Death In The Clouds: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Mystery Masters)

Rating:
Summary: Hercule Poirot Gets Angry
Review: ... might have been the better title, but I wasn't there when she decided on the title. Oh well.

Air travel in its infancy was neither a preferred nor a classy mode of transportation. The infamous air-sickness was the major drawback of airplanes in the 1930s. But Poirot, desperate to go back to London, had no other choice, and had to board an airplane. All was well, except for a major air sickness in Poirot's part. When they touched down in London they realised that one of their passengers had died during the flight, and much to Poirot's anger, sat a few seats from him!

Agatha Christie was fine here, playing with Poirot's sense of pride that a murder had occured under his own nose and could have done nothing to stop it. And he had a premonition that another murder will happen unless he could unmask this killer...

Told with her usual wry humour, the solution won't make you jump in your seat, but rather you'll be, like, "Oh, so that's why it happens." You'll enjoy watching Poirot gets angry.

Rating:
Summary: One of Christie's finest 1930s Novels
Review: Although it was once considered one of Christie's best works, the fame of DEATH IN THE CLOUDS has been somewhat eclipsed over the years by other 1930s works such as AND THEN THERE NONE, THE ALPHABET MURDERS, and MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS--but even so, it really should be ranked among her finest efforts.

In some respects, the novel resembles ORIENT EXPRESS, for it offers us the tale of a murder committed on an aircraft, a circumstance which gives the writer a very tightly drawn field of suspects. In this case, the victim is a French money lender of somewhat dubious repute and the murder occurs directly under the nose of an air-sick Hercule Poirot and seemingly in the most incredibly improbable manner imaginable.

In addition to one of Christie's most effective jaw-dropping plots, the book is extremely witty, sometimes almost to the point of parody. Christie frequently mocked mystery writers who found ridiculous ways in which to dispatch the victim, and here she not only presents us with an impossible murder, she offers us exactly such a novelist as one the primary suspects! But in typical Christie fashion all is not as it seems: there are numerous twists to the fast-paced tale--and only the most astute reader will be unsurprised by her solution. Extremely enjoyable, clever, lots of fun, and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: When Poirot Travels, Murder is Always on Board
Review: This book (also published as "Death in the Air") is vintage Christie because of the way she has a murder committed in a roomful (in this case planeful) of people and yet no one can see this audacious murder being committed. Unfortunately for our killer, Hercule Poirot happens to be on board this flight from Paris to London!

The murder takes place during the serving of lunch and the victim is discovered to be a notorious blackmailer travelling under an assumed name. There is a melodramatic discovering of a poisoned dart containing a deadly South African snake venom nearby as well as a blow-pipe like the ones used by South American Indian tribes. But the astute Poirot utilizes his innate sense of order and method to wade through the many red herrings and unmasks the murderer through the evidence provided by luggage and pocket contents.

This mystery is notable for its well-defined characters. We become privvy to the lives of many of the passengers and learn to what extent they have been touched by the victim. A simple case of many with motive and opportunity, but only one will be unveiled by the master detective Poirot.

This is a light and fun read which enables you to match wits with Poirot and try to discover "whodunit" before he does.