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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
2024 re-read: Book twenty-six of my personal read through of Agatha Christie in (American) publication order. I let this review go to long after I read it, so all I can give you is a general impression of this as a pleasant read, not the most thrilling, but peak experience of Agatha-Christie-ness.
Original review:
I realized reading through this book that even though Agatha Christie is no longer one of my go-to authors, reading one of her books is reliably an enjoyable experience.
Original review:
I realized reading through this book that even though Agatha Christie is no longer one of my go-to authors, reading one of her books is reliably an enjoyable experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Grief, Infertility, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
deebee223's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Grief, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, and War
exlibrissum's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Suicide, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Gun violence
mal_eficent's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I didn't realise this was a collection of four short stories/novellas (at least the edition I have contains four, though only three are mentioned on the blurb): Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man's Mirror, and Triangle at Rhodes. All of them are Poirot cases, and all of them were perfect little bites of crime.
They were really engaging, and Poirot was a delight in all of them. Whether you'd just making your way through Christie's work or looking to try and Golden Age Detective stories, I'd highly recommend them – though I would recommend at least knowing who Poirot is before reading them.
I recognised most of the stories from the ITV series but it didn't make them any less enjoyable. Christie's writing style is a bit more cut and dry, with a lot more focus on the facts of the case and the method of solving them than the very character focussed TV show. Plus, the set up isn't exactly the same. Japp or Hasting tend to absorb the named policemen in the stories, and the show solidifies the timeline in a way the stories don't. Poirot's 'getting on a bit' and 'gone...gaga' in Murder in the Mews, which obviously wouldn't work in the series as it's a very early episode.
They were really engaging, and Poirot was a delight in all of them. Whether you'd just making your way through Christie's work or looking to try and Golden Age Detective stories, I'd highly recommend them – though I would recommend at least knowing who Poirot is before reading them.
I recognised most of the stories from the ITV series but it didn't make them any less enjoyable. Christie's writing style is a bit more cut and dry, with a lot more focus on the facts of the case and the method of solving them than the very character focussed TV show. Plus, the set up isn't exactly the same. Japp or Hasting tend to absorb the named policemen in the stories, and the show solidifies the timeline in a way the stories don't. Poirot's 'getting on a bit' and 'gone...gaga' in Murder in the Mews, which obviously wouldn't work in the series as it's a very early episode.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Bullying and Suicide
Minor: Infidelity
rbacon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I think I'm a crime fiction convert.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
nellym27's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
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? Yes
3.75
These aren’t Agatha‘s best ever stories most of them felt like more basic versions of some of her other stories.
Merging the news for me is definitely the strongest. I listened to it and have seen the adaptation and knew that I thought it was a really compelling mystery because the basis of it is something that I don’t think we see enough of in mystery. The motive for so many murders is love and we see sometimes father is getting revenge for their daughters but I don’t think we see enough female friendships or familial relationships (not relevant here but something this made me think about) as a basis for a motive for murder which I which I think is missing the depth of many of those relationships. When I first heard the story it surprised me and I still think it’s a really compelling little story that is quite moving and sad.
The Incredible Theft, or whatever it’s called, was always not going to be my favourite because I find fifth story is much less compelling than murder stories, call me macabre.
Dead Mans Mirror was alright, it’s filled the spot of an Agatha Christie murder story but it’s not one of her most clever. It felt like quite a lot of the rest of her stories and crucially it felt like the murderer was the murderer because she had chosen them to be not because it’s the only person that could’ve been and because it makes complete sense – I don’t think it’s necessarily that natural a reveal to get to.
I like Triangle at Rhodes it’s always interesting when she does this kind of thing. I don’t know if it’s more on this interesting because it holds such a close comparison to Evil under the Sun and to death on the Nile and to the other stories where she is quite preoccupied with this love triangle idea. As someone who has read quite a lot of Agatha Christie it is interesting where you see how she plays with particular tropes and changes the dynamic slightly enough that the whole reveal is completely different, but at the same time it is a weaker plot and It felt a bit underdeveloped.
Overall I enjoyed reading it I really liked having a longer Agatha Christie short stories to read and they were all compelling.
Merging the news for me is definitely the strongest. I listened to it and have seen the adaptation and knew that I thought it was a really compelling mystery because the basis of it is something that I don’t think we see enough of in mystery.
The Incredible Theft, or whatever it’s called, was always not going to be my favourite because I find fifth story is much less compelling than murder stories, call me macabre.
Dead Mans Mirror was alright, it’s filled the spot of an Agatha Christie murder story but it’s not one of her most clever. It felt like quite a lot of the rest of her stories and crucially it felt like the murderer was the murderer because she had chosen them to be not because it’s the only person that could’ve been and because it makes complete sense – I don’t think it’s necessarily that natural a reveal to get to.
I like Triangle at Rhodes it’s always interesting when she does this kind of thing. I don’t know if it’s more on this interesting because it holds such a close comparison to Evil under the Sun and to death on the Nile and to the other stories where she is quite preoccupied with this love triangle idea. As someone who has read quite a lot of Agatha Christie it is interesting where you see how she plays with particular tropes and changes the dynamic slightly enough that the whole reveal is completely different, but at the same time it is a weaker plot and It felt a bit underdeveloped.
Overall I enjoyed reading it I really liked having a longer Agatha Christie short stories to read and they were all compelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
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