The Official Agatha Christie Thread

[katie_girl09]

I couldn't find a thread for Christie's novels so I thought I'd start one for all the Christie fans out there.

Do you prefer Poirot or Marple? And what are your top 10 books?

 

[Speedball]

At first I thought this said "The official Christina Aguilera Thread".
I enjoy her Doctor Who work.

 

[katie_girl09]

I'm sorry to disappoint.

 

[Manic]

BUMP!

I didn't see this thread until now. I read a few Agatha Christie books throughout 2008 and 2009. The Mysterious Affair At Styles (the first Poirot novel) was a disappointing, confusing mess. Otherwise, I dig her whodunits.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

I've never read one of her books, but I always wondered why she had a giant wasp on one of em. I guess Doctor Who cleared that up for me.

 

[Manic]

Christie's books are fun. They're your classic "Whodunit" books. She pretty much created the cliche all on her own.

-The fancy party at a really big house
-One of the guests is murdered
-Another guest turns out to be a detective, so he/she takes it upon him/herself to solve the murder instead of calling the police.
-We discover odd secrets about all of the guests, even if they had nothing to do with the murder.
-All in revealed when everyone is gathered in the mansion's parlor room
-The murderer practically confesses the whole deed after confronted by the detective.


These books are fun, challenging, and only about 200 pages long each.


And it's all ripe for parody.

 

[katie_girl09]

^ I know! I love Golden Age mystery. Much more than "hard Boiled" actually.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles really wasn't that great, but I think that was her first ever mystery. My favourites are:

-Death on the Nile
-The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
-Murder on the Orient Express
-The ABC Murders

 

[Manic]

I remember reading Murder on the Orient Express and second guessing myself every other page. Every time a new piece of evidence came up, I had a whole new theory. I'd actually guessed the real ending twice, but dismissed it because I couldn't find the motive.

 

[katie_girl09]

Double.

 

[katie_girl09]

Orient Express was a good ending. But nothing compared to Roger Ackroyd. That was insanity!

 

[BestGirl]

I've read three Christie novels over the past year:

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - I agree with those who say it's a bit of a complicated mess. I can overlook that as it was her first mystery.

Evil Under the Sun - Good, but would've been better if I hadn't already known the ending. The only problem I had with it was that the murder scheme was extraordinarily complicated and could've gone wrong a million ways.

The Pale Horse - Interesting story, though I guessed who the murderer was and how he/she was pulling it off fairly early on, even if I couldn't figure out the details. I did have some issues with the plausibility of the murderer's scheme and the nature of the police investigation.

 

[BestGirl]

I couldn't find a thread for Christie's novels so I thought I'd start one for all the Christie fans out there.

Do you prefer Poirot or Marple? And what are your top 10 books?

Poirot's definitely my fave. He's my second favorite detective of all time, after Sherlock Holmes.

I'm not sure I have a top 10 list, but here are some of my favorite mysteries of hers:

1. And Then There were None - I read this as a teenager and was really unnerved. Definitely my favorite all-time Christie book.
2. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - The solution threw me for a loop but it was greatness.
3. Murder on the Orient Express - Another jaw-dropping solution.
4. Crooked House - Rather sad at the end and completely unexpected.
5. Death Comes as the End - A mystery set in ancient Egypt.
6. Death on the Nile - I don't remember much about this book except that I liked it (and the identity of the murderer).
7. The Pale Horse - The premise was excellent.

If I think of more, I'll list them.

Orient Express was a good ending. But nothing compared to Roger Ackroyd. That was insanity!

Roger Ackroyd had one of the greatest mystery solutions of all time.