Agatha Christie Review Round-Up Part 2

Recently, I've been reading a lot of Agatha Christie and a couple days ago, I posted part one of my reviews!  This is part 2 of 2!  See part 1 HERE.

Remembered Death by Agatha Christie

Colonel Race #4

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb: Beautiful and vivacious Rosemary Barton is the victim of cyanide-laced champagne at her own elegant birthday party at a glittering London nightclub. The coroner rules her death a suicide, but then the anonymous letters arrive, claiming "she was killed." The list of suspects includes a nearly-jilted husband, a wallflower sister, and a lover who wanted to end an affair with Rosemary.

Who was desperate enough to kill the beauty who almost had it all?

I really loved this mystery by Agatha Christie.  The only thing that could have made it better is if Hercule Poirot would have been in it!  As it is, however, I really enjoyed it.  There's a whole cast of characters, each with their own motives and personalities.  The characters I found to be very nicely developed for the mystery and you can really get a feel for them.  With so many characters, you'd think it'd be hard to keep them all straight in your head, and it is in the beginning, but you soon get to know each and every one.  As for the solution, it's one that you never see coming but looking back on the events, it's painfully clear.  It's one of those hindsight things that I absolutely love.

The Final Verdict:  A very cleverly woven mystery with lovely characters.

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot #13

Rating: 4.5 stars

Goodreads Blurb: "There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans."

I loved the concept of these murders.  A person going through the phone book and killing people based on the alphabet.  I did know the ending and the culprit sooner than the other Agatha Christie books I've read but perhaps that's because I'm starting to understand how she constructed her mysteries.  In any case, the ending was brilliant with false suspects and more sly tactics by Hercule Poirot.  While this book isn't one of my favorites, I really did love reading it and it's certainly well constructed.

The Final Verdict: A very clever concept with a brilliant ending.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie

Stand-alone

Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Blurb: "Was it a misstep that sent a handsome stranger plummeting to his death from a cliff? Or something more sinister? Fun-loving adventurers Bobby Jones and Frances Derwent's suspicions are certainly roused--espeically since the man's dying words were so peculiar: Why didn't they ask Evans? Bobby and Frances would love to know. Unfortunately, asking the wrong people has sent the amateur sleuths running for their lives--on a wild and deadly pursuit to discover who Evans is, what it was he wasn't asked, and why the mysterious inquiry has put their own lives in mortal danger..."

This was definitely an interesting situation.  Someone finds someone who supposedly fell off a cliff while they were walking between holes at a golf course and as it turns out, they were pushed.  This book, unlike the other Agatha Christie books I've read, doesn't have any detective or police presence actively solving the mystery.  It's just two ordinary citizens, one of whom stumbled upon the body of the murdered man.  While I really did like how it ended and the process, I missed having the cast of characters at the front to reference and I also missed the analytical detective thinking that's in other books.  Overall, though, I did enjoy it!

The Final Verdict: While I missed the analytical detective thinking and character dictionary, I did like the ending and the unfolding of the plot and characters.