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!

Destination Unknown

Moderator1 16 Nov 09 at 11:26 a.m. GMT

In a hotel room in Casablanca Hilary Craven is about to take her own life.  Olive Betterton is killed in a plane crash on her way to Casablanca.  The two women share the same auburn hair colour and Hilary is asked by the British Secret Service to take over Olive's life to help find out why important scientists, including Olive's husband, are going missing.  Are they being killed or kept alive for nefarious reasons?

Christie was tapping into the real fears about spies and Utopian worlds; did she succeed with this story?  Is Hilary Craven a convincing female character here?

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17 replies

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MissQuin 21 Dec 09 at 11:07 a.m. GMT

It might sound depressing, as its about a woman planning to commit suicide. But somehow after Hillary agrees to help the British Secret Service, its gives her a new meaning of life. Hillary is a likeable character, as she has gone through a great deal. I did enjoy this book.

Tommy_A_Jones 25 Jan 10 at 3:55 p.m. GMT

I finished this book |This morning, I too liked it on the whole, I loved Hilary Craven as a Character and the only down-side was the waffle about Brave New Worlds, I was hoping there was another twist but you can't have everything, I wish Hilary was in more books. 

Read more about this story: Destination Unknown

Lone_Wolf 10 Feb 10 at 8 p.m. GMT

I was disappointed in that one. Not that good even for a Christie thriller.

The twist at the end was impossible to guess before and the main character had nothing to do with revealing it.

And for someone who's going to commit suicide in the beginning, Hilary was remarkably nonchalant for the rest of the novel.

go_leafs_nation 12 Feb 10 at 1:06 p.m. GMT

Christie was simply... dare I say it?... not very good when it came to thrillers. Hilary goes from wanting to kill herself to a calm, collected heroine straight from a thriller. She doesn't feel like a real character in the least- she exists so that the plot may exist. While the plot has some interesting aspects, the resolution isn't great, and the final act is pretty dull. Overall, I disliked the book. Nothing of much interest here, but far better than the dismal Passenger to Frankfurt.

MissQuin 13 Feb 10 at 1:39 p.m. GMT

go_leafs_nation

Christie was simply... dare I say it?... not very good when it came to thrillers.

Isn't Then there were none a thriller? I consider that one of her best. If I thriller means the book puts you on edge, then I'd say Agatha Christie was excellent for shocks, twists and suspense.

Bundle_ 13 Feb 10 at 3:27 p.m. GMT

I agree w/ MissQuin. And yes, ATTWN is considered a thriller.

MissQuin 13 Feb 10 at 4:39 p.m. GMT

Hurrah Bundle! I certainly found TTWN edge of my seat stuff! As I said, Agatha Christie's books have given me so much enjoyment and I'd never read them if they were lacklustre and predictable. I find them very thrilling..

go_leafs_nation 13 Feb 10 at 11:44 p.m. GMT

And Then There Were None is not the same kind of thriller here, folks. I was thinking of AC's number of unsuccessful thrillers, usually political, involving some hero or heroine going around the world, doing silly things, almost getting killed, and so forth. I think her forte was the country house murder.

Lone_Wolf 14 Feb 10 at 5:35 a.m. GMT

My favourite AC thriller of that kind (which means "the best of the worst", sure) is "They Came To Baghdad". At least, the twist there is more essential to the plotline then in "Destination Unknown", and the heroine discovers it herself. And there's no mood whiplashes from suicide to calm competence.

Littlegirl 01 Sep 10 at 6:40 p.m. GMT

I agree that Agatha Christie could have made Hilary a little more distraught, seeing as she was about to commit suicide, but on the whole I thought that the book was enjoyable.

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Sep 10 at 4:29 p.m. GMT

I think Hilary's weeping had been done and she was becoming Pragmatic in deciding to end it all rather than have years ofd Lonliness in front of her. I know I shouldn't but I found that quite Humourous in an odd sought of way.

Littlegirl 03 Sep 10 at 6:57 p.m. GMT

How interesting. I like the premise of the story. That she was about to commit suicide, instead took a dangerous mission, and ended up finding a desire to live. I did not read the book searching for imperfections in the writing, but merely to enjoy it, so I have little problems with it. Perhaps I should go through and pay more attention to the writing.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Sep 10 at 4:57 p.m. GMT

I think your way of reading is brillian't why feel the need to look for imperfections, why not just read and enjoy.

NightRayDuck 12 Oct 10 at 5:21 a.m. GMT

I think go_leafs_nation is using the term "thrillers" to refer particularly to spy/conspiracy/international crisis type of stories. In that case, it is true that Christie's spy thrillers are a little more quiet, a little more cerebral, a little less bloody / smokey / explodey than the usual fare. But I like the story very much. Especially the way that various characters keep mentioning Elsa's death... which turns out, at the end, a murder mystery for which her cousin has been trying to track down the murderer. I think of this novel more of a murder mystery camouflaged in spy action, rather than a spy thriller that got distracted by a murder mystery.

Once you look at it that way... isn't it rather like murder mystery camouflaged in spooky hocus-pocus, such as those in The Pale Horse or The Sittaford Mystery? 

notguilty 27 Oct 11 at 8:05 p.m. GMT

Another book which I placed on the"not to be read again" list.  Just not very interesting.  Some aspects of the book were good but the characters seemed, well, unreal or just too much of a cliche.  And the plot...just bad.  I don't like the world conspiracy or the one man (or organization) stories who can, will or able to rule the world.  This story takes place during the height of the cold war, couldn't Dame Agatha just stick to the old and true free world vs iron curtain scenario? Much more acceptable.  Which surprises me because in pre-WWII stories, she does pit the western democracies against the fascist dictatorships (e.g. Submarine plans, the underdog and some others).  Not good.

svcodeman 09 Mar 12 at 3:18 p.m. GMT

I definately think this is not one of her best works. I found myself struggling to understand what was happening.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Mar 12 at 2:41 p.m. GMT

I think it is very underrated, I quite enjoyed it, Much better than They Came To Baghdad.