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Summary: A suprising mystery that keeps you guessing.
Review: I highly enjoyed this book. It draws you in and keeps you guessing until the end. I couldn't put it down all weekend. The characters are full and lifelike. I highly recoment this story.
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Summary: NOT HER BEST BOOK
Review: I was disappointed in this. I love Poirot, I love Christie, but this was only mediocre. I could get this type of mystery from Dorothy Gilman or someone else who mass produces mystery. Don't get it, please!
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Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: It's no surprise that Agatha Christie is one of the most widely sold authors in the world. Unlike many other detective novels, "After the Funeral" kept me guessing down to the end. Ms. Christie's choice of murderer and motive turned out to be quite clever. All of her characters are richly drawn and well rounded. I loved this book and can't wait to read another.
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Summary: Not very thrilling, but good.
Review: My favorite Christie novel is 'The ABC murders' where the reader is left totally perplexed. This one is good, but definitely not of the same class. Richard Abernethie and his sister Cora Abernethie are dead and Poirot comes in to handle the case. The variety of characters is greater than in most christie novels. The plot also reveals the deep (and sometimes trivial) motivations of humans. If you have never read Christie, start with 'The ABC murders', & 'The murder of Roger Ackroyd'.If you are already a fan, add it to your collection.
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Summary: A Classic Agatha Christie Mystery
Review: Richard Abernrthie, master of Enderby Hall, died very suddenly and completely unexpected. He was never quite the same after his only son and heir, Mortimer, died unexpectedly of polio. The remaining members of the Abernethie family gather after the funeral for the reading of the will. However, at the reading, Cora Abernethie Lansquenet, the late Richard's youngest sister, who's always been something of an embarrassment to the family, brightly blurts out, "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it... But he was murdered, wasn't he?" When Cora is found dead the next day, Hercule Poirot has the task of finding the killer.After the Funeral was written in 1953 and is an homage to Abney Hall (Enderby Hall in the book), the Victorian mansion where the young Agatha Christie spent a lot of her Christmas Holidays. The setting is typically Christie: a Victorian mansion, colorful characters, a butler, a murder and of course Hercule Poirot. The narrative keeps the reader hooked and slowly builds up to the climax. The conclusion is -like always- surprising, but also rather fair. With an eye for the little details you should be able to find the killer. You might have a problem with finding the motive, but that is a small price to pay. A real Agatha Christie classic.
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Summary: All In The Family
Review: The Abernethie family left me cold at first, but before long I was enjoying this 1953 novel thoroughly. Christie shrewdly paints a portrait of two cousins of very different sorts, Susan Banks, the charming, shrewd, business type, and Rosamund Shane, the sultry, ditzy actress, and we watch the two of them square off regarding their men and in battle for a green malachite table from their Uncle Richard's estate. Both girls are convinced that the table should rightfully belong to them.
I enjoyed hearing Hercule Poirot compare the events of AFTER THE FUNERAL to those of LORD EDGWARE DIES, a long ago case of Poirot's from the 30s. That clue should have given readers with long memories good reason to suspect that the solution of this case had something to do with a dazzling impersonation.
The strange behavior of Gregory Banks, the nutty pharmacist husband of Susan, the man who brags about how he was stricken people down with his prescriptions, make you think almost immediately that he is the killer.
Everyone's a wee bit suspicious but with Greg, Agatha Christie really lays it on thick.
The best scenes are those with Susan, who could have been the heroine of a Christie play (in 1953, when this novel was written, Christie was square in the center of her theatrical triumphs). Both the scenes at Cora's house when Miss Gilchrist receieves the mysterious slice of wedding cake, and then later on at Enderby Hall when Susan and Rosamund fight over the malachite table, could have jumped right out from one of the best 50s plays.
Weren't you surprised to hear that in 1953, if you had two thousand pounds, you could buy a Vermeer? Now the figure must be infinitesimally larger. Perhaps 20,000,000 pounds?
No longer do we have to read this novel under its ersatz American title, which always reminded me of a title by A A Fair--"Funerals Are Fatal."
All in all, a nail biting thrill ride of terror and chicanery.
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Summary: A Very Fun And Intriguing Book
Review: This book has got to be one of Agatha Christie's great ones. The charactes are extremly well developed and the plot is very intriguing. Everytime you think you know who did it, something unexpected happens. I really loved it But the ending kind of disappointed me. The solution is very clever and igneious, nobody can probably ever guess it but she should have picked another. Read this one however because it is excellent.
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Summary: A real mystery!
Review: This book was a real page turner! I had no idea who the murderer was and I was so surprised at the end! It is definatly worth reading!
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Summary: Classic Christie
Review: This is another of Christies great work. This book has everything a mystery book needs. A great plot, a great detective, and impossible to figure out the killer. The book starts off talking about how Richard Abernethie died and his family is gathered at the funeral. Then they're sitting in the room talking about him when Cora says, "He was murdered, wasn't he." And the next day she was murdered with an ax. That calls for the detective Hurcule Poiret to be called in. And after him investigating and talking to all the suspects he starts piecing the puzzle together in his mind. And then in a dream he realizes that it is... But he is not to sure. Helen Abernethie kept saying that when Cora said that he was murdered, she felt something was wrong. That's when he realized that he was right. It was...
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Summary: Funerals Are Fatal
Review: This is classic Christie---the country house, the discreet servants, and Hercule Poirot gathers them all in the library to expose the culprit. As usual, Dame Agatha has her way with us, sending us off in the wrong direction, maddeningly obscure clues, and a thoroughly suspicious bunch of characters. Roger Abernethie's heirs are gathered to hear the will when flighty sister Cora drops the bombshell, "He Was murdered, wasn't he?" The next day Cora is found axed to death in her little cottage. We have a raft of suspects and Ms. Christie is careful not to give any of them a satisfactory alibi. "After the Funeral" is vintage Christie. She was at the height of her powers (1953). The characterizations were surprisingly deft (usually not her strong suit.) Uncle Timothy, the malingerer, was overdone, but George, the clever ne'er do well had some great malicious lines. She has a marvelous sketch of a private detective, Mr. Goby who was "--small and spare and shrunken. He had always been refreshingly nondescript in appearance and he was now so nondescript as practically not to be there at all. Mr. Goby was not looking at Mr. Poirot because Mr. Goby never looked at anybody----he emphasized his last point by nodding significantly at the sofa." This slyly humorous well done mystery was a pleasure to read. Did I figure out ahead of time whodunit? Don't even ask.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
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