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Agatha Christie – A Caribbean Mystery | Review

Title: A Caribbean Mystery

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 4*/5

Agatha Christie – A Caribbean Mystery

This book was fun because we get to see Miss Marple out of her element, in the middle of the Caribbean instead of in her armchair in St Mary’s Mead. In fact, the setting was the best part of this for me because while the characters were pretty believable and the plot was full of twists and turns, they weren’t so good that they alone could make this book stand out amongst the rest of Christie’s ouevre.

I’m not saying this isn’t worth reading, though. Far from it – in fact, it’s probably in her top 30%. I did feel as though the whole idea of a crime being committed in the present to stop the truth about a historic crime from coming out to be a little bit over–used, but Christie was probably the originator of it in the first place.

That said, this is also one of her later books, and what’s kind of cool about that is that Miss Marple is a little older as a result of it. It’s strange to think of that, as I think it’s only natural to picture Miss Marple as a lovely old pussy (Christie’s words, not mine), and thinking of her as being “older” is almost difficult to do. But Christie nails it through her characterisation, as she always does, and it’s probably helped by the fact that she herself was getting on in years when she wrote it.

All in all, this was a cracking little murder mystery but not quite her best. Worth reading if like me you’re working your way through her back catalogue. Enjoy it.

Agatha Christie

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Stephen King – Cujo | Review

Title: Cujo

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 352

Rating: 4*/5

Stephen King – Cujo

This is one of King’s earlier novels, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any loss of quality. The only thing that really means is that it’s a little shorter than some of his later works, but that’s a good thing if you don’t want to commit yourself to IT or The Stand.

In this book, we follow what happens when a rabid dog – a 200 pound St. Bernard – finds itself loose in a small Maine town. It’s almost less of a horror and more of a suspense novel, although it has elements that you might recognise from both genres. It defies categorisation, which is par for the course for a Stephen King novel and much to be expected.

I liked this book a lot, although I did think that it suffered from the same flaw as many other Stephen King novels in that it came to an end too quickly. That said, it actually worked, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried a longer ending and found that the shorter one read better. That’s partly because there’s a twist there, and it creeps up on you and hits you in the gut when you’re least expecting it.

Stephen King

Overall then, this is far from my favourite Stephen King novel, but it is still undeniably a classic that stands up well to the test of time and which has a place on every afficianado’s bookcase. You don’t need to be a Stephen King fan to enjoy it, either – it helps, of course, but Cujo would be a badass book no matter who wrote it.

I find it interesting to imagine what it must have been like back in the day when King was first making it as a writer. I wonder if they were as quick to recognise his star quality or whether he had a fight on his hands. Regardless, he proved his point with early releases like this one that cemented his reputation. Most authors would kill to have written this – myself included. Read it.