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133rd out of 3,368 books
—
7,805 voters
Appointment with Death (Hercule Poirot #19)
A tyrannical old martinet, a mental sadist and the incarnation of evil. These were only three of the character descriptions levelled at Mrs. Boynton, the matriarch who kept her family totally dependent on her. But did she really deserve to die on the excursion to beautiful Petra? Hercule Poirot hears about the murder and feels compelled to investigate-despite the family's...more
303 pages
Published
2001
by HarperCollins
(first published 1938)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I thought for sure I had this one figured out and I did get it part right. I enjoyed this one for the psychology attached to the Boynton family and for the great characterization given to all the characters including Lady Westholme, the rather imperious MP, Dr.Gerard, the French doctor, Miss Pierce, a scatterbrained goose, and Miss Sarah King, a newly degreed doctor. As with many Christie novels, more than one person lies and many people have something to hide. The ending while happy for the Boy...more
Apr 02, 2013
Krisi Keley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime,
mystery-suspense
I enjoyed this novel as I have all of the Agatha Christie novels I've read - for the clever mystery, the interesting story and the author's ability to make sardonic references to human foibles and prejudices in a humorous and rather non-offensive and forgiving way. But Appointment with Death was particularly intersting to me, reading it as I did shortly after reading Murder on the Orient Express, because Christie revisits the choice Hercule Poirot made at the end of that story. Did she do so to...more
Opinião no blog http://howtoliveathousandlives.blogsp...
Mais um mistério clássico da Rainha do Crime: Agatha Christie. Desta vez situado nas ruínas de Petra, na Jordânia, um ambiente exótico e bem caracterizado, aparentemente um local pacífico para o famoso detetive Poirot. Contudo, isto não se verifica por muito tempo, pois um homicídio rapidamente o arrasta para uma investigação misteriosa e complexa.
Porém, Poirot vê-se contra a vontade de todos os que conheciam a vítima. Ninguém parece minima...more
Mais um mistério clássico da Rainha do Crime: Agatha Christie. Desta vez situado nas ruínas de Petra, na Jordânia, um ambiente exótico e bem caracterizado, aparentemente um local pacífico para o famoso detetive Poirot. Contudo, isto não se verifica por muito tempo, pois um homicídio rapidamente o arrasta para uma investigação misteriosa e complexa.
Porém, Poirot vê-se contra a vontade de todos os que conheciam a vítima. Ninguém parece minima...more
Appointment with Death is the first Agatha Christie I've read. It was the first I've been tempted to read despite my girlfriend owning about 10, and I think much of that was due to my loving the cover of the edition of AwD she bought, which features a silhouette of a syringe-wielding hooded attacker standing out against a kind of day-glo desert background:
http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/33...
It reminded me strongly of David Pelham's illustrations for the works of JG Ballard:
http://www.ballard...more
http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/33...
It reminded me strongly of David Pelham's illustrations for the works of JG Ballard:
http://www.ballard...more
Once again, Christie has written a mystery with an ending I didn't see coming. This time, I can't decide if I think she left enough clues to lead to the culprit, however. Normally, I find myself saying "oh, yeah!" as I read the outcome, but this time I thought it was a little shaky. But, as usual, Christie does a beautiful job fleshing out the characters of a well-rounded cast, with plenty of doubt cast among almost all of them. I changed my mind a few different times as to the possible outcome,...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I usually read an Agatha Christie novel when I am at home on Christmas vacation. I had this on my shelf, so I decided to bring it with me.
"Appointment with Death" has Hercule Poirot on yet another holiday, this time to The Holy Land. As usual, Poirot's vacation is interrupted by a suspicious death.
I have read quite a bit of Agatha Christie, and I must say, I found this book somewhat disappointing. The first Christie novel that I ever read, was "Murder on the Orient Express" - to this day it re...more
"Appointment with Death" has Hercule Poirot on yet another holiday, this time to The Holy Land. As usual, Poirot's vacation is interrupted by a suspicious death.
I have read quite a bit of Agatha Christie, and I must say, I found this book somewhat disappointing. The first Christie novel that I ever read, was "Murder on the Orient Express" - to this day it re...more
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Choose Your Own Adventure!
As a gay man, you have many tasks to accomplish in the course of a normal day. It is best to keep an appointment diary at hand, at all times.
6:00am Gym
8:00am Breakfast (oatmeal and egg whites)
9:00am Hair Appointment
10:00am Shopping (Macy's or Nordstrom's)
11:30am Leisurely al fresco Brunch
2:00pm
(1) assume complete control of all U.S. Federal, state, and local governments, as well as all other national governments
(2) destroy all healthy marriages
(3) replace all school te...more
As a gay man, you have many tasks to accomplish in the course of a normal day. It is best to keep an appointment diary at hand, at all times.
6:00am Gym
8:00am Breakfast (oatmeal and egg whites)
9:00am Hair Appointment
10:00am Shopping (Macy's or Nordstrom's)
11:30am Leisurely al fresco Brunch
2:00pm
(1) assume complete control of all U.S. Federal, state, and local governments, as well as all other national governments
(2) destroy all healthy marriages
(3) replace all school te...more
7 likes
·
like
· see review
Compared to the other Christie mysteries, this was quite ok. I did not like Poirot listening to chance remarks which is serving as evidence. I usually like Poirot to come into a completely unknown scene and start investigating. I liked Mrs.Mcginty's dead because of this factor.
But the genius shows with the execution of the crime. As usual while reading Christie's books we know very well that chance remarks are always important, but we always never seem to get the context. This book, the context...more
But the genius shows with the execution of the crime. As usual while reading Christie's books we know very well that chance remarks are always important, but we always never seem to get the context. This book, the context...more
Another great Poirot mystery. This one concerns an American family, the Boyntons, whose tyrannical mother dominates every aspect of their lives. While traveling in the middle east, Mrs. Boynton is found dead, and it is unclear whether or not foul play is involved. Of course, M. Poirot just happens to be in the area, and he is brought in for his expertise.
I enjoyed this one immensely, although I'd rank it somewhere below Murder on the Orient Express because Poirot doesn't really play any part in...more
I enjoyed this one immensely, although I'd rank it somewhere below Murder on the Orient Express because Poirot doesn't really play any part in...more
Tornare ad un libro di Agatha Christie è sempre come tornare a bere qualcosa a casa di una vecchia amica: si parlerà di cose nuove e vecchie sapendo bene che si troverà ma apprezzando i nuovi argomenti che verranno fuori.
La domatrice, ennesimo romanzo con protagonista l’investigatore belga Hercule Poirot, non fa assolutamente eccezione e si rivela essere una lettura gradevole, appassionante e (quasi) imprevedibile: scrivo “quasi” solo perché stavolta ero quasi riuscito a capire il colpevole, seb...more
La domatrice, ennesimo romanzo con protagonista l’investigatore belga Hercule Poirot, non fa assolutamente eccezione e si rivela essere una lettura gradevole, appassionante e (quasi) imprevedibile: scrivo “quasi” solo perché stavolta ero quasi riuscito a capire il colpevole, seb...more
303 pages
Read November 2012
Appointment with Death
By Agatha Christie
Appointment with Death is about a woman named Mrs. Boynton. Mrs. Boynton and her family travel to Petra. While there, Mrs. Boynton dies. Some people think she died from having a heart attack. However, there is a puncture mark on her arm. In addition, there was a doctor in the area who had his hypodermic needle and digitalis stolen. Hercule Poirot, a famous detective, arrives on the scene to help solve the mystery. Read the boo...more
Read November 2012
Appointment with Death
By Agatha Christie
Appointment with Death is about a woman named Mrs. Boynton. Mrs. Boynton and her family travel to Petra. While there, Mrs. Boynton dies. Some people think she died from having a heart attack. However, there is a puncture mark on her arm. In addition, there was a doctor in the area who had his hypodermic needle and digitalis stolen. Hercule Poirot, a famous detective, arrives on the scene to help solve the mystery. Read the boo...more
Jan 19, 2013
☯Emily
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
mystery fans
Recommended to ☯Emily by:
Goodreads=Agatha Christie group
Shelves:
mystery,
read-in-2013
Mrs. Boynton is determined to have everyone around her in subjection including all the members of her family. She is described as a 'mental sadist.' She takes her family to Petra, where she dies. At first, the death appears to be a natural one. However, a missing syringe raises questions and soon Hercule Poirot is asked to look into the matter. Was the murder committed by one of the brow-beaten family members? If so, which one? Or maybe all the family plotted together to kill the tyrant.
I loved...more
I loved...more
Irgendwann nach dem ersten Weltkrieg in Jerusalem belauscht Poirot in seinem Hotel eine Unterhaltung, die mit den Worten "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" endet. Er wird hellhörig, weiß aber nicht, wer diese Worte gesagt hat und reist weiter nach Jordanien in die Nähe von Petra. Dort macht die amerikanische Familie Boynton im selben Hotel Urlaub wie Poirot. Mrs. Boynton ist eine ehemalige Gefängniswärterin und nun, da sie verwitwet ist, sind ihre teils erwachsenen (Stief-)Kin...more
تناولتُ هذه الرواية البوليسية باشتياق شديد وعاطفة قديمة. عاطفة عمرها أكثر من عشرين سنة عندما كنت أقرأ لأجاثا كريستي كثيراً
ولم يخب ظني فقد أبدعت الكاتبة كعادتها وسردت أحداثاً مثيرة ومتتابعة، حيث لا تكاد تنتهي من مشهد حتى تنقلك إلى آخر، وأنت في كل لحظة تريد أن تعرف ما الذي سيحدث بعد ذلك، ولا توجد فصول أو حتى فقرات مملة
ولكن يبدو أني كبرت فرغم قراءتي للرواية بسرعة وعدم مللي منها إلا إنني لم أجد تلك المتعة التي كنت أجد. ربما لم يكن لغز القضية محبوكاً بما فيه الكفاية. والمفاجأة في النهاية هي مفاجأة مف...more
ولم يخب ظني فقد أبدعت الكاتبة كعادتها وسردت أحداثاً مثيرة ومتتابعة، حيث لا تكاد تنتهي من مشهد حتى تنقلك إلى آخر، وأنت في كل لحظة تريد أن تعرف ما الذي سيحدث بعد ذلك، ولا توجد فصول أو حتى فقرات مملة
ولكن يبدو أني كبرت فرغم قراءتي للرواية بسرعة وعدم مللي منها إلا إنني لم أجد تلك المتعة التي كنت أجد. ربما لم يكن لغز القضية محبوكاً بما فيه الكفاية. والمفاجأة في النهاية هي مفاجأة مف...more
Es otro caso más de Poirot. Pero éste tiene una peculiaridad, y es que el famoso detective no entra en escena hasta transcurrido más de la mitad del relato, salvo una pequeña introducción al principio.
Una de las cosas que me gustan de Agatha Christie es su imaginación para presentar casos/asesinatos, lo hace siempre de una manera muy original. Es decir, aunque todos son novelas detectivescas, cada una de ellas tiene sus peculiaridades.
La de "Cita con la muerte" es que Agatha va dejando que los...more
Una de las cosas que me gustan de Agatha Christie es su imaginación para presentar casos/asesinatos, lo hace siempre de una manera muy original. Es decir, aunque todos son novelas detectivescas, cada una de ellas tiene sus peculiaridades.
La de "Cita con la muerte" es que Agatha va dejando que los...more
Appointment with Death
Agatha Christie
320 pages
Appointment with Death is about the death of a mean and hated woman named Mrs. Boynton. This book gets the reader suspicious in the beginning of the book by starting with the line "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Because the murder weapon is a syringe with digitoxin, a poison that attacks the heart, there are many possible suspects to eliminate in the beginning of the story. This line sets up the plot of the book where the detect...more
Agatha Christie
320 pages
Appointment with Death is about the death of a mean and hated woman named Mrs. Boynton. This book gets the reader suspicious in the beginning of the book by starting with the line "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Because the murder weapon is a syringe with digitoxin, a poison that attacks the heart, there are many possible suspects to eliminate in the beginning of the story. This line sets up the plot of the book where the detect...more
Appointment with Death first takes place in Jerusalem but ends in Petra. We are introduced to the family of Boynton’s who are lead by their mother, Mrs. Boynton, a lady who thrives on controlling and dominating her family. At this time we are also introduced to two doctors: Dr. Gerard, famous French psychiatrist, and Ms. Sarah King, studying psychiatrist who has romantic interest in the youngest Boynton son. Lastly we are introduced to two new women, Lady Westholme, a famous politician and Ms. P...more
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This book is not one of Agatha Christie's better novels, even by the standards of the lower expectations I have when Hercule Poirot is involved. The beginning involves some truly irritating characters on a trip in the Middle East (including a spectacularly whiny protagonist who constantly whines to her companion that the large family on the trip is weird and no one else will validate her observation and "Oh please, I need you to call them vaguely inhuman too!" in a way that made me wish that she...more
I've been wanting to try reading mysteries for a while, and I figured what better way to start than with the 'Queen of Crime' herself, Agatha Christie. I picked this one up on an impulse in the bookstore, mostly because I liked the setting and thought the plot sounded interesting.
In this book, Christie's beloved detective Hercule Poirot is on vacation in Jerusalem, and during his first night's day he overhears part of a conversation in which someone says, "You do see, don't you, that she's got t...more
In this book, Christie's beloved detective Hercule Poirot is on vacation in Jerusalem, and during his first night's day he overhears part of a conversation in which someone says, "You do see, don't you, that she's got t...more
Petra, "a rose-red city half as old as time", is a Jordanian tourist spot and the place of death for the "old Buddha" as fellow travelers observed her: swollen, bloated, immovable in the midst of her family, the Boynton's, a "gross spider in the center of her web"!
"An American family-rather an unusual one, I think." Unusual indeed! All adult children including in-laws cowed to their step-mother whose power of manipulation, tyrannical nature, and complete financial control ruled their desperately...more
"An American family-rather an unusual one, I think." Unusual indeed! All adult children including in-laws cowed to their step-mother whose power of manipulation, tyrannical nature, and complete financial control ruled their desperately...more
Originally posted here: http://bibliotekit.blogspot.co.uk/201...
After reading Hallowe'en Party and being reasonably disappointed with the whole affair, Appointment With Death was a welcome return to some kind of form. I have seen the David Suchet adaptation of AWD, and the book's blurb was such that I didn't realise this was the same story until I was a couple of chapters in. Luckily, I didn't remember 'whodunnit' - but with Poirot/Christie, that's only half the fun anyway. More thrilling is the...more
After reading Hallowe'en Party and being reasonably disappointed with the whole affair, Appointment With Death was a welcome return to some kind of form. I have seen the David Suchet adaptation of AWD, and the book's blurb was such that I didn't realise this was the same story until I was a couple of chapters in. Luckily, I didn't remember 'whodunnit' - but with Poirot/Christie, that's only half the fun anyway. More thrilling is the...more
"Appointment with Death" by Agatha Christie has many of the elements of the classic Agatha Christie mystery: intriguing characters, interesting settings, and an intricate puzzle with many moving parts. While I enjoyed the book I did find that it is not necessarily one of her best works and certainly does not compare with "Murder on the Orient Express" or my personal favorite, "The ABC Murders."
I chose the book in large part because it was set in Mandate Palestine. The setup a a little tedious b...more
I chose the book in large part because it was set in Mandate Palestine. The setup a a little tedious b...more
"Appointment with Death" by Agatha Christie first Poirot, with "gigantic moustaches ... dandified ... suspicious blackness of hair" p102, overhears at a hotel window a young man agreeing with a companion "she's got to be killed", then reappears in Part II to solve the mystery. In Jerusalem desert Petra, malevolent American family tyrant Mrs Boynton, former prison wardress, on digitalis for heart trouble, dies with a needle prick in her wrist. Her stepson Raymond and his sister Carol admit to the...more
Mrs Boynton is a very unpleasant woman. She likes to watch her children cringe and shudder with psychological pain. During a tour among the red-rose stone cities of Petra, Mrs Boynton is no longer IS, but WAS. Someone finally decided to kill her. Somebody finally had enough of her tyrannical oppression and hastens the hand of Death. But who was it? Here, Poirot finds the unique problem of too many suspects. Her children are all equally repressed and would have done her in in an instant, but how...more
Tout le monde l'a remarqué à l'hôtel Salomon : cette Américaine qui visite la Palestine avec sa famille est une mégère tyrannique et les siens vivent terrorisés.
"Il ne nous reste plus qu'à la tuer, dit une voix, quelque part dans une chambre de l'hôtel.
Comme - bien par hasard - Hercule Poirot, à cet instant, est précisément en train de fermer sa fenêtre, cette petite phrase ne tombe pas dans l'oreille d'un sourd.
Le monstre sera retrouvé mort dans son fauteuil, au cours d'une excursion à Pétra...more
"Il ne nous reste plus qu'à la tuer, dit une voix, quelque part dans une chambre de l'hôtel.
Comme - bien par hasard - Hercule Poirot, à cet instant, est précisément en train de fermer sa fenêtre, cette petite phrase ne tombe pas dans l'oreille d'un sourd.
Le monstre sera retrouvé mort dans son fauteuil, au cours d'une excursion à Pétra...more
I love this story so much! I love almost all of Agatha Christie's work, but this is one of her more captivating stories! The murder takes place in Petra, Jordan while Hercule Poirot is on holiday, and although usually one feels sorry for the one murdered (at least initially) here one feels no compassion for Mrs. Boynton and since we know from the book jacket that she dies, we urge the story to get to that point. Mrs. Boynton is like Rachet from "Murder on the Orient Express", she deserved (from...more
Hmm, so I've been going on a bit of a detective novel binge. Sherlock Holmes was last, Agatha Christie now and the next book awaiting me is The Agency (a steampunk detective novel).
So...
I really liked this one. It focused a lot on the psychology and I found Mrs Boynton to be horrid, yes, but also interesting as a character.
(view spoiler)...more
So...
I really liked this one. It focused a lot on the psychology and I found Mrs Boynton to be horrid, yes, but also interesting as a character.
(view spoiler)...more
Ok, so I was enjoying this read until I noticed that there is an object on the cover of my version that was never mentioned except once and is inconsequential to the entire plot, but it is something that the killer uses all the time. I wouldn't have guessed the killer from the plot otherwise, but this made it super obvious. What. The. Fuck. I know it's the fault of the publisher and not AC, but really, it totally ruined it.
Also, she uses almost exactly the same major clue, the key to the case, a...more
Also, she uses almost exactly the same major clue, the key to the case, a...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agatha Christie L...: April 2013 - Appointment with Death | 26 | 69 | May 04, 2013 05:45am |
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880...more
More about Agatha Christie...
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880...more
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“I'm sorry, but I do hate this differentiation between the sexes. 'The modern girl has a thoroughly businesslike attitude to life' That sort of thing. It's not a bit true! Some girls are businesslike and some aren't. Some men are sentimental and muddle-headed, others are clear-headed and logical. There are just different types of brains.”
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13 people liked it
“Poirot sa: - Offerets moralske karakter har intet med saken å gjøre. Et menneske som har gjort noe så uhyrlig som å ta et annet menneskes liv, kan ikke få lov til å gå løs i samfunnet. Det sier jeg, Hercule Poirot, og det er min uforgripelige mening. Nå og alltid.”
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1 person liked it
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Jan 04, 2013 04:49pm
Jan 04, 2013 05:45pm