josiesprobablyreading 's review for:

Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie

2.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious slow-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

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Postern of Fate is the last book in the Tommy & Tuppence series, and the last book Agatha Christie wrote. Unfortunately it shows. She was in her 80s when she wrote this and I think it is obvious that she wasn't at the height of her powers anymore.

The book is very slow with not much happening for much of it except for lots of rambling, repetitive conversations, and people and events referred to so vaguely and obscurely it's hard to know what's going on. 

Memory is clearly something that was on Christie's mind, and there's lots of reminiscing about childhoods. The house and garden of The Laurels seems to be based on her childhood home of Ashfield, right down to the toys in the 'KK' and the games she would play with them. It's probably why the sense of place is actually pretty strong.

I've enjoyed the Tommy and Tuppence series and there is still some of their earlier spark and banter, but the overall plot of this one is so woolly and baffling it's not really a satisfying read.