Rating: 
Summary: Review
Review: Death in the Clouds shows Christie's fascination for transport in its aeroplane setting, as well as her ability to concoct an unusual murder in a humorous vein-the ingenious solution ably reached by her famous Belgian sleuth, M. Hercule Poirot.The murder is that of one Mme. Giselle, a Parisian moneylender-"a woman who enjoyed power; [who] had power ... [of] the type of hard-headed Frenchwoman who would never allow sentiment to affect her business interests; but [who] had the reputation of carrying on her profession with scrupulous honesty". As such, she is one of Christie's power-hungry women: like Mrs. Boynton or Mrs. Doyle, the sort of woman who is usually murdered. And the murder here is, as Inspector Japp, a "bit too sensational to be true. I mean, blowpipes and poisoned darts in an aeroplane-well, it insults one's intelligence." And Christie, committing her murder with "native" (although she really means "extremely foreign") darts tipped with the venom of the African boomslang snake, is satirising those writers-such as Edgar Wallace-who concoct sensationally silly murders-"the crudest detective story dodge coming out trumps!" At the same time as she parodies, she also sets a most intriguing puzzle, for "the manner of the crime was one of unparalleled audacity. In the full view of ten ... witnesses, the murderer had placed a blowpipe to his lips and sent the fatal dart on its murderous course through the air and no one had observed the act. It seemed frankly incredible, but there was the evidence of the blowpipe, of the dart found on the floor, of the mark on the deceased's neck and of the medical evidence to show that, incredible or not, it had happened." A John Dickson Carr crime! The detection in the case is ably done-straight-forward and solid, "proceed[ing] a step at a time, with order and method", and carried out on both sides of the Channel by the French and British police, Hercule Poirot intervening, and assisted by two not-too-bright young things, Jane Grey and Norman Gale, both passengers on the plane, whose romance is well done (although we can do without their list of likes and dislikes). The three clues in the case are excellent, their meaning well hidden despite Poirot's stressing their importance, and the solution is an ingenious Chestertonian flourish. Although this is not the best of the Poirot novels, it is an ingenious little puzzle, well-characterised, and amusing. By the standards of most other authors, it would rank as a masterpiece; with Christie, it is only a "good" novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Never Mind Whodunnit--This is also a Howdunnit
Review: Madame Giselle, a rather unlikeable woman, is apparently shot with a poison dart from a blowpipe. This happens in plain sight of thirteen passengers on a plane flying from France to England. How did the killer produce a blowpipe, place it to his/her lips, and shoot a poison dart across a crowded passenger compartment without being noticed? Where did the wasp come from? How could Hercule Poirot, the greatest detective of all times (if you don't believe it just ask him), sleep through a murder committed right under his nose? Obviously it couldn't have happened that way. But if not, how did it happen? And who did it? Almost everyone on board has a motive to kill Madame Giselle, and almost eveyone on board does a little lying before the mystery is solved. Poirot sorts through the clues, unmasks the liars, and eventually figures out not only whodunnit, but also howdunnit and whydunnit. I don't gamble, but I wouldn't be gambling if I wagered that you, the reader, will not unravel the mystery. I thought I had finally solved one ahead of Poirot when Christie artfully pulled the rug out from under me. Curses, foiled again!
Rating:
Summary: Another strong Poirot mystery
Review: Murder committed on board an airplane! Agatha Christie was certainly fond of unusual plot twists - murders committed on luxury trains, during card games, killers who killed in alphabetical order, but this one takes the cake! An old woman is mysteriously killed by a poisoned dart and suspicion naturally falls on her fellow passengers. Of course, Poirot who was on board, is called upon to find the guilty party. I found the way he meticulously traces the victim's life and tries to find linkages between her and the passengers interesting, it's much more realistic than detectives who are able to miraculously solve crimes seated in their armchairs! I also found the characters in the book very interesting, particularly that of Jane Grey. The twist at the end is fairly unexpected and the story is resolved in a satisfying way. A nice touch is the addition of a little romance that lightens up the proceedings. A very good read!
Rating:
Summary: NICELY DONE
Review: Not to say that I found fault with this book, since it was one of her better ones, but I only rate the top 5 or so with 5 stars. This was an entertaining book that lived up to all expectations of Christie. Why was it not one of the top 5? Well, I guess it just didn't quite reach that point of sheer genius (think And Then There Were None!!!). Buy it, though, you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: POIROT RULES
Review: Quality work by the Lady Dame yet again. This may be the best first chapter I have ever read in any genre. And believe it or not it only gets better from there. I believe most of Ms. Christies titles should be read in one sitting to fully appreciate the interaction between her characters. "DEATH IN THE CLOUDS" is a wonder because of the suttle way Poirot asks seemingly harmless questions of suspects and observes the small signs which give them away. True he always does this, but in this one it is truly some of his best detective work ever.
Rating:
Summary: Murder at the hands of Hercule Poirot?
Review: The mid 1930s were some of the best years of the so-called "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" in Britain. Most practitioners belonged to the Detection Club, they reviewed and promoted one another's books publically and privately they shared and re-worked one another's ideas. An example of this literary cross-fertilization may be seen when Freeman Wills Crofts' "The 12.30 From Croydon", 1934, and "Agatha Christie's "Death In the Clouds", 1935, are compared. Both books begin with a passenger plane flight across the English Channel. In the former novel, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when the plane touches down in Paris. In the latter, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when a plane touches down in London. Thereafter, and indeed in the titling of the two books, each writer develops the idea differently. Agatha Christie devises a whodunit puzzle. Characters are displayed in terms of how they appear physically, in their dialogue, by reputation or hearsay. Clues and significant red herrings are tossed about so that the murderer might mislead everybody else, and the writer might mislead the reader. Just how misleading appearances might be, is cleverly contrived at one point in this book when a jury at an inquest into the passenger's death return a unanimous verdict of murder at the hands of another passenger, namely Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie, who lived to become the world's best-selling author, presents her puzzle in immensely readable but unsophisticated prose. The two dimensional characters are somehow easy to keep in mind as you strive to guess the murderer's identity and, of course, there is Hercule Poirot to unerringly point the finger. He can also voice a note of compassion with his oft repeated, "Ah, yes, life can be terribly cruel". "Death In the Clouds" is recommended for reading during prolonged international flights or sleepless nights as an escape from stressful reality. Don't begin it, however, if you need a full night's sleep. It is possible you will want to keep reading through to the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Murder at the hands of Hercule Poirot?
Review: The mid 1930s were some of the best years of the so-called “Golden Age of Detective Fiction” in Britain. Most practitioners belonged to the Detection Club, they reviewed and promoted one another’s books publically and privately they shared and re-worked one another’s ideas. An example of this literary cross-fertilization may be seen when Freeman Wills Crofts’ “The 12.30 From Croydon”, 1934, and Agatha Christie’s “Death In the Clouds”, 1935, are compared. Both books begin with a passenger plane flight across the English Channel. In the former novel, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when the plane touches down in Paris. In the latter, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when a plane touches down in London. Thereafter, and indeed in the titling of the two books, each writer develops the idea differently. Agatha Christie devises a whodunit puzzle. Characters are displayed in terms of how they appear physically, in their dialogue, by reputation or hearsay. Clues and significant red herrings are tossed about so that the murderer might mislead everybody else, and the writer might mislead the reader. Just how misleading appearances might be, is cleverly contrived at one point in this book when a jury at an inquest into the passenger’s death return a unanimous verdict of murder at the hands of another passenger, namely Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie, who lived to become the world’s best-selling author, presents her puzzle in immensely readable but unsophisticated prose. The two dimensional characters are somehow easy to keep in mind as you strive to guess the murderer’s identity and, of course, there is Hercule Poirot to unerringly point the finger. He can also voice a note of compassion with his oft repeated, “Ah, yes, life can be terribly cruel”. “Death In the Clouds” is recommended for reading during prolonged international flights or sleepless nights as an escape from stressful reality. Don’t begin it, however, if you need a full night’s sleep. It is possible you will want to keep reading through to the last page.
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.
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.
Rating:
Summary: a very good book
Review: This book was very good. I liked the plot and the solution. The murderer is very cunning in this book. Christie did well in this one!
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