Ordeal by Innocence

Rating:
Summary: Atypical Christie......
Review: in that it is not one of her 'series' (Poirot/Marple etc) and it is also not up to her usual standards.

Dr. Arthur Calgary has just returned from an expedition to Antartica. Shortly before he left he gave a ride to a young man, Jacko Argyle who was later convicted of a murder. Jacko protested his innocence but was unable to find the stranger who gave him a ride. Dr. Calgary was finally able to clear Jacko of the crime, but unfortunately Jacko had died in prison. Now all that clearing his name accomplished was leave the rest of the family under suspicion.

Although this novel does not feature any of Christie's repeat characters it does cover some familiar ground, a childless woman adopting a large brood of children, murder within the family, a domineering parent and amnesia to name a few. There are other of Christie's works that handle these elements better.

If you are a Christie fan you'll enjoy this. If you are looking for your first Christie you'll be better served to look elsewhere but even a mediocre Christie is better that most other's best work.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting character study
Review: Jack Argyle is acquitted, two years after his death, of murdering his mother, and the revelation of his innocence casts new doubt upon everyone in the Argyle household. Thus begins this Agatha Christie whodunit. Though it cannot compare to her earlier, better works, ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE does hold its own.

ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE is most notable for the remarkable strength of all the characterizations, the dark, menacing atmosphere, and the fascinating themes of guilt and innocence that Christie brings up. The plot is not as intricate or complex as her masterpieces, but the clues are laid with absolutely impeccable skill, and the solution is both clever and surprising. One of her best late books.

Rating:
Summary: One of Agatha¿s weakest novels
Review: Jack Argyle is committed to a life sentence for the murder of his mother. He dies in prison a few months later of pneumonia. Nobody ever doubted that Jack was the murderer until after almost two years a witness turns up who can give Jack a watertight alibi. This witness is Dr. Arthur Cargary, a geophysicist who just returned to England from an expedition to Anrarctica. Unfortunately for Jacko, the night of the murder Dr. Calgary was hit by a lorry, and suffered a concussion which brought on partial amnesia. Now that the doctor regained his memory he hopes to free Jack Argyle of all blame by making a stand as a witness. But soon after his statement the family of Jack realizes that the real murderer is still free and possibly a member of the family.

Ordeal by Innocence has no particular features that leap out to the reader. It has a conventional murder-in-retrospect plot with an exceptionally elaborate depiction of family tensions. This focus is makes that the book sags in the middle, because the numerous characters all have to make page filling statements about their alleged innocence. At points I was really craving for a good sleuth like Poirot or Marple to spice things up, but no luck since a dull geophysicist had taken up the role of detective. It does not count as a good point for this book that it is clearly bigger than an average Agatha Christie detective story.

Strangely enough Agatha Christie claims that Ordeal by Innocence is one of her favorite novels. But believe me: if you do not aim to read all her books, you can simply skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: Christie Excels with Twice-Solved Murder
Review: Jack Argyle was convicted of the brutal murder of his mother and sentenced to prison where he died six months later. He had always maintained his innocence and said he had been hitchhiking at the time of the murder. The man who had given him a ride had never been found.

Two years later, Dr. Arthur Calgary, the man who had given him the ride, returns from an Arctic expedition. Calgary had been struck by a lorry the morning after giving Jack a ride, suffered a severe case of amnesia, and left immediately to join the expedition without knowing of the murder or of the fact that he alone could provide an alibi.

Although it is too late to change things, Calgary feels it necessary to tell the family his story. The family is less than receptive because this new revelation means the real murderer is still at large and could be one of them. This novel is filled with maladjusted personalities and one more murder plus an attempted murder will occur before the truth is revealed.

Rating:
Summary: Christie Excels with Twice-Solved Murder
Review: Jack Argyle was convicted of the brutal murder of his mother and sentenced to prison where he died six months later. He had always maintained his innocence and said he had been hitchhiking at the time of the murder. The man who had given him a ride had never been found.

Two years later, Dr. Arthur Calgary, the man who had given him the ride, returns from an Arctic expedition. Calgary had been struck by a lorry the morning after giving Jack a ride, suffered a severe case of amnesia, and left immediately to join the expedition without knowing of the murder or of the fact that he alone could provide an alibi.

Although it is too late to change things, Calgary feels it necessary to tell the family his story. The family is less than receptive because this new revelation means the real murderer is still at large and could be one of them. This novel is filled with maladjusted personalities and one more murder plus an attempted murder will occur before the truth is revealed.

Rating:
Summary: Mechanical But Expert
Review: ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE is a good example of Christie's tendency to tweak and twist earlier plot devices and then combine them with different themes to create something new, and here she renders the sort of situation seen in CROOKED HOUSE with an unexpected most-likely/least-likely solution and combines it with her oft-repeated theme of an old, previously solved crime that reopens to affect present lives.

The Argles are an unusual family, composed of wealthy parents and five adopted children--all of whom were drawn from underprivledged backgrounds that continued to affect them well into adulthood. One of these children, Jocko, grew up into a singularly undesirable man; constantly involved in legal scrapes, he is the obvious suspect when his adoptive mother is found with her head bashed in by a poker, and he soon convicted. But two years after his death, a man who could have given Jocko an iron-clad alibi suddenly resurfaces, and the family is suddenly thrown into disarray as the case is reopened.

Christie is, as always, extremely expert in her writing, but ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE proves an extremely mechanical effort without more than one or two memorable characters--still, it offers a typically surprising and memorable Christie solution, and that is saying a great deal indeed. While it does not rank among her finer efforts, both fans and newcomers should enjoy it quite a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting reading
Review: The book "ordeal by innocence" was very good because it plays with the personality of the caracters. It is interesting to see how they deal with the murder of Mrs Argyle. There are many interesting caracters with a "strange personality". The end of the book is very good, but for the fans of Agatha Christie they will see that is very easy to reach the final conclusions.

Rating:
Summary: An Okay Mystery
Review: This is a fairly good mystery, the characters are interesting, Christie tries to keep you guessing, but the bottom line is, that this mystery is just not as good as her others. Although there are some interesting twists towards the end, the murderer's identity does not seem that surprising, and some details (one in particular) just seem sort of tacked on. This causes one to feel somewhat unsatisfied with the ending. Still, it was enjoyable for a light read, and it has some worthwhile aspects. One of the interesting things about this mystery is that it does not involve any of her usual detectives (Poirot, Miss Marple, Parker Pyne -- any others? I'm a hard core Poirot fan myself). You might try to find at your local library before you buy it, however, since you probably won't want to read it again.

Rating:
Summary: The Innocencts
Review: This is my personal favourite of all Agatha Christie's books. For no good reason, though. It doesn't stand out particularly, but it is nonetheless a thouroughly brilliany mystery. I have long been of the opinion that Christie really came into her own when she ditched Poirot and marple. The books in which they do not feature are definitely some of her best. ("Towards Zero", "Death Comes As the End" "And Then there Were None" "Murder Is Easy" "The Pale Horse", to name but a few.)

Arthur Calgary is a really likeable character, as are several characters in this book. Which makes it even harder to read about what this opening up of an old wound is doing to them. It is hard to imagine how you would feel if, after several years of security, a stranger comes along and reveals that the killer of your friend/relative was not indeed the one imprisoned, but someone else. Someone who has been walking amongst you all these years, talked to you, eaten with you. And now all of you are under suspicion again. This book demonstrates that wonderfully, and it is a brilliant study of what the hunt for a kilelr can do to the people involved, the assumed guilt, the intrusion, the harassing of the innocent. All trying to find that one person who is guilty.

This book shines becuase it is actually rather realistic. It is full of human emotion and feeling, and some wonderful characters. they are not all of them incredibly likeable, but they are recognisable human, and you can empathise with all of them.

The story is told brilliantly, and the solution is typically unguessable and shocking. The climax is great. Fear permeates the atmosphere almost all through the book, leading to a great resolution.

One of her very very best books, if not her very best. Explores wonderfully issues of innocence and guilt, which raises it above the norm.