Diane’s Book Club (now more of a virtual Book Club) chose Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders for their September book. Diane had never read it although she has read several Christie mysteries. I read The ABC Murders back in the 1960s when I went on an Agatha Christie binge and read a couple dozen of her mysteries in a row. It blew my mind!
When Diane tried to take out the LARGE PRINT edition of The ABC Murders from the Library, she discovered it was out (probably to one of her Book Club members). So Diane decided to take out the audiobook version. After listening to 38 CDs of GRANT listening to five CDs of The ABC Murders was a snap.
This audiobook version of The ABC Murders is “performed” by Hugh Frazer (the actor who plays Captain Hastings in the PBS Hercule Poirot series). Diane and I both liked Frazer’s narration and his gift to create a unique “voice” for each character.
This 1936 mystery involves a serial killer who kills in alphabetical order: A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bextill, C is for Sire Carmichael Clarke in Churston. An ABC Railway Guide is found near each dead body. And before each murder, the murderer sends Hercule Poirot a letter predicting (and gloating about) his crimes. If you haven’t read The ABC Murders you’re missing one of the more iconic mysteries in the Christie pantheon. Do you have a favorite Hercule Poirot mystery? GRADE: A
I read some Christie as a teenager but none since. Mostly the standalones as I found Poirot too unbelievable as a character. And Miss Marple-I have no interest in crimes solved by little old ladies and they reeked of cozy anyways. Interestingly I am right now reading Eight Perfect Murders, the new novel by Peter Swanson in which The ABC Murders plays a role. As a writer I found Christie more clever than good. Her characters never really came to life for me.
Steve, Diane’s Book Club is reading EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS as their October 2020 book. I agree with you on Christie’s characters: thin. But, Christie was a sorceress at plotting!
What Steve said but this is one of my favorites. Sometimes, as in this case, the puzzle is so clever as to be enough. And I would rate this near the top.
Patti, THE ABC MURDERS is one of the most iconic mysteries ever written. The scheme is brilliant!
Steve’s criticisms are certainly on point, but when I was blowing through the Christie canon in the sixties and seventies I didn’t let it bother me. I don’t know that I read all of them, but at least most of them and certainly all the famous ones. Before reading Christie I’d already dipped into Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr, so I knew what I was getting into. I didn’t care for either Poirot or Marple, but I put up with them. I was there for the plots.
Michael, when I binged on Agatha Christie in the mid-1960s, my teenage reading sense was undeveloped. I wasn’t bothered by the cardboard characters. Like you, I was reading for the clever plots.
I agree, ABC was one of the better Christies. So many television shows have ripped off her plots, and the (WARNING – POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT) “hide the important murder in a series of seemingly unrelated killings” (END SPOILER) is one we notice all too often. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, DEATH ON THE NILE, ROGER ACKROYD, so many others, especially the great 1930s books, are favorites.
I love Christie and think I’ve read everything she wrote. I love the extremely atypical, almost noir-esque, ENDLESS NIGHT and the “travelogues” EVIL UNDER THE SUN, DEATH ON THE NILE, and MURDER ON THE ORUENT EXPRESS. But my favorite Christie (from purely technical point) is DEATH IN THE CLOUDS, where she provides an obvious clue to who the murderer is, but does it in such a clever way that you don’t even notice it. Her sleight-of-hand was really nonpareil.
Deb, I’ve read a lot of Agatha Christie, but not all her works. I don’t think I’ve read DEATH IN THE CLOUDS so that goes on my READ REAL SOON list immediately!
George, just in case:
DEATH IN THE CLOUDS = DEATH IN THE AIR
Jeff, thanks for the reminder. I think I have editions with both titles.
I read THE ABC MURDERS when I was in high school and raced through the final chapters hunkered down in Miss Booth’s Latin class, hoping she would not notice me. She didn’t; she was very old.
I have read all of Christie’s novels under her own name (the “Mary Westacott’s are on my sooner or later list). Poirot can be irritating but I’ve always found those books worthwhile. My favorite is Miss Marple. I could do without Tommy and Tuppence, as well as Parker Pyne and Harley Quinn.
Jerry, I’m with you on Miss Marple and Poirot. The other Christie series I’ve only dappled in and came away unsatisfied.
“Dappled: marked with spots or round patches.” Not sure how that applies to a mystery series. Perhaps you meant dabbled.
I believe I’ve read all the Christies. I recently saw a movie with Tony Randall (IIRC) as Poirot. It was “interesting” and having read the book, I did remember the ending.
I still remember my jaw dropping Literally, at the end of Roger Ackroyd
Maggie, I had the same reaction that you had when I finished WHO KILLED ROGER ACKROYD. Mind-blowing!
MURDER IN THE CALAIS COACH (ORIENT EXPRESS) is the reason I started reading mysteries. It was in A TREASURY OF GREAT MYSTERIES the first books of detective stories I ever read.
Ray, I remember A TREASURY OF GREAT MYSTERIES well. At one point, it was available in just about every used bookstore and thrift store. Now, it’s more scarce.
I like THE ABC MURDERS a lot, I’ve read it several times, and disagree that Christie’s characters were thin cardboard. Characters are what they need to be to move the story, and certainly both Poirot and Marple are far more than that, as are many others. I enjoy her books featuring those characters very much, and have read all or most of them.
Rick, like you I’ve read many of Christie’s Miss Marple and Poirot mysteries–but not all of them. I plan to read a couple of Christie’s mysteries each year until I’ve completed all the Poirots and Marples.
Christie was one of my three binge reads. The first was Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was in my teens, then Christie in my 20s, and currently Ann Cleeves. I think I read thirty-some Christies in a row. I really liked the early ones with adventurous young women, especially the two Bundle ones, and even the first Tommy & Tuppence. I stopped when I figured out Christie’s “tell” in the Poirot books, so I always knew who the killer was going to be. I still couldn’t figure out how they did it, though. Even in Roger Ackroyd, which I knew going into it, I could NOT tell how the killer managed it until Poirot explained it to me.
“Cardboard characters” rarely bother me, because I flesh them out for myself while reading. Just something I do without thinking about it; works for me.
Jackie, like you, was always a big fan of the “young adventurers” books, even Tommy & Tuppence.