The next Agatha Christie novel has been chosen by Amazon and the BBC as part of their adaptation output deal. Following Ordeal by Innocence and The ABC Murders, the next project will be a limited series adaptation of the 1961 novel The Pale Horse.
When a mysterious list of names is found in the shoe of a dead woman, one of those named, Mark Easterbrook, begins an investigation into how and why his name came to be there. He is drawn to The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumored witches in the tiny village of Much Deeping. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives using the dark arts alone, but as the bodies mount up, Mark is certain there has to be a rational explanation. And who could possibly want him dead?
Sarah Phelps will once again write the adaptation, while Leonora Lonsdale will direct. They will executive produce with Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto, James Pritchard, Basi Akpabio, Tommy Bulfin, Helen Ziegler and Damien Timmer. Agatha Christie Limited and Mammoth Screen will produce.
"Written in 1961, against the backdrop of the Eichmann Trial, the escalation of the Cold War and Vietnam, The Pale Horse is a shivery, paranoid story about superstition, love gone wrong, guilt and grief," said Phelps. "It's about what we're capable of when we're desperate and what we believe when all the lights go out and we're alone in the dark."
