Rating: Summary: A brilliant muder mystery, with evedince against everyone! Review: Think of it- four suspects, all with an equal oppertunity and motive to have killed the mysterious Mr.Shaitana. At several points, it seems as though you know exactly who has done it- until you find out that it was not them, but another suspect. A brilliant, though sometimes confusing plot, all come into focus by the charming personality of Hercule Poirot.
Rating: Summary: One of my favorite Christies. Review: This has to be one of my favorite books; it ranks right up there with The Murder of Roger Akroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And then There Were None, and Death on the Nile. The characters were extremely well drawn, especially Rhoda and Ann. I love Mrs. Oliver! :-)However, you should definatley read Murder on the Orient Express first, because Poirot rather carelessly reveals the solution to that book in Cards on the Table. Read it; you won't regret it. If you love Agatha Christies too, please email me!
Rating: Summary: The Best Review: This is absolutely one of the best.This ranks in one of my top 3.Read this.It is a masterpiece.A shocker!
Rating: Summary: One of the cleverest Poirot mysteries Review: This is an unusual mystery in that it has an equal number of suspects and detectives (four in each case). Poirot is invited to dinner and bridge by an eccentric acquaintance, Mr Shiatana. When he arrives he finds three other detectives have been invited, enigmatic Superintendant Battle of Scotland Yard, Colonel Race of the Secret Service, and Mrs Ariadne Oliver, a writer of detective stories. The four murderers are an elderly widow, Mrs Lorrimer, dashing, adventurous Major Despard, bluff Dr. Roberts, and Anne Meredith, a young seemingly innocent girl. The two parties, murderers and detectives, settle down to play bridge in separate rooms, Mr Shiatana sits by the fire in the murderers' room, and in the course of the evening he is duly murdered. The four detectives set out to solve the crime. As with all Christie novesl there are plenty of humorous touches. One of my favourites is when Superintedant Battle calls for one of the suspects. "I should have kept him to the end" said Mrs Oliver "In a book, I mean" she added apologetically. "Real life's a bit different" said Battle. "I know" said Mrs Oliver. "Badly constructed." The detecives find out a lot about their suspects, including the nature of the murders they committed in the past(one of them turns out to be innocent of any murder). There are lots of exciting plot twists, and you are kept guessing until the end. I understand it is possible to work out the identity of the murderer by studying the bridge scores reproduced in the book, if you understand bridge that is. I don't, but it doesn"t matter, this is a thrilling story anyway, one of the best Mrs Christie wrote.
Rating: Summary: POIROT IS SIMPLY THE BEST Review: This one contains three plot twists that had me grasping at straws. The end is a believable well done shocker. Poirot and his seemingly off the wall questions to the suspects make so much sense when he explains them at the end. Having read much of the Lady Dame's work I must say that this is an excellent addition to her mysteries. I believe that Christies novels read best in one sitting because of the dialouge centered writing but,it always makes me a little sad at the end knowing that I am running out of titles by her.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Review: This one is one my personal favorite Christie stories. Shaitana is one of her best characters. And the plot has all you can ask for from an Agatha novel...mystery, suspense, plot twists. Buy it today!
Rating: Summary: On my top list Review: This rank 1st followed by And then there were none/Ten Little Indians and then Ackroyd..I don't know but for me the Final Denoument was a shock. I prefer a double twist mystery kind of books and this one's a good example.
Rating: Summary: Very Masterfully Done! Review: We already know that Agatha Christie is the queen of the Crime story. Her books are timeless, and are as enjoyable now as when they were written in the 30's and 40's. Not many authors have her longevity, and very few in the mystery genre. This stoy at first appears simplistic, because there are only four suspects, and each of them very credibly could have been the murderer. But the story is much more complex than it first appears. The four potential murderers have apparently all get some sort of murder in their histories, so each one of them could have killed Shaitana. Not only that. the murder was committed when none other than Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Battle are both on the premises. This is a very cool killer indeed, and Battle and Poirot set out to unmask the killer. I don't know why I had not read this Agatha Christie story before, but I certainly missed the boat. It's as I said deceptively simple, but highly entertaining.
Rating: Summary: Very Masterfully Done! Review: We already know that Agatha Christie is the queen of the Crime story. Her books are timeless, and are as enjoyable now as when they were written in the 30's and 40's. Not many authors have her longevity, and very few in the mystery genre. This stoy at first appears simplistic, because there are only four suspects, and each of them very credibly could have been the murderer. But the story is much more complex than it first appears. The four potential murderers have apparently all get some sort of murder in their histories, so each one of them could have killed Shaitana. Not only that. the murder was committed when none other than Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Battle are both on the premises. This is a very cool killer indeed, and Battle and Poirot set out to unmask the killer. I don't know why I had not read this Agatha Christie story before, but I certainly missed the boat. It's as I said deceptively simple, but highly entertaining.
Rating: Summary: Introducing Ariadne Oliver Review: While at an art gallery opening Hercule Poirot makes the aquaintance of Mr. Shaitana, an eccentric collector of art and curiosities. Among his curiosities Mr. Shaitana includes a few murderers who have managed not to be caught, or even be seriously under suspicion. Shaitana decides that he would like to have a dinner party to show off his collection and to that end, he invites four murderers and four detectives. During the dinner he drops a few not so subtle hints about what he knows and sits back to watch the 'fun'. The fun takes an unexpected turn during the after dinner bridge games, the host is murdered. The detectives on the case are Poirot, Col. Race from the Foreign Office, Sgt. Battle (THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS and THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY) and Ariadne Oliver, mystery writer (DEAD MAN'S FOLLY and THE PALE HORSE). The murderers include Dr. Roberts, who may have killed a patient; Col. Despard, who may have killed the husband of the woman he loved; Mrs. Lorrimar, whose husband died under 'usual circumstances' and Miss Meredith whose former employer died of an accidental poisoning. The detectives decide to try to uncover the murderer themselves, each has their own ideas about who did it and why and each goes about the investigation in their own way. The plot takes many interesting twists and turns. Just when it appears that all has been revealed Christie gives one of her characteristic twists . The main reason that I feel that this is a four, not a five star novel is the emphasis placed on the bridge game. As a non-bridge player I felt that there was a vital clue that I was missing even though it was right there in front of me. In fairness it is possible to solve the crime without the bridge game clues but it was still frustrating while reading the story.
|