Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Murder on the Links

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

11 reviews

maistfu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm usually baffled by the end of the story as to who did the crime but this time a few of my guesses were correct ! but as usual i loved the story. and to know that the Hastings ive read about in later parts of Poirot's life was with him from the beginning is really cool. they're both funny dudes in their own ways.

Content Warnings

leosaki's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I think I have whiplash now

The narrator is a guy in his 30s who falls in love with a 17 year old who he thinks tried to kill her ex-boyfriend and he's just like I'll take that risk

Content Warnings

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was my third Hercule Poirot book, the first two being Murder on the Orient Express and Mysterious Affair at Styles. For some reason, I thought I’d read more, but I’m on a role now!

I did like this one—it has plenty of twists and the mystery was engaging. Poirot, as ever, is utterly amusing, and I greatly enjoyed his interactions and competition with Detective Giraud. It was also very readable, with short chapters and a fast-moving plot.

That being said, Hastings is so annoying in this book! He acts like a lovestruck teenager for most of it, and I really just wanted to give him a good thump on the head to knock some sense into him haha. Thankfully Poirot is there to make sure Hastings doesn’t derail the investigation too much. But seriously, he needs a better investigative buddy.

I watched the TV episode of this story soon after reading, and the changes they made had me laughing—but it made for good TV!

Content Warnings

fraise's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

leaflibrary's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this one pretty well. The story - both past and present - felt very familiar, so much so that I wondered if I had seen an adaptation years ago. There truly is tragedy in this one, even if the characters who die "had it coming" due to past or present villainy.

My favorite character was Cinderella/Bella/Dulcie, an underage manic pixie dream girl who eventually marries Hastings. Much like the surprise of meeting a Poirot already in retirement last book, this end game pairing caught me off guard so early in the series. Apparently Christie later agreed, because Cinderella is barely - if at all - mentioned in the Hastings stories ahead. How disappointing! Dulcie is such a bold, rascally, risk-taking character, with a love of true crime and acrobat skills to boot. She could have been a youthful, plucky third in at least a few of the Poirot/Hastings pairings ahead!

I also wish she weren't SO much younger than Hastings - that weird old womanizing stick in the mud. She's "little over seventeen," and he's at least 30 (his age in Styles). Speaking of Styles, it's interesting how Christie covers that topic: she references it almost immediately, but without giving anything (other than the initial death) away for someone who hasn't read it yet.

“Do you remember the Styles Case?” I asked.
“Let me see, was that the old lady who was poisoned? Somewhere down in Essex?”
I nodded.
“That was Poirot’s first big case. Undoubtedly, but for him, the murderer would have escaped scot-free. It was a most wonderful bit of detective work.”
Warming to my subject, I ran over the heads of the affair, working up to the triumphant and unexpected dénouement.

So who knows how much time has passed. Near that section, Hastings, as narrator, announces, "Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a Billingsgate fishwoman blush!" This particular misogyny is hypocritical, given his immediate attraction to and eventual romance with a woman who does all of the above. The concept of "jazz[ing] morning til night" is now hilarious, and Hastings, as in Styles, is at his funniest while trying to be galant with ladies. The scene where Hastings gives Cinderella time to escape by fending off Poirot is especially funny:

It was a sound in the doorway that made us look up. Poirot was standing there looking at us.
I did not hesitate. With a bound I reached him and pinioned his arms to his sides.
“Quick,” I said to the girl. “Get out of here. As fast as you can. I’ll hold him.”
With one look at me, she fled out of the room past us. I held Poirot in a grip of iron.
“Mon ami,” observed the latter mildly, “you do this sort of thing very well. The strong man holds me in his grasp and I am helpless as a child. But all this is uncomfortable and slightly ridiculous. Let us sit down and be calm.”

The combination of awkwardness, earnestness, sarcasm, and homoeroticism (“It is that you have the strength of a bull when you are roused, Hastings!") adds fun to an otherwise rather grim murder mystery.

Content Warnings

librarymouse's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed the characterization of the main characters in this mystery more than I did in the last, but I found the plot less easy to follow. I missed the victory lap Poirot took to tie up the loose ends of the first novel. I think my comprehension of Marthe's intentions would have been clearer.

I love that Hastings ends up with a love interest. He's a self-centered character, and I think Dulcie will do his character a lot of good in becoming more likable. She, herself is incredibly cool, and I hope to see more of her in future novels.

Content Warnings

victoria_2002's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Sadly I found it all very confusing and hard to keep reading. It almost felt like a chore to finish this book.

Content Warnings

manu_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Well written, but loses pacing in the middle, and becomes a bit slow. Not the best of Christie but not the worst either.

Content Warnings

lucyselim's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This is my second Agatha Christie book (after Murder on the Orient Express of course), and I really did enjoy the intrigue. How she was able to come up with such a good murder plot is beyond me. And she reveals clues and revelations at just the correct moment to keep you interested and also completely in the dark around the true events of the murder. (Either that or I am the most perfectly stupid reader she could have asked for).

I enjoyed the closeness that a first person narrative supplied over a third person narrative, but I found Hastings himself was rather annoying and stupid. I hope other companions of Poirot in other books are better. Regardless of Hastings irritating manor, I enjoyed following a narrator who was at least 5 steps behind Poirot at all times, as it meant Poirot's reveals were all the sweeter: it would have been ruined if Poirot himself had been the narrator.

Each new piece of evidence brought me further and further from the truth, when in reality, my first assumption over the killer had been the correct one all along. However, by the time I reached the end, I think I had assumed almost everyone to have committed the crime! A brilliantly thought out, non-violent murder mystery was exactly what I had wanted and was exactly what I received.

Content Warnings

josefinceh's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Probably not my favourite of the Poirot stories that I have read but still a light fun mystery. Definitely enjoyed the mingling love stories that surrounds the main plot of the story.

Listened to an audiobook version read by Pheobe Judge on the podcast "Pheobe reads a mystery".

Content Warnings

More...