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie, featuring detective Literature/HerculePoirot. First published in 1972, it is the last novel written by Christie to feature the detective, with ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' having been written thirty years before but published only in 1976.
At a literary luncheon, crime novelist [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is approached by Mrs Burton-Cox, whose son Desmond is planning to marry Ariadne's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft. Twelve years before, Celia's parents were found dead, both shot by a revolver that carried only their fingerprints. Since the police was never able to reconstruct the tragic event, Mrs Burton-Cox asks Mrs Oliver to find out whether it was Alistair Ravenscroft who killed his wife Margaret before committing suicide or vice versa. Despite the weird request, Mrs Oliver is determined to find out the truth. The only people she can turn to are the [[AnimalMotifs elephants]] -- the witnesses who knew the Ravenscrofts very well -- and, of course, her friend Poirot.
''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
!!This work contains examples of the following tropes:
* AnimalMotifs: Elephants, obviously, since they are associated with memory.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: Christie was really fond of this trope. [[spoiler: The woman who was shot wasn't Margaret but her deranged twin sister Dorothea.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After twelve years, Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of such secret, and Mrs Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
* ElephantsNeverForget: Metaphorical elephants in this case, since they are the witnesses whose recollections provide the clues to Poirot. Although, as Mrs Oliver reflects, "we are human beings, and mercifully human beings can forget".
* MurderSuicide: Which one of the spouses killed the other and then committed suicide? As it turns out, [[spoiler: neither did. Margaret was already dead by the time and her twin sister Dorothea was impersonating her. Alistair killed her before shooting himself.]]
* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: Sort of. [[spoiler: After Poirot has solved the case, everyone can finally leave the past behind and start a new life.]]
At a literary luncheon, crime novelist [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is approached by Mrs Burton-Cox, whose son Desmond is planning to marry Ariadne's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft. Twelve years before, Celia's parents were found dead, both shot by a revolver that carried only their fingerprints. Since the police was never able to reconstruct the tragic event, Mrs Burton-Cox asks Mrs Oliver to find out whether it was Alistair Ravenscroft who killed his wife Margaret before committing suicide or vice versa. Despite the weird request, Mrs Oliver is determined to find out the truth. The only people she can turn to are the [[AnimalMotifs elephants]] -- the witnesses who knew the Ravenscrofts very well -- and, of course, her friend Poirot.
''Elephants Can Remember'' received an adaptation in the thirteenth and final season of the television series ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' in 2013, starring Creator/DavidSuchet. Tropes for the adaptation can be found on the series page.
!!This work contains examples of the following tropes:
* AnimalMotifs: Elephants, obviously, since they are associated with memory.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: Christie was really fond of this trope. [[spoiler: The woman who was shot wasn't Margaret but her deranged twin sister Dorothea.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After twelve years, Celia finally learns the truth about her parents' death and is finally able to move on. Desmond has thwarted her stepmother's attempt at disinheriting him, although he forgives her and grants her an adequate sum of money before marrying Celia. Zélie can finally live free from the burden of such secret, and Mrs Oliver has found out the truth about her late friend, ending her last appearance in the series on a high note.]]
* ElephantsNeverForget: Metaphorical elephants in this case, since they are the witnesses whose recollections provide the clues to Poirot. Although, as Mrs Oliver reflects, "we are human beings, and mercifully human beings can forget".
* MurderSuicide: Which one of the spouses killed the other and then committed suicide? As it turns out, [[spoiler: neither did. Margaret was already dead by the time and her twin sister Dorothea was impersonating her. Alistair killed her before shooting himself.]]
* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: Sort of. [[spoiler: After Poirot has solved the case, everyone can finally leave the past behind and start a new life.]]
