In the novel Murder is Easy, Amy Gibbs was the niece of Mrs Church and the maid of Honoria Waynflete. It was believed that she died after confusing her cough remedy with hat paint in the dark. She didn't actually mix up the bottles, they had been moved by someone.
Portrayals[]
Murder is Easy (1982 film)[]
In the 1982 film adaptation, Amy Gibbs is featured but she is only seen in the one scene where Luke Williams climbs into her room to find her dead. The actress who portrayed her is not credited. Here her backstory is quite similar to that in the original novel. She had been dismissed from service in the household of Lord Easterfield and had been working for Honoria Waynflete after that. Like in the original, Mr Ellsworthy had also done sketches of her. One such sketch is found in her room. She did not die from hat dye. Here she died of heroin poisoning and a compact of heroin was found in her room, supposedly to implicate Mr Ellsworthy who was believed to be taking drugs. In this adaptation, she had just broken off with Mr Ellsworthy and not with Jim Harvey. There were also rumours that Mr Abbot had been womanising with her. Unique to this adaptation, at some time in the past, Amy had also taken Bridget Conway's fiance Johnnie Cornish away from her.
Agatha Christie's Marple[]
In the 2009 ITV adaptation of Murder is Easy, Amy Gibbs has a totally different plot role and backstory. Amy Gibbs in this adaptation is portrayed by Lyndsey Marshal.
In this adaptation, Amy Gibbs is still alive until well into the episode, working as a maid for Honoria Waynflete. She manages to speak to Miss Marple before she died and provided a lot of important background information. She had a grandmother Florence Gibbs, a non-canonical character who is one of those whose death Lavinia Pinkerton found suspicious. Amy's fate would be linked to that of her grandmother.
The motive for Amy's murder is only revealed at the end by Miss Marple during the denouement. In this adaptation, Mr Abbot had been seeing Amy and had got her pregnant. Amy went to tell Honoria that she knew about her dark secret: her grandmother Florence had once helped Honoria with an abortion induced by a herbal potion. Amy wanted Honoria to help her to prepare the same potion for her abortion, otherwise she would tell the village about the past. Honoria therefore had to kill Amy to preserve the secret.