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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Isn't she wonderful, the most widely published author in the English language after the Bible and Shakespeare! She isn't called the Queen of Mystery for nothing. Imagine having this fantastic storyteller as your grandmother. Bedtime stories sure would be something else! I haven't read Agatha Chrisite for years and years, and ambling through the library one day recently, waiting for something to pop out at me, this did! Like so many of her stories, this murder involves just a small group of people, intimately linked to the deceased, with more than likely one of the remainings to no longer alive at the end of it all. So as well as pondering over who did it, you are also left pondering who isn't going to make it.
The title refers to the means of death - cyanide in a glass of French champagne. Rosemary Barton is the first deceased, whose death at the dinner table, with previously mentioned small group of people, opens the story. The remaining characters are her older husband George, her younger sister Iris, her husband's personal assistant Ruth, her lover Stephen Farraday, another male 'friend' Anthony Browne and lastly Sandra, the wife of Stephen Farraday. All with their intriguing back stories, and their motives, but do they have the means? And who else won't be left standing by the end?
Brilliant stuff, such insight and understanding into the human condition, what motivates us, and why we behave in certain ways. And she writes so easily, making her novels very readable and compelling. With the last of the Hercule Poirot TV movies starring David Suchet being made this year, hopefully interest will be revived in the marvellous and timeless books written by Agatha Christie.
The title refers to the means of death - cyanide in a glass of French champagne. Rosemary Barton is the first deceased, whose death at the dinner table, with previously mentioned small group of people, opens the story. The remaining characters are her older husband George, her younger sister Iris, her husband's personal assistant Ruth, her lover Stephen Farraday, another male 'friend' Anthony Browne and lastly Sandra, the wife of Stephen Farraday. All with their intriguing back stories, and their motives, but do they have the means? And who else won't be left standing by the end?
Brilliant stuff, such insight and understanding into the human condition, what motivates us, and why we behave in certain ways. And she writes so easily, making her novels very readable and compelling. With the last of the Hercule Poirot TV movies starring David Suchet being made this year, hopefully interest will be revived in the marvellous and timeless books written by Agatha Christie.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Agatha Christie is suchhh a girl boss! I never guess what is in this girl's mind.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a lot of build up for an unsatisfying resolution.
2 stars
I don’t think I liked this very much although I enjoy most of Christie's novels. The resolution just came too much ouf of left-field and wasn’t something the reader could have guessed, because the book just makes a complete 180° on what information it tells its readers. Additionally, I didn't think that it was very realistic or believable. Like seriously, don't people have
Also, George seems to be an idiot, in his position I wouldn’t have.
And, lastly, Christie’s weird insistence on women who are pleasing to the eye but dumb as bricks got pretty tiresome.
I don’t think I liked this very much although I enjoy most of Christie's novels. The resolution just came too much ouf of left-field and wasn’t something the reader could have guessed, because the book just makes a complete 180° on what information it tells its readers. Additionally, I didn't think that it was very realistic or believable. Like seriously, don't people have
Spoiler
spatial awareness? Especially the observers not at the table would have noticed everyone sitting on a different seat, if not the guests themselves...Also, George seems to be an idiot, in his position I wouldn’t have
Spoiler
drunk from the glass, as he knew that was when Rosemary was poisoned and he could have predicted the chance of a repetition of thatAnd, lastly, Christie’s weird insistence on women who are pleasing to the eye but dumb as bricks got pretty tiresome.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, Grief, Murder
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
cosy, comfort crime - a classic Agatha Christie :)