The Unexpected Guest

Unfortunately, you end up at a crime scene, and the culprit is standing there, in front of you, what will you do? You will try to calm that person down without getting hurt and call on an authority, probably the police. In The Unexpected Guest, Starkwedder, a stranger, finds a dead body in the house, name Richard Warwick, who is supposedly shot dead by his wife, Laura Warwick, but Starkwedder doesn’t believe Laura even when he finds her with a pistol. He asks her about all that has happened.

The Unexpected Guest was a hit drama in 1958 by Agatha Christie. In 1958, her play The Mousetrap had broken all the records, and after that Verdict was released. The Verdict was a flop show. After four weeks, The Unexpected Guest marked the persistent Agatha’s victory. 

The story begins with a stranger dumping his car into the ditch due to the foggy weather. The person looks around to ask for help and enters a nearby house through the open French windows. He climbs the windows which open into a hall where he finds a dead man. He turns the light on and finds a beautiful lady, Laura Warwick, with a gun in her hand. She seems to be stunned by what has been done. Starkwedder, the stranger, doubts such a beautiful lady be capable of committing such a crime. Having survived so many years with her crippled husband, why would she shoot him dead now? Richard was successful and charismatic until he lost his legs, and then he became obstinate and abusive. They lived with Richard’s mother, young half-brother Jan and the servants: Miss Bennett and male nurse, Henry Angell. Jan is mentally retarded and Richard hates him. Laura stays put to prevent him from sending Jan to the respective institution. But this doesn’t justify that why out of a sudden, she would kill her husband. Then Starkwedder helps Laura in changing the possible evidence that could rule against her for the murder. Starkwedder asks her for the possible haters. Then they present this murder as revenge by the father whose child was run-over by drunk Richard, years ago and even after being heavily drunk, he was able to avoid the punishment. The next day, the police arrive to investigate the scene. Throughout the investigation, we learn about abusive behaviour of Richard. Julian Farrar, who was a good friend of Richard, enters the hall. Farrar finds his lighter over the table in the hall. After Richard’s accident, Farrar had been seeing Laura. Angell suspected Farrar. Even Laura thought it too as she watched him leave last night before she found her husband’s body. Despite this, she was ready to take the guilt to save him. Starkwedder gets upset as he realizes that Laura had manipulated him. Farrar meets Laura in the evening, and there we find out it was neither of them who committed the crime. Farrar confesses that he suspected Laura before, and that has changed his feelings for her. On the other hand, Laura was ready to take the blame to save his career. Starkwedder remarks, “More fool you. How women enjoy making martyrs of themselves!” The story gets interesting as many facts unfold, yet we don’t find the murderer till the end. Who could be behind this murder? Was it Jan or one of the servants, or was it one of his haters? And what happens to the murderer?

The novelization has been done by Charles Osborne. Since it is a play, the whole story is almost set in the hall where Richard is found dead. The story is pro Agatha Christie. She maintains the mystery till the end. She has discussed the love of the lady and the sacrifices they make for the family. Also, Agatha has remarked on male sex through Starkwedder who consoles Laura ‘Men are really the sensitive sex. Women are tough. Men can’t take murder in their stride. Women apparently can.’ The story begins with the question that will Laura be able to escape the murder? Many facts unfold, and then the suspense increases. Who could actually kill him and escape cunningly? The story has the ambience of drama theatre and requires a lot of attention to the details.