Very Good
|
Despite a turgid beginning, the mystery picks up pace with the second death and the ending is a surprise.
The reviewer who claims this novel was filmed as a Poirot episode starring David Suchet is mistaken, and probably referring to "The Yellow Iris", a Poirot short story of the same name with a similar plot.
|
|
|
Rosemary for Remembrance
|
|
This has all the hallmarks of a Christie classic and is perfect entertainment for a wintry afternoon. So 1930s with dress and gay vocabulary, it speaks of another and very handsome era. Wonderfully entertaining with the requisite number of characters for a Christie drama. Always impossible to work out the murderer with Christie's "signature" of retaining some clue which when divulged fits and finishes the jig-saw. If you're looking for a light read which is also gripping and demands nothing more from you than sitting back to be entertained then this is it - and you will close the book as you finish it and sigh deeply with nostalgia and time well spent.
|
|
|
A good yarn
|
Just what you'd expect from AG - easy to read with plenty of finely drawn characters. I didn't guess who the killer was, but that's perhaps because the ending is rather contrived and unlikely. Extremely unlikely, in fact. But that didn't dampen the joy of reading a good page-turner of a story.
On the downside I found the two detectives (well, one detective, one amateur), a little difficult to distinguish one from another - both middle-aged, conservative guys, so I had to keep checking who was talking. Note that neither Hercule nor Miss M feature in this particular novel.
On the plus side, as well as the taught, intriguing plot, I really enjoyed the cut-glass, period English being spoken by the characters - Lord Kidderminster especially. It sparkles, like the novel's title, and is delightful to read.
|
|
|
Murder Comes Out of the Past
|
|
Also known as REMEMBERED DEATH, this 1943 Christie novel is not among the author's most celebrated work--but it is a solid piece of work all the same, and one that shows Christie toying with a favorite theme: a curious death in the past arouses suspicion that erupts into the present tense. A year earlier, London beauty Rosemary Barton unexpectedly dropped dead at dinner in an exclusive London restaurant--and when cyanide was found in both her champagne glass and in her evening bag, her death is ruled a suicide. But with the passage of time her surviving husband becomes suspicious and determines to restage the dinner party with an eye toward uncovering the truth. The result is yet another death--and once more cyanide is in the champagne glass. As in many of her novels, Christie carefully limits the field of suspects to those actually at the table, and it soon transpires that virtually every one present had a motive for Rosemary's murder--and would have a motive to kill again. Is it Rosemary's sister Iris, who inherited a fortune upon her older sister's death? Rosemary's illicit lover, whose career could be ruined by scandal? Or perhaps his wife, who might have killed to save her marriage? Or is there a darker criminal element at work? Although this novel reached the screen with David Suchet playing Hercule Poriot, fans of Suchet's performances should not be misled: Poriot does not appear in this particular novel, and the detective of note is Col. Race, who pursues the killer through an emotional interest in Rosemary's sister Iris. And indeed, this is one of Christie's more romantically-laced tales, with the story hinging on the various romantic and sexual entanglements of the various characters. The writing is solid and unexpectedly moody for a Christie novel, and while a few hardcore Christie fans may be able to spot the killer before the book's conclusion, most readers will be taken considerably by surprise. A fun, enjoyable read. --GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--
|
|
Sparkling Cyanide (Agatha Christie Signature Edition).
|
|
this book is brilliant agatha cristie is an amazing writer, and this book just like her others is a good read once you pick it up you wont want to put it down.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada