Meurtres en solde (Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie)

Meurtres en solde (Murders for Sale) is the 22nd episode of season 2 of the French TV series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie. It was produced by Escazal Films and France Télévisions, directed by Didier Bivel and first aired on France 2 on 7 September 2018. It is a loose adaptation of Christie's Hercule Poirot's Christmas although the plot here does not have a Christmas theme.

Synopsis
Like the rest of the episodes of season 2 of this series, the original Christie detective characters have been replaced. The lead roles are taken by a French detective Commissaire Swan Laurence assisted by a journalist Alice Avril and Laurence's secretary Marlene. The action is set in Lille in the 1950s. In this episode, a cognac salesman is found dead in a car crash near Lille. Also dead is an unknown female hitch-hiker. The only clue to her identity is a piece of paper in her pocket with Alice Avril's address on it. However Alice has disappeared and is only found later, suffering from amnesia after being hit on the head.

Comparison with the original story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
 * The story is vastly changed from the original but some plot elements and characterizations have been retained, notablya dysfunctional family ruled over by a dislikeable tyrannical patriach and an imposter in their midst who is about to get access to part of the inheritance.
 * The setting is changed from a country house at Christmas time to a department store presided over by the Simeon Lee parallel Simon Krepps who has a fairly dysfunctional and querulous family. Here Simon has a wife, Elisabeth. His two sons Albert and David are roughly parallels of Alfred and David + Harry. Like in the original, Simon also threatens to disinherit them to teach them a lesson.
 * There is no Christmas theme in the show. The events take place two months after the death of Marilyn Monroe (August 1962) hence it is October 1962.
 * One of the main premises which has been retained is the Jennifer/Pilar plot element. Here the parallel of Jennifer, Annabelle was driven out of the family because she married a foreigner. Francesca (the Pilar parallel) dies in a car accident. Viviane Vasseur (the Conchita Lopez parallel) impersonates Francesca and succeeds in getting the old man to like her. He announced that he was going to make her head of marketing of the department store but he was killed that same night.
 * The plot element of uncut diamonds is present. Like in the book, the killer stole some of the diamonds and planted them in a miniature garden to cast suspicion on Mathilde Noël (but she is not really a Lydia Lee parallel).
 * Like in the original, several witnesses hear a crashing sound and have to break into a locked room to find Simon Krepp's body. A rope had been used to disarrange furniture and fake the time of death. The temperature of the room had also been raised to mask the time of death. There is no balloon simuluting a scream in this adaptation.
 * There is an illegitimate son subplot but in this case, not really the Sugden parallel. In this case, it's Thierry Noël who is the son of Mathilde, a department store sales representative, fathered by Laurence. He is suspected of the theft of the diamonds and later of murder but he is not related to the Krepps family in any way.
 * The motive for the murder is different. In this case, Carpentier is not a illegitimate son of Simon. He is the lover of Elisabeth and he killed Simon to free Elisabeth and the rest of the family from his tyranny.
 * There is a portrait of Simon in his office but there is no moustache and the portrait does not contribute to the solution of the crime.
 * In the original, an attempt was made to knock Conchita out. In this adaptation, this plot element is also adopted but in this case it is Vivi knocking out Alice to prevent her from giving away her impersonation of Francesca.

Cast
Mentioned
 * Samuel Labarthe as Swan Laurence
 * Blandine Bellavoir as Alice Avril
 * Élodie Frenck as Marlène Leroy
 * François Godart as Robert Jourdeuil
 * Alexandre Labarthe as Thierry Noël
 * Cyril Gueï as Tim Glissant
 * Dominique Thomas as Tricard
 * Aurore Clément as Elisabeth Krepps
 * Jacques Frantz as Simon Krepps
 * Lara Guirao as Mathilde Noël
 * Dorcas Coppin	as Francesca Rochetti / Viviane "Vivi" Vasseur
 * Alexandre Blazy as Albert Krepps
 * Alexis Manenti as David Krepps
 * Olivier Brabant as Gaspard Carpentier
 * Philippe Rebbot as Dr Locart
 * Eric Beauchamp as Flic Martin
 * François Godart as Robert Jourdeuil
 * Stéphanie Cliquennois as Alice's client
 * Bubulle as Bubulle the goldfish
 * Uncredited actress as Nadine
 * Uncredited actress as Maryvone
 * Uncredited actor as Victor Dubois
 * Annabelle Rochetti

Filming locations

 * Cinéma Ciné Lumières, Rue de la Gare, Armentières - Au Bon Temps department store.
 * Villa Cavrois, Croix - the Krepps residence internal and external scenes.
 * Villa Cavrois, Croix - the kitchen had been fitted out as Alice's hospital ward.