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A review by lesserjoke
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
2.0
A rather silly beginning, in which we learn that the stranger who could have corroborated an accused murderer's alibi was hit by a truck, developed a case of short-term amnesia, and promptly departed for a two-year polar expedition, thus missing the publicity about the trial and the call for him to come forward. By the time the witness and his memory both return, the prisoner has already died of pneumonia, but the poor man feels honor-bound to inform the surviving relatives of the deceased that he was innocent of killing his mother. Of course, this means that someone else in her inner circle likely murdered her instead, and over the rest of the book, they descend into mutual accusations and tense suspicion.
I do like these elements of the psychological thriller, but the effect is weakened by author Agatha Christie's need to bind it up with her typical whodunnit plot. If the dead man were guilty after all and everyone's relationships were soured for nothing, or if the ultimate truth never came out in the end, that would have been a bolder and more effective writing decision, in my opinion. But as presented, the reveal seems arbitrary and perfunctory, especially after the apparent culprit runs away, everyone else swiftly reconciles, and the novel closes on an abrupt marriage proposal between two characters who barely know one another but are now confessing their undying love. With such a disappointing start and finish, even the livelier middle can't save this title from itself.
[Content warning for racism and gore.]
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I do like these elements of the psychological thriller, but the effect is weakened by author Agatha Christie's need to bind it up with her typical whodunnit plot. If the dead man were guilty after all and everyone's relationships were soured for nothing, or if the ultimate truth never came out in the end, that would have been a bolder and more effective writing decision, in my opinion. But as presented, the reveal seems arbitrary and perfunctory, especially after the apparent culprit runs away, everyone else swiftly reconciles, and the novel closes on an abrupt marriage proposal between two characters who barely know one another but are now confessing their undying love. With such a disappointing start and finish, even the livelier middle can't save this title from itself.
[Content warning for racism and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog