Reviews

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

Only show reviews with written explanations

pbraue13's review against another edition

4.0

This book is typical Christie - an extended family in a large country house, and the death of a wealthy patriarch with impecunious relative waiting for the reading of the will. This family is her most complex resulting in the family tree she places at the front of the book. The setting is another wonderful one, a gothic Victorian mansion based on the place she retired to post her infamous appearance in real life. It takes on an even more macabre nature when some of the most brutal murders in Christie's catalogue occur there - one including an axe... Sadly, the reason for the savagery of the killing is not justified by the plot and it's hard for me to understand why this method was adopted by the killer or, indeed, by Christie herself. It also includes one of Christie's most daring examples of telling the readers the truth and defying them to interpret it correctly. It contains one of her simplest subterfuges and one that is, in retrospect, maddeningly obvious. Even without this ploy it remains a clever but conventional detective novel. The trick played on the reader puts it straight into the classic Christie class. 4/5 stars!

ruthcessna's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious medium-paced

5.0

islagilmer's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

angay_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

It's a me problem because in what world is an Agatha Christie book a 3.5 star???

Richard Abernethie's death was sudden but expected, after all, he had been ill for quite some time. But why would his sister suddenly announce that he was murdered at his funeral? Well, she has always been a bit batty, the family mostly brushed her comment off as another one of her outbursts. But when she's found dead in her home, savagely killed by a hatchet, things prove to be a lot more complicated than they thought...

I don't know why it took me over a week to finish a 300-page book but it happened and that was probably the reason this is rated the way it is. I also think it's not as good as some of her others, but it's still a classic written by Agatha Christie, so obviously I still liked it.

I was not expecting the ending, which is y'know a regular occurrence, and also it's Agatha Christie so...yeah

I'm so tired of my reading slump i literally have less than a week to complete my reading goal this year i am so done i can't