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Top 10

Bundle_ 07 Oct 09 at 2:50 p.m. GMT

I know that some may be tired of seeing everyone's top 10 favorite AC book list -- which is understandable it's been done before -- but I thought it would be nice for us to put in our 10 favorites and add a twist to it by using a bit of psychology to try to figure out what type/style of books everyone likes, maybe some of us like more complex books while others like more fun loving books

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NightRayDuck 10 Jul 11 at 10:23 p.m. GMT

I am never able to put up a "Top 10" or "Worst 10" list without giving explanations. However, I have an unconventional habit of defining several categories and then nominate a "Top Contender" for each category. Will that be acceptable? I mean, I suppose that a categorized list would put a serious damper on the twist of "try to figure out what type/style of books everyone likes".

Dewmina 10 Jul 11 at 3:37 p.m. GMT

1.And Then there were none

2.Endless Night

3.Murder of the roger Acroyd

4.ABC Murders

5.Murder is Announced

6.Pocket full of rye

7.Ordeal by innocence

8.Murder on the Orient Express

9.Death comes as the End

10.Moving Fingers

P_Lombard 15 May 11 at 1:38 a.m. GMT

I have not read all her books yet, but of the ones I have read my top ten would be as follows:

1. And Then There Were None
2. Endless Night
3. Death on the Nile
4. Appointment with Death
5. The Secret Adversary
6. Nemesis
7. Sad Cypress
8. 4:50 from Paddington
9. Death Comes as the End
10. The Mysterious Affair at Styles

So from my list, what types of books can you deduce that I like?

japzy1234 29 Aug 10 at 5:48 a.m. GMT

Evil Under the Sun

And Then There Were None

Death On the Nile

Cards on the Table

Five Little Pigs

Halloween party

Labors of Hercules

I've only read 8 novels

xrysoula 28 Aug 10 at 7:36 p.m. GMT

i agree, go_leafs_nation has done an excellent job with his list. If only I could find the time to be that thorough too! I 'm afraid I have to keep it short, so here 's my top 10:

1) Death On The Nile

2) By The Pricking Of My Thumps

3) Endless Night

4) Taken At The Flood  

5) A Pocket Full Of Rye

6) The Moving Finger

7) The Murder Of Roger Acroyd

8) 4:50 From Paddington

9) Five Little Pigs 

10) A Body In The Library

Well, I must say, I obviously love my Marples!

Puffinjill 19 May 10 at 3 p.m. GMT

Brilliant, go leafs!! I've always loved reading the lists of favourites that get posted up here but no one before has given such detalied explanations of WHY they have chosen them. I love the passion you show for these chosen titles (and all things AC) and the way in which you extol their virtues without once giving away the solutions. Your reviews should encourage others to pick up these books for the first time or reread them with a new insight. Bravo!!

go_leafs_nation 18 May 10 at 4:15 p.m. GMT

I'll only go up to five novels, and the last one is A Pocket Full of Rye. This is a Miss Marple that, once again, mainly takes place in the countryside, and is all the better for it. It revolves around the Fortescue family, and a series of murders take place that seem to have absolutely no rhyme or reason- it is only when Miss Marple arrives that she notices a pattern, and the hunt for a killer begins. I guess I love this for the way seemingly unrelated facts finally are revealed as part of a pattern, and once you see it, you slap your forehead, thinking "Silly of me not to have spotted it!". A very entertaining read.

Honourable mentions must go out to Cat Among the Pigeons, A Murder is Announced, After the Funeral, The Hollow, Taken at the Flood, The Thirteen Problems, The A.B.C. Murders, The Murder at the Vicarage, Five Little Pigs, Crooked House, Curtain, Ordeal by Innocence, Mrs. McGinty's Dead, and probably a bunch more titles that I cannot recall at this moment.

go_leafs_nation 18 May 10 at 4:15 p.m. GMT

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, / Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit /Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, / Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Thus goes the quote that inspires the next novel, The Moving Finger. It is simply a wonderful novel, starring that elegant, adorable spinster sleuth, Miss Marple. I think that some of AC's best novels were "village" novels or "country house" murders. The village in The Moving Finger is wonderful, and very memorable characters populate it, whether it be a major figure like the vicar's wife, Mrs. Dane Calthorp, or a minor character like the boring Colonel Appleton. Yet underneath the seemingly idyllic village, trouble is brewing, as a vicious poison-pen letter writer is terrorizing the village, ripping the community apart, and no one has the courage to do anything about it. The venom behind these letters is conveyed marvelously, and the story itself is a complex puzzle that is simply delicious. And as AC herself points out, it stands the test of time, and is great to read and a fair-play triumph even today.

The Pale Horse is one of my very favourite Christies. Yes, it's one of her later books, and you're not suppose to like them, but I do. It is a smashing supernatural novel- its use of the occult, witchcraft, and the glorious impossible premise behind it reminds me very much of John Dickson Carr. The story is at times terrifying, and that makes it all the more effective. I was personally completely surprised at the solution, which just enhanced my enjoyment of the book even more. But what is most delightful about this book is that it takes my favourite characters of Christieverse (the Calthorps, Mrs. Oliver, a couple matched in Cards on the Table), and sticks them all in the same novel! Thus, Christie cleverly establishes how Poirot and Marple inhabit the same universe without ever having the two meet. Wonderful!

go_leafs_nation 18 May 10 at 4:15 p.m. GMT

I finally managed, on another mystery forum, to make a list of 5 books (the first that came to mind) that I think are among AC's very finest, in no particular order:

Cards on the Table was my very first Christie, and I instantly fell in love with her. Knowing nothing about how Christie wrote, plot devices, or anything of the sort, I was completely and utterly shocked by the ending. Had I read it later on, I would've almost certainly guessed the ending. But what a work! It takes the locked-room and turns the tables completely on it- instead of the room being inaccessible to the suspects, they are all locked inside with the victim, and under the right set of circumstances, anyone could've committed the crime! This made for a very different kind of impossible crime, and I adored it, with one of its best puzzles being the suspects themselves: Who can be trusted? Who is a murderer? Also, Mrs. Oliver makes her first appearance, and it is a pure delight all the way.

And Then There Were None is one of AC's best-known and loved works, for obvious reasons: it a masterpiece of a thriller and mystery. The plot set-up is well-known: ten people are stranded on an island, each with a shady past, and one by one, they are slowly killed off by a fanatic who preaches justice. The growing psychological tension and terror is intense, and just when it seems you've finally figured it out this time, the body count rises, and only the dead are out of suspicion... A surprise ending that is simply stunning, and the journey that takes you there is well worthwile, also.

jane_delawney 07 Dec 09 at 12:41 a.m. GMT

Oh, brilliant, I love lists!

1) And Then There Were None

2) Murder on the Orient Express

3) Curtain

4) Crooked House

5) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

6) Murder in Mesopotamia

7) Murder Is Easy

8) Sleeping Murder

9) Sparkling Cyanide

10) By the Pricking of My Thumb

Puffinjill 08 Nov 09 at 8:32 a.m. GMT

Battle is the central character (well, the central detective anyway) in Towards Zero, you are right, but most people who are a little less familiar with AC's work would probably only be able to name Poirot and Miss Marple as her main characters. Even Tommy and Tuppence would be unfamiliar to the majority of people. So I think any book where Battle appears without Poirot can be classed as a non-series book because these appearences are few and far between and are almost random.

Yes, I know T and T only appeared in a few books but their stories were very much written to include them and their characters ( and show the way they had aged due to the passage of time) whereas Battle is used by AC in a less structured way, dropping him in almost by accident it seems, the provide us with a familiar link. Battle acts almost as a bridge between the very familiar Poirot books and the slightly less comfortable world of the non-series texts. His memories of Poirot's little ways prove crucial to the case in Towards Zero.

If some readers are a little concerned about branching out into a new direction non-series books, one like this will help them over that void as it brings the best of both worlds together.

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Nov 09 at 1:27 p.m. GMT

Again I agree with you Puffin but Battle is the Detective and to some extent the central Character in Towards Zero which is why I am not to sure about it, he is in Murder Is Easy I read without realising he was in it, silly me.

Puffinjill 06 Nov 09 at 7:02 p.m. GMT

I think they do count as non-series books because they don't have the central detectives AC usually wrote about. And I like that about them too. It widens her universe and places both Marple and Poirot in a wider world. Plus, it satisfies the reader's curiosity about how certain characters would behave in their own dramas. And it also makes us happy and helps us feel we are part of the something as we recognise the character, therefore we know her work and are the people she wishes to entertain.

But, as I've said before, they are just GOOD.

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Nov 09 at 5:28 p.m. GMT

I think a couple of the Non-serieds books would have been better if they had had a recurring Character, Allthough I don't like Colonel Race if he had been in They Came To Baghdad and Passenger To Frankfurt they would have helped the books along and in my view Endless Night needed a Character readers had met before for the same reason but Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is one of my favourites, btw are Murder Is Easy, Towards Zero, The Man In The Brown Suit and Sparkling Cyanide classed as Non-series books as they have either Battle or Race who are recurring Characters? Anyway, I love Why Didn't They Ask Evans, Towards Zero and The Man In The Brown Suit and didn't like the others.

Puffinjill 05 Nov 09 at 7 p.m. GMT

Just why I love them too! It's the element of the unknown that draws me to them. Just like you, Bundle, I adore Poirot and Miss Marple and indeed did tend to read these books before I was completely comfortable with AC as a writer. But then it was a delight to discover more of the non-series books as they are so varied in their plots, characters and atmospheres.

I still have my top 10 to complete and I shall be interested in how many non-series books I include!

Bundle_ 04 Nov 09 at 2:30 p.m. GMT

I like the non series books so much because I found that I was more surprised about the plot and how it panned out. In the Poirot's and Marple's you know which tactic they will use to solve the crime, although it is always fun to read it. And for the non series detective(s) you don't know  what their sluething style is.

But he best part for me about the non series is that there are always new characters to explore! I mean there are in the Poirots/Marples but the book usually focuses on them or Hastings, not that that is a bad thing, I like Marple and LOVE Poirot.

But all in all I say the non series always add the exciting element of surprise!

go_leafs_nation 04 Nov 09 at 12:56 p.m. GMT

I was rather reluctant to start the non-series books, too. As soon as I did, though, I simply devoured them.

As for T&T, they're far from my favourites (I find them rather stupid and sometimes rather dull), but they DO star in one of my personal favourites, By the Pricking of My Thumbs.

3rdGirl 04 Nov 09 at 9:10 a.m. GMT

It's only because of you guys that I have even started to read the non-series books. The very first AC I read was T & T's The Secret Adversary which was okaay-ish. Then They Came to Baghdad which I did not like at all. Then I started Poirot and Marple and loved them, so it was only Bundles insistance that I read the two Chimneys books that made me divert from my Poirot mission. I loved them so am happy to read a few more. I've not returned to Tommy and Tuppence either.

Puffinjill 01 Nov 09 at 6:56 p.m. GMT

Yes, I know Bundle, your list was the exception that proves the rule!! I am aware that you did include quite a few non-series books but other lists that have been posted mainly ignore them. I was just interested why this was. Do you know what appeals to you so much about them?

Bundle_ 01 Nov 09 at 4:33 p.m. GMT

Looks like I'm one of the few that have a lot of non series books on my list, I just counted and I have 6!