Rating:  Summary: Character-driven plot has disappointing ending Review: "Sparkling Cyanide" has all the elements of Christie's best books: well-drawn characters which are introduced in a clever, unusual way (each relates his or her memories of the dead Rosemary in a separate chapter), a strong plot, and more motive than usual. Unfortunately the mystery's solution is so completely contrived and unrealistic that it ruins the rest of the book. Definitely a must-read for the Christie style, but don't be surprised at the hokey solution.
Rating:  Summary: Still My Favorite Christie Review: "Sparkling Cyanide," also published as "Remembered Death" was the first book by Agatha Christie that I ever read, and it is still my favorite. The story centers around the death of Rosemary Barton. What is so interesting about this story is the fact that it is a year after Rosemary has died and the reader needs to piece together what actually happened through remembrances of others. Whether you're just looking for a good way to spend a rainy afternoon or you're looking for a challenging mystery, this is a story every Christie fan should read.
Rating:  Summary: Character-driven plot has disappointing ending Review: "Sparkling Cyanide" has all the elements of Christie's best books: well-drawn characters which are introduced in a clever, unusual way (each relates his or her memories of the dead Rosemary in a separate chapter), a strong plot, and more motive than usual. Unfortunately the mystery's solution is so completely contrived and unrealistic that it ruins the rest of the book. Definitely a must-read for the Christie style, but don't be surprised at the hokey solution.
Rating:  Summary: Still My Favorite Christie Review: "Sparkling Cyanide," also published as "Remembered Death" was the first book by Agatha Christie that I ever read, and it is still my favorite. The story centers around the death of Rosemary Barton. What is so interesting about this story is the fact that it is a year after Rosemary has died and the reader needs to piece together what actually happened through remembrances of others. Whether you're just looking for a good way to spend a rainy afternoon or you're looking for a challenging mystery, this is a story every Christie fan should read.
Rating:  Summary: Still My Favorite Christie Review: "Sparkling Cyanide," also published as "Remembered Death" was the first book by Agatha Christie that I ever read, and it is still my favorite. The story centers around the death of Rosemary Barton. What is so interesting about this story is the fact that it is a year after Rosemary has died and the reader needs to piece together what actually happened through remembrances of others. Whether you're just looking for a good way to spend a rainy afternoon or you're looking for a challenging mystery, this is a story every Christie fan should read.
Rating:  Summary: Don't miss this one! Review: A must read for any Christie fan. You will be guessing until the very end.
Rating:  Summary: Who Mixed the Cyanide Cocktail? Review: Agatha Christie goes back in time to solve a murder. The victim was Rosemary Barton who died the year before the story begins. She was celebrating her birthday with husband and friends at a fashionable restaurant when she apparently took her own life. Because no one present had any desire to kill her and cyanide was found in the depressed woman's purse, suicide was accepted as the cause of death. Nine months later, her husband George begins receiving anonymous letters saying the death was not what it appeared. These hints of murder lead George to suspect that one guest at the dinner party did indeed kill his wife. The killer strikes again a year later when an almost identical party is held at the same restaurant to celebrate the birthday of Rosemary's younger sister Iris.Who was the beautiful heiress Rosemary Barton? Through the words of each of the characters, the reader gets various versions of Rosemary---her personality, her lovers, her love affairs, her marriage, her death. Once again, Christie gives us memorable characters: Iris, the younger sister who failed to inherit but would receive all on Rosemary's death; George, the husband who just might be resenting her philandering ways; Ruth Lessing, George's faithful secretary; Anthony Browne, her gentleman friend with a notorious past; Stephen Faraday, one of her lovers; and Sandra Faraday, Stephen's wife. Colonel Race, a recurring character in Christie novels, appears in this one as a family friend of the Bartons who is called in by George to find the killer. In 1983 this novel was adapted to television. Unfortunately, by moving the setting from England to California and updating the plot, much of Christie's excellent novel suffered.
Rating:  Summary: Death From the Past Lends Itself To Great Detective Story Review: Agatha Christie goes back in time to solve a murder. The victim was Rosemary Barton who died the year before the story begins. She was celebrating her birthday with husband and friends at a fashionable restaurant when she apparently took her own life. Because no one present had any desire to kill her and cyanide was found in the depressed woman's purse, suicide was accepted as the cause of death. Nine months later, her husband George begins receiving anonymous letters saying the death was not what it appeared. These hints of murder lead George to suspect that one guest at the dinner party did indeed kill his wife. The killer strikes again a year later when an almost identical party is held at the same restaurant to celebrate the birthday of Rosemary's younger sister Iris. Who was the beautiful heiress Rosemary Barton? Through the words of each of the characters, the reader gets various versions of Rosemary---her personality, her lovers, her love affairs, her marriage, her death. Once again, Christie gives us memorable characters: Iris, the younger sister who failed to inherit but would receive all on Rosemary's death; George, the husband who just might be resenting her philandering ways; Ruth Lessing, George's faithful secretary; Anthony Browne, her gentleman friend with a notorious past; Stephen Faraday, one of her lovers; and Sandra Faraday, Stephen's wife. Colonel Race, a recurring character in Christie novels, appears in this one as a family friend of the Bartons who is called in by George to find the killer. In 1983 this novel was adapted to television. Unfortunately, by moving the setting from England to California and updating the plot, much of Christie's excellent novel suffered.
Rating:  Summary: Murder Out of the Past Review: Also known as REMEMBERED DEATH, this 1943 Christie novel is not among the author's most memorable work, nor is it among her most celebrated--but it is a solid piece of work all the same, and one that shows Christie toying with a favorite theme: a curious death in the past arouses suspicion that erupts into the present tense. A year previously London beauty Rosemary Barton unexpectedly dropped dead at dinner in an exclusive London restaurant--and when cyanide was found in both her champagne glass and in her evening bag, her death is ruled a suicide. But with the passage of time her surviving husband becomes suspicious and determines to restage the dinner party with an eye toward uncovering the truth. The result is yet another death--and once more cyanide is in the champagne glass. As in many of her novels, Christie carefully limits the field of suspects to those actually at the table, and it soon transpires that virtually every one present had a motive for Rosemary's murder--and would have a motive to kill again. Is it Rosemary's sister Iris, who inherited a fortune upon her older sister's death? Rosemary's illicit lover, whose career could be ruined by scandal? Or perhaps his wife, who might have killed to save her marriage? Or is there a darker criminal element at work? Although this novel reached the screen with David Suchet playing Hercule Poriot, fans of Suchet's performances should not be misled: Poriot does not appear in this particular novel, and the detective of note is Col. Race, who pursues the killer through an emotional interest in Rosemary's sister Iris. And indeed, this is one of Christie's more romantically-laced tales, with the story hinging on the various romantic and sexual entanglements of the various characters. The writing is solid and unexpectedly moody for a Christie novel, and while a few hardcore Christie fans may be able to spot the killer before the book's conclusion, most readers will be taken considerably by surprise. A fun, enjoyable read. --GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--
Rating:  Summary: if you know Christie style.. Review: because i read plethora of AC books,i know her style.i f you are a devotee of AC books,you know her style too.and generally guess right killer .this time i found out killer.but this book is well-written suspense book.you will like it.
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