Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Mystery Masters)

Rating:
Summary: Readers Are Led On Merry Chase In Light-Hearted Adventure
Review: Agatha Christie gives us a pair of her most likeable amateur sleuths in Bobby Jones, the son of a vicar in a small Welsh village, and Lady Frances Derwent, his childhood friend and now companion in crime-solving. The story is frivolous and funny thanks in large part to the wit of Lady Frances, but you will find the usual murder, villains, and high adventure in this melodramatic tale.

While golfing one afternoon, Bobby and the local doctor find a man who has apparently fallen over a cliff. The victim dies, but his last words are "Why didn't they ask Evans?" A verdict of accidental death ensues, but when Bobby is suddenly offered a high-paying job in Argentina and later someone attempts to poison his beer, he begins to suspect that someone wants him out of the way for fear of what he knows. Bobby cannot figure out what he knows, but with the help of Lady Frances he is off on a trail of clues involving a suspicious doctor, a sanitarium for the highly nervous, two beautiful ladies-in-distress, drugs, and murder.

If you like light-hearted mystery with plenty of adventure, you'll enjoy being led on this merry chase with likeable sleuths. It's too bad Agatha Christie chose not to bring Bobby and Frances back in later books. Perhaps, she thought they were too much like Tommy and Tuppence.

Rating:
Summary: An Unlikely But Enjoyable Frolick
Review: Also published under the title THE BOOMERANG CLUE, Agatha Christie's WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? is similar to her Tommy and Tuppence novels, for it offers a "bright young couple" embroiled in an unlikely tale of unexpected murder and constant adventure so smartly paced that one critic subtitled it as "the Merry-Go-Round Mystery."

Bobby Jones and Lady Frances (Frankie to her friends) are not quite as memorable as Tommy and Tuppence, but they make for an engaging pair just the same, and when their suspicions are aroused re a deadly accident the result is a series of masquerades calculated to lead both Bobby and Frankie--as well as the reader--right up the garden path. Although there is less "mystery" more deux ex machina than one normally expects of Christie, the novel is written in high style. Christie was clearly having a great time with this particular novel, and although it cannot be classed with her great classics most readers will find themselves enjoying the ride. Clever, witty, and frolicksome fun. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Her best couple after the Beresfords
Review: While golfing during a foggy morning, Bobby's ball fell off the cliff. Instead of his ball, he found a dying handsome stranger whose last words, much to his wonderment and disappointment, were 'Why didn't they ask Evans?'. Armed with this query and his friend, the strong-willed Frances, they began to unravel the mysteries surrounding this man's death. What they only began to uncover proved to be dangerous and deadly.

With a lot of discussion and cloak-and-dagger-ish snooping around (there was a moment when Bobby had to climb on a tree and nearly fell) this novel is arguably Christie's fastest-moving novel. While she did give her characters some time to flesh out, the rest of the story sprinted past. In short, this novel can be finished in one sitting, but that one sitting, my friend, is the most fun sitting you'll ever have!