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The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot #13)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 22,897 ratings · 781 reviews

"Mr. Hercule Poirot--you fancy yourself, don't you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our poor thick-headed British police? Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be." Was the anonymous note a brilliant challenge or a crackpot hoax? The answer is as loud and clear as a woman's scream--precisely that of Alice Ascher, a shopkeeper in Andover blu...more

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Published June 21st 2004 by HarperCollins (first published 1936)

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Oct 21, 2010 Dina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thrillers, ebook, to-blog

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 11, 2013 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

What: paperback
What else: First person narrative
Wherefore: it was on Mount TBR, and my Kindle was acting up

Hastings: "I admit," I said, "that a second murder in a book often cheers things up."

Poirot has semi-retired, but has discovered he is no better suited to the state than Holmes is said to have been, and so lets it be known that he is available to take those cases that interest him (again, like Holmes). At the beginning of this tale Hastings has come home to England from his ranch in Argent...more What: paperback
What else: First person narrative
Wherefore: it was on Mount TBR, and my Kindle was acting up

Hastings: "I admit," I said, "that a second murder in a book often cheers things up."

Poirot has semi-retired, but has discovered he is no better suited to the state than Holmes is said to have been, and so lets it be known that he is available to take those cases that interest him (again, like Holmes). At the beginning of this tale Hastings has come home to England from his ranch in Argentina, and expresses his hopes that some interesting case might pop up while he's there. And, of course, it does. Though it does not necessarily seem that way at first.

Poirot receives an odd letter – printed, in common ink on common paper, and a postmark unremarkable – which proposes a challenge for the great mind. It's cheeky, and mildly insulting to the famous detective, and is signed "A.B.C.", and indicates that something is going to happen on a specific day in a specific town, and let's just see how clever you are! Hastings pooh-poohs the letter as one of those things written by some random crazy person, but Poirot is troubled by it.

Something does indeed happen on that day in that town: an elderly woman is found murdered in her tobacco shop. Poirot, uneasy, heads to the crime scene. Hastings makes no bones about how utterly bored he is with the mere "sordid murder of an old woman". It's because the killer seems to be obvious – if Poirot hadn't received the letter there would never have been any question about it. And it's also because the victim is dull. A sordid domestic dispute is the only reason an older woman would be murdered. Bo-ring. This was about when I realized how little I like Hastings. I don't know if Christie was purposely using the smart Holmes-stupid Watson template, but Watson was never this thick, and would have given a damn about the death of an old woman, whether it was a case deserving of a great detective or not.

As it turns out, this is deserving: the woman's name, her shop name, and her town all begin with "A". Then another letter comes directing Poirot's attention to a town beginning with "B". Uh oh. And sure enough, the victims begin to pile up, in strict alphabetical order.

I've never been a big Poirot fan. I don't know if it's the prissiness or the accent or the little grey cells or the mustache or what, but I'll take Miss Marple any time, scary as she can be. In fact, I pulled this off the shelf because I would have sworn it was a Miss M. Oops. Still, the story was fun – except for one thing, which will be a spoiler I'll mark as such in the last paragraph of this review. It was as though Christie made up her mind to make this a very thorough departure from the usual plot, and had some fun playing with her serial killer.

She also had fun with her secondary characters. A few of them – one victim's sister, another's niece, the official investigators – were lovely, with a surprising amount of life for minor characters in a fairly short book. I liked the attitudes taken toward the string of crimes. Poirot is grave; Hastings is confused (no surprise there); Japp and the other professional investigators are grimly determined to stop this string of sequential murders before it gets too far into the alphabet. "I", they figure. Hopefully "H". They're just being realistic, but the apparent callousness of it is breathtaking, like the tv crime shows where the detectives are seen joking over the corpse (*cough*Rizzoli and Isles*cough*).

The solution is the part that bothered me – and here comes a big fat spoiler (though it's who the killer is not rather than who it is). (view spoiler) When the breaks turn out to be not so much a red herring as a red humpback whale, I just feel like Dame Agatha was snickering up her cardigan sleeve at me.

All in all, though, this was more fun than I expected, and made me glad I've picked up a healthy stock of Christies to fill in any gaps in my reading schedule. As if there were any of those. (less)

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May 28, 2010 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Geometry Students

Recommended to Valerie by: Grandma

Shelves: math

I try to get my math students to read mysteries, because the logical skills of finding a pattern and using inductive and deductive reasoning are often skillfully laid out. If you've read this book, you know why its one that I use to illustrate that point in my class. Sadly, the point is underappreciated by my high school students.

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Jun 22, 2007 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one was ok...nothing too exciting. I was able to pick out the bad guy early but this was at the end of a Christie reading marathon so I was totally satuarated wiht her writing style.

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Aug 26, 2012 Margaryta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chapter-books, classics, detective, favourite-books, poirot

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May 04, 2008 Grace rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoy the Poirot tales, though I often get a little impatient with the ones which are told from the first person narrative of Captain Hastings, who frequently plays Watson to the Belgian detective's Sherlock. These stories, in particular, often seem a bit too heavily padded with scenes where the two men conference - Poirot speaks very enigmatically about the case, Hastings gets frustrated, and Poirot admonishs him to "use the little grey cells." Mystery investigations are by their nature rathe...more

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Apr 02, 2009 Sherry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie is a mystery novel that is part of the famous Poirot detective series. I picked up this book because I am an avid mystery reader. While reading some other mystery novels I came upon a case that made many references to Agatha Christie’s novel The ABC Murders. After finding out that Agatha Christie’s Poirot is a lot like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, I decided to try her books out.
The protagonist is Poirot, a retired, sharp, and much esteemed Belgi...more The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie is a mystery novel that is part of the famous Poirot detective series. I picked up this book because I am an avid mystery reader. While reading some other mystery novels I came upon a case that made many references to Agatha Christie’s novel The ABC Murders. After finding out that Agatha Christie’s Poirot is a lot like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, I decided to try her books out.
The protagonist is Poirot, a retired, sharp, and much esteemed Belgium detective. The antagonist is the mysterious murderer, whose identity isn’t revealed until the end of the novel. Poirot’s sidekick is Captain Hastings. The novel is told through his construction of a third person acount of the crime.
After receiving a mysterious letter of challenge from an anonymous man, Poirot becomes aware of a series of murders in the order of the victims’ names all over England: first, Alice Ascher of Andover, second, Betty Barnard of Bexhill-on-Sea, and third, Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. These murders are all the doings of Poirot’s challenger, the murderer. The murderer identifies himself as the criminal by sending a letter signed ABC to Hercule Poirot before each murder, telling him where and when each murder will take place, and by leaving behind an ABC Railway Guide next to each victim’s body. Poirot and the police are usually unable to save the victims, but as Poriot visits the victims’ families and acquaintances, more and more evidence gathers, and the truth comes in a surprising twist.
The central conflict is man vs. man or man vs. crime. The theme of the novel is that justice will always succeed over crime. This is seen from Poriot’s triumph in finding the ture ciminal despite of the seemingly flawless crime. The main conflict is between Poriot and the criminal. Poriot indirectly faces off the criminal by struggling to make sense of the pieces of evidence that the murderer leaves behind. Poriot’s success in unmasking the criminal makes the point that no matter how elaborate a crime is,justice will always succeed.
The writing style of The ABC Murders is out of the ordinary. While the mystery novels that I’m more familiar with, like that of Mary Higgins Clark or Tammi Hoag, have complex emotional twists along with the mystery itself, this novel is just a pure mystery. Most of her character or scenery descriptions are bare and banal, and there is no character development at all. Another unique trait about her novel is how she writes in the fashion of a police report. She writes as if the audience is expected to play detective, and find out who the killer is before Mr. Poriot can. One can tell from reading the novel that all the clues given by Agatha Christie are purposeful. Unlike other novels where finding the true villain is an impossible feat, Agatha Christie’s style gives the reader the bare evidence, everything that is needed to solve the case.
All in all I didn’t like this novel. I found this novel to be very dry and boring. Although Agatha Christie is a great crime writer, to me she isn’t a good novelist. She doesn’t do a very good job getting the reader engaged in the story. I often found the conferences and crime scene investigations insipid. This novel isn’t a novel for show or popularity, but is mystery in its purest form. I would strongly recommend this novel to all mystery lovers.
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Mar 15, 2013 Rajeev Roshan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“The ABC Murders”
By Agatha Christie

A few days ago, I read a novel “ABC Murders” by Agatha Christie. If I tell you about Agatha Christie, then there is only one sentence will come from my mouth, “Agatha Christie’s was the queen of the World of Crime Fiction.”
“ABC Murders”, is the story of continuous murders occurs in the English alphabetical order. Agatha Christie’s famous and permanent character Hercules Poi rot is here to solve this mystery. Hercules Poirot received a secret letter from anonym...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Katia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dans cet épisode le fameux détective Hercule Poirot est à présent en retraite, et, fidèle à lui-même, il souhaite faire travailler ses cellules grises pour ne pas se ramollir. Pendant ce temps, son ami le capitaine Hastings revient de voyage.

Poirot reçoit une lettre mystérieuse, signée « ABC ». Hastings pense qu’il s’agit d’une simple plaisanterie mais Poirot décide de se pencher sur ce cas, et d’enquêter sur cet intriguant expéditeur.

Cette histoire nous est racontée par Hastings, ce qui fait pé...more Dans cet épisode le fameux détective Hercule Poirot est à présent en retraite, et, fidèle à lui-même, il souhaite faire travailler ses cellules grises pour ne pas se ramollir. Pendant ce temps, son ami le capitaine Hastings revient de voyage.

Poirot reçoit une lettre mystérieuse, signée « ABC ». Hastings pense qu’il s’agit d’une simple plaisanterie mais Poirot décide de se pencher sur ce cas, et d’enquêter sur cet intriguant expéditeur.

Cette histoire nous est racontée par Hastings, ce qui fait pénétrer le lecteur dans l’intimité de ces deux amis. En effet Poirot et Hastings sont de vieux amis (le capitaine est présent dans la plupart des enquêtes de Poirot), ce qui laisse place à des scènes drôles puisqu’ils ont beaucoup de souvenirs en communs. Il y a beaucoup de respect entre eux.

L’inspecteur Japp, qui travaille pour Scotland Yard, mais qui connaît bien M. Poirot pour avoir travaillé très souvent avec lui, est également présent. J’aime beaucoup la relation entre Poirot et Japp, faussement ennemis, qui ont en réalité beaucoup de respect l’un pour l’autre.

Revenons-en à notre mystérieux ABC, qui commet des meurtres bien étranges, puisque la première victime est Mrs Ascher, retrouvée à Andover. La seconde est Betty Barnard, tuée à Bexhill. Vous avez compris ? En outre un horaire de train (appelé aussi ABC) est trouvé auprès de chaque cadavre. Le tueur semble avoir un problème avec l’alphabet ! Mais Poirot est patient, et il attend la moindre erreur du tueur pour l’appréhender.

Poirot étant Belge (il a d’ailleurs du mal à ne pas se faire appeler « le français » !), il parle parfois français, ce qui lui confère un style bien particulier auprès des anglais. J’aime beaucoup cette facette, ce qui présente en plus l’avantage d’alléger le texte anglais.

Après que l’enquête ait un peu avancée, il semblerait qu’un vendeur de bas itinérant soit suspect. Est-ce bien lui ? Comment le détective va-t-il clore son investigation ?

Je vous laisse découvrir les réponses à toutes ces questions par vous-même.

Un roman rythmé, bien écrit, des protagonistes géniaux, vous allez vous régaler !(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery, e-books, 1930s, agatha-christie

Read this now because of Hyouka :D...

So I've rated this Agatha Christie somewhat less enthusiastically than the other two I've read so far. Actually, the mystery part of this book was pretty cool, not at all disappointing or less interesting than those other two, but I found this one curiously lacking in the character department.
This is the first Poirot mystery I've read to feature captain Hastings, and I'm not fan. He does not seem to add anything apart from the "reader perspective", as a wa...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Erik Mataloro rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ketika pertama aku membaca bagian pertama ari buku ini, aku merasa diriku tak mampu memahami sedikitpun apa yang menjadi ide jenius sang penulis, Agatha Christie. Awalnya memang aku merasa susah - mungkin saat itu keadaan rumah lagi kurang bersahabat, sehingga sampai-sampai aku mengatakan pada diriku sendiri untuk menghentikan membaca The ABC Muders. Benar saja, buku tersebut terbengkalai beberapa minggu. Sempat terpikir dalam benakku untuk melanjutkannya, tapi karena ada satu hal yang harus kuk...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Hellen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, fiction, own

I can't be the only one in my generation that used to watch CSI religiously and after that the other CSI's and after that all the old and new crime series to satisfy the need for new crime show episodes. After all those years and hundreds of episodes my interest in such shows has decreased a lot. They try to offer different angles, but after several hundred hours a lot's needed to surprise me and my crime show heuristics(if the killer is found within 30 minutes, it's not the killer and then it's...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Rosario (http://rosario.blogspot.com/) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I grew up reading Agatha Christie. My mum has a whole shelf with most, if not all, of Christie's books. I can still see them in my mind, 5 novels a volume, bound in red, and printed in really thin, almost Bible-like paper. I worked my way through them, from beginning to end, and loved them. I haven't reread many of them since then, and I've decided I'll do more of that.

Visiting England from his ranch in Argentina, Hastings, Poirot's longtime chronicler, finds his friend preoccupied by an anonym...more I grew up reading Agatha Christie. My mum has a whole shelf with most, if not all, of Christie's books. I can still see them in my mind, 5 novels a volume, bound in red, and printed in really thin, almost Bible-like paper. I worked my way through them, from beginning to end, and loved them. I haven't reread many of them since then, and I've decided I'll do more of that.

Visiting England from his ranch in Argentina, Hastings, Poirot's longtime chronicler, finds his friend preoccupied by an anonymous letter announcing an upcoming murder. A man of his fame gets a number of strange letters, but Poirot finds something in this particular one that makes him worry. He's right; soon enough, Alice Asher, who runs a newsagent, is found murdered in Andover, with an ABC Railway Guide lying open next to her. When, following similar taunting letters, Betty Barnard is killed in Bexhill, and Sir Carmichael clarke is murdered in Churston, both with ABC guides found near the body, it becomes clear that something unheard of is going on.

To me (and I guess, to most readers), Agatha Christie is closely associated with domestic, cozy murder mysteries. She's done the odd international conspiracy-type thriller, which I never found particularly successful, but this seems to be something completely different. Serial killer books are a dime a dozen these days -is this a very early entry in the genre by Christie's? Well, all I'll say is that there's more to things than meets the eye, and I don't think anyone will be surprised by that.

I read this book many, many years ago, and I guess it must have made an impression, because I remembered the shape of the solution, if not the details. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I'd had no idea of what was going on, but even taking out the element of surprise, it was a fun read.

As always, I loved the setting, and all the more because Christie was just writing a contemporary novel, so the glimpses of a bygone era all feel really natural and matter-of-fact.

MY GRADE: A B+.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Flavia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

Oh, I just totally LOVE this book! I've alwayas loved murder/detective novels, and Agatha Christie's books are exactly that. Out of all her series, Hercule Poirot's my favourite! And well, this book is pretty awesome. I love how the story is told in Hasting's point of view, not Poirot's. That's because it keeps the reader guessing and confused about the murder. To me Hasting represents most of us the readers- what we think we know, how we see the murder etc. Therefore, we don't really know exact...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Just like the scheduling details in Hampton's ABC Railway Guide, Hercule Poirot is receiving letters taunting him with the specific dates and places of the murders of random victims whose surnames begin with A, B, C, and D. The mad serial killer threatens to continue murdering through each letter of the alphabet!

What is the connection between the killer's ABC signature, the railway schedule, and Alexander Bonaparte Cust, a traveling salesman following Hampton's Guide who just happened to be in e...more Just like the scheduling details in Hampton's ABC Railway Guide, Hercule Poirot is receiving letters taunting him with the specific dates and places of the murders of random victims whose surnames begin with A, B, C, and D. The mad serial killer threatens to continue murdering through each letter of the alphabet!

What is the connection between the killer's ABC signature, the railway schedule, and Alexander Bonaparte Cust, a traveling salesman following Hampton's Guide who just happened to be in each hamlet on the designated day of a murder selling silk stockings? A shabby sort of person, he wasn't the kind of man you'd notice. Periot wonders if we've just described the perfect murderer.

The first victim is in Andover, a 60 year old shopkeeper named Mrs. Ascher who is beaten to death. She's been separated from her 70 year old alcoholic husband for several years. The next letter to Periot announces an upcoming murder in Bexhill. Miss Barnard is strangled with her belt. Her boyfriend is known to be possessive, jealous of male attention to his girlfriend, but he was eliminated as a suspect by an eyewitness account. The third letter is sent to the wrong address delaying its delivery until after the murder. Sir Carmichael of Churston is the victim. He is an elderly millionare with a terminally ill wife and an attractive secretary. Venturing on a usual evening walk, he is killed by a blow to the back of his head, but who will benefit? On September 9 in Doncaster there is a horse racing event drawing the majority of the citizens to the track. Periot, Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp ask for the victim's families help to identify the culprit. But are they witnesses to the "D" murder, or is this affair just a distracting ploy?

Hundreds of miles along the railway and every difference of lifestyle separate the victims. And why is the killer sending taunting letters announcing his next crimes to Periot? What is the motive for the murders, and what is the motive for the warning letters?

It's all there for mystery sleuths to solve...the date and place of the murders, first initial of the victim's surnames along the schedule of the rail. But nothing is simply in this 1936 Agatha Christie classic. Highly Recommended.

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Aug 13, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-foreign

The pacing of this book is just awesome. It was non-stop, and just the right mix of Poirot-ness, Hastings perspectives, and the other investigators (most of them related to the murder victims.)

I just read The Alienist and was done with serial killers for awhile ... but wait! This Christie novel is about a serial killer, too. The killer has a unique MO: the first victim's name starts with 'A' and so does the town in which the murder takes place, the second victim's name starts with 'B' and so doe...more

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Jun 29, 2012 jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Poirot is sent a taunting letter challenging him to figure out what the writer intends to do in the city of Andover on a certain date. Of course, Poirot doesn't like to be teased so it bothers him, but what can he do about such a strange letter? He and his friend Hastings, along with Scotland Yard's arrogant Crome, soon discover that someone is intent upon murdering their way through the alphabet.

Oh, it's been a while since I've sunk into the comfort of a Christie novel, and this is a good one,...more

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Mar 29, 2012 MountainShelby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-reviews

"A serial killer is on the loose, and Hercule Poirot will travel the length and breadth of England to track this ruthless killer.. . " Thus begins the tale of murder by the alphabet, with the great detective providing his usual urbane wit and psychological insight. If you are a fan of Agatha Christie, you will enjoy this book with all the Christie hallmarks--a widespread cast of characters, plot twists, swift pacing, red herrings, oddball characters, intriguing setting. As a dedicated audio book...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Ally Atherton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-books-in-52-weeks

Sometimes murder is as easy as ABC but this time Hercule Poirot seems to be faced with a homicidal maniac and clues seem to be few and far between. Poirot receives a letter that informs him that there is going to be a murder in Andover and Mrs Ascher is found battered to death behind her shop counter. Next young Betty Barnard is strangled on a beach in Bexhill and then Sir Carmichael Clarke is killed in Churston. Why are each of the bodies found with a copy of the ABC railway guide and who the h...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, mystery, 3-stars

This Hercule Poirot novel was different from the other ones I've read - there are multiple murders, the victims don't know one another, etc. I was originally happy with a slightly different premise. Unfortunately, though, it made the book much more transparent than her other works. I guessed at part of the solution before I even read the book (view spoiler)...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 26, 2011 Mitch rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before I begin my review, let me start off my saying I am a HUGE fan of Agatha Christie. Throughout the years I have always used her novels as "go to" books if I am in a literary dry spell and yearn to read something I am guarentee to enjoy. My girl Aggie usually hits the spot! However, sadly, I must say that "The A.B.C. Murders" is thus far my least favourite of all her books.

The following may contain spoilers:

Poirot, everyone's favourite detective, receives a mysterious letter warning him of...more

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May 28, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now that I’ve finally read one of the Miss Marple mysteries, I feel it only fair that I dip my toe into the pond of Poirot. My husband has claimed that the Poirot murders far exceed the Marple ones in quality, so I picked up the first one listed – apparently one of the later ones chronologically.

In this Poirot novel, Hastings has returned to visit England, and of course he drops in on his old friend. Poirot has recently received a strange letter, claiming that the author will commit a crime on a...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Agatha Christie fans

As I listened to this audiobook, I was in a quandary over whether the book seemed worse than it was because of the weak audio performance or if the audio performance was so poor because it's such a stupid book. Now that I've finished, I'm leaning toward the latter.

The premise of the book is good -- a murderer sends a series of letters to a famous detective, taunting him with when and where his next murder will take place. But Poirot actually encourages friends and family members of the previous...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is probably not the best Hercule Poirot mystery Christie wrote, but it’s the first one I’ve read, and I quite enjoyed it. In this story, a murderer sends letters to Poirot signed A.B.C., and then on the dates mentioned at the town mentioned, a murderer takes place of a person with the same last name initial as of that of the town’s first letter, all proceeding in alphabetical order -- from Andover to Bexhill to Churston…The murderer leaves an A.B.C. railway guide at the scene of each crime....more

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May 24, 2010 Laurel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-year-of-agatha

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 21, 2010 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the thrilling mystery novel, Abc Murders by Agatha Christie, there plays an insane serial killer on the loose detective, Hercule Poirot, the serial killer decides to send him letters telling him who he was going to kill next and where the killing was going to occur, signing it with ABC. The first victim was Alice Ascher of Andover, second, Betty Barnard of Bexhill-on-Sea, and then, Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. Apparently, Hercule and the police arrive too late before they can stop the k...more

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Mar 24, 2010 maricar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, mystery-thriller, series, agatha-christie

Wanted so much to put this down – coz the hour on the clock was silently accusing me of being up still – but this story just wouldn’t let go.

Which may sound strange, considering that the plot is pretty straightforward – a letter challenging Poirot’s sleuthing capabilities tells him to watch out for an immanent event (of course it’s a murder…this is Poirot we’re talking about). The letter is tauntingly signed, A.B.C.

Sure enough, a murder is committed in the quiet little town of Andover. And a we...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Tali rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christie-mysteries, crime

I was really looking forward to reading this Christie novel as I love Poirot and I really liked the alphabetical concept of the story and the murders. Unfortunately I ended up a bit disappointed, mainly because for the last three months I've been working my way through Christie's novels and this one tied in a bit too closely to After the Funeral, which I'd read previously. I can't help but think that while the ideas behind the Poirot and even Marple novels are often original and ingenious, the s...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Danny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: entertainment

In this novel, Hercule Poirot once again has to solve a mystery.. but he has to do it quickly, too!

Short thoughts about this thrilling book.

The A.B.C. Murders is a truly great crime novel, where the art of misdirection is mastered by the amazing Agatha Christie. All the way from major red herrings to tiny ones that make you (read: me) think you just snatched up something important and that you solved the mystery, this novel's plot is both thrilling and mysterious.

I throughly enjoyed the plot,...more

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About Agatha Christie

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

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Books by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)

The Mysterious Affair At Styles (Hercule Poirot #1)

Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)

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Trivia About The ABC Murders

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Quotes from The ABC Murders

“Words, madmoiselle, are only the outer clothing of ideas.” — 65 people liked it

“It's like all those quiet people, when they do lose their tempers they lose them with a vengeance.” — 48 people liked it

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The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot #13)

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