I thought perhaps it was a joke because I've never read a book where the butlet turned out to be the murderer, but do know of any examples of books where he does actually turn out to be the culprit!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>Books & Authors> Are there actually any books where "the Butler did it"?Question: Are there actually any books where "the Butler did it"!? I thought perhaps it was a joke because I've never read a book where the butlet turned out to be the murderer, but do know of any examples of books where he does actually turn out to be the culprit!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Yes, there are several classics in this genre!. John Ruch researched and wrote a cute article on this very topic a few years ago!. He discussed criminal butlers in mysteries as well as the unknown origins of the phrase itself!. "The classic English mysteries had aristocratic settings and were intensely classist !. !. !. !. (The butler himself, as head servant, was semi-upper-class; it was much more common for a maid or secretary to be the killer!.) " !. !. !. Criminal butlers appear in the 1893 Sherlock Holmes tales “The ‘Gloria Scott’” and “The Musgrave Ritual!.” And butlers were prime suspects in such classics as Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” (1926) and Ngaio Marsh’s “A Man Lay Dead” (1934)!. "!. !. !. in 1928 writer S!.S!. Van Dine published his famous 20 rules for writing mysteries—which included a ban on using servants as criminals!. The first specific reference to the butler as a cliché criminal was Damon Runyan’s 1934 mystery parody 'What, No Butler!?' But none of these stories used the actual phrase, 'The butler did it!.' The earliest references !. !. !. date to around 1956-1958!. They include the titles to a !. !. !. jazz song (circa 1957); one of P!.G!. Wodehouse’s clever-butler comedy novels (1957); and Walter and Peter Marks’ mystery-farce play (1956)!. All are pretty clearly self-conscious uses of a preexisting phrase!. Like any good mystery, there are red herrings!. !. !. !. "I also found a couple claims that !. !. !. Mary Roberts Rinehart coined the phrase in one of her books!. Credible enough, since she actually employed weird butlers (one who suspected her of drugging him, and another who beat up a cop)!. But the phrase does not appear in two Rinehart biographies, her autobiography, and 20 of her novels—not even in 'The Door' (1930), in which the butler did do it!. "It seems likely that the phrase was coined by a critic or comedian !. !. !. !. I suggest that it won’t date earlier than 1930, because it literally answers the classic mystery question, 'Whodunit!?' And that clever term was coined by a book critic in 1930!." http://archives!.stupidquestion!.net/sq112!.!.!. I rarely give stars in this section, but your question deserves it!. There are several recent mysteries based on the old theme: "The Butler Did It", by Kasey Michaels, 2004 http://www!.amazon!.co!.uk/Butler-Did-Hqn-B!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com About a year ago Jeopardy had a question concerning an old British manor house murder mystery!. In it (Alex claimed) the female author created this cliche!.!.!. The answer, of course, which none of the contestants got, was, "The butler did it!" Unfortunately, I have only one link for this, and it's a Wiki, so!.!.!. http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Butler_did_!.!.!. Ooops, I found another! http://www!.straightdope!.com/columns/0309!.!.!. There!Www@QuestionHome@Com The butler is a secondary bad guy in the Sherlock Holmes mystery called "The Musgrave Ritual," and a 1921 mystery tagged the hired help as the criminal!. But the expression "the butler did it" came intocommon currency with the 1930 publication of Mary Roberts Rinehart's "The Door!." The origin of the deathless phrase however remains --ahem-- a mystery!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I thought there may have been a Poirot book where the Butler did it!.!.!.!.but cant think of it at the moment!.!.!.!.there is of course any book by Paul Burrell!.!.!.!.now if any Butler wanted 'doing' its that tosser!.Www@QuestionHome@Com There is an Agatha Christie where the villain disguises himself as the butler in order to do it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Can't think of any off hand, but sure!. I think Agatha Christie actually used that if I remember correctly!. Pax-CWww@QuestionHome@Com I don't know of any books like that, But I do know a movie!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!. The Aristocats!Www@QuestionHome@Com yes the Artemis foul series one of the books butler was the thief that they were looking forWww@QuestionHome@Com Don't tell me - I might be reading it right now!Www@QuestionHome@Com |