Murderer – DaneCobain.com

Agatha Christie – Crooked House | Review

Title: Crooked House

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 192

Rating: 3/5

Unfortunately, this isn’t Christie at her best. That kind of surprised me, because my edition includes a little introduction in which she says it’s one of the few books of hers that was a pleasure to write from start to finish. It seems to be one of the ones that she’s most proud of, but I just thought it was predictable.

This is especially true when it comes to who the murderer was, which was pretty easy to guess purely because it’s a trope that she’s used elsewhere throughout her oeuvre. There was some great characterisation, but then my favourite character also ended up being the first murder victim, so there’s that.

All in all, I was disappointed by this one, and while I am glad that I’ve read it, I can’t imagine that I’ll be going back to it any time soon. Christie just has so many other novels to choose from, and this one just seemed to drag despite being one of her shorter ones. Read at your peril.

Click here to buy Crooked House.

Agatha Christie – Appointment with Death | Review

Title: Appointment with Death

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 266

Rating: 3/5

This one was a little bit of a disappointment, and it’s the first Agatha Christie novel that I’ve read for a while that I haven’t particularly enjoyed. I think part of the reason for that is the pacing. The first half of the book was dedicated to the setup, despite the fact that it’s pretty clear who’s going to die.

It’s also hard to care too much about the murder victim because she’s deliberately written as an unpleasant old hag. In fact, the ending of the book is a cliché too – once the murderer has been revealed, they commit suicide, and then a newspaper report is printed saying that it was an accidental death because the gun went off by accident while they were cleaning it. It feels like that happens surprisingly often, and I get kind of annoyed when Poirot et. al just allow the truth of the case to be swept under the carpet.

Still, there are also some redeeming features, and even a less enjoyable Agatha Christie novel is better than most other books. I just don’t think this is one that I’d come back to and re-read in a hurry when there are so many other great Agatha Christie books on the market. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, I’d suggest And Then There Were None or Death on the Nile. Although I did at least like the archaeological elements of this story, It just didn’t grip me.