Book Club

Non-Series Novels & Stories

For those of you wanting to discuss Agatha Christie's standalone books, such as And Then There Were None. 

Beware spoilers and remember we'll be able to add the most insightful comments to the stories section. 

If you can't find your favourite one, don't worry, we'll be adding them in the coming weeks.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

Crooked House

Jemma 25 Sep 09 at 3:57 p.m. GMT

Aristide Leonides was an enormously weathly man but was that reason enough for one of the members of his family to kill him? His grand-daughter Sophia is engaged to Charles Hayward, son of the Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, and Charles is able to get inside the crooked country house to help with the investigation. Charles observes that the family don't really seem to like each other very much and there are many arguments and he wonders what effect this has on the two children, Josephine and Eustace? And, there is also the outsider, the tutor Laurence Brown, to consider. 

The ending of this story is quite unlike any other Christie story in one major respect. Did she play by the rules in this case? Was it a natural conclusion to the story or just done for effect? Christie was often quoted as saying this was one of her favourite stories. Was she right to think so?

Login or register to add posts and reply

29 replies

Reverse order

murder_is_easy123 28 Oct 11 at 5:04 p.m. GMT

OK thanks.  Good to know that it's on it's way!!!!

rosebud5566 27 Oct 11 at 1:08 a.m. GMT

This was far from my favorite of the many Christie works I have read, but I still found it very enjoyable.  I honestly had suspected another character of the crimes, so was surprised to learn the identity of the murderer.  I think AC did a fabulous job of developing the characters and did a particularly splendid job of making the reader feel pity for Eustace and Josephine.  I'm sure the movie, like most, won't do the book justice.

GKCfan 16 Oct 11 at 5:45 p.m. GMT

The movie is currently in preproduction, with an anticipated release date in 2013.

murder_is_easy123 16 Oct 11 at 10:17 a.m. GMT

When is the film of this going to be out?  Can't wait to see it!

butico 08 Aug 11 at 9:18 p.m. GMT

butico

CRUEL.

Onde Agatha estava com a cabeça para escrevercom tamanha frieza.

Rahat 18 Jun 11 at 11:28 a.m. GMT

Not her A list work, but it's fair game. Beautifully constructed and would be an interesting read even without the element of crime. I love all AC's novels where she has these little limericks in them and so this was no different. Absolutely loved the crooked house poem, as it added that extra bit of nonchalant chill factor into the story. I thought this was a story where Poriot could jump in. The base was set and perhaps by including new locations ( as virtually all of the story takes place in the house) and Poirot, this could've been a masterpiece. 

NightRayDuck 10 Apr 11 at 12:57 a.m. GMT

I had sympathy for the apple(s) that Josephine was always nibbling while going around the house being mysterious and annoying. 

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Apr 11 at 3:56 p.m. GMT

I had sympathy for the Actress wife but no-one else, maybe Charles.

NightRayDuck 09 Apr 11 at 5:22 a.m. GMT

hi I am back.. Tommy, I had no sympathy for the Leonides brothers, either. but moreover, I have no sympathy for Magda and Clemency. Magda doesn't have the sense to even, say, take Josephine out on a playdate and see if she interacts amiably. and Clemency gets bogged down trying to "rescue" Roger. Nadine Boyington in Appointment with Death, and Lydia Lee in Hercule Poirot's Christmas, at least managed to spare some thoughts for the well-being of their in-laws. and in this case, you see, nosey interference into the in-laws affairs might have got Eustace and Josephine to be a bit more "normal".. 

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Apr 11 at 4:38 p.m. GMT

I agree with Murder Is Easy but I found it hard to read due to the fact I found it Dull but I liked Crooked House but I didn't liuke it the First time, psychological Depthness doesn't bother me. Murder is Easy is too much of a slow Burner for me.

skull 07 Mar 11 at 6:36 p.m. GMT

Two novels by Agatha Christie are really badly written in my opinion: Crooked House and Murder is Easy. I mean...the mistery case could be ok, but the way characters are described, with no psychological depth, but just "names" without any interest, and the ridicolous dialogues, definately let these two novels down. Please, excuse my english!

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Dec 10 at 4:59 p.m. GMT

I would like to ammend my last garbled post and say in  my view Destination Unknown and They Came To Baghdad are fine but could be improved perhaps with someone like Race even though I don't like him or perhaps the Colonel who apears in Appointment With Death, and even though it is good Ordeal By Innocence might have been better with Poirot.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Dec 10 at 4:52 p.m. GMT

What do you mean HeiselHolmes by he Ending pulls at youer sense of Justice? SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! I can understand why Edith did what she did at the end but I don't Think It Was the right thing to do, It felt as if she was doing it to save the Family Name, I don't think The Murderer would have been treated too harshly.

I personally think that with the exception of The T&T books and Bundle Brnt Books and Why Didn't They Ask Evans, Towards Zero and Pale Horse the books without Poirot and Miss Marple lack structure which Poirot and Miss Marple provide, although They Came To Baghdad and Destination Unknown don't need them perhaps they need a egular Character like Race to help them along. The Mn In The Brown Suit is Fine as it is.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Dec 10 at 4:21 p.m. GMT

I liked Charles, Josephine and the Great-Aunt but I didn't like te others much, the brothers I had no sympathy for, I had some sympathy for Magda as I wonder what her childhood was like, why she has to use others especially her Children like Fellow cast members and Props, I had sympathy for Clemency wanting to get her and her Husband away and I felt sorry for Brenda, everyone wanting her to be Guilty because they suspected she wasn't and it would have made a tidy solution, On balance I didn't like Sophie, I thought she was too harsh in her assessments and I liked Josephine, By The way I didn't feel sorry for the Murderer, I first read it 25 years ago, It gave me a nasty feeling, I like it a bit more now but it wouldn't be one of the first I would reach out for to re-read.

NightRayDuck 12 Oct 10 at 5:11 a.m. GMT

I agree with Littlegirl. There are some types of stories that simply get told better without some character making a list of clues and doing a grand explanation at the end....

Cameron- about the different ruthlessness in the family; I believe Sophia did mention that great-aunt Edith was a landed gentry type, arrogant, if Edith saw something as bad, then she would not hesitate to remove it? as witnessed by Charles when Edith plucks weeds and then grinds her heels down hard on them.

It's a little difficult to comment on Eustace. I don't feel he's got quite as much "screen time" as the other family members. Personally, I think the way he expects to become the next head of household if granddad's legacy were to be inherited by only one person... but Eustace doesn't care at all, for example, how to keep his little sister from harming other people, a concern that granddad had been working on for years, and had expected Sophia would understand. Then again, Eustace, as a teenager, may simply have been more concerned with himself and less perceptive of others' worries.

Littlegirl 02 Sep 10 at 4:10 p.m. GMT

Yes I greatly enjoyed this book also. And I have to admit that it baffled me. I don't think that the books without Poirot and Miss Marple are any better than the ones with them. I think that Agatha Christie is a wonderful writer no matter what she writes.

Mr_west 06 Jul 10 at 10:03 a.m. GMT

i don't know if Christie based this story on a real case and i check but i have not found anything, i think i know why Christie pick this book as her favorite (and so do I) this book has everything for being a great crime novel: the characters, the crime his self, the crime scene realy help to the novel, the crime take place in the house so the suspects can only be the family (which no one had an alibi) 

Number3 27 Jun 10 at 2:53 p.m. GMT

I enjoyed this one greatly.  I have a feeling that it was based on a true case, but I might be wrong.

Once you start this one you don't want to put it down. Has anyone ever done a study comparing true crimes and finding a match in Christie's writing?

Lola_White 25 May 10 at 8:42 p.m. GMT

I, unfortunately had the ending of this book spoiled for me. So, although I missed out on being shocked, I was completely satisfied with Christie's narrative and psychological breakdown of the family.

I think too often, people forget about what an innovative writer Christie was, just because she didn't write in a verbose, Dickensian-like way. But it is novels like this, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Hallowe'en Party that remind me each time what a brave and bold writer she was.

Lone_Wolf 13 May 10 at 5:19 p.m. GMT

True, there's indeed something in thought that Croоked Hоuse has more of a "challenge to the reader" flavor then most of AC's books. And you are right, that while the solution is not revealed by deduction within the novel, it was adequately foreshadowed and a smart reader certainly has a chance of guessing it (compare 4:50 frоm Paddingtоn for an example of a non-deductive solution that feels random and dissapointing). That's why I didn't mind it much, I guess.