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Welcome to the new Christie website!  We hope that you like the new site - please let us know your thoughts!

We need your story reviews!

Moderator2 11 May 11 at 5:18 p.m. GMT

Are you keen to share your in-depth thoughts on your favourite Christie stories? If so we want to hear from you!

The best analysis of any Christie story will be immortalised on agathachristie.com next to the story it's talking about, the author of the review fully credited (the review may be edited to fit the space - so try to make it less than 1000 words - and if necessary post it in segments as max characters for a forum reply are 2000).

The author of any chosen review will also receive their choice of Christie novel (x1 book) and a special 120th anniversary pin badge. This is an open contest, we will withdraw the competition when we have enough reviews - so get writing and post your reviews here in this forum!

The stories we would like to see reviewed are:

And Then There Were None

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

A Murder is Announced

Murder on the Orient Express

The Thirteen Problems

Towards Zero

Endless Night

Crooked House

Ordeal by Innocence

The Moving Finger

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GKCfan 13 Aug 11 at 6:26 a.m. GMT

(PART 5 OF 5)

And Then There Were None is Christie’s bestselling novel by far, and with good reason.  It is the first Christie novel that many people read, and it is an excellent place to start one’s introduction to Christie’s work.  There is something irresistibly compelling about watching a set of ten murderers being assaulted by their own consciences, and it is exhilarating for an armchair detective to attempt to identify the killer before the process of elimination makes the job too easy.  This is one of Christie’s darkest and greatest novels, an adventure and an intellectual challenge to the reader that is not to be missed.

GKCfan 13 Aug 11 at 6:26 a.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 5)

Soon after dinner, one character chokes to death after dinner from a poisoned drink.  By the next morning, another character has died during sleep from a sedative overdose.  Not long after each death, one of a set of ten prominently displayed china figures is smashed.  It soon becomes obvious that U.N. Owen is inflicting retribution for past crimes, killing off the guests one at a time in a manner matching the nursery rhyme.  It is also clear that one of the guests is U.N. Owen, but despite their best efforts, they cannot identify the guilty party, and the list of suspects dwindles as the body count rises and the suspense heightens.

What sets this novel apart is the way Christie peers into her characters’ unsettled minds.  Over the course of the book, all of the formerly complacent killers slowly but inexorably grapple with the fact that they are responsible for the deaths of other human beings, and we see that guilt is a very real and powerful force.  Throughout the book, Christie provides glimpses of each of their fraying mental states, and the main clues are intangible, many of which are mostly in the thoughts of each suspect. Only one character’s thoughts are those of a predator rather than prey, but Christie has so skillfully crafted her prose that only extraordinarily careful reading will reveal the truth. 

GKCfan 13 Aug 11 at 6:25 a.m. GMT

(PART 3 OF 5)

A dark nursery rhyme, “Ten Little Soldiers,” is prominently displayed on the island:

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier boys going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Soldier boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Soldier boy left all alone;

He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

GKCfan 13 Aug 11 at 6:24 a.m. GMT

(PART 2 OF 5)

The cast of characters is among Christie’s best, each one carefully developed and possessing a guilty conscience.  Their indelible characterizations have caused them to become archetypes in mystery fiction.  Vera Claythorne, a former governess accused of allowing the child in her care to drown.  Philip Lombard, a roguish adventurer whose attempts to save his own skin led to the destruction of many African natives.  Lawrence Wargrave, a magistrate with the reputation for being a “hanging judge,” who might have sent an innocent man to the gallows.  Emily Brent, a self-righteous spinster whose harshness drove a servant to suicide. William Blore, a former police officer and current private investigator who accused the wrong man of a crime, leading to the man’s death in prison.  General John MacArthur, a military man whose wife’s infidelity led him to send her lover to a violent death on the battlefield.  Doctor Edward Armstrong, a respected surgeon whose alcoholism led to the death of a patient on the operating table.  Anthony Marston, a carefree playboy whose reckless driving led his running over a pair of children.  Finally, Thomas and Ethel Rogers are the servants on the island, but their neglect of a former employer proved fatal.

GKCfan 13 Aug 11 at 6:23 a.m. GMT

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE REVIEW

By GKCfan

 

(PART 1 OF 5)

Have you ever gazed into the mind of a murderer?  In And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie takes the reader into the minds– and souls– of ten people who almost got away with murder. Ten individuals, with nothing in common save for the fact that the law cannot touch them for the deaths on their consciences, are invited to a luxurious mansion on an isolated island. Soon after they arrive, a gramophone record plays a disturbing message accusing each of them of murder… and an unknown figure known only as “U.N. Owen,” (a play on “unknown”), begins dispensing justice to the couplets of a macabre nursery rhyme.

In the current edition of the novel, the nursery rhyme in question is “Ten Little Soldiers,” and the name of the island where the book takes place is called “Soldier Island.”  Earlier versions of the novel used different terms, but the most recent form has been bowdlerized of all ethnic terminology. Despite these cosmetic changes, the plot of the novel remains exactly the same. The premise of strangers voyaging to an out-of-the-way spot, only to be picked off one at a time by a mysterious killer has been utilized and parodied so many times that it has become a cliché, but it was Agatha Christie who made this plot famous, and no one has ever done it better than she has in And Then There Were None, and no number of derivative rip-offs or affectionate homages can dilute the power of the original.

GKCfan 12 Aug 11 at 12:08 a.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 4)

Given the huge number of suspects and clues, it is understandable that a reader might wonder how Christie is going to tie it all together, but as it turns out, every clue plays a logical role in the mystery, and Poirot is able to produce not one, but two brilliant solutions, the first plausible but false, the second fantastic yet true.  At the book's end, Poirot is faced with a moral dilemma unlike almost anything else he has faced so far in his career, and the reverberations of the case on the Belgian detective are subtly hinted at in later novels, such as Appointment with Death and Curtain.

A couple of real-life events inspired Murder on the Orient Express.  The Lindbergh kidnapping case, where the famous aviator’s young son was abducted from the family home and discovered murdered soon afterwards, sparking a major news frenzy and a criminal case that would be dubbed “the trial of the century,” is a major influence on a crucial subplot.  Additionally, the Orient Express really was stalled in a snowdrift for nearly a week in the 1920’s, and the crew and passengers only managed to save themselves through a serious effort.

A word of warning for readers new to Christie: be careful not to read Cards on the Table before reading Murder on the Orient Express first.  A single line of dialogue, hidden in Chapter 23 (“The Evidence of a Pair of Silk Stockings”), will spoil the ending of Murder on the Orient Express for the observant reader.  Unfortunately, the solution has been leaked frequently in popular culture and by critics with no sense of decency, so it is highly recommended that readers enjoy Murder on the Orient Express as soon as possible– the book is far too good for the ending to be spoiled.

GKCfan 12 Aug 11 at 12:06 a.m. GMT

(PART 3 OF 4)

There are a near-record number of suspects on the Orient Express, including the French train conductor Pierre Michel, the deceased’s American personal secretary Hector McQueen, British valet Edward Henry Masterman, garrulous American traveler Mrs. Caroline Hubbard, Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson, exiled Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, Hungarian diplomats Count and Countess Andrenyi, British military man Colonel Arbuthnot, American private investigator Cyrus Hardman, Italian immigrant car salesman Antonio Foscarelli, English lady Miss Mary Debenham, and the Princess’s German lady’s maid Fräulein Hildegarde Schmidt. Despite the huge cast, every person on the train is an intriguing character, and Christie wastes no space– every interview and scene provides evidence that is crucial to solving the crime.

While Poirot has declared on many instances that psychology is the best way to solve cases, and that the search for tangible clues is best left to bloodhound-like police officers with more energy than brains, Poirot uncovers a great many pieces of material evidence on the Orient Express, including a scarlet kimono, a shiny button, a pipe cleaner, a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, a spare train conductor’s uniform, a stopped pocket watch, a charred letter, and a bloodstained dagger.  While each piece of evidence seems to implicate one suspect, another clue exonerates that person.

GKCfan 12 Aug 11 at 12:05 a.m. GMT

 (PART 2 OF 4)

Poirot is on his way back to England after solving a mystery in Palestine (this is one of several pieces of evidence in the Christie canon proving that not all of Poirot’s cases since his emigration from Belgium have been recorded), and on an unusually crowded train ride on the sumptuous Orient Express, a mysterious and unpleasant man, Samuel Ratchett, offers Poirot a generous fee if the great detective can protect him from the threats being made on his life.  In one of Poirot’s greatest lines, he declines Ratchett’s offer, explaining that, “I do not like your face.”

Soon afterwards, the Orient Express crashes into a snowdrift and is unable to travel further.  The next morning, Ratchett is found murdered in his locked room, dead from multiple stab wounds.  Poirot’s old friend M. Bouc, a train company executive, convinces Poirot to take the case in order to preserve the Orient Express’s reputation.  With the help of Dr. Constantine, a Greek physician, Poirot delves into the case and soon discovers that the murder has its roots in a past crime: the kidnapping and death of a young American girl, Daisy Armstrong, and the subsequent destruction of her family. 

GKCfan 12 Aug 11 at 12:04 a.m. GMT

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS REVIEW

By GKCfan

 

(PART 1 OF 4)

When finishing Murder on the Orient Express, one of Agatha Christie’s most inventive and audacious mysteries, many readers, when confronted with the surprise ending, will respond with shock and horror: “Wait a minute!  How could we possibly be expected to have guessed that?  That isn’t fair– Christie can’t do that!”  To these protestations, we can only imagine Christie simply but firmly saying, “I can do that, and as you can see, I have.  It is only your own fault if you did not leave your mind open to all of the possibilities.  I played perfectly fair with you– I gave you all of the clues and you had every chance to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.  Better luck next time.”

Murder on the Orient Express is justifiably one of Christie’s most famous novels, and for more reasons than just the mind-blowing shocker ending.  The exotic location of the world’s most luxurious train, a large cast of characters from assorted international locales, and Hercule Poirot at the top of his game all come together to form a shining star of a whodunit.

GKCfan 11 Aug 11 at 7:52 a.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 4)

If there is any flaw in the book, it is the presence of one possibly extraneous and illogical murder that takes a great deal of ingenuity to explain– the reasons behind the death that are stated in the book simply do not hold water after casual scrutiny.  Some fans may worry that the book is paced too slowly, but readers who are waiting for a murder will miss the scores of lovely and disturbing touches Christie utilizes as the suspense snowballs. 

Christie explored the problem of evil frequently in her works, and Endless Night is one of her most affecting and absorbing explorations of the great problem facing the world: the fact that a person can be provided with every opportunity to live a good life, and still choose evil for painfully inadequate reasons.  The murders are even more shocking when one realizes just how wasteful and unnecessary they really are.  In Endless Night, Christie has managed to blend mystery, romance, and horror together in a unique tale of tragedy, twisted desires, and innocence squandered.  Christie stretched her horizons with this book, and breaking the mold paid great dividends.

GKCfan 11 Aug 11 at 7:51 a.m. GMT

(PART 3 OF 4)

Other than the squabbling between Michael and Greta, there are other problems that stand to derail Michael and Ellie’s happiness.  The pair hires Rudolph Santonix, a brilliant architect to build a luxury home for them, but soon after construction is completed, Mrs. Lee returns with more curses– and rocks to throw through windows.  A little venom goes a long way, and the placid happiness that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers expect to enjoy is rapidly frayed by nervous tension, as threats of doom cloud their days and replace peace with apprehension. In the tradition of Christie’s best “country village” novels, a handful of intriguing townspeople are introduced.  As they make the acquaintance of their new neighbors, some are charming, others disconcerting.  By the end of the book, all of the villagers have had their own small roles to play in the drama, some as victims, others as detectives who cannot prove their conclusions until tragedy strikes again.

Endless Night is widely credited as being inspired in part by Christie’s Miss Marple short story “The Case of the Caretaker,” so the well-read Christie fan is certain to find several striking plot parallels.  No recurring detective appears in this story, but the particularly subtle and compellingly-developed characters make this one of Christie’s most psychologically complex works.  Christie writes every page with a sure hand, crafting a plot that is unlike any of her other mysteries, yet still managing to craft a solvable puzzle, though clues are extremely discreet and implied rather than directly stated.  The clues are gently sprinkled throughout the dialogue and inferred through characters’ interactions and reactions.

GKCfan 11 Aug 11 at 7:50 a.m. GMT

(PART 2 OF 4)

The central character in Endless Night is its narrator, Michael Rogers, a young man who stumbles from one menial job to another, dreaming of romance, wealth, and a beautiful house.  Michael has a slightly uneasy relationship with his mother, who clearly loves him but is simultaneously worried about her aimless progeny’s future.  Michael’s pallid everyday existence is suddenly and unexpectedly brightened the day he meets Ellie, a beautiful, sweet, innocent young American woman.  They quickly fall for each other, and during the course of their courtship they discover Gipsy’s Acre, a lovely plot of land that would be the perfect place for their dream home, if only they could afford it.  While there, the young pair is met by a mysterious woman named Mrs. Lee, who threatens them with a curse if they ever build upon Gipsy’s Acre.  Of course, neither Michael nor Ellie puts much stock in curses, but there is something about Mrs. Lee that leaves them disconcerted.

Michael and Ellie marry, but Ellie has been keeping a secret.  She is an heiress to a massive fortune, and she has used a little of her vast wealth to buy Gipsy’s Acre.  Though Michael’s feelings towards Ellie do not change after learning that he is married to a millionaire many times over, he soon becomes apprehensive of the other people in Ellie’s life, including a stepmother who is obsessed with her own financial security, the family lawyer who seems to know far more than he is willing to tell, and Greta, Ellie’s best friend.  Michael and Greta clash almost as soon as they are introduced, and Ellie is forced to act as an intermediary to relieve the friction between the two people she cares for most in the world.

GKCfan 11 Aug 11 at 7:49 a.m. GMT

ENDLESS NIGHT REVIEW

By GKCfan

 

(PART 1 OF 4)

Every night and every morn,

Some to misery are born,

Every morn and every night,

Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,

Some are born to endless night.

                        –William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

 

Widely regarded as the best of the novels that Christie wrote during the last decade of her life, Endless Night is unique among Christie’s books to the point that the reader might be forgiven for believing that this one of her Mary Westmacott romance novels.  Save for a brief reference to a sudden death years earlier, the murders in this book are not revealed until very late in the novel.  By that point, Christie makes up for lost time, and six deaths lie on the killer’s conscience before the final page.

It is not a spoiler to reveal that Christie reuses a clever solution that she had used years earlier to great effect, since this review will not specify which surprise ending makes a second appearance.  Agatha Christie used so many clever tricks of literary misdirection that she can be forgiven for using them more than once, perhaps even praised for the repetition, since few readers will expect her to repeat a masterstroke.  But repeat it she does, and she reuses it brilliantly.

ErkutSoyer 06 Aug 11 at 6:08 p.m. GMT

I don't read A murder is Announced,The Thirteen Problems,Towards Zero.Also There arenn't Endless Night,Crooked House,Ordeal by Innocence and The Moving Finger in Turkey.

ErkutSoyer 06 Aug 11 at 6:06 p.m. GMT

(3)Murder on the Orient Express:My 8th book but my best I've read.It has a different place in my hearth because crime started Turkey.And I'm Turkish.And solving the murder is very hard.I think nobody didn't solve the crime.You must read this book.It is the best!

ErkutSoyer 06 Aug 11 at 6:04 p.m. GMT

(2)The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:Dr. Sheppard tells the story.I didn't like this book because a chracter tells it in first pages.But I love it after farther pages.I didn't estimate the murderer.Also atmosphere is magnificent.

ErkutSoyer 06 Aug 11 at 6:03 p.m. GMT

(2)The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:Dr. Sheppard tells the story.I didn't like this book because a chracter tells it in first pages.But I love it after farther pages.I didn't estimate the murderer.Also atmosphere is magnificent.

ErkutSoyer 06 Aug 11 at 5:58 p.m. GMT

(1)And Then There Were None:It hasn't a detective but it is my second best book.It is some sadictic but it is magnificent book.It was my first book.Its mark is 10/10

GKCfan 02 Aug 11 at 11:05 p.m. GMT

(PART 5 OF 5)

Ordeal by Innocence is one of Christie’s darkest books, but “dark” does not equate to depressing in this case.  Early in the book, a character declares that it is not the guilty who matter, but the innocent.  That is why it is so important to solve murders.  If the truth is not revealed, then every innocent person suspected of the crime becomes a victim.

GKCfan 02 Aug 11 at 11:04 p.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 5)

This fact adds an added twist and complexity to the characters’ emotions.  It is one thing, as is the case in many of Christie’s books, when an unpleasant person dies– no one feels particularly sorry for the victim.  In this book, even the characters who are innocent of murder are plagued by a strong feeling of guilt, for they cannot shake the feeling that they could have felt more grateful or more warmly towards Rachel.  Rachel Argyle becomes one of Christie’s better-developed victims.  Often, they die off and are referenced only as a plot point.  Here, the characters are held back from moving on in life not merely by their own personal feelings of suspicion towards each other, but by their feelings of guilt for not having loved a dead woman more.

Christie called Ordeal by Innocence and Crooked House her personal favorite novels.  The two books have several points of similarity.  Both are devoid of recurring characters, both center on a family torn apart by murder and suspicion, and in both novels, Christie tells the reader the solution to the crime, even though only the most astute readers pick up on the clue.  While Crooked House gave the reader a thorough psychological profile of the perpetrator, Ordeal by Innocence has a passage where the way the murder is committed is explained early in the book, but it is so cleverly concealed in a conversation that readers can be excused for dismissing it as expository dialogue. 

GKCfan 02 Aug 11 at 11:03 p.m. GMT

(PART 3 of 5)

Or are they?  The rather unfortunate fact is that this family is not as close as it ought to be, which is rather a common problem amongst Christie’s large families.  The family patriarch’s relationship with his late wife had grown distant by the time of her death, and the adoptive siblings, though they have varying degrees of affection for each other, don’t really see themselves as brothers and sisters (which, as a nascent romance between two of them indicates, is in some ways lucky).  The romantic relationships between three pairs of characters are violently shaken by the prospect that one of them may be a killer.  As the novel unfolds, these relationships had problems from the start.  One relationship presumably survives the ordeal, but two do not.  Even though there are some pairings-off at the end of the novel, some of the innocent characters are left in positions where they may not live happily ever after.

Rachel Argyle, the deceased family matriarch, is a very different victim from other murdered family heads from Christie novels.  Unlike Simeon Lee or Mrs. Boynton, Rachel Argyle is not a malevolent or cruel figure.  She cares about her family, and yet due to various factors, she was never been able to turn the collection of people under her roof into a real family.  Her great tragedy is perhaps the fact that she could inspire respect but not love.  One of the greatest stumbling blocks to a happy home was the fact that the late Rachel Argyle was free with her advice.  She often told those around her to act in a sensible manner contrary to what they desired– and she was usually right.  That habit made it rather hard for those close to her to feel much warmth or affection towards her.

GKCfan 02 Aug 11 at 11:02 p.m. GMT

(PART 2 OF 5)

That man was Arthur Calgary, who, as fate would have it, suffered from a bout of amnesia and then traveled out of the country on an expedition.  By the name Calgary recovered and came back to England, Jacko was long dead.  Calgary initially believes that his revelation will be a comfort to the family, but instead, all anyone can think about is how their own lives and reputations may be affected by the news.  Jacko was the perfect choice for the killer, since everyone knew him to be a ne’er-do-well, and no one was horribly aggrieved to see him sent to jail. 

In some Christie mysteries focusing on a murder that wracks a family, the killer is an outsider, leaving the family intact and happy after the truth is revealed.  It’s fairly clear early on that the solution to Ordeal by Innocence cannot be nearly so convenient, since all of the potential suspects are members of the family, or at least employees who are as good as family.

GKCfan 02 Aug 11 at 11:01 p.m. GMT

ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE REVIEW

By GKCfan

 

(PART 1 of 5)

 

The heart of Ordeal by Innocence comes from one of Christie’s most common and most profound themes.  When a murder is committed, there are more victims than just the deceased.  All of the innocent suspects are under the shadow of suspicion, and if the guilty party is not identified and brought to justice, the lives of everybody connected to the case might conceivably be ruined.  After all, it’s hard to carry on a romantic relationship, build a position of trust in the community, or even enjoy a modicum of day-to-day happiness when nearly everyone around you thinks that you might be a killer.

Ordeal by Innocence centers on the Argyle household and how their lives are upended when the explorer Dr. Arthur Calgary visits them with life-shattering information.  A couple of years earlier, the family matriarch was bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker, but most of the household, consisting of her husband, their large brood of adopted children, and the household staff, escaped the shadow of suspicion because Jacko Argyle, an adopted son with criminal tendencies, was swiftly arrested, tried, and convicted for the crime, and he died in jail soon afterwards from an illness.  Jacko insisted that he’d had an alibi– he was hitchhiking at the time of the murder– but the police never found the man who gave him a ride.

GKCfan 03 Jul 11 at 9:51 a.m. GMT

(PART 5 OF 5)

Ultimately, Crooked House is a tale of damaged people and how they strive to find happiness in their lives.  By the book’s end, the characters that find some measure of peace and happiness are the ones who love at least one other person selflessly.  Petty grudges and various extensions of the seven deadly sins leave the remaining characters in assorted states of unhappiness and disappointment.  Crooked House is one of the most poignant and beautiful of Christie’s works, because of its gentle yet unflinching depictions of its characters, as well as its brutally honest explorations of how the “crookedness” inherent in many of the characters winds up harming them and those around them.  Crooked House really needs to be read twice, for a second reading immediately after the first will show just how carefully Christie plotted the book, sprinkled out the clues, and intricately outlined every character’s arc.  Crooked House is not just a murder mystery with a one-two punch of a surprise ending, it is also a simultaneously grim, sad, and moving depiction of the frailties of the human soul.

GKCfan 03 Jul 11 at 9:51 a.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 5)

Uniquely among Christie’s works, Crooked House has six different characters pursuing their investigations of the murders.  Charles and Sophia are the only ones to work in tandem, for even the two police detectives (one of whom is Charles’s father) are pursuing separate paths of investigation.  Even the young lovers take diverging paths of inquiry, for Sophia is all too anxious for the guilty party to be among the members of the household that she dislikes, and Charles is willing to explore alternatives that Sophia refuses to consider.  Two other members of the family also investigate the crime, one openly, the other secretly.  Of these six characters, three will solve the case through very different methods.  One’s investigation is an elaborate sham, performed for a twisted purpose.  Another only learns the truth when another character reveals it to that person, and the last probably never finds out who the guilty party truly is.  Indeed, between the six investigators, three solutions are provided to the crime.  Ironically, the true solution is known to only three living souls by the book’s end, though they have good reason for keeping the truth quiet.

GKCfan 03 Jul 11 at 9:50 a.m. GMT

(PART 3 OF 5)

 

Nearly all of the members of the household are “crooked” in various ways.  Philip Leonides, Sophia’s father, has been warped by his desire to please his father and by sibling rivalry.  Aristide’s other son, Roger, is an amiable and decent man, but he has no head for running the family business, and indeed, the very idea of major responsibility leaves him fraught with stress.  Magda, Sophia’s mother, is an actress obsessed with stardom and with playing parts outside of her acting range.  Clemency, Roger’s wife, is intensely jealous of the attention Roger pays to the rest the family, and her deepest desire to take him away from his loved ones so she can have him all to herself.  Nannie is violently prejudiced against Catholics.  Grandson Eustace is physically disabled.  Granddaughter Josephine is a highly intelligent girl, yet everybody agrees that she is a rather odd child.  Brenda, the young widow, is selfish, self-pitying, subtly manipulative, and hostile to the rest of the family.  Laurence Brown, the tutor, has the moral resolve to be a conscientious objector to war, yet he lacks the strength to stay out of a romance with a married woman.  The only members of the Leonides household to be essentially well-adjusted are Sophia, whose strength of character has deeply impressed her father, and Edith de Haviland, the perceptive and devoted great-aunt whose deep love for her family is simultaneously her greatest strength and greatest weakness.

GKCfan 03 Jul 11 at 9:49 a.m. GMT

(PART 2 OF 5)

Crooked House is compellingly narrated by Charles Hayward, a nice young man who wants to marry Sophia Leonides, the charming granddaughter of Aristide Leonides, an elderly millionaire who has recently been murdered.  Someone switched his insulin with poisonous eyedrops, and now the entire household is under suspicion, including Aristide’s sons, their wives and children, Aristide’s sister-in-law, his young trophy wife, the children’s tutor (and paramour to the dead man’s spouse), and the family’s longtime nanny.

Christie loved to use nursery rhymes in her titles, and this one comes from this famous ditty:

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence behind a crooked stile.

He had a crooked cat that caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

GKCfan 03 Jul 11 at 9:48 a.m. GMT

CROOKED HOUSE REVIEW

By GKCfan

 

(PART 1 OF 5)

Agatha Christie considered Crooked House to be one of her personal favorite novels, and it is undoubtedly a tour de force by an expert at the top of her game.  About three-quarters of the way through the novel, Christie tells the reader the identity of the killer.  She doesn’t provide the culprit’s actual name, but a skilled criminologist does give an extensive psychological profile of the type of person who would commit the murders in this book, listing the personal qualities and attitudes that such a killer would possess.  All the reader has to do is run through the list of suspects one by one and find the character that matches the profile.  And yet… all but the most discerning readers somehow manage to miss the solution, despite Christie’s efforts to steer the reader in the right direction.

GKCfan 27 Jun 11 at 1:14 a.m. GMT

(PART FIVE OF FIVE)

One reason for the book being so enjoyable is the cast of minor characters, many of whom are only present for a few pages but who still manage to create an indelible impression.  There’s Megan Hunter, a slightly childish but deceptively brave young woman who catches Jerry’s eye.  Elsie Holland is an extraordinarily attractive young governess who might have swept Jerry off his feet if only she hadn’t spoken to him.  Partridge is a cook and housekeeper of the old school, who doesn’t care much for deviations from her set standards of employer/employee relations, and doesn’t make any bones about making her displeasure felt when she believes the Burtons are not living up to her expectations as employers.  Mr. Pye is a wealthy man with many interests, who has an unsettling effect on most of the people around him.  Aimee Griffith is the local community organizer, a hearty woman cast from a mold similar to P.G. Wodehouse’s infamous character Honoria Glossop. Last but certainly not least is Mrs. Maud Dane Calthorp, the eccentric vicar’s wife who has a nose for detecting when evil is present, and who has the bright idea of calling in Miss Marple.

With murder, romance, blackmail, extortion, lies, adultery, and a fashion makeover, The Moving Finger has something for every reader.  Here, Christie combines her skill at plotting with her talent for depicting little miniature portraits of all angles of village life, and succeeds spectacularly.

GKCfan 27 Jun 11 at 1:13 a.m. GMT

(PART FOUR OF FIVE)

This is an allusion to the Biblical story of Belshazzar’s Feast, from the Book of Daniel, where a supernatural hand scrawled an illegible phrase upon a castle wall, and only the Prophet Daniel could read the writing on the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,” and translated the phrase to predict that King Belshazzar had been found wanting, and his days were numbered and his kingdom would soon be divided by rivals.

The literary and Biblical references have strong parallels to the plot, although I can’t go into too much detail without creating spoilers.  Indeed, Christie is, as usual, scrupulously fair with her presentation of clues and red herrings, yet most of the vital clues are sufficiently subtle so that even the most discerning reader might overlook them.  One of the stumbling blocks to solving the crime is Christie’s skill with misdirection.  On multiple occasions, a perspective is forced in order to distract the reader from a simple explanation. 

GKCfan 27 Jun 11 at 1:12 a.m. GMT

(PART THREE OF FIVE)

The abridgement is evident early on.  The original British version opens with a longer prologue where Jerry Burton discusses his injuries at greater depth, as well as Joanna’s disillusionment with her social scene, as well as some details as to how the siblings come to rent their house.  The American version cuts out a few pages, rearranges some information here and there, and opens with Jerry’s recollection of the arrival of his first anonymous letter.  Throughout the abridged version of the novel, conversations are cropped or deleted altogether, thereby cutting down on the village’s atmosphere and character development, although the vital clues have largely remained intact.

On a literary and historical note, the title of this book comes from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.  In Edward FitzGerald’s translation, one portion of the lengthy poem reads:

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.

GKCfan 27 Jun 11 at 1:11 a.m. GMT

(PART TWO OF FIVE)

A series of poison pen letters– anonymous notes composed of letters cut out from the pages of a book, accusing various villagers of assorted misdeeds and scandals– are circulated throughout the town.  At first Jerry and the authorities dismiss them as mere mean-spirited pranks, but when one prominent resident presumably commits suicide by poison when one letter accuses her of bearing a child through an adulterous affair, the situation becomes far more serious.  Before long, another body turns up, this time a definite victim of murder.  As seemingly friendly faces increasingly appear to hide dark secrets and unsettling depths, the Burtons and the police launch a full-scale investigation to find out the identity of the anonymous letter-writer.

It may come as a shock to many American readers to learn that they have only read part of the original novel.  Although over the years Christie’s work has been edited in various ways for American audiences, ranging from altered titles to the deletion of British terminology, never before has the American published work missed a few dozen pages of the original British version.  I have not found any definite reason for the heavy abridgement, but at a guess, the book was cropped due to the fact that it was 1942 and American publishers wanted to save valuable paper, as well as metal for typesetting.  I reiterate that this is only a guess, and could very well be wrong.  After all, no other WWII-era Christies were edited at this level.

GKCfan 27 Jun 11 at 1:11 a.m. GMT

THE MOVING FINGER

A review by GKCfan

 

(PART ONE OF FIVE)

The Moving Finger is a Miss Marple mystery, but the dear lady’s role in this story is far smaller than it is in any other one of her novels.  Miss Marple does not appear until four-fifths of the way into the story, and even then she is only present in two scenes.  In the first, Miss Marple is given a brief overview of the facts of the case, which provides her with more than sufficient information to determine the identity of the guilty party, thereby allowing her to explain the solution to the mystery in the book’s penultimate scene.

The novel’s narrator, Jerry Burton, a WWII aviator who was badly injured in a crash, performs most of the detection in this book.  Sent to the seemingly placid village of Lymstock, Jerry and his sister Joanna (who is recuperating from the latest of a string of failed romances) expect that the dull routine of country life will help to mend Joanna’s broken heart and Jerry’s battered body.  In real life the pair would probably get the monotony that they desire, but this is an Agatha Christie novel, and almost before the Burton siblings have a chance to unpack their luggage, they become embroiled in a web of scandal and death.

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 1:07 a.m. GMT

Okay I worked it out.

For some reason if I copied direct from MS Word the website submit form seemed to think each segment was at least 20,000 characters! but if I first copied it into plain text (I used notepad) it was then fine :)

Hope this helps if anyone else is having issues.

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 1:02 a.m. GMT

My review of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” PART 5:

It is hardly surprising that the book sold so well, nor that it was the basis for a successful play (and this in turn became the basis for the film Alibi). Christie’s experience with the playwright must have been a great trial, wishing as he did to make Poirot a much younger man complete with sex appeal (a desire thankfully thwarted) and transform Caroline Shepard into a love interest for the great detective (alas the latter prevailed). This seems to have inspired the experiences of Mrs Oliver in “Mrs McGinty’s Dead” and it is not a huge stretch of the imagination to believe the plot itself allowed Christie a small revenge on the playwright.

The clues however are there to be seen and if they are camouflaged so well that the readers are forced into the role of Hastings, seeing facts but missing the important implications, then this is no bad thing. A second reading, when the secret is already known, rewards the reader by showing just how cleverly the trick is achieved and that is a special joy in itself.

(end)

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 1:02 a.m. GMT

My review of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” PART 4:

Beyond the Sheppards there are other delightful comic elements. Early on Poirot, in a moment of frustration, hurls the biggest of his vegetable marrows over his garden wall. It lands with a “repellent squelch” at the feet of his neighbour, Dr Sheppard himself, who is convinced that “Porrott” is a retired hairdresser. Then there are the passages with the unpleasant and grasping Mrs Ackroyd (sister-in-law to the victim) whose transparent and self-serving deceptions fool no one, except possibly herself.

Whilst the book is a prime example of Christie’s work and the characters vivid and enjoyable, the true strength of the book lies in the identity of the killer which managed to provoke not only polarised reactions in Christie’s readers but also amongst critics and other writers. The debate raged as to whether she had played fair or cheated the readers, created her best work or merely a “tasteless and unfortunate let-down”.

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 1:01 a.m. GMT

My review of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” PART 3:

Our narrator and guide is the village doctor, James Sheppard, a middle-aged man living somewhat under the thumb of his spinster sister, Caroline. In both of these we see elements of other more famous  Christie creations. Dr Sheppard, like Hastings before him, trails after Poirot, trying to see the events through the great detective’s eyes and, again like Hastings, fails miserably. He remarks ruefully near the very end of the book that “all through the case there have been things that puzzled me hopelessly”. He also shares with Hastings a fondness for life in South America and a certain  gullibility when it comes to unwise investment opportunities.

In Caroline Sheppard we have almost the makings of an early Miss Marple. Whilst she does not quite have the unerring brilliance of Marple’s conclusions she does have similar instincts and a knack for guessing the truth. It frustrates her brother deeply that she “should arrive at the truth simply by a kind of inspired guesswork”.

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 12:59 a.m. GMT

My review of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” PART 2:

Within a day Roger Ackroyd too lies dead and it becomes clear that there is more than one possible motive for his murder. Step-son, niece and sister-in-law are all financially dependant upon Ackroyd, who despite being a man of great wealth is penny-pinching when it comes to his own expenditures and that of his dependents.  His household staff have secrets of their own and even his old friend Major Hector Blunt has something he is not telling. 

Enter Hercule Poirot who having retired from both detection and London has of late moved into the village to master the cultivation of vegetable marrows. He is persuaded by Ackroyd’s niece to investigate the crime and also, perhaps, to clear the chief suspect. Though he declares that if he accepts the case there will be no halting him later and warns that perhaps in the end it might be wished that the matter had been left with the local police.

Sparrow 25 Jun 11 at 12:57 a.m. GMT

My review of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” PART 1:

First published in 1926 by Collins and with a plot suggested by Lord Mountbatten “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is arguably one of Christie's best works  and, at the time at least, her most controversial. In it Christie lays one of her most brilliant traps, using the readers own preconceptions to lead them astray to the degree that when the climax is finally reached and everything revealed it is almost shocking. A technique she later echoes in “Crooked House”. Even the dedication to her sister, “To Punkie, who likes an orthodox detective story” belies the true nature of the story.

“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” begins with the suicide of a local woman, but it is quickly apparent that the chain of events actually began a year previously when, driven beyond endurance, the same woman had murdered her brutish husband. In the twelve months since she has been ravaged not only by guilt, but by a blackmailer who exerted greater and greater pressure upon her.  When at last she confesses all to the man she loves, Roger Ackroyd, she sees in his face the enormity of what she has done and understands that a life must call for a life. In her last words to him she calls upon Ackroyd to punish the blackmailer who has made the last year a “hell upon earth” 

Sparrow 23 Jun 11 at 8:05 p.m. GMT

For some reason when I try to submit my review this keeps misreporting my segments as being far bigger than they are and in excess of 2000 characters and won't let me post it.

Is there either an e-mail I can send my review to or some other place to post?

ChristieFanBlogger 17 Jun 11 at 1:59 p.m. GMT

I've reviewed plenty of these at:

http://christiefan.wordpress.com/

But my reviews are also somewhat of a personal diary.  Not sure if they would count or not.  Reviews included are:  Murder on the Orient Express, Towards Zero, Endless Night, Crooked House, Ordeal by Innocence and The Moving Finger.

adbarbos 17 Jun 11 at 12:10 a.m. GMT

And Then There Was None is an outstanding book from Agatha Christie that diverges from the canonical plots that are usually presented by the “Queen of Crime”.  Ten strangers are invited for an Island by the mysterious couple “U. N. Owen”, whose sound strangely resembles “Unknown”, as the guests latter recognize. Unexpectedly, each visitor is accused from a crime. None of them was condemned before by the official authorities but could be possible their condemnation by someone else?

Strictly following the nursery rhyme of “The Ten Little Indians”, each guest fades away from the story by the ingenious hand of Agatha and from an unknown killer that is masked under the cover of innocent guest. As I literally knew this book, long time a go from a Portuguese translation, this is the real “invitation to the death”.

Far from being a spoiler, the rhyme provides the densest and stifling component of this refined recipe. The reader is invited for a journey through this dark story of murder, and even psychological drama, during which he is able to predict how the deaths will be performed. And, even when you are not capable of that, you can’t stop from get surprised from the remarkable strategies by which Agatha manages to kill the island guests. This grisly deadly game is further thickened by the sequential removal of each little Indian statue from the dinner table. From this particularity, for the guests there is not additional doubt about the UNOwen intentions.

The drama and suspense increases exponentially during the story until the final. For those that never read the book before, get ready for the most intricate story. To find out who the murder is may consist in a truly herculean task. At least, I was not able to figure it out until the end. I’ve read the book three times and each one was a different and new experience.

A master piece.

Dolly_B 16 Jun 11 at 10:07 p.m. GMT

"A Murder is Announced" is  my favourite Christie book.    The title of this story is the most intriguing of all her book titles.  And just into the story is the (again intriguing) newspaper announcement (and/or invitation) about the murder. You definitely know a murder is going to take place because that was what Agatha Christie titled her story....but how???  All these wonderful, supposedly innocent characters gathered together and the "announced murder" happened, as we knew it would!  Agatha Christie  did her magic and we were not disappointed.  I think that if a person wasn't familiar with Agatha Christie's writing, that the title alone of this story would persuade him/her to try this book. This book had the best title, the best opening pages and the most interesting characters.

Anita_Clue 20 May 11 at 6:39 p.m. GMT

A Murder is Announced - in the daily newspaper of the small village of Chipping Cleghorn, readers are surprised to find a small article announcing an invitation to a murder.  No one is more curious about this than Letitia Blacklock, the owner of Little Paddocks where the murder is supposed to take place.  At the appointed place and time, all who have assembled are expecting a game to guess who the is the murderer.  When an actual murder occurs and the police get involved, it turns out to be a true guessing game.  Then, when two more murders occur, fingers begin pointing and it takes Miss Marples colossal brain power to put things right and announce who had done it and how.

This novel is the ideal "I should have guessed it" novel.  The clues are subtle but definitely distinct.  Agatha Christie was at the top of her form here. 

Mr_Graves 19 May 11 at 9:31 a.m. GMT

In regards to my own thoughts on “Towards Zero”, it is clear that I did admire it. It was written during what many may consider as Agatha Christie's prime, and this shows in the masterful hand she uses to weave a story. It is clever and thoroughly interesting. What I also liked about it was that it can be taken as a novel in its own right. Here she is starting to break away from the novels featuring Hercule Poirot for which she had become renowned at this time. Like “Sparkling Cyanide” (the book published a year after “Towards Zero”) she experiments with structure and style and personal reraltionships so that rather than resorting to following overused patterns, she is able to develop herself as a writer and produce what all of us can accept as a straight drama. Interestingly enough, though, it seems that everybody in the character list manages to pair off nicely and live happily every after. Is it any real surprise?

All in all, “Towards Zero” is that paradox of a classic, yet original Agatha Christie book.

Mr_Graves 19 May 11 at 9:26 a.m. GMT

Agatha Christie retains her long-held status as Queen of Crime by once again reinventing the typical detective story. She tries this numerous times during her illustrious career; she will present her readers with an well-worn pattern they think they can recognise and gives it an unusual twist, or will provide a refreshing take on a classic theme, such as “The Body in the Library”. Of course, ardent lovers of detective fiction will not be disappointed by old, but greatly admired, tricks. Clues are sprinkled generously and magnificently all over this piece, and a child murderer from the past may even be present amongst the cast of suspects. It also features a Cornish seaside setting, where Gull's Point, the meeting place for the characters in question, is located, so we can be absolutely 100% sure that it will delight any admirer of pure Christie.

And can it also be said to begin with that this is not a straightforward detective story. The feature is the fascinating theme of destiny, the chance occurrences and (seemingly) trivial circumstances that eventually lead to something similar to murder. So while a gathering of legal personalities, a man's recovery from a botched suicide attempt, the sinister doings of a faceless, nameless homicidal maniac, and an interview between Superintendent Battle and the Headmistress of his daughter's school seem an odd choice for the opening portions of a book that one can only assume will be a crime novel, they all have their place in the events to come, and certainly the story could never have been told the way it was had they not occurred. It is around this idea of Serendipity and Fate that “Towards Zero” is centered. Incredibly, a well-written, flawless mystery story is still the result.

Mr_Graves 19 May 11 at 9:22 a.m. GMT

TOWARDS ZERO

A Review by Mr Graves

“I like a good detective story” said Mr Treves, “But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end .”

So Agatha Christie begins this fabulous stand alone novel, telling her readers how she got it wrong for so many years- by starting her books with murder. Instead, she tells the tale that lead to the murder, the lives of the characters whose stories eventually entwine, and by chance coincidences and twists of fate, converge towards zero hour, the final dramatic event...

Lady Tressilian is brutally killed and the culprit of the crime appears, in the opinion of the police and indeed almost everybody else, to be obvious. But could the solution really be that obvious? Superintendent Battle investigates a mystery where nothing is what it seems, and only at the end does the story truly finish.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:32 a.m. GMT

(PART 7 OF 7)Throughout The Thirteen Problems, Christie gives readers a glimpse into the world that is the fictional village of St. Mary Mead. It is Miss Marple's observations of the scandalous and surprising goings-on of village life that allow her to see parallels in human behavior, thereby allowing her to determine what sorts of people are likely murderers.  This is Miss Marple's detecting hallmark, and though some critics might accuse the good lady of stereotyping people based on limited information, no one can deny that her knowledge of human nature is a remarkably effective means of identifying villains.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:31 a.m. GMT

(PART 6 OF 7)Upon discussing The Thirteen Problems with some friends, my belief that Christie books might benefit from some annotations has been strengthened.  The Thirteen Problems contains frequent mentions of items that, though common in 1920's and 1930's England, are relatively obscure to audiences today. Crucial plot points such as British terminology for dessert toppings, blotting paper, and Whit Monday, to name just a few, though well-known amongst English authors at the time of publication, are bound to send contemporary readers from other countries to internet search engines. Combined with scores of other cultural, Biblical, historical, and literary references; it seems that the release of The Annotated Agatha Christie, where frequent footnotes and introductory essays may make a bygone world much more accessible to today's audiences.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:30 a.m. GMT

(PART 5 OF 7)Christie would later reuse several plot points in these stories in later novels.  Readers of Evil Under the Sun, Postern of Fate, and Crooked House will find bits of solutions from The Thirteen Problems woven into these tales.  The borrowing is fairly minor, though, so no one need worry that reading this anthology will spoil any other books.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:29 a.m. GMT

(PART 4 OF 7)The final story, "Death by Drowning," is set a while after part two.  This is one of Christie's finest short stories, tautly and smartly written, with brilliant character miniatures and glimpses into the seedy underbelly of village life.  Here, Miss Marple solves a crime without any investigation or any knowledge of the facts.  Only her experience with human nature allows her to identify the culprit before the death is even ruled a murder.  Here, we also learn that Sir Henry Clithering is worthy of his high position in Scotland Yard.  In the two cases he recounted earlier, one case was solved only through a dying confession by the killer, and the other was not unraveled until Miss Marple figured it out.  Of the ten other stories, Sir Henry fails to solve nine of them, and disqualifies himself from the tenth because of his prior knowledge of the solution.  In "Death by Drowning," Sir Henry solves the case on his own in a matter of hours, coming to the same conclusion as Miss Marple through his savvy interrogation of suspects and witnesses.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:29 a.m. GMT

(PART 3 OF 7)The second sextet of stories is set about a year later, with the mysteries apparently all told in one night after a dinner party.  Miss Marple and Sir Henry Clithering are the only two characters from the previous sextet to return here.  The other four characters are the hosts Colonel Arthur Bantry and his wife Dolly, the glamorous actress Jane Helier, and physician Doctor Lloyd.  The stories include "The Blue Geranium," "The Companion," "The Four Suspects," "A Christmas Tragedy," "The Herb of Death," and "The Affair at the Bungalow."  Once again, Miss Marple is the only one to successfully deduce the solution to every crime, although modesty and gender solidarity prevent her from announcing the answer to one of them.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:29 a.m. GMT

(PART 2 OF 7)The book should really be divided into three parts, the first two sections consisting of six tales each, with a final concluding mystery at the end.  Narratively speaking, the first six tales focus on a gathering of a half-dozen individuals, Miss Marple, her modern novelist nephew Raymond West, his artist girlfriend Joyce Lemprière (in later stories she would be referred to as 'Joan'), Scotland Yard official Sir Henry Clithering, minister Dr. Pender, and solicitor Mr. Petherick.  Over the course of a six-week period, all of the characters recount a mysterious event from their past, challenging the others to solve the crime.  At the start of this story cycle, consisting of "The Tuesday Night Club," "The Idol House of Astarte," "Ingots of Gold," "The Bloodstained Pavement," "Motive v. Opportunity," and "The Thumbmark of St. Peter;" all of the characters are convinced that their professions leave them uniquely qualified to act as armchair detectives, but only Miss Marple manages to solve all six cases, including the one she narrates herself.

GKCfan 14 May 11 at 8:27 a.m. GMT

Here is my review of The Thirteen Problems :

THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS

A review by GKCfan

(PART 1 OF 7)

The Thirteen Problems (also known as The Tuesday Club Murders and Thirteen for Miss Marple) is a collection of short stories, all starring Miss Marple in some of her earliest appearances.  In this volume, we meet some of Miss Marple's family members, learn that she has been solving crimes for years, and discover that St. Mary Mead is not the innocent and peaceful village it ostensibly is, but is in fact a hotbed of every type of sin and scandal.

agatha2day 13 May 11 at 12:57 a.m. GMT

When it says winner will be fully credited, does that mean our real names will be used?   I would like to keep my privacy on the world wide web.

anskov 12 May 11 at 7:21 p.m. GMT

I've posted links so I suppose I must cut and paste reviews here. Is it possible to embed videos that I've made? My reviews are primarily video based.

Moderator2 12 May 11 at 2:31 p.m. GMT

Mr West - yes, post your review here and if it's chosen you can choose which Christie novel you want (it will be a new UK HarperCollins paperback edition). Thanks for having a go!

Mr_west 12 May 11 at 2:10 p.m. GMT

I have two questions:

I need to post my review here?

and, if I review Endless Night of example and I win, I will get a copy of Endless Night or of any book by Christie I want?

beveeb 11 May 11 at 11:47 p.m. GMT

I loved "And Then There Was None"  I have book and dvd.  Completely unusual!  But does remind me of a Sherlock Holmes story in a way.  Agatha Christie most have been a little odd to live with.  Don't advise reading it in a place alone or with people you don't trust, becaue your imagination will really spark.  I can't imagine going to an island not knowing your host or who else will be there. I give it 6 stars!

anskov 11 May 11 at 9:53 p.m. GMT

I keep a video blog where I'm reading through all of Christie's novels  and currently I'm up to Endless Night.  Here is the general link to my blog: www.christieinayear.blogspot.com

And links to the novels I've reviewed that are listed above:

And Then There Were None

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-then-there-were-none-discussion-1.html

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-then-there-were-none-motifs.html

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-then-there-were-what-discussion-3.html

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/01/murder-of-roger-ackroyd.html

A Murder is Announced

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2009/04/murder-is-announced.html

Murder on the Orient Express

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/05/murder-on-orient-express.html

The Thirteen Problems

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/03/thirteen-problems.html

Towards Zero

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/11/towards-zero.html

Crooked House

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2009/03/crooked-house.html

Ordeal by Innocence

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2010/04/ordeal-by-innocence.html

The Moving Finger

http://christieinayear.blogspot.com/2008/11/moving-finger.html

For each review, I write up a short summary with some commentary and follow it with a more in-depth review.  Note: I avoid spoilers but some do appear in the responses.