I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan - have been since I first read a "Hercule Poirot" mystery back in junior high (I believe it was Murder on the Orient Express
). I quickly went through most of the books involving the Belgian detective and then read them all again (and again and again...). A few years ago I finally gave "Miss Marple" a chance and didn't find her quite as captivating as Monsieur Poirot, but still enjoyable for easy reading. I have quite an Agatha Christie collection these days, thanks in part to our local used book store, and am always on the hunt for a Christie mystery I haven't read. There are a few that I have found to be flops (N or M?
for one, Endless Night
for another), but for the most part, if I've had a bad day or am feeling stressed, I usually find myself selecting a Christie mystery to help me relax.
). I quickly went through most of the books involving the Belgian detective and then read them all again (and again and again...). A few years ago I finally gave "Miss Marple" a chance and didn't find her quite as captivating as Monsieur Poirot, but still enjoyable for easy reading. I have quite an Agatha Christie collection these days, thanks in part to our local used book store, and am always on the hunt for a Christie mystery I haven't read. There are a few that I have found to be flops (N or M? for one, Endless Night for another), but for the most part, if I've had a bad day or am feeling stressed, I usually find myself selecting a Christie mystery to help me relax. I can't review Who Made God?
or Kim
yet as I haven't finished them, but I did manage to get through Passenger to Frankfurt
before review time - and I do mean "managed to get through": it was tedious. Christie is touted as being the "world's greatest mystery writer" and I would agree with that...as long as she sticks to the characters that work for her. Hercule Poirot (and his friends Hastings, Adriadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle) and Miss Marple can be charming and will suck you in - not so much with Tommy and Tuppence or her other novels which introduce characters like Sir Stafford Nye.
or Kim yet as I haven't finished them, but I did manage to get through Passenger to Frankfurt before review time - and I do mean "managed to get through": it was tedious. Christie is touted as being the "world's greatest mystery writer" and I would agree with that...as long as she sticks to the characters that work for her. Hercule Poirot (and his friends Hastings, Adriadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle) and Miss Marple can be charming and will suck you in - not so much with Tommy and Tuppence or her other novels which introduce characters like Sir Stafford Nye. 
If you find Passenger to Frankfurt for sale cheap - skip it. The plot is hard to follow, the characters are not endearing, the story jumps around a lot and is just modern enough to be totally unbelievable. If you've never read an Agatha Christie novel and would like to do so, let me suggest starting with Cards on the Table
, And Then There Were None
(also published as Ten Little Indians), or my original favorite, Murder on the Orient Express. In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away at the other two books in my stack. Happy Reading!
Make sure you check out what other readers have to say over at the Life as MOM Booking It link up on February 11th!
*Disclaimer: All Amazon links are part of Amazon Associates, but all opinions are my own!
I read some of Agatha Christie's "other" books when I was young and did not like them at all. So I wrote her off.
ReplyDeleteUntil the BBC (or whoever) did a Hercule Poirot series with David Suchet and I saw them on our Public Broadcasting station. I then devoured every Hercule Poirot book I could find, and finally own ALL of them. (That's also how I discovered Ellis Peters and her Brother Cadfael, played by Derek Jacobi. Have you read any of those yet?)
And I just unpacked them all last night...hello, old friends!
Now if I could just find some time to sit down and read...without getting sick! :) Glad you're feeling better!
I was such a mystery geek when I was a teenager!
ReplyDeleteI loved Hercule Poirot, and like you, wasn't too big on her other detectives (actually I didn't mind Endless Night though, it was a bit creepy).
My favourite detective stories of all time are the Sherlock Holmes story, but if you haven't read them I also highly recommend a contemporary of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, who wrote books featuring gentleman detective Albert Campion. I loved those a lot, and you can sometimes find them in second hand bookshops!
I've never read anything by Chrisite (hangs head in shame) but the movie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express gave me nightmares for YEARS. It was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to pick up And Then There Were None to check her out as I've been meaning to forEVER.
Leaving the House in THIS?!?!