Agatha Christie: The Master of Mysteries
However, I'm sure I could never do them justice.
I could discuss how Agatha Christie had a most unique life from 1890-1976. I could mention that she was a playwright as well as an author. I could share how she disappeared for quite a few days after the back-to-back tragedies of losing her mother and finding out her husband was cheating on her. She was found at Harrogate Hotel, and weirdly enough, under the name of her husband's mistress. I could reveal that she eventually divorced the crackpot in 1928 (good riddance, I say) and went on to marry an archaeology professor, which enabled her to create several of her mysteries after going on explorations with him.
Her books are the most widely sold books to this day and are only outranked in sales by the Bible and Shakespeare. This legendary woman has not only won over audiences with her miraculous and humorous creation in the form of Hercule Poirot, but she's erected a cast of characters that include Miss Marple, Tuppence and Tommy Beresford, Colonel Race, and Parker Pyne.
Their names are familiar. Their faces have appeared in a variety of movies and made for television specials. PBS Masterpiece Theater has often hosted a various array of these characters for our viewing pleasure. For me, David Suchet is the epitome of Hercule Poirot. I adore his performance as the enigmatic, private detective. He fits the role to perfection, and in my opinion, he's the only one who does the character justice.
Yet, despite my belief that I could never give Agatha Christie's books their due diligence, I'm going to attempt with an all-in-one review of several of her books. Here and now, I'm going to share why I love Agatha Christie's work.
I've been rereading each book of this Mystery Queen's Poirot series, and I have to say my fascination for her Belgian detective has not lessened since I first discovered her around ten years ago. Obviously, this was the greatest day in my life. I mean, who can resist a good mystery with a comical main character, a lifelong cast of characters, and fun plots?
I don't care if you can figure out the bad guy within the first few chapters because I've never had that problem. It's good to suspect everyone, and usually, the wrong one is a pleasant surprise. Look at Murder on the Orient Express, and I'm talking about the actual book and not the movies. Who would have guessed how that would all go down?
Me, at least, is the answer to that question. I fell in love with Christie's writings after reading this story. It epitomized what I appreciate about a really good writer. Someone who surprises and delights and leaves you without knowing exactly how the rest of the ending might go. You know, but you can still speculate on what might have come next.
So, while taking on her books once again, I found my love for this author's ability to give you options and ideas and completely conceal the mind of her precocious detective until the very end, with his quest for humility (haha), as Poirot explains the ins and outs of how and why the murderer almost got away with murder.
It's sheer brilliance in a humorous package.
I've recently reread Murder on the Links, The Mystery of the Blue Train, Sad Cypress, The Hollow, Cat Among the Pigeons, The Clocks, Death on the Nile, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The ABC Murders, Evil Under the Sun, The Big Four, Three Act Tragedy, Cards on the Table, Death in the Clouds, Appointment with Death, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Taken at the Flood, Hallowe'en Party, and After the Funeral.
I've read them all before, and I will read them all again. There are some I haven't reread yet. However, guarantee that I will get to them as well. These are the kinds of stories I'll never give away and always read again and again. Why?
Too many reasons to count.
I'll try to break-it-down in the following rating and reviewing of Author Agatha Christie's works, and hopefully, it'll give you the impetus you need to try them yourself.
Numeric Breakdown:
Their names are familiar. Their faces have appeared in a variety of movies and made for television specials. PBS Masterpiece Theater has often hosted a various array of these characters for our viewing pleasure. For me, David Suchet is the epitome of Hercule Poirot. I adore his performance as the enigmatic, private detective. He fits the role to perfection, and in my opinion, he's the only one who does the character justice.
Yet, despite my belief that I could never give Agatha Christie's books their due diligence, I'm going to attempt with an all-in-one review of several of her books. Here and now, I'm going to share why I love Agatha Christie's work.
I've been rereading each book of this Mystery Queen's Poirot series, and I have to say my fascination for her Belgian detective has not lessened since I first discovered her around ten years ago. Obviously, this was the greatest day in my life. I mean, who can resist a good mystery with a comical main character, a lifelong cast of characters, and fun plots?
I don't care if you can figure out the bad guy within the first few chapters because I've never had that problem. It's good to suspect everyone, and usually, the wrong one is a pleasant surprise. Look at Murder on the Orient Express, and I'm talking about the actual book and not the movies. Who would have guessed how that would all go down?
Me, at least, is the answer to that question. I fell in love with Christie's writings after reading this story. It epitomized what I appreciate about a really good writer. Someone who surprises and delights and leaves you without knowing exactly how the rest of the ending might go. You know, but you can still speculate on what might have come next.
So, while taking on her books once again, I found my love for this author's ability to give you options and ideas and completely conceal the mind of her precocious detective until the very end, with his quest for humility (haha), as Poirot explains the ins and outs of how and why the murderer almost got away with murder.
It's sheer brilliance in a humorous package.
I've recently reread Murder on the Links, The Mystery of the Blue Train, Sad Cypress, The Hollow, Cat Among the Pigeons, The Clocks, Death on the Nile, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The ABC Murders, Evil Under the Sun, The Big Four, Three Act Tragedy, Cards on the Table, Death in the Clouds, Appointment with Death, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Taken at the Flood, Hallowe'en Party, and After the Funeral.
Too many reasons to count.
I'll try to break-it-down in the following rating and reviewing of Author Agatha Christie's works, and hopefully, it'll give you the impetus you need to try them yourself.
Numeric Breakdown:
1: didn't like it
2: it was okay
3. liked it
4. really liked it
5. it was amazing
1. Writing Style: 5/5
Agatha Christie has an amazing way of drawing you into her stories from page one. She has a brilliant writing style that makes you feel as if you are a part of her world; yet, she doesn't reveal everything all at once. Instead, she makes you work to figure out what her Belgian detective (Not French!) is thinking and how he's taking in the details and allowing his "little grey cells" to figure out the psychology of the murderer/thief.
Hercule Poirot is designed to make you giggle with his profuse mustachios, egg-shaped head, and way of dressing like an elegant penguin. He's a mock-up of the under-rated investigator. If you don't take him seriously, if he's "too foreign," if he isn't the model of a typical English gentleman, then you might underestimate his abilities.
As many of her books point out, Poirot is the one that others feel they can condescend to, ignore, or confide in when the situation warrants their behavior. If he's over-effusive and plays up their beliefs in his stereotype, then maybe they will not be on their guard. If he's generous and kind, alluding to the truth and inviting them to confess, maybe they will unburden themselves to him. If he's quiet and unobtrusive, perhaps their words will be shared to their own detriment.
His take on the psychology of a murder starts with finding out the psychology of the murdered. If he can understand who the dead was, his theory is that he can figure out who the person was that wanted to be rid of such a character. He asks baffling questions, he focuses on trivial details that Sherlock Holmes would relish with pleasure, and he never tells you what he thinks but invites you to use your own brain cells to connect the dots.
Much to the chagrin of his often partner in crime, Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot is jealous of his findings. More often than not, he jokes with Hastings about using his "little grey cells" and not relying on his feelings in the matter. Especially in terms of mysterious auburn-haired women, who Hastings has a weakness for wanting to rescue. Always the lover, Hastings puts up with Poirot's good-natured ribbing but feels occasionally disgruntled at his older friend's sense of humor and inability to be straight-forward and give Hastings all the answers.
Ariadne Oliver, the apple-loving author, is another character who has been featured in a few of Poirot's stories. It's said she's based on Agatha Christie herself, and that her own fictional character - a Finnish detective, was a nightmare creation that Oliver often regretted creating. Some say that's how Christie ended up feeling about Poirot after years of writing him. However, for fans of this intelligent woman, no one would think she should regret this magnificent, original personality. He is one of her best.
2. Overall Content: 5/5
In Death on the Nile, Christie uses words overheard to set the stage for a superior murder. The most likely suspects couldn't have done it because their alibis were impossible to break. Yet, Poirot finds the pattern. He sees the way it could have been done. As usual, he turns out to be right.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the very first Poirot mystery, sets us up for an unforgettable method of murder. That textbook detective plot gives us the essential whodunit. Locked in a room, a woman calls out in the agonies of dying. Her family bursts in to find her at the end of life, and none of them could be the murderer. They all had alibis and reasons to kill her. She'd had a fight with someone earlier that day, redid her will, and let one of the suspects know she knew what they were hiding.
This mystery won't be complete until they reveal that the obvious suspect, the husband, wasn't home when the poisoned woman died. What was his motive? However, his family isn't convinced. Enter Hastings who meets up with the family and is there when the woman dies, and he knows who to call upon for some discreet snooping. His old friend, Hercule Poirot, is in town. These two team up to find out the answers, and it's a read you don't want to miss.
When you read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, you'll find a blackmailer, an apparent suicide, and a murder. Except, are all of these happenings connected, and if so, why? Poirot accepts the doctor's opinion that it must have been murder and investigates. Here, you find another locked room and more than one person with a motive.
The A.B.C. Murders makes you feel that the man they've pinned the murders to isn't the killer in waiting. Immediately, you feel sad for this sorry specimen who seems innocent and just at the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that he can't recall where he was or what he was doing at times doesn't help his case, but he does have one bright spot in this terrifying ordeal: Hercule Poirot. This ingenious detective knows the psychology of the guilty party before him isn't the one, but the police are satisfied that they caught their man "redhanded." They just didn't count on Poirot taking matters into his own hands and finding the real culprit with his usual modesty.
When the one who's been murdered has a husband who is no longer in love with her, well, it seems like an open and shut case. The use of misdirection, unbelievable offenders, and secrets create a new world in Evil Under the Sun and how murder benefits those who have seemingly nothing to gain.
When the dead are found in freshly dug graves, you're starting with a very suspicious crime. Christie develops a cast of characters who all have something to hide. The Murder on the Links delivers powerful motive, but in the one person you might not suspect.
The Big Four are those who control the government. They're the big bads in the background pulling the strings and making the world work the way they want. In this story, Christie presents a whole new element to Poirot most of his audience won't know. However, finding out what's the truth and what's fiction is easier said than done, but it will deliver the greatest story you're ever going to read.
Murder can be complicated, if you look at it from only one point of view. Thankfully, Poirot is on the case, and he sees how the most innocent of characters can turn out to be the most devious. The Mystery of the Blue Train gives us a robbery and a murder of a rich American woman who has a nasty husband, a new lover, and her father's enemies. Now, which one did it and how? Only Poirot knows.
Three Act Tragedy presents the most complicated character in my opinion. The bad guy has his own reasons for committing murder, but the people who die don't seem to have any connection or make any sense. However, read along as Poirot finds out the real reasons behind these three senseless deaths. Just wait, the real "almost" atrocity is revealed at the end.
I love when there's a point in the story that doesn't add up. You know it couldn't happen the way they say it did. Then, your favorite detective makes the same discovery, and you feel vindicated! Poirot does just that in Death in the Clouds. He urges the reader and those he works with on this case to not take everything at face value, but of course, there are always deviations from what could have happened and what actually did happen.
Cards on the Table is one of my favorite of Poirot's cases. Here we have eight dinner guests to the inscrutable host, and by the end of his party, he's dead. His real pleasure, bringing together four people who he believes have gotten away with murder. To make matters more interesting, he includes four brilliant sleuths, Hercule Poirot as well. This audacious murderer isn't going to get away with these investigators on their trail, but when you're dealing with possibly more than one murderer, who's to say they aren't all guilty?
He knows the voice of the one who claimed "murdering her was the best way to end it all." Yet, he doesn't think anything of it. Now, Poirot regrets not believing the words he overheard sooner because there's a dead body, and no one is unhappy that the victim is gone. However, with a cast full of suspects, you're right if you don't believe the easiest choice is the right one in Appointment with Death.
The Clocks presents a conundrum. A girl finds a murdered man in a blind woman's house. She was sent to work for the woman, but the woman denies having called the girl's place of business and requesting her. Is the girl telling the truth or lying? Poirot will find out, and the answer is a bit more intricate than you'd first believe.
Sad Cypress is one of Poirot's saddest cases. Although, some argument could be made for Murder on the Orient Express, Taken at the Flood, Dead Man's Folly, The Hollow, The Third Girl, and Hallowe'en Party. These stories pull at your heartstrings either because the accused isn't guilty, the victims were too young, or the innocent were preyed upon. Here are five books that make you happier than the others to finally know who the real criminal is, and you know Poirot is going to get to the bottom of each mystery.
The list of Christie's works I'm reading on Goodreads are many and more than the handful I've touched on here, but overall, the point of mentioning these ones, in particular, are to give you a hint of their storylines and how they keep you guessing, trying to think like Poirot, and wanting to know more. All are books that bring you into the mystery and make you work your own "little grey cells" as hard as you can. After all, it's more fun if the answer doesn't come easy, and you can laugh about it as you work your way there.
3. Hooks/Attention-kept: 5/5
In each of these books, Christie uses the obvious, the misdirection, the psychological breakdown, the humor, and the pompous personality of Poirot to drive each of her plots. Poirot becomes a real person to readers because he has personality. He has quirks. He's flamboyant and trustworthy. He's suspicious and deliberate. He's charming and annoying-in-a-cute-only-could-be-him way. He's the one person you'd want in your corner no matter the situation. He's Sherlock Holmes, Monk, and Father Brown rolled into one.
However, his peculiarities set him up as different. He sees connections that are more plausible than those used in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. He's a little finicky about how things should be, old-fashioned, and likes everything neat and orderly and square. However, his penchant for order isn't obsessive-compulsive like Monk. He's just a neat-freak with a certain way of doing what needs to be done. He disproves of murder, but he still considers himself Papa Poirot. Like Father Brown, if he cares about you, he's willing to listen to your story and not pass judgement. He wants to help you, and if you let him, he'll make sure you don't end up with a murderer as your future husband.
His idiosyncrasies, perfectionism, demands of the simple, attempts to figure out the psychology of the killer (the anatomy if you will), his personal appearance, and his genial manner will create a 3D character that you can't help but fall in love with. His humor, good heart, classic mustache, egg-shaped head that tilts to one side like a little bird, and style make Poirot the most memorable character in history. He's just the detective you need. He will tell you that himself.
4. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the genre: 5/5
I have enjoyed every single Agatha Christie book since I first started reading them so many years ago. They are perfection in a short read. I can't really define why I love them so much. I've attempted to share why through this whole review, but I guess the only thing I can really divulge is that they mean something to me on a deeper, less superficial level than I can fully explain. However, I will always stand by my belief that they are the best of their genre.
5. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the content: 5/5
Poirot, no matter if he's in on the mystery from the beginning, middle, or toward the end, makes these mysteries something sweet, intriguing, and dynamic. His personality overshadows what's happening, and as you dive into the other characters, you begin to see them with his own eyes. In the end, you know he'll find out the truth, but it's how he does it that makes the story feel brilliant and unique. He isn't just trying to find the clues, on his hands and knees, but he's teaching the reader and those involved to look at the setting with their mind.
Clues can be tricky. Sometimes, they're placed at the scene with the purpose of deflecting suspicion, but if you listen to what the suspects tell you, how they act, and what they do in certain situations, you can find out a lot about them. If you're blessed, you just might be able to see the connection between their past and current actions and the act of murder itself.
I feel that Agatha Christie is subtly, or not so subtly, telling us to watch the behavior of those around us. Be aware of a person's character. Listen to what someone has to say. They may reveal more than they mean to within their words and actions. It feels as if she's teaching us a life lesson, and I love her the more for it.
6. Overall Story Rating: 5/5
As if you're surprised that I would rate each of these books as 5/5. It shouldn't be too shocking that I adore Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot and his way of getting to the bottom of a mystery. I respect Agatha Christie and her classic method of taking a sad situation and infusing humor, delicacy, normality, and artistry into something some would say is repetitive. If you can find the expertise and cleverness in her writing, then you have witnessed the skill of a master firsthand.
Take it from me, this is an author to revere because of her capacity to illuminate the science of the mind and the personality of people within the confines of fiction. Agatha Christie is giving you the best of psychology in the form of her main character. She's teaching her readers a life lesson. I hope you noticed. This is why anything less than a 5/5 rating would be an abomination to a great author, thinker, and woman who was beyond her time.
2: it was okay
3. liked it
4. really liked it
5. it was amazing
1. Writing Style: 5/5
Agatha Christie has an amazing way of drawing you into her stories from page one. She has a brilliant writing style that makes you feel as if you are a part of her world; yet, she doesn't reveal everything all at once. Instead, she makes you work to figure out what her Belgian detective (Not French!) is thinking and how he's taking in the details and allowing his "little grey cells" to figure out the psychology of the murderer/thief.
Hercule Poirot is designed to make you giggle with his profuse mustachios, egg-shaped head, and way of dressing like an elegant penguin. He's a mock-up of the under-rated investigator. If you don't take him seriously, if he's "too foreign," if he isn't the model of a typical English gentleman, then you might underestimate his abilities.
As many of her books point out, Poirot is the one that others feel they can condescend to, ignore, or confide in when the situation warrants their behavior. If he's over-effusive and plays up their beliefs in his stereotype, then maybe they will not be on their guard. If he's generous and kind, alluding to the truth and inviting them to confess, maybe they will unburden themselves to him. If he's quiet and unobtrusive, perhaps their words will be shared to their own detriment.
His take on the psychology of a murder starts with finding out the psychology of the murdered. If he can understand who the dead was, his theory is that he can figure out who the person was that wanted to be rid of such a character. He asks baffling questions, he focuses on trivial details that Sherlock Holmes would relish with pleasure, and he never tells you what he thinks but invites you to use your own brain cells to connect the dots.
Much to the chagrin of his often partner in crime, Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot is jealous of his findings. More often than not, he jokes with Hastings about using his "little grey cells" and not relying on his feelings in the matter. Especially in terms of mysterious auburn-haired women, who Hastings has a weakness for wanting to rescue. Always the lover, Hastings puts up with Poirot's good-natured ribbing but feels occasionally disgruntled at his older friend's sense of humor and inability to be straight-forward and give Hastings all the answers.
Ariadne Oliver, the apple-loving author, is another character who has been featured in a few of Poirot's stories. It's said she's based on Agatha Christie herself, and that her own fictional character - a Finnish detective, was a nightmare creation that Oliver often regretted creating. Some say that's how Christie ended up feeling about Poirot after years of writing him. However, for fans of this intelligent woman, no one would think she should regret this magnificent, original personality. He is one of her best.
2. Overall Content: 5/5
In Death on the Nile, Christie uses words overheard to set the stage for a superior murder. The most likely suspects couldn't have done it because their alibis were impossible to break. Yet, Poirot finds the pattern. He sees the way it could have been done. As usual, he turns out to be right.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the very first Poirot mystery, sets us up for an unforgettable method of murder. That textbook detective plot gives us the essential whodunit. Locked in a room, a woman calls out in the agonies of dying. Her family bursts in to find her at the end of life, and none of them could be the murderer. They all had alibis and reasons to kill her. She'd had a fight with someone earlier that day, redid her will, and let one of the suspects know she knew what they were hiding.
This mystery won't be complete until they reveal that the obvious suspect, the husband, wasn't home when the poisoned woman died. What was his motive? However, his family isn't convinced. Enter Hastings who meets up with the family and is there when the woman dies, and he knows who to call upon for some discreet snooping. His old friend, Hercule Poirot, is in town. These two team up to find out the answers, and it's a read you don't want to miss.
When you read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, you'll find a blackmailer, an apparent suicide, and a murder. Except, are all of these happenings connected, and if so, why? Poirot accepts the doctor's opinion that it must have been murder and investigates. Here, you find another locked room and more than one person with a motive.
The A.B.C. Murders makes you feel that the man they've pinned the murders to isn't the killer in waiting. Immediately, you feel sad for this sorry specimen who seems innocent and just at the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that he can't recall where he was or what he was doing at times doesn't help his case, but he does have one bright spot in this terrifying ordeal: Hercule Poirot. This ingenious detective knows the psychology of the guilty party before him isn't the one, but the police are satisfied that they caught their man "redhanded." They just didn't count on Poirot taking matters into his own hands and finding the real culprit with his usual modesty.
When the one who's been murdered has a husband who is no longer in love with her, well, it seems like an open and shut case. The use of misdirection, unbelievable offenders, and secrets create a new world in Evil Under the Sun and how murder benefits those who have seemingly nothing to gain.
When the dead are found in freshly dug graves, you're starting with a very suspicious crime. Christie develops a cast of characters who all have something to hide. The Murder on the Links delivers powerful motive, but in the one person you might not suspect.
The Big Four are those who control the government. They're the big bads in the background pulling the strings and making the world work the way they want. In this story, Christie presents a whole new element to Poirot most of his audience won't know. However, finding out what's the truth and what's fiction is easier said than done, but it will deliver the greatest story you're ever going to read.
Murder can be complicated, if you look at it from only one point of view. Thankfully, Poirot is on the case, and he sees how the most innocent of characters can turn out to be the most devious. The Mystery of the Blue Train gives us a robbery and a murder of a rich American woman who has a nasty husband, a new lover, and her father's enemies. Now, which one did it and how? Only Poirot knows.
Three Act Tragedy presents the most complicated character in my opinion. The bad guy has his own reasons for committing murder, but the people who die don't seem to have any connection or make any sense. However, read along as Poirot finds out the real reasons behind these three senseless deaths. Just wait, the real "almost" atrocity is revealed at the end.
I love when there's a point in the story that doesn't add up. You know it couldn't happen the way they say it did. Then, your favorite detective makes the same discovery, and you feel vindicated! Poirot does just that in Death in the Clouds. He urges the reader and those he works with on this case to not take everything at face value, but of course, there are always deviations from what could have happened and what actually did happen.
Cards on the Table is one of my favorite of Poirot's cases. Here we have eight dinner guests to the inscrutable host, and by the end of his party, he's dead. His real pleasure, bringing together four people who he believes have gotten away with murder. To make matters more interesting, he includes four brilliant sleuths, Hercule Poirot as well. This audacious murderer isn't going to get away with these investigators on their trail, but when you're dealing with possibly more than one murderer, who's to say they aren't all guilty?
He knows the voice of the one who claimed "murdering her was the best way to end it all." Yet, he doesn't think anything of it. Now, Poirot regrets not believing the words he overheard sooner because there's a dead body, and no one is unhappy that the victim is gone. However, with a cast full of suspects, you're right if you don't believe the easiest choice is the right one in Appointment with Death.
The Clocks presents a conundrum. A girl finds a murdered man in a blind woman's house. She was sent to work for the woman, but the woman denies having called the girl's place of business and requesting her. Is the girl telling the truth or lying? Poirot will find out, and the answer is a bit more intricate than you'd first believe.
Sad Cypress is one of Poirot's saddest cases. Although, some argument could be made for Murder on the Orient Express, Taken at the Flood, Dead Man's Folly, The Hollow, The Third Girl, and Hallowe'en Party. These stories pull at your heartstrings either because the accused isn't guilty, the victims were too young, or the innocent were preyed upon. Here are five books that make you happier than the others to finally know who the real criminal is, and you know Poirot is going to get to the bottom of each mystery.
The list of Christie's works I'm reading on Goodreads are many and more than the handful I've touched on here, but overall, the point of mentioning these ones, in particular, are to give you a hint of their storylines and how they keep you guessing, trying to think like Poirot, and wanting to know more. All are books that bring you into the mystery and make you work your own "little grey cells" as hard as you can. After all, it's more fun if the answer doesn't come easy, and you can laugh about it as you work your way there.
3. Hooks/Attention-kept: 5/5
In each of these books, Christie uses the obvious, the misdirection, the psychological breakdown, the humor, and the pompous personality of Poirot to drive each of her plots. Poirot becomes a real person to readers because he has personality. He has quirks. He's flamboyant and trustworthy. He's suspicious and deliberate. He's charming and annoying-in-a-cute-only-could-be-him way. He's the one person you'd want in your corner no matter the situation. He's Sherlock Holmes, Monk, and Father Brown rolled into one.
However, his peculiarities set him up as different. He sees connections that are more plausible than those used in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. He's a little finicky about how things should be, old-fashioned, and likes everything neat and orderly and square. However, his penchant for order isn't obsessive-compulsive like Monk. He's just a neat-freak with a certain way of doing what needs to be done. He disproves of murder, but he still considers himself Papa Poirot. Like Father Brown, if he cares about you, he's willing to listen to your story and not pass judgement. He wants to help you, and if you let him, he'll make sure you don't end up with a murderer as your future husband.
His idiosyncrasies, perfectionism, demands of the simple, attempts to figure out the psychology of the killer (the anatomy if you will), his personal appearance, and his genial manner will create a 3D character that you can't help but fall in love with. His humor, good heart, classic mustache, egg-shaped head that tilts to one side like a little bird, and style make Poirot the most memorable character in history. He's just the detective you need. He will tell you that himself.
4. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the genre: 5/5
I have enjoyed every single Agatha Christie book since I first started reading them so many years ago. They are perfection in a short read. I can't really define why I love them so much. I've attempted to share why through this whole review, but I guess the only thing I can really divulge is that they mean something to me on a deeper, less superficial level than I can fully explain. However, I will always stand by my belief that they are the best of their genre.
5. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the content: 5/5
Poirot, no matter if he's in on the mystery from the beginning, middle, or toward the end, makes these mysteries something sweet, intriguing, and dynamic. His personality overshadows what's happening, and as you dive into the other characters, you begin to see them with his own eyes. In the end, you know he'll find out the truth, but it's how he does it that makes the story feel brilliant and unique. He isn't just trying to find the clues, on his hands and knees, but he's teaching the reader and those involved to look at the setting with their mind.
Clues can be tricky. Sometimes, they're placed at the scene with the purpose of deflecting suspicion, but if you listen to what the suspects tell you, how they act, and what they do in certain situations, you can find out a lot about them. If you're blessed, you just might be able to see the connection between their past and current actions and the act of murder itself.
I feel that Agatha Christie is subtly, or not so subtly, telling us to watch the behavior of those around us. Be aware of a person's character. Listen to what someone has to say. They may reveal more than they mean to within their words and actions. It feels as if she's teaching us a life lesson, and I love her the more for it.
6. Overall Story Rating: 5/5
As if you're surprised that I would rate each of these books as 5/5. It shouldn't be too shocking that I adore Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot and his way of getting to the bottom of a mystery. I respect Agatha Christie and her classic method of taking a sad situation and infusing humor, delicacy, normality, and artistry into something some would say is repetitive. If you can find the expertise and cleverness in her writing, then you have witnessed the skill of a master firsthand.
Take it from me, this is an author to revere because of her capacity to illuminate the science of the mind and the personality of people within the confines of fiction. Agatha Christie is giving you the best of psychology in the form of her main character. She's teaching her readers a life lesson. I hope you noticed. This is why anything less than a 5/5 rating would be an abomination to a great author, thinker, and woman who was beyond her time.
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Thanks for joining me, and until next time, Happy Reading!!
~Author Rebecca Reddell
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