Tag: Obvious

Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds | Review

Title: Death in the Clouds

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 336

Rating 3.75/5

 

 

I hadn’t heard of this book before I saw it and bought it, and so I’m guessing it’s one of the lesser-known Hercule Poirot books. Still, I’m slowly working my way through all of Agatha Christie’s back catalogue and so it was inevitable that I’d eventually get to this one at some point or another.

It turned out to be pretty good, although I will concede that it was from Christie at her best. I also think that if you’ve read a lot of Christie’s work in the past, you’re going to find this one pretty predictable. It’s kind of obvious which clues are red herrings and which are important, even if you can’t figure out how that all comes together to point to the solution.

But I wasn’t too bothered about that anyway because I don’t really read murder mysteries to try to guess at the solution. That’s especially true with Agatha Christie, because the journey itself is such a pleasure that she makes it easy to keep on reading. Some of her characters were fantastic and much more three-dimensional than usual, while others were a little lackluster, which made it a mixed bag.

 

 

I also think that it had too much of a focus on blowpipes as a murder weapon, and I can say that because it isn’t a spoiler. It’s been overdone, although possibly just because Christie herself has been imitated so many times throughout the years, but really it felt like she was trying to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

All in all though, I’d definitely recommend this if you’re a Christie fan, and while it might not be the best story to start with, it’s worth grabbing if you see it in a charity shop.

 

 

Click here to buy Death in the Clouds.


Duncan Ralston – The Method

Title: The Method

Author: Duncan Ralston

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 308

Rating 4/5

 

 

This might finally be the book that’s made me like thrillers. It’s reminiscent of all of the big players like Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, but it also has an indie flair that sets it apart and actually made it worth reading for me. The only thing that really came close is We Are Lucifer by Amy McLean, but I think this one edges it out and it’s the only real thriller that I can think of that I’d recommend.

The premise here is that a married couple goes off to a secluded lodge for an unconventional form of therapy called The Method. I don’t want to give away too much about what that actually involves because that’s kind of the point of the novel, but I will say that the two main characters didn’t check what they were signing and so it means that they’re in for a rough ride.

I also liked that there were plenty of twists and turns, which are pretty much a must for a novel like this, but that they didn’t follow the most obvious paths and so the book kept on surprising me. In fact, it’s one of the few thrillers that I’ve read that could probably hold up to a re-read, purely because there was something a little more to the backstory than there are in most thriller novels of the type.

All in all, there’s a lot to like about this book and very little not to like. If thrillers are your genre then you’d be crazy to miss out on this one, while if you like to support indies then this one is easily in the top 10%. Go ahead and grab yourself a copy.

 


 

Click here to buy The Method.