Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery Agatha Christie

In case you aren't familiar with the basic plot, Poirot is on a train from Istanbul to Paris when the train gets stopped in Yugoslavia by snow on the tracks. There's a murder and they don't want to bring in the Yugoslav police (commies!) until they've already solved it. Poirot quickly determines that most of the passengers are all connected with a crime that took place in the US many years ago (and not at all based on the Lindbergh baby).

I like the twist on the contained environment, but you don't get a sense of the claustrophobia that must have been there-- train cars stuck in snow with murder? There should have been more tension, but that's not Christie's style. What I find most ingenious about Christie's work isn't how her detectives solve the crimes but rather in ingenuity of her criminals. Poirot just kinda sits back and thinks through details only he's noticed. But the real genius of Christie is how intricate the murder plots are.

Book Provided by... my local library for my Kindle!

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Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery Agatha Christie

When the richest man in town is murdered, the suspect list is long and varied. Everyone had a motive, but very few (if any) people had a way. There are marriages of convenience, heirs who have been written out of wills, affairs, black mail, and random drug-addicted relatives from America. The town doctor is our narrator and he's happy to tag along and watch his new next-door neighbor, Hercule Poirot solve the case.

I never would have guessed whodunnit except that the back says "Setting up the traditional rules of mystery only to shatter them, Christie delivers her most controversial detective novel ever, and it still startles." Which made me think in directions my mind never would have gone. My inner dialogue was a lot of "She couldn't! She wouldn't! Would she? OMG she totally did." (To not confuse you, the "she" is Christie, not a character.) I also loved the doctor's spinster sister, who is the queen of mad theories and village gossip. I think every English village has one, and her character is so perfect for the book and Poirot and Christie both use her for excellent purposes.

That said, I still loved it. I don't read a lot of mysteries, especially for adults, but I do like all the Christie I have read and I'm really glad I joined the Marple/Poirot/Holmes challenge so I have an excuse to read at least 3 more Christie books this year!

Book Provided by... my local library

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too busy reading to be blogging!

And Then There Were None Agatha Christie

Ten people, randomly selected, trapped on an island off the English coast, all accussed of a murder. A murder they were involved in, but didn't have evidence, a murder they could never be convicted off...

In every room, a nursery rhyme, Ten Little Indians, that details how each of hte ten will fall...

They're the only ones on the island. One of them won't be killed. One of them is doing the killing, but which one?

This Agatha Christie classic helped define a genre. She gets into their heads as they're slowly driven insane with waiting who will be next... and can they be saved?

I, Robot Isaac Asimov

Another classic in a genre I normally don't read. Asimov ties short stories together tracing the rise of robots in the earth. Interesting. Classic. Kinda spooky.