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Thriller |
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie has been on TBR forever now and I finally had the opportunity to read it. And incidentally I got to watch the 1978 adaptation soon after. How did that turn for me? Read my book review of Death on the Nile to know more
About Death on the Nile
Book Name: Death on the Nile
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction – Thriller Classics
Characters: Colonel Race, Simon Doyle, Hercule Poirot, Linnet Ridgeway, Jacqueline de Bellefort, Mrs. Allerton, Tim Allerton, Dr. Carl Bessner, Miss Bowers, Jim Fanthorp, Ferguson, Salomè Otterbourne, Rosalie Otterbourne, Andrew Pennington, Cornelia Robson, Marie Van Schuyler, Joanna Southwood
Setting: Egypt
Plot Summary of Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile is set on the streets of Egypt and features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who is on an adventurous trip full of action in Egypt. While he is on vacation in Egypt and is sailing on a river boat on the river Nile, he finds himself in the middle of two murder mysteries.
The book focuses on 4 major themes:
- good will always conqueror evil
- things are not as they appear on the surface
- greed and revenge are not justified
- Every individual has a choice between right and wrong.
The book takes a bit of time to set up all the characters and laying out the plot. The murder doesn’t occur until the mid-point of the book and this keeps the readers involved and curious.
Each one of the characters in the book has a motive and each one of them has secrets of their own. And it doesn’t come as a surprise that Christie does a great job on the red herrings.
Hercule Poirot was much more lighthearted in this story and also made little jokes about him which added a different look to his character.
Bottom-line
The book is a complete feast for the book lovers as it is really going to stick with you till the last word. Read the book yourself and awaken the hidden detective in you.
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Thriller |
People, I am on a roll. I read another Agatha Christie on the way home back and she surprised me yet again. I was expecting a straight forward Whoddunit; and she delivered much more than that. Dame Christie takes a different route with Death Comes As The End from her normal slueth plots and makes it a historic fiction with lots of family drama. Intrigued? Keep reading.
Book Name: Death Comes As The End
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Characters: Imhotep, Nofret, Renisenb, Yohmose, Satipy, Sobek, Kait, Ipy, Hori, Kameni, Henet
Setting: Ancient Egypt
Unlike the usual Christie novels, Death Comes As The End is set in the ancient Egypt and talks a lot about the practices and belief system of Egyptians. The lives of the seemingly peaceful family of the Ka Priest Imhotep is disrupted when he arrives with a young and manipulative concubine Nofret. Though they do not voice their opinions out aloud, his sons and their wives resent her. To get them back, Nofret schemes to get rid them and rob them out of their legacies. Soon her body is conveniently found dead at the foot of the cliff.
The family dismisses it as a fateful accident but the body count continues to raise. Everyone has a motive and almost all of them have had the chance. What follows is a classic whodunnit; chase that only Christie can spell out. And of course I am not gonna spoil it for you, and you will have to read Death Comes As The End to find it out more.
Death Comes As The End is a compulsive drama with a mystery focus with an interesting cast. I never was able to guess who the murderer was until it was revealed. At one point I was sure who the culprit was, only to find out they were the next victim. I swear this is quite rare. The last time that this happened was with another Agatha Christie.
I was watching the Murder on the Orient express last week, just after I finished reading this book and I couldn’t help but wonder how does she do it? How can Dame Agatha Christie think up so many variety of drama and add a thriller element to it. I give up, she is the best of best.
If you want to read a short mystery with an element of family drama, Death Comes As The End should be your pick. You can read my reviews of other Agatha Christie novels here.
Which is your favorite Agatha Christie novel? Do you like them made into films? Have you watched the Murder on the Orient Express? Let us talk.
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Thriller |
When we hear about Agatha Christie‘s books we immediately associate them with Monsieur Poirot or Miss Marple or the lesser known Tuppence. I was pleasantly surprised that none of these characters would be appearing in Crooked House.
To be honest I had never heard of it, until one of my book blogger groups chose Crooked House as the read of the fortnight. Read my book review to know how this ‘whodunnit’ turned out for me.
About Crooked House
Book Name: Crooked House
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Characters: Charles Hayward, Sophia, Brenda, Josephine, Aristide, Philip, Magda, Roger, Clemency, and Eustace Leonides, Laurence Brown, Edith de Haviland, Chief Inspector Taverner
Setting: London, The UK
Plot summary of Crooked House
Charles Hayward returns to England from European war with the hope to marry Sophia Leonides. His plans are spoiled when hears that her wealthy grandfather Aristide Leonides has been murdered, by his own family, no less. Sophia asks him to help her finding out the culprit and announces that she cannot marry him until this is solved. She also indicates that ‘it would be easier if it was the right person.’ His father, Assistant Commissioner of the Yard, gives his assent and encourages the idea.
The police suspect the young widow and the tutor while they plead innocence. As Charles gets closer to the family, he understands why Sophia mentioned their ‘ruthlessness.’ Along with Sophia’s sister Josephine, Charles tries to find out the real murderer, but not before another murder in the family. Find out who killed them by reading Crooked House by Agatha Christie
Book review of Crooked House
First off, it is DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE, so I don’t really have to say anything about her writing. She had me guessing who the killer was and kept me engrossed till the last page. Everytime Charles speaks to a member of the Leonides family, it was not only him that had to keep changing his theory but also the reader. And that is the power of Christie’s writing and the strength of her storyline.
I loved how apt the term ‘crooked’ fits to their house, the members and their characteristics. It ends kinda abruptly but it was not a big deal.
Bottom-line
It has been months since I read an Agatha Christie‘s, and Crooked House made me realize what I had been missing out. If you are in mood for a ‘whodunnit’ you can not go wrong with a Christie.
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Thriller |
What do you do when you are on a fully paid vacation at the Caribbeans, especially if you are escaping the long, dreary, cold England weather? Swim a bit, enjoy the sun, meet the locales? Nah, if you are Miss Marple in A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie.
About A Caribbean Mystery
Book Name: A Caribbean Mystery
Series: Miss Marple #10
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction Thriller
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Major Palgrove, Mr Rafiel, Colonel Edward and Mrs Evelyn Hillingdon, Gregory and Mrs Lucky Dyson
Setting: Caribbeans
Plot Summary of A Caribbean Mystery
She is the elderly sleuth the local busybody of St Meads, England who is sent on a Caribbean vacation by her well meaning nephew. She is surrounded by interesting group of people consisting of old tycoons, bird watchers, secretaries and even masseurs. But all could not be that swell, can they? It so seemed, until the old Major Palgrove dies out of an innocent heart attack.
Miss Marple finds his sudden death very suspicious because just the day before he died the Major was telling her about a murderer in their presence. But of course, why would anyone believe a sweet, old lady’s imaginations? Things turn more ghastly when the body counts keep increasing and every one of the guests had something to hide from the other. Read more to find how Miss Marple solves the mystery, in her own style in A Caribbean Mystery.
Book review of A Caribbean Mystery
Very far from the bests of Agatha Christie, A Caribbean Mystery has a pleasant change of the ambiance from the cold England and the usual local bodies that Miss Marple talks about. Though it is a quick read and I normally like Christie’s book, this one was too plain to my liking. I had to stop at different places, despite the colorful characters. I did not even bother to try to guess the murderer.
As usual I loved the repartee of Miss Marple with one of the characters, here Mr Rafiel, an old business tycoon, who is simply rude and too blunt for anyone. Quite a contrast to our Miss Marple, who is genteel and soft spoken. Well, that is the only part of the story that kept me going, and unfortunately it was not long enough.
Bottom-line
Worth a quick read, if you like Miss Marple series and Agatha Christie.
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One cannot go wrong with an Agatha Christie, can they? 4:50 from Paddington is another good one for me on the long road
Of all the projects that I have started and left midway, reading the entire Agatha Christie collection was the one that I almost came close to completing.
Maybe I was near completing it only because I had started it during my school days and our library suddenly had replenished their book stock with lots of Christie’s. I have decided to re-read as many books of hers as possible this year and try and revive the reviewing habit. Of course, I would be continuing to read and review other books as well. So let us take our plunge, right away.
About 4:50 from Paddington
Book Name: 4:50 from Paddington
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction Thriller
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy, Luther Crackenthorpe, Emma, Alfred, Cedric and Harold Crackenthorpe
Plot Summary of 4:50 from Paddington
What would you do if you witness a murder that no one seems to believe about? Give up? Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy doesn’t. On her return journey after her Christmas purchase by train the 4:50 from Paddington, she witnesses a man strangling a woman on the train that passes hers.
She reaches to the concerned authorities but realizes that no one is taking her word seriously. Lucky for her, she stays with her friend Miss Jane Marple, an old busybody who not just knows the right people to talk to, but also believes earnestly in her friend that she decides to solve the case on her own.
Miss Marple is ‘just the finest detective God ever made ‐ natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil’. She is handicapped by fragility due to her age, but she helps to solve cases for the Scotland Yard. So she doesn’t waste much of her time when she understands that her friend Mrs McGillicuddy was speaking the truth. But unfortunately for them, no body of a blonde woman turns up in the following days. When Mrs McGillicuddy leaves after her stay, Miss Marple takes it upon herself as a duty to find the body and the murderer.
Using the never-ending list of people who would love to help an old lady, she studies the route of the trains that pass through that particular station at the given time, and quickly zeroes in Rutherford Hall as the place where they could find the body. She sends in an efficient and thorough house help Miss Lucy Eyelesbarrow to Rutherford to discover the body. Unfortunately for them, they find out not just a body but a series of murder that may or not be connected to the first one related to the 4:50 from Paddington.
Book review of 4:50 from Paddington
Things are never as they seem, particularly when there is a broken family with a large sum of money to be inherited when the father kicks off and every one of them has a lot to lose if that didn’t happen anytime sooner, concerned. The Crackenthorpe family consists of the old man Luther Crackenthorpe, his daughter Emma who stays in to take care of her apparently invalid father and their three sons Alfred, Cedric and Harold. Though the latter do not live at Rutherford, they do visit their father often.
Harold, a businessman and a prominent figure in the city, Alfred, the black sheep of the family and the one who is into shady deals and Cedric, the rebellious painter who lives in Ibiza, look like the man Mrs McGillicuddy saw from her train. Their widower son in law Bryan Eastley and his son Alexander would also benefit from the family inheritance. There are too many suspects and motives and far too fewer clues to continue, or so the police think but not long before Miss Marple solves the crimes, thanks to Mrs McGillicuddy’s return to the story once again.
The ending is entirely unexpected, as with most of the Agatha Christie’s. Miss Marple appears too little in the story, to my liking. In fact, she arrives only to stitch the bits and pieces of everyone’s part into a meaningful whodunnit. Lucy plays her stand-in for the most part of the story and does more than what is expected of her. There are funny parts that worked only for her like the one where all the Crackenthorpes men were trying to make some proposition to her.
Young ones have fun there, you know amidst murders and all. In fact the elders considered it even healthy for the kids to go look for clues about the murderer, and it goes as far as one of the elders is ready to prepare a fake clue just to keep them occupied. Maybe it was just the period they lived in, but the presence of these kids did liven up the book by a bit.
Bottom-line
Though 4:50 from Paddington is definitely not my favorite Agatha Christie, it was a pleasure re-reading just for the childhood memories. The story ran too long and too slow in parts. The ending was unexpected, but it failed to make the reader wonder how he had missed the glaring clue at the end after it was solved.
I love whodunnits that make me feel that surprised that ‘oh the murderer was just among them, all along. How did I miss that?’ Well, 4:50 from Paddington did not do that. Oops, I have said enough, no more spoilers.
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Have you read 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie? What do you think about Christie’s books? Who is your favorite fictional detectives and why? Let us chat.
