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Rating: 
Summary: Christie-lite
Review: Call me daft, but i really really like this Christie novel. The characters are great (especially the sublime Mr Satterthwaite, and the wonderfully entertaining Hermoine "Egg" Lytton Gore). Really entertaining, and great to read about. As with many of the best Poirot novels, Poirot himself does not really take a large role until quite a way into the book ("Appointment With Death" "Cat and Among the Pigeons", for example.) The plot is great, and the motive for the first motive is just sheer originality. (Even though it, and the motives for the other murders, is just a tiny weeny bit thin). It's a pretty light Christie book, but with a brilliant first death and motive for it. And a great, rather unexpected solution. It may not be her very very best novel, but it is still one of the great ones.
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: I probably would have rated this book higher, except I had guessed the murderer after 50 pages. Probably most people who've read a large collection of her books will have guessed the end before the end. Other than that, I enjoyed the flow of the book, which read more like a novel than a mystery. I liked Egg and Mr Satterthwaite, though Sir Charles was a bore.
Rating:
Summary: A Tragedy in Three Acts
Review: THREE ACT TRAGEDY is one of my favorite "Hercule Poirot" novels. Its characters are intriguing, and the solution to the crime is amazingly clever. Agatha Christie establishes an atmosphere of foreboding in the very first chapter, as the likeable Mr. Satterthwaite (who here fills the role of the absent Captain Hastings) sits on the terrace of the Crows Nest resort, remarking on the personalities and the actions of the people around him, who include the retired actor Sir Charles Cartwright and the respected doctor Sir Bartholemew Strange. From here, the novel takes the form of a "tragedy in three acts," with a new murder in each act and a series of clues, both real and "staged." While some readers may be disappointed to find that the great Poirot is absent from the novel for chapters at a time, there is good reason for this -- and he does indeed play a starring role in the "final act." I believe that anyone who loves Christie and Poirot will love THREE ACT TRAGEDY.
Rating:
Summary: I WAS DISAPPOINTED
Review: When buying this book, the plot summary sounded intriguing. Two vctims get killed in exactly the same way, so Poirot sets up a dinner party of his own. It turned out that this was actually a rather tedious book. First of all, Poirot only really comes into the story during the last half. Christie should've learned that putting the stars behind the scenes is all wrong. After all, that's why "The Body in the Library" was so boring. Then most of the mystery is a group of amateurs looking around for the murderer. You have long dialouges, pointless discussions, all of which make things boring. You have the odd-ball match of two of the characters and find yourselves tangled up in their love affair. Frankly, although I love a good romance, this was just annoying. The best part comes when Poirot stages his said dinner party to uncover the murderer. You're not sure what proof he has found, but as usual, he's found something. However, by that point, I'd guessed the murderer. I usually have a theory, although it's never been found correct. So, hoping for a good ending, I discover that I HAD guessed the right person! What a disappointment. So here's my clue: if you go ahead and buy this anyway, think SMALL. Most of the time you never think big enough for Christie's plot, but this time the murderer, motive (which is a big issue in this book), and discovery has small and petty reasoning behind it. In fact, the whole murders could've been avoided, quite easily. Oh well. It's not too bad--in fact the end shocked me since I was expecting such a grande finale.
Rating:
Summary: If you are reading Christie's mysteries
Review: you might want to skip over this unless you are determined to read them all. This is one of her lesser efforts that only make the rest of her work so much better. The story is cleverly arranged into "Acts", a reflection of the main character, Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous stage actor who is now retired. Sir Charles hosts a dinner party which includes many who have connections with the stage: Angela Sutcliffe, actress; Miss Willis, playwright; Capt. Darce and his wife, who run a theatrical dressmaking business; and Mr. Satterthwaite, wealthy patron of the arts (featured in the short story collection THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN). Rounding out the party are Dr. Strange, a specialist in nervous disorder and a college friend; the local vicar and his wife; Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione, Mr. Oliver Manders and Hercule Poirot. The party proceeds predictably until a murder takes place (or maybe just proceeds predictably). End of Act I, Act II weeks later another dinner party takes place miles aways, many, although not all, of the same guests are present and another murder takes place. Act III, Poirot and others involved in the tragedies investigate the crimes and of course, Poirot solves the crime. The characters of Mr. Satterthwaite and Hermione are delightful and well written and Poirot is his usual eccentric self. Unfortunately the rest of the characters are down right boring and totally forgetable. The plot itself is far better than the characters. The crimes are cleverly done, there is the usual Christie twist at the end but even that cannot raise this beyond a passable rating. This mystery is suitable for long, boring plane rides or similar periods of prolonged entrapment only.
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