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Summary: A B C Murders... The best
Review: ABC Murders is one of the best books ever. Agatha Christie makes everything interesting and you never want to put the book down. When someone is killed, Poirot come to investigate! This is a great book that any mystery-lover should read! Agatha Christie is a great author!
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Summary: Hercule is challenged in navigating a serial killer's mind
Review: Hugh Fraser narrates Agatha Christie's ABC Murders, an unabridged Hercule Poirot mystery which tells of three murders of ABC Rail employees. Hercule is challenged in navigating a serial killer's mind in this challenging audio mystery.
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Summary: Agatha Christie is the Queen
Review: It is difficult to write a review of Christie's work, as any hint of the plot could give away a clue. So I'll just say that this is one of her best. I liked it better than "And Then There Were None," but not quite as well as "The Clocks". This book didn't have as much suspense as that novel; there was quite a bit of lag time. Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot, is annoying until you get used to him, which I am starting to, so first time Christie readers may like to start off with a non-Poirot novel. I read Christie hoping to really unravel the mystery everytime before it is revealed. Once again, Christie beat me to it! Enjoy...
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Summary: [A]ltogether [B]rilliant and [C]aptivating!
Review: One of Dame Christie's most famous books, The ABC murders certainly lived up tp its expectation.
The story in brief: The great Hercule Poirot receives a challenge from the criminal world. The criminal sends Poirot letters giving certain details about the crimes he is about to commit. The victims names: Ascher, Barnard, Clarke...all in alphabetical order. Next to each victim lies an ABC railway guide open to the page of the corresponding alphabet! Poirot and Hastings begin their hunt....
My views: Thoroughly readable, quick, unique and a must-read.
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Summary: Flower Reviews...
Review: Okay, so maybe 12 year olds shouldn't be reading Agatha Christie books, but I was VERY impressed. I've read classics like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and, of course, all the Harry Potter books, but this is my favorite book, like, ever! It kept you on the edge of your seat (not really, I just REALLY wanted to say that) and was very surprising. A wonderful murder story, though not the classic kind Captain Hasting and I were both longing for. But I still loved it!
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Summary: Tricky! Tricky!
Review: "A.B.C. Murders," written in 1936 stars Hercule Poirot with Hastings as his faithful chronicler. A person(s) signing himself as A.B.C writes Poirot taunting letters advertising the locale of his upcoming murders. And sure enough, his first murder of Alice Asher, who is a shopkeeper in Andover, goes off as advertised. The second forecasted murder is of a waitress named Betty Barnard from Bexhill, and the third is Sir Carmichael Clarke from Churston. Gracious! Where will it all end? Will we get to Zachary Zimmerman from Zanzibar? Has Dame Agatha written the first serial killer novel? To say the least, Poirot is troubled. The little gray cells are working overtime. Finally a gentleman with the intriguing name of Alexander Bonaparte Cust is arrested. He was at the scene of each crime. Witnesses identify him. His typewriter was used to type the insulting notes to Poirot. Open and shut? Poirot is not satisfied. "A.B.C. Murders" is a bit of a departure for Ms. Christie in that two of the victims are everyday citizens. Usually, Dame Agatha only consorts with the gentry. She has some insights that would do a modern day "profiler" proud when Poirot speculates upon the nature of the murderer. The denouement is intricate, so much so, some readers might find it too clever by half (to quote our British friends). I was enchanted anew at her cunning misdirection and the slyness of the murderer. This one isn't just a whodunit; it is also a "howdunit." A good example of Dame Agatha's brand of sleuthing.
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Summary: Murder From A to Z
Review: One of Christie's most famous novels of the 1930s, THE ALPHABET MURDERS finds Poirot racing against time to unmask a dangerous serial killer who taunts the detective with disturbing letters even while pulling off one senseless crime after another. But are these crimes quite as meaningless as they seem? Often described as a tour-de-force of the mystery genre, THE ALPHABET MURDERS is a page-turner that will not only please hardcore Christie fans but keep newcomers turning pages as rapidly as they dare. Set aside a few hours of personal time for this one: once you start, you won't want to stop!
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Summary: POIROT + CHRISTIE = SUBLIME READING
Review: This is definately one of the top five Christies of all-time. The classic Poirot confrontation with the suspects is perfection. You will absolutely be drawn in and fooled by this mystery classic. The solution is the only logical answer but, you won't guess it. Poirot is truly one of the best fictional characters ever. Buy this one and share it with anyone. I promise they will thank you.
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Summary: Weak!
Review: A slow, bloated, overdrawn example of a total Sherlock Holmes rip-off. Christie relies to heavily upon the charm of her detective to keep the reader interested, hoping they won't notice the slow, rather dull plotline. The characters other than Poirot are paper-thin. When an author can't make a delusional psychopath interesting, you start to wonder if it's worth the effort.
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Summary: five for brilliance, but had major problems...
Review: this was my first Agatha Christie book, and she's undoubtedly brilliant, weaves together an exceedingly tight book which flies right along, and is not written for dummies by any means, in case you happen to think murder mysteries were for people who lacked intelligence... but my problems: shallow emotional depth in characters. I know, you could argue that people don't read murder mysteries for emotional depth, but regardless, this book lacked it. it's just junk food. no substance. well, though not entirely, because she does give out some insightful philosophy near the end, all about intuition versus experienced reasoning, etc., and about really understanding WHY a person does what he does, what really motivates someone. my question: why, deep inside Agatha Christie, would SHE write a book like this, and I'm convinced that she did because she was brilliant in the emotional sphere she ventured into in her life, but that she was so utterly blocked off from other parts of herself that she was unable to venture into them in her writing. the result: she wrote these kinds of books (well, I've only read one, but I'll assume they suffice for the rest) that looked at just a very SLIM part of the human experience... also, I think psychologically this book is all unconsciously about the child overcoming the parent, which is a complete fantasy, the child in this case being Poirot and the parents being so many people - the deceptive murderer, the fancy and arrogant police. it's a big ol' grandiose fantasy, and that, I think, is why so many people are drawn to it. I admit, I liked it, and I felt pretty omnipotent reading it and identifying with Poirot... one other point that irked me: you know the real way this Poirot guy could have circumvented all the murders, and stopped them before even the first one happened? (and this won't ruin the plot, because I thought of it at the very beginning of the book.) he could have made a big publicity stunt about leaving the country and stating in the papers that he would not be working on the ABC murder case. by declining to enter the contest he would have failed to take on the grandiose challenge, would have not engaged the murderer, and would have utterly foiled the murderer's plan, because it was clear from the beginning (EVEN TO POIROT!!!) that the murderer needed Poirot himself to be involved in the case to be able to DO the murders. so my question: why didn't Poirot back out? answer: because Agatha Christie was too grandiose to dare back out of such a challenge. it's her unresolved grandiosity that's motivating her to write such books in the first place!!!
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