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Who is your fave detective?

hellofansofachi 03 Apr 09 at 12:40 p.m. GMT

And what is your favorite story featuring your favorite detective? Mine is Hercule Poirot. He's very clever, especially in the novel, Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party. How about you? and why?

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Tommy_A_Jones 03 Apr 09 at 2:49 p.m. GMT

I have said Tommy and Tuppence are my favourites but I don't think I have a favourite but my favourite book with them is Postern of Fate (I think) with Poirot it is A B C Murders, Cards On The Table, or Death In The Clouds, With Miss Marple it is Sleeping Murder, My Favourite with Battle is Towards Zero and I also consider Why Didn't They Ask Evans as one of my Favourites. and Thew Secret of Chimneys although I haven't read Seven Dials yet.

jolley74 03 Apr 09 at 6:44 p.m. GMT

mine is hercule poirots death on the nile and marples 4.50 from paddington

JobyElliottMartin 08 Apr 09 at 7:09 p.m. GMT

I haven't read many books yet, but so far - Poirot ABC murders, Orient express and Death in the Clouds, Marple, 4.50 from Paddington are my favourites.

Frndorfoe 12 Jun 09 at 7:47 p.m. GMT

My favorite detective is Miss Marple. I loved her in all of her books. But my all time favorites are I think Sleeping Murder, The Body in the Library and A Pocket Full of Rye.

akkshay1 14 Jun 09 at 4:46 p.m. GMT

i cant decide among them .. all are unique in their own way.. miss marple, T&T, Poirot... own have got their style and way to look at things.. very difficult to choose...but i prefer Marple and T&T over Poirot..!

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Jun 09 at 10:15 a.m. GMT

Each have their good and bad points Poirot feaqtured in too many books but some of his recurring friends appeared in books n their own, Tommy and Tuppence appeared in too few books but there is a nice whimsical adventurous side to the books and Miss Marple appeared in just the riught amount of books but none of the Characters in her books appeared in books on their own to my knowledge I might be wrong.

Boomcoach 15 Jun 09 at 11:10 a.m. GMT

I think that Miss Marple is the most interesting Christie detective, and the most consistently well written.  Part of this is, no doubt, because there are so many Poirot books that there was bound to be a few poor entries.  Miss Marple falls more into the "leave them wanting more" category.

Poirot was popular with the public and Christie ended up writing Poirot stories well past the time that she was tired of him.  A few stories, "Cat Among the Pigeons" leaps to mind, would probably have been better withoiut including Poirot at all.

Inspector Battle is a character I enjoy, but he is more often a side character than a lead one.

Ariadne Oliver is another character that I enjoy, as much to get a feel for Christie's view of herself than anything about the stories themselves.

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Jun 09 at 1:15 p.m. GMT

1. I think Cat Among The Pigeons needed Poirot although one of the Teachers could have been the sleuth I suppose, 'Appointment With Death' Could have been written without Poirot quite Successfully, the woman who AC made the sleuth in the play could have been the sleuth in the book and Ariadne perhaps could have been the sleuth in 'Dead Man's Folly which would have been nice. and Cards On The Table could have been written without Poirot  even though it is one of my fav's (I don't know what I have accidently toucheed to alter my writing, can someone tell me please how to rectify it.

TheMole 15 Jun 09 at 5:23 p.m. GMT

Mmm.. I see what you mean, Winne, having one of the teachers as a detectiveswould have been a good idea. I agree w/ you in that sense, and I agree w/ Boomcoach in another: it would have been best if Poirot wasn't in Cat Among the Pigeons at all. I also think that there was no need for Poirot to be in After the Funeral, it had more of a non-series vibe to it. However, I am glad he was in it b/c to me the book would have been even more boring if he hadn't! It was interesting to read Poirot in Taken at the Flood, but, again, he wasn't really needed in that book either: it was already great!

Frndorfoe 15 Jun 09 at 5:37 p.m. GMT

Even though almost all the books featuring Miss Marple are my favorites, Sleeping Murder, The Body in the Library and A Pocket Full of Rye are my favorite books with Miss Marple playing an "active" role in them. As in these books would have been incomplete without her. That is why for example, I did not include The Moving Finger among them.

TheMole 15 Jun 09 at 7:22 p.m. GMT

I have never read Murder at the Vicarage but I have seen the Geraldine McEwan version of it.

Frndorfoe if you have read Murder at the Vicarage, what are your views on the book, one meaning being: did you like? And if you have seen the McEwan adapt of it, what are your views on that as well? Did you like how it was portrayed on screen? I am asking b/c I would like to read it but would like to know someone's opinion on it before I do, if it is boring or too much like the adapt then I can wait to read it.

Frndorfoe 15 Jun 09 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

Yes, I have read Murder at the Vicarage. But I have not seen the Geraldine McEwan version of it. So, I cannot say whether the adaptation stayed true to the book. As for the book itself, it is not one of my favorite Miss Marple stories. It is not boring or bad just that I found it to be a bit too long. Also I did not particularly like the narrator of the story who I think is a bit dull.

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Jun 09 at 11:03 a.m. GMT

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I didn't like the fact that the people who admitted to it in the first place were the actual Murderers so you sought of wondcer if perhaps Agatha should have used a better oportunity to launch MM to the world and you get a sought of feeling that you needn't have spent time reading it if that was the soluttion

Frndorfoe 16 Jun 09 at 1:05 p.m. GMT

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Agatha Christie had written something like the simplest solution is often the real solution and the suspect is usually the husband in case the wife is the victim and vice versa. I think Murder at the Vicarage is an example of that.

TheMole 16 Jun 09 at 4:22 p.m. GMT

It is not boring or bad just that I found it to be a bit too long. Also I did not particularly like the narrator of the story who I think is a bit dull.

I'll wait to read it! I mean, dull characters plus the book is too long! It sounds like yet another After the Funeral!

Thank you Frndorfoe!

Frndorfoe 16 Jun 09 at 5:22 p.m. GMT

You are welcome Mole. Hmm...but I kind of liked After the Funeral!