A poisoning many years ago may not have been accidental after all...Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have just become the proud owners of an old house ...
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Jul 20, 2008
Gavin
rated it: 
The last of the Tommy and Tuppence books from Ms. Christie and I have to say the worst. It's all a bit wishy washy and there's no clear resolution, which is odd for Christie. Until the end I had been expecting a lot more, but it was a bit of a damp squib, sad though I am to say that about one of the Queen of Crime's works.
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Oct 07, 2007
Ann
rated it: 
This book was okay... the mystery was a little confusing and though T&T were still cute they didn't interact much (if I'm recalling correctly) which is the best part about the books. While I'd *highly* recommened the first three T&T books, I'd not really recommened the last two...
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Dec 07, 2007
Kathryn
rated it:
A very tedious, dull and disappointing finale for the Tommy and Tuppence series. Not even sure why she wrote it--and I rather wish I had not wasted my time reading it...
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Dec 19, 2008
Katharine
rated it:
I read Postern of Fate because it was on the free shelf at the library and I was looking for something light to read. After a quick flip-through I determined I hadn't read it before, so I brought it home. After I started it I realized why I haven't read it before. It's one of Christie's last novels, written in 1973 or something like that. I've found that the quality of Agatha Christie's writing really deteriorates with any of her later stuff, written after 1965 or so. This is a Tommy and Tuppenc
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Oct 09, 2011
Peter
rated it:
"The last novel Agatha Christie wrote (published 1973), and it can best be described as out-of-focus. The whole thing reads like a first draft; where were her editors? Tommy and Tuppence are back, having just moved into a new house, and they unearth a cold case mystery dating back 60 years to a beautiful spy from pre WWI.
However, Agatha was preoccupied with navel-gazing and recollections of childhood, and the central mystery only occasionally interrupts these endless remembra More...
However, Agatha was preoccupied with navel-gazing and recollections of childhood, and the central mystery only occasionally interrupts these endless remembra More...
May 25, 2011
Laurel
rated it: 
"I like people who stick together and enjoy their marriage and go on enjoying it." So says one of the Beresfords' friends, and I agree. The chief charm of Postern of Fate is seeing dear Tommy and Tuppence once more. Unlike Miss Marple and Poirot, who start out elderly and retired (respectively) in the 1920/30s and age very little for the rest of Dame Agatha's career, Tommy and Tuppence age believably over the years. The "young adventurers" were introduced in Christie's second
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May 05, 2011
Hayley
rated it: 
One of my favourite things about Agatha Christie is her ability to branch out, and try new things. While she has her regular most famous characters (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple) when she's not using those characters she has a tendency to have tried something new, to avoid the usual whodunnit patterns and explore different facets of the mystery genre. Tommy and Tuppence are two characters who are constantly dragged through this process through the few novels featuring them. One of my favourite
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Nov 16, 2010
Roxanne
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I found this on the Black Rock Lodge bookshelf. Usually I'm quite a fan of Christie but this was not her best in my opinion. The Beresfords are kind of fun as the heroes, but she spends too much time referring to their previous exploits and not enough developing a real mystery here. It's a lot of people just talking on and on, and the ultimate conclusion was really just what people had been gossiping about from the beginning, and there were no real suspects so that when the culprit did show u
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Sep 10, 2010
Monica
rated it: 
I just finished this book late last night. I enjoyed the book. The main characters are Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. They are an elderly couple that have solved mysteries in the past. This is the first book I have read by Agatha Christie with Tommy and Tuppence.
I found the couple very entertaining with the style of speech and the way they interacted with each other. Some times they were able to finish each others thoughts or were confused by what the other was saying. That mad More...
I found the couple very entertaining with the style of speech and the way they interacted with each other. Some times they were able to finish each others thoughts or were confused by what the other was saying. That mad More...
Aug 16, 2010
Meave
rated it:
I can't give it two stars because it's Tommy and Tuppence, and I am very fond of them. However, this is another embarrassing example of old Aggie attempting to combine her classic detective style with her later-in-life obsession with New World Order and conspiracy theories, and it's awful. There's no proper resolution, minor characters are picked up and dropped at random, and she bangs on about Mr. Robinson being "yellow-faced" in a really ugly way. Lady, you can't call people "ye
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Apr 10, 2010
Philip
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POSTERN OF FATE was the last book Christie wrote, and is and generally conceded to be her worst (actually, she was dictating into a tape recorder at this time, and had been doing so since the late 1960s, which accounts for the rather conversational tone of the later novels). She was still at the height of her powers with 1967's ENDLESS NIGHT (quite a departure for her), but her subsequent decline was marked and swift (it's now believed that an undetected early senility may have contributed to
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Apr 03, 2010
Dhuaine
rated it:
I usually don't review volumes from huge series of similar novels, but I feel I should warn people against this one book. It's atrocious. Everything happens in dialogues, which could be interesting, if only something was really happening. Unfortunately, the dialogues repeat the same things all and over (sometimes even characters themselves realize that they've spoken of something already), revelations are revealed several times, all information is repeated, and all this is mixed with tons of dig
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Aug 24, 2010
Cody
rated it:
Just a warning to anyone who is looking for the typical Christie touches and twists in this murder mystery, you will be sadly disappointed. Plotwise, this is not Christie at her most ingenuous. And I have a feeling she didn't intend Postern of Fate to be. The humour in the T & T characters is still there of course, maybe a little more mature and less carefree than before, as Christie herself was in her eighties when she wrote it. Of course, Tuppence is still the driving force and Tommy the reluc
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Aug 01, 2011
Kurt
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I think this book could only have been this bad on purpose. I got the distinct impression that by this point in her career, Agatha Christie was ready to write some simple little stories about cozy villages and content retired people, but perhaps her editors and fans kept demanding murder mysteries, so she gave them one of the worst possible examples. Throughout the book, she stubbornly refuses to flesh out any suspects, and all of the action takes place offstage (for example, Tommy will arrive h
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Jan 30, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Feb 02, 2012
Wijianingsih
rated it:
"Apa yang menyebabkan kematiannya?" "Ada orang yang membawa daun foxglove yang tercampur dengan daun bayam dari kebun. Dan mereka memakan tanpa sengaja. Tapi itu tak akan membuat orang mati.""Ya", kata Tuan Robinson. "Tapi kalau ada yang memasukkan digitalin alkaloid keras dalam kopi yang akan diminum Mary Jordan, atau dalam koktailnya, maka orang akan menyalahkan daun foxglove itu, dan kejadian itu dianggap 'kecelakaan'. Tapi Alexander Parker atau siapa nama a
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Dec 14, 2010
Clint
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This was my first Agatha Christie book, read because my girlfriend really likes her and wanted me to read it, and man, it beats Madam Bovary as a book that I finished but was left forever scarred by due to its awfulness. It wasn't even a mystery, just a couple of old farts saying the same things over and over again, "So something happened here, you know, you here some things, something happened then, a long time ago, and people say things, and some things some people don't want other people
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Jun 18, 2011
Shirley
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How I enjoy Tommy and Tuppence as the retired sleuths/detectives in this, Postern of Fate, the last book ever written by Agatha Christie; though it should be noted it was not the last of Agatha Christie's to be published. Tommy and Tuppence have "retired" to a quiet village and are in the process of fixing up an old estate house. When Tuppence happens upon a book, a copy of The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, she discovers a cypher which intrigues her. Once deciphered, Tuppen
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Apr 01, 2009
Carissa
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The fifth and final book of the Tommy & Tuppence series. Now in their 70s, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are just settling into their new home in a resort town when they come across a collection of children's books hidden away by a previous owner. One of the books bears the message, "Mary Jordan did not die naturally". As the Beresfords dig deeper, someone in the town is determined to keep Mary's mysterious death a secret forever.
This was Agatha Christie's final novel to wri More...
This was Agatha Christie's final novel to wri More...
Aug 07, 2009
Mazel
rated it:
En rangeant des livres d'enfants dans le grenier de leur nouvelle maison, Tommy et Tuppence Beresford tombent sur une édition de La Flèche noire, de Stevenson.
Un livre pas comme les autres car certaines lettres du texte ont été soulignées et leur assemblage donne la phrase suivante :
" Mary Jordan n'est pas morte de mort naturelle, c'est l'un de nous qui l'a tuée. "
Le livre appartenait à un petit garçon. Or Tommy découvre la tombe de l'enfant dans More...
Un livre pas comme les autres car certaines lettres du texte ont été soulignées et leur assemblage donne la phrase suivante :
" Mary Jordan n'est pas morte de mort naturelle, c'est l'un de nous qui l'a tuée. "
Le livre appartenait à un petit garçon. Or Tommy découvre la tombe de l'enfant dans More...
Sep 30, 2011
Durdles
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Considered generally to be a below par Christie full of errors over timing and personel - the last novel she wrote, but I find Tommy, and Tuppence in particular to be irresistible characters and their adventures are my favourites among the books. Tuppence has a vivid imagination (reminding me of Titty in Swallows and Amazons) and energy to match and won't let go until she's solved the puzzle. I particularly liked the idea that Christie set it in her own home, incorporating the toys and furnitu
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Sep 22, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I love Tommy and Tuppence. Agatha Christie didn't write many books featuring the Beresfords, but most of them were very good, and Tommy and Tuppence themselves are witty and enjoyable characters. This book was not very good, although it was not as dreadful as I remembered. But the ending didn't make much sense, and I felt like the entire book was a lead-up to nothing. I'm not still not sure exactly what happened or why it happened, but I don't think the book was worth it. One of the few real dis
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Nov 27, 2011
Patricia
rated it:
Tommy and Tuppence move into a new house to retire and spend the rest of their days in peace and quiet. After finding a mysterious message in an old book left by one of the previous inhabitants, Alexander Parkington, Tommy and Tuppence cannot rest until they solve a decades old mystery. Tuppence finds out all she can about the Parkingtons from the town's oldest inhabitants while Tommy employs a woman to do historical research. When mysterious accidents and a murder occur, it becomes apparent tha
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Jul 28, 2011
Mervi
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Although "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder" were both published after this one, they had been written in the mid-1940's, so this is the final novel that Agatha Christie actually wrote.
She once again takes us into the world of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, the dynamic duo of the twenties who are now elderly grandparents.
Though this book has been criticized quite strongly by many readers, I found it to be another most enjoyable brain-teaser from Agatha Christie. Thank you, Mrs. C More...
She once again takes us into the world of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, the dynamic duo of the twenties who are now elderly grandparents.
Though this book has been criticized quite strongly by many readers, I found it to be another most enjoyable brain-teaser from Agatha Christie. Thank you, Mrs. C More...
Dec 20, 2010
Emma
rated it:
Not my favorite Agatha Christie, but rather good. I love Tommy and Tuppence and am planning to read By the Pricking of my Thumbs, also about Tommy and Tuppence. On the whole, it was a good book. I was confused as to what a 'postern' was, but looked it up and found this definition: A lesser, and private gateway. The poem it comes from says:
Four great gates has the city of Damascus. . . Postern of Fate, the Desert Gate, Disaster's Cavern, Fort of Fear, The Portal of Baghdad am I, and Doorway More...
Four great gates has the city of Damascus. . . Postern of Fate, the Desert Gate, Disaster's Cavern, Fort of Fear, The Portal of Baghdad am I, and Doorway More...
May 07, 2011
Sammy
rated it:
In which a retired pair of amateur detectives discover an age-old mystery right under their noses.
So it has come to this. "Postern of Fate" was Agatha Christie’s final written work, and it is undoubtedly her worst. Yes, worse than those tawdry thrillers she churned out in the 1920s, or the spurious supernatural short story collections of the ’40s. In her defence, the octogenarian Dame Agatha was probably suffering from early onset dementia, but her editors should’ve seen se More...
So it has come to this. "Postern of Fate" was Agatha Christie’s final written work, and it is undoubtedly her worst. Yes, worse than those tawdry thrillers she churned out in the 1920s, or the spurious supernatural short story collections of the ’40s. In her defence, the octogenarian Dame Agatha was probably suffering from early onset dementia, but her editors should’ve seen se More...
Feb 24, 2008
S
rated it:
This book was enjoyable, but not meaty enough for me. I like big, thick mysteries that you have to tote around in a wheelbarrow!
I've only read a few Agatha Christies and this was my first Tommy & Tuppence novel. I found the two main characters charming - Tuppence with her seemingly frivolous manner and her supposed absent-mindedness, Tommy as the suffering husband who openly adores her nonetheless. They're exact opposites: she noses around in other people's business by insinuating More...
I've only read a few Agatha Christies and this was my first Tommy & Tuppence novel. I found the two main characters charming - Tuppence with her seemingly frivolous manner and her supposed absent-mindedness, Tommy as the suffering husband who openly adores her nonetheless. They're exact opposites: she noses around in other people's business by insinuating More...
Aug 07, 2010
Cat
rated it:
One of Christie's clumsiest works, even to the point of actual errors of continuity. A quick read but a weak introduction to the leads (Tommy and Tuppence) and a generally uninteresting book.
It *does*, however, raise some interesting questions for me about Christie's moralizing and shoring-up of the contemporary/20th century imperialist mentality in England at the time she was writing. It's a tempting thought to throw together a little study on her works that focuses on her often haw More...
It *does*, however, raise some interesting questions for me about Christie's moralizing and shoring-up of the contemporary/20th century imperialist mentality in England at the time she was writing. It's a tempting thought to throw together a little study on her works that focuses on her often haw More...
Apr 29, 2010
Misha
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This was the only other Tommy & Tuppence novel available from my high school library, and in those pre-internet days I never became aware that Christie had actually written a few others featuring one of my favorite detecting duos. In this book, Tommy & Tuppence have long since retired from spy-catching to a house in the English countryside. Naturally, they stumble into a mystery, and haven't lost their energy or sense of adventure for now being in their 70s. Altogether a fun read.
Apr 04, 2009
Nancy
rated it:
I love Agatha Christie, and I love Tommy and Tuppence (the main characters in this book), but this book is...not good. It doesn't hang together at all; there's nothing clever about it; the writing is all over the place. My understanding is that while this wasn't the last Christie published, it was the last Christie written, and I think she was kind of losing it. Please don't read it if you've never read Christie. It'll ruin her for you, I'd bet, and she doesn't deserve that.
