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Five Classic Murder Mysteries: The Secret Adversary / The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / The Boomerang Clue / The Moving Finger / Death Comes as the End
Fiction, Mystery, Crime Thriller and Fiction
688 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1985
20 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,812 books75.2k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 16, 2020
About forty years ago, I read this collection for the first time. I loved the variety of detectives, settings, and times.
For my purposes now, I'm including the review notes I took from my latest re-read (re-listen) of The Secret Adversary which has been released as an Amazon Classics edition audiobook format from Brilliance Audio.
#1 Tommy and Tuppence (originally 1922, 2nd book Christie wrote)
Agatha Christie is known as the queen of mystery and we all immediately imagine a brilliant murder on a train, ten people getting killed off to the tune of a nursery rhyme, a locked room, a country house, etc. But, she also wrote several as light thrillers in the espionage realm. The Secret Adversary is the first of these and the first of the Tommy and Tuppence series.
The Secret Adversary takes place just after the Great War when those who survived have been de-mobbed and struggle to settle back into life at peace. For Tommy and Tuppence who bump into each other one day, they lament the difficulties finding jobs and having enough money. With a brilliant flash, The Young Adventurers is born and they determine to take on any unusual job they are offered. This lands them with a mystery of international importance.
These two are plucky and have something of the Bright Young Things of the jazz age going for them. I had a good time meeting both Prudence 'Tuppence' Crowley, not so staid daughter of an arch deacon and Tommy Beresford the unflappable childhood friend. They are opposites, but also have a good compatibility since they are friends from childhood. It only slowly dawns on them both throughout the adventure that friendship has become something stronger.
They get their first case through Tuppence's audaciousness. Their job to find the missing Jane Flynn who survived the sinking of the Lusitania and then disappeared, government papers she might have been carrying, and unmask super criminal Mr. Brown who is after these papers all while these first timer amateurs manage to get on the right trail from the beginning.
The big villain reveal was something of a surprise the first time I read, but this many years later, I can see where it was almost obvious. The excitement isn't in that, but how Tommy and Tuppence run down the missing woman and the papers all while having a criminal gang thwarting them and providing some dangerous moments. It's not the deepest of conundrums, but its entertaining and sparkling with excitement.
The narrator, Marian Hussey, was a first time for me. She was brilliant as the Brits of all gender, age, and temperament. At first, I had to get used to her American accents. They weren't bad, but were a touch exaggerated. Julius Hersheimer, the American tycoon, eventually grew on me when I realized her voicing wasn't an over-done accent so much as nailing Julius' exuberant personality. I'd definitely listen to more of her work.
So, all in all, a good time was had by all and I was reminded how much I love classic Christie and want to pick up more of her books for re-reads and re-listens.
My thanks to Brilliance Audio for providing a copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
For my purposes now, I'm including the review notes I took from my latest re-read (re-listen) of The Secret Adversary which has been released as an Amazon Classics edition audiobook format from Brilliance Audio.
#1 Tommy and Tuppence (originally 1922, 2nd book Christie wrote)
Agatha Christie is known as the queen of mystery and we all immediately imagine a brilliant murder on a train, ten people getting killed off to the tune of a nursery rhyme, a locked room, a country house, etc. But, she also wrote several as light thrillers in the espionage realm. The Secret Adversary is the first of these and the first of the Tommy and Tuppence series.
The Secret Adversary takes place just after the Great War when those who survived have been de-mobbed and struggle to settle back into life at peace. For Tommy and Tuppence who bump into each other one day, they lament the difficulties finding jobs and having enough money. With a brilliant flash, The Young Adventurers is born and they determine to take on any unusual job they are offered. This lands them with a mystery of international importance.
These two are plucky and have something of the Bright Young Things of the jazz age going for them. I had a good time meeting both Prudence 'Tuppence' Crowley, not so staid daughter of an arch deacon and Tommy Beresford the unflappable childhood friend. They are opposites, but also have a good compatibility since they are friends from childhood. It only slowly dawns on them both throughout the adventure that friendship has become something stronger.
They get their first case through Tuppence's audaciousness. Their job to find the missing Jane Flynn who survived the sinking of the Lusitania and then disappeared, government papers she might have been carrying, and unmask super criminal Mr. Brown who is after these papers all while these first timer amateurs manage to get on the right trail from the beginning.
The big villain reveal was something of a surprise the first time I read, but this many years later, I can see where it was almost obvious. The excitement isn't in that, but how Tommy and Tuppence run down the missing woman and the papers all while having a criminal gang thwarting them and providing some dangerous moments. It's not the deepest of conundrums, but its entertaining and sparkling with excitement.
The narrator, Marian Hussey, was a first time for me. She was brilliant as the Brits of all gender, age, and temperament. At first, I had to get used to her American accents. They weren't bad, but were a touch exaggerated. Julius Hersheimer, the American tycoon, eventually grew on me when I realized her voicing wasn't an over-done accent so much as nailing Julius' exuberant personality. I'd definitely listen to more of her work.
So, all in all, a good time was had by all and I was reminded how much I love classic Christie and want to pick up more of her books for re-reads and re-listens.
My thanks to Brilliance Audio for providing a copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
May 30, 2011
The Secret Adversary is only the second novel Christie ever published and is thus the first chronologically, but it doesn't make for a strong start. If this had been my first Christie novel, I might never have read another. This is the first "Tommy and Tuppence" adventure. Christie didn't write as many mysteries with them as Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, but she did write several, and unlike those detectives they aged from book to book--from young twenty-something flappers to aged married partners in a book 50 years later. They're likable together and separately and there's an exuberant young spirit to the book--this is only the second novel she wrote, published in 1922. This is a tale of espionage and secret treaties and far fetched coincidences. And four chapters in, the couple walks into an interview with someone Tommy recognizes as in British intelligence--and without any security clearance or background check at all, without their having any intelligence training or experience as detectives, because they fell into some information regarding a sensitive case they're given classified information and hired. Oh, and it involves a supervillain who is inciting a "Bolshevik Revolution"--in England. Maybe that was a credible plot line in 1922, but in 2011 that flunks the laugh test. I guess this should be taken as just a light-hearted romp, but this story strained my credibility much too far too fast. One and a Half Stars
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of a few Christie's I've read--indeed one of the very few mysteries I've read--with such a jaw-dropping resolution that you want to scream, "I don't believe she did that!" When I first read it, I was tempted to read it again immediately upon finishing to make sure Christie played fair--she does. One thing that struck me on reread was not only how smoothly this was written--it's first person and that's important--but also how much humor there is, despite it being a murder mystery. Although certainly there are aspects to detective Hercule Poirot's personality that lend itself to comedy. This is a perfect puzzle box tale, a classic "locked room" mystery in a country manor complete with butler. The kind of mystery Raymond Chandler in an essay naming Christie complained were "contrived" and "arid formula." Literary critic Edmund Wilson even wrote an essay attacking mysteries titled "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" Go ahead and sniff disdainfully at me if you like for my rating of a full five stars. It's not Dostoevsky with complex characters and profound thoughts on the human condition(tm) but it's entertaining and clever and there's good reason it's been in print for over 80 years. (And I like it a hell of a lot more than Chandler's The Big Sleep.) Five Stars
The Boomerang Clue, which is also known as Why Didn't They Ask Evans is not, to put it mildly--one of Christie's best. I really liked it at first. Bobby Jones is a amiable young man, a vicar's son, who finds a dying man at the foot of a cliff. The man's last cryptic words were, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Soon there's an attempt on Bobby's life and he and his childhood friend, Frankie, aka Lady Frances Derwent, are on the case. There's a great chemistry between them, wit and humor to be had in the tale, a breezy readable style, action and suspense, and of course I was drawn in by the mystery. But there are a number of problems I wouldn't expect from a Christie, although I guess when you write over 80 novels in a career, some are bound to be misfires. One question that occurred to me early on and is a pet peeve in many a mystery is why they didn't immediately go to the police with their suspicions, rather than start sleuthing on their own. But then that might go nicely with problem number two--that they were both too stupid to live--on several levels. One being of the Jeez, don't-walk-into-the-obvious-ambush kind. Another even more serious was that the obvious villains...were obvious--but Christie's sleuths remain oblivious. This is one Christie (the only one I can remember) where right from the first I met the characters involved I was sure whodunnit and was right. Although there were some ins and outs I didn't learn until the end. Despite their stupidity, I did like Bobby and Frankie and that and those loose ends I wanted to see tied up kept me reading--but really, below average for a mystery and seriously sub-par for the writer of Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. Two and a Half Stars
The Moving Finger is vintage Christie. Ranked against her own competition of jaw-dropping books, such as And Then There Were None, this is a tad less memorable, but it still kept me guessing to the end while playing fair with the reader. Otherwise it's more than solid and has all the hallmarks of her best. There is the picture of life in a small English village in the mid-20th Century, Lymstock, which has been suffering from a series of poison pen letters culminating in murder. There's all the clues that come together in the end like clockwork, the red herrings, the plausible suspects, some of whom you favor, and others you come to care about you so hope didn't do it. There's humor, a nice element of romance, suspense--and oh, and Christie's elderly spinster detective Miss Marple. Although she mostly features at the end with the solution, not coming into the tale until Chapter Six of Eight, only a few dozen pages before the end. The story is the first person account of Jerry Burton, staying at the village with his sister while he recovers from an accident, and he's an appealing character through which to follow the tale. Four Stars
Death Comes as the End might not be Christie's most impressive novel, but of all the Christie novels I've read, this one is my personal favorite, and probably for the reason it's unique among her novels. All her other mystery novels were set in the present day of when they were published--this one is set in Ancient Egypt, as the Author's Note tells us, "on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes in Egypt about 2000 B.C." Renisenb, a young widow, returns to her family. When her father, Imhotep, a ka-priest, brings a beautiful young concubine, Nofret, into the household, she "touched off smoldering jealousies" which lead to murder. According to the biography in the back of the text, Christie's second husband was an archeologist and after her marriage she spent part of each year in the middle east. So unsurprising that she conveys her setting very vividly and gives us a vintage twisty well-plotted mystery. But she also wrote what I found among her most memorable characters and an affecting romance. I find this book a treat to read. Five Stars
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of a few Christie's I've read--indeed one of the very few mysteries I've read--with such a jaw-dropping resolution that you want to scream, "I don't believe she did that!" When I first read it, I was tempted to read it again immediately upon finishing to make sure Christie played fair--she does. One thing that struck me on reread was not only how smoothly this was written--it's first person and that's important--but also how much humor there is, despite it being a murder mystery. Although certainly there are aspects to detective Hercule Poirot's personality that lend itself to comedy. This is a perfect puzzle box tale, a classic "locked room" mystery in a country manor complete with butler. The kind of mystery Raymond Chandler in an essay naming Christie complained were "contrived" and "arid formula." Literary critic Edmund Wilson even wrote an essay attacking mysteries titled "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" Go ahead and sniff disdainfully at me if you like for my rating of a full five stars. It's not Dostoevsky with complex characters and profound thoughts on the human condition(tm) but it's entertaining and clever and there's good reason it's been in print for over 80 years. (And I like it a hell of a lot more than Chandler's The Big Sleep.) Five Stars
The Boomerang Clue, which is also known as Why Didn't They Ask Evans is not, to put it mildly--one of Christie's best. I really liked it at first. Bobby Jones is a amiable young man, a vicar's son, who finds a dying man at the foot of a cliff. The man's last cryptic words were, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Soon there's an attempt on Bobby's life and he and his childhood friend, Frankie, aka Lady Frances Derwent, are on the case. There's a great chemistry between them, wit and humor to be had in the tale, a breezy readable style, action and suspense, and of course I was drawn in by the mystery. But there are a number of problems I wouldn't expect from a Christie, although I guess when you write over 80 novels in a career, some are bound to be misfires. One question that occurred to me early on and is a pet peeve in many a mystery is why they didn't immediately go to the police with their suspicions, rather than start sleuthing on their own. But then that might go nicely with problem number two--that they were both too stupid to live--on several levels. One being of the Jeez, don't-walk-into-the-obvious-ambush kind. Another even more serious was that the obvious villains...were obvious--but Christie's sleuths remain oblivious. This is one Christie (the only one I can remember) where right from the first I met the characters involved I was sure whodunnit and was right. Although there were some ins and outs I didn't learn until the end. Despite their stupidity, I did like Bobby and Frankie and that and those loose ends I wanted to see tied up kept me reading--but really, below average for a mystery and seriously sub-par for the writer of Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. Two and a Half Stars
The Moving Finger is vintage Christie. Ranked against her own competition of jaw-dropping books, such as And Then There Were None, this is a tad less memorable, but it still kept me guessing to the end while playing fair with the reader. Otherwise it's more than solid and has all the hallmarks of her best. There is the picture of life in a small English village in the mid-20th Century, Lymstock, which has been suffering from a series of poison pen letters culminating in murder. There's all the clues that come together in the end like clockwork, the red herrings, the plausible suspects, some of whom you favor, and others you come to care about you so hope didn't do it. There's humor, a nice element of romance, suspense--and oh, and Christie's elderly spinster detective Miss Marple. Although she mostly features at the end with the solution, not coming into the tale until Chapter Six of Eight, only a few dozen pages before the end. The story is the first person account of Jerry Burton, staying at the village with his sister while he recovers from an accident, and he's an appealing character through which to follow the tale. Four Stars
Death Comes as the End might not be Christie's most impressive novel, but of all the Christie novels I've read, this one is my personal favorite, and probably for the reason it's unique among her novels. All her other mystery novels were set in the present day of when they were published--this one is set in Ancient Egypt, as the Author's Note tells us, "on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes in Egypt about 2000 B.C." Renisenb, a young widow, returns to her family. When her father, Imhotep, a ka-priest, brings a beautiful young concubine, Nofret, into the household, she "touched off smoldering jealousies" which lead to murder. According to the biography in the back of the text, Christie's second husband was an archeologist and after her marriage she spent part of each year in the middle east. So unsurprising that she conveys her setting very vividly and gives us a vintage twisty well-plotted mystery. But she also wrote what I found among her most memorable characters and an affecting romance. I find this book a treat to read. Five Stars
December 5, 2025
4 stars, 3.6 average rounded up
The Secret Adversary: ✫ ✫ ✫
Perhaps in 1922, this was considered thrilling and tense. However, reading this in 2025 the plot strains credulity and then shatters it within the first few chapters. By all means, go ahead and investigate a vast conspiracy by yourselves. No training or support required! Off you go then, you young whippersnappers.
Between the Bolsheviks (i.e., the Jews; Christie was a typical anti-Semite of her time) conspiring with the Labour party, England on the brink of anarchy because of one poorly worded draft treaty (grimly funny how what was considered an earth-shattering scandal back then happens on the weekly nowadays), the convenient amnesia, the constant rehashing of events, and the British phlegm so thick you could build a museum on it - this is a melodramatic and goofy book. But I am oddly fond of it.
Tommy and Tuppence seem to spend more time apart then together, but thankfully it is alright in the end. Except for the cousins marrying one another because the guy fell in love with the photograph of a girl, not the girl herself (at least initially). I guess incest was still acceptable back then. I did appreciate Julius rubbing in the fact that he has so much money that even if he were to kill another man, he can hire enough solicitors to get him off practically scott-free. Some things never change! Naming his gun “Willie” was an unfortunate choice but whatever.
But getting back to T & T, I think Christie pre-empted the action movie formula for the nuclear family = girl + guy + picked up youth (Albert). It even has the (now) cliche: Now, before I kill youMr Bond Miss Tuppence… speech. But back in the 1920s, you could get away with it.
There is the germ of an idea here that Christie would re-use and expand upon in Quite considerate to leave behind a written missive.
A bit offensive and stupid, but still a rollicking good time if you are in the mood.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
The best of her work. Still a great twist. So good… so, so good. There are some books I wish I could re-read again for the first time, knowing nothing and this is one of them. It somehow gets creepier and darker every time I re-read it, and it is about to turn 100 years old!
The Boomerang Clue, aka Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? ✫
DNF at like, 60%?
Easily the worst of the lot and the worst of her early works. I wish this story had been replaced with literally anything else (preferably something like Endless Night, Towards Zero, or my personal favorite: Crooked House) in this collection. It is wild to think she produced three books in 1934: Murder on the Orient Express (classic), Unfinished Portait (a memoir), and this one. Perhaps she reached burnout? I am not sure…
Bobby annoyed me greatly. I think his age - 28! - and lack of maturity did it in for me. Wistfully thinking of how his dear old dad doesn’t understand him - my guy, you are nearly 30. What is this sighing at the wishing well nonsense? Is the sad Madonna (so many sad Madonnas throughout her books) going to join you?
The number of disguises and subterfuges was too much for me. The two bumblers, Bobby and Frankie, make Tommy and Tuppence look cool and collected and comparison. I initially ranked the latter’s story two stars and this one made me bump it up one star.
The Moving Finger ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
This might be my favorite Miss Marple book, even though she is hardly in it (she appears when the book is ¾ of the way over!) and she isn’t the spitfire she was in the first two books. But she is used effectively and spurs several characters into action.
Jerry is quite the fascinating, one-off narrator. He had a really cool, quite dangerous job and is charged to recover quietly and slowly. He moves to a town chock-full of women, bringing along his delightful sister Joanna. The relationships between him and Megan, Aimée Griffith, Mrs Maud Dane Calthrop, Miss Emily Barton, and even the Symmington nanny, Elsie Holland (who initially falls far but is instantly turned off by her voice and lack of appeal) is quite interesting to observe. Some of them he is mildly afraid of because of their perceptive abilities and general weirdness (Mrs Maud Calthrop) or their bombasity (Aimée Griffith). He is tickled by Miss Emily Barton and decides to make Megan his personal project - complete with a makeover montage. He is a bit feminine himself, settling down to country life and even remarking on the quality of cakes and tea.
The setting is a bit dreamlike, or at very least intentionally unrealistic. At the time of the publication, the Blitzkrieg was just a little over a year ago and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor still fresh on the minds of many - and yet the second world war is barely mentioned. Shortages do not exist, the only deaths occur because of a sickness within the village (nothing from the Continent) and there are only two deaths in the entire story (which shows restraint on Dame Christie’s part) and Jerry basically dismisses them at the end of the story and seems to frame it in the context of a net positive!
There are a couple of points that reduce this book down a star. Dame Christie’s overt anti-semitism was in its last gasps (thankfully) - a “Jewess” is mentioned for no good reason except to mock the woman (gross) for her dress choices. The Symmington boys are completely dropped after their last mention by Elsie Holland before Megan confronts her step-father and crudely blackmails him. Where did they go? Into the void? Others have pointed out how Jerry’s injuries don’t make quite sense. How does driving hurt and yet he is able to yank a fully grown (young) woman onto a train without so much as a strain, since physical therapy wasn’t really a thing back then? I can see how some could see Mr Pye as being an offensive stereotype (his feminine streak, the way other villagers ascribe him negative traits and choose to be put off by his “friends” - when really, he is passionate about furniture and exquisite tchotchkes), but considering what came before and after him he is downright mild!
Death Comes as the End ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
It goes without saying, and yet here I go anyway, that this is one of the most unique books Agatha Christie has ever written. The story takes place during a different time (well over 4,000 years ago at this point!), in a different country, it ends with an incredibly high body count (including a child), and includes a truly young protagonist (Renisenb is in her young twenties, I believe). This book is credited as being the first modern historical whodunit: a murder mystery set into the past.
This is also a domestic drama combined intertwined with the historical murder mystery - it mainly concerns a family, living out in the Egyptian countryside, who have been brewing in their isolation and abusive dynamics (cheating husband, brow-beating nag of a wife, spoiled youngest son, etc). With the arrival of first Renisenb, then their father and his young concubine, the family is shaken up and their real personalities are revealed. It adds to the tension - someone in the family is picking off their other siblings and in-laws, but who is it? And why? The setting is rather small, considering. There is the main house, the lake, the tomb, and path to the tomb and back to the house… I think Agatha Christie prefers to stretch out her books’ locations a bit more than this.
This story is quite dreamlike. I am repeating myself, but this story takes place a long time ago in a world far more mystical and dangerous than our own. Renisenb, and this will sound condescending, isn’t the quickest on the uptake. She thinks slowly, she speaks slowly… her sister-in-law dunks on her near the end of the book and compares her to a child. I think Agatha Christie wanted to make Renisenb a considerate, thoughtful young woman slowly coming out of her sheltered existence. A large part of this book is Renisenb putting her once idyllic, safe childhood aside and taking down the blinders put on her.
There is also a love triangle (!) and the adults are having sex - Christie kind of hints at sexual congress in some of her books but they are rather chaste and subtle. However, in this book… Christie is still restrained but between the obvious relationship between Nofret and Imhotep, Sobek swaggering to the village to get drunk and fool around, Renisenb having to decide between Hori and Kameni (and going on a pleasure barge with Kameni!)... it’s not quite spicy but there is enough to feed the reader’s imaginations.
The ending is kind of Hitchcockian - there is a long psychological analysis of the murderer and their actions. Speaking of the ending, I personally think it was . Agatha Christie was not happy with this ending but if she ever left any notes behind on what the original ending was, they haven’t been found or are lost to time.
The Secret Adversary: ✫ ✫ ✫
Perhaps in 1922, this was considered thrilling and tense. However, reading this in 2025 the plot strains credulity and then shatters it within the first few chapters. By all means, go ahead and investigate a vast conspiracy by yourselves. No training or support required! Off you go then, you young whippersnappers.
Between the Bolsheviks (i.e., the Jews; Christie was a typical anti-Semite of her time) conspiring with the Labour party, England on the brink of anarchy because of one poorly worded draft treaty (grimly funny how what was considered an earth-shattering scandal back then happens on the weekly nowadays), the convenient amnesia, the constant rehashing of events, and the British phlegm so thick you could build a museum on it - this is a melodramatic and goofy book. But I am oddly fond of it.
Tommy and Tuppence seem to spend more time apart then together, but thankfully it is alright in the end. Except for the cousins marrying one another because the guy fell in love with the photograph of a girl, not the girl herself (at least initially). I guess incest was still acceptable back then. I did appreciate Julius rubbing in the fact that he has so much money that even if he were to kill another man, he can hire enough solicitors to get him off practically scott-free. Some things never change! Naming his gun “Willie” was an unfortunate choice but whatever.
But getting back to T & T, I think Christie pre-empted the action movie formula for the nuclear family = girl + guy + picked up youth (Albert). It even has the (now) cliche: Now, before I kill you
There is the germ of an idea here that Christie would re-use and expand upon in Quite considerate to leave behind a written missive.
A bit offensive and stupid, but still a rollicking good time if you are in the mood.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
The best of her work. Still a great twist. So good… so, so good. There are some books I wish I could re-read again for the first time, knowing nothing and this is one of them. It somehow gets creepier and darker every time I re-read it, and it is about to turn 100 years old!
The Boomerang Clue, aka Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? ✫
DNF at like, 60%?
Easily the worst of the lot and the worst of her early works. I wish this story had been replaced with literally anything else (preferably something like Endless Night, Towards Zero, or my personal favorite: Crooked House) in this collection. It is wild to think she produced three books in 1934: Murder on the Orient Express (classic), Unfinished Portait (a memoir), and this one. Perhaps she reached burnout? I am not sure…
Bobby annoyed me greatly. I think his age - 28! - and lack of maturity did it in for me. Wistfully thinking of how his dear old dad doesn’t understand him - my guy, you are nearly 30. What is this sighing at the wishing well nonsense? Is the sad Madonna (so many sad Madonnas throughout her books) going to join you?
The number of disguises and subterfuges was too much for me. The two bumblers, Bobby and Frankie, make Tommy and Tuppence look cool and collected and comparison. I initially ranked the latter’s story two stars and this one made me bump it up one star.
The Moving Finger ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
This might be my favorite Miss Marple book, even though she is hardly in it (she appears when the book is ¾ of the way over!) and she isn’t the spitfire she was in the first two books. But she is used effectively and spurs several characters into action.
Jerry is quite the fascinating, one-off narrator. He had a really cool, quite dangerous job and is charged to recover quietly and slowly. He moves to a town chock-full of women, bringing along his delightful sister Joanna. The relationships between him and Megan, Aimée Griffith, Mrs Maud Dane Calthrop, Miss Emily Barton, and even the Symmington nanny, Elsie Holland (who initially falls far but is instantly turned off by her voice and lack of appeal) is quite interesting to observe. Some of them he is mildly afraid of because of their perceptive abilities and general weirdness (Mrs Maud Calthrop) or their bombasity (Aimée Griffith). He is tickled by Miss Emily Barton and decides to make Megan his personal project - complete with a makeover montage. He is a bit feminine himself, settling down to country life and even remarking on the quality of cakes and tea.
The setting is a bit dreamlike, or at very least intentionally unrealistic. At the time of the publication, the Blitzkrieg was just a little over a year ago and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor still fresh on the minds of many - and yet the second world war is barely mentioned. Shortages do not exist, the only deaths occur because of a sickness within the village (nothing from the Continent) and there are only two deaths in the entire story (which shows restraint on Dame Christie’s part) and Jerry basically dismisses them at the end of the story and seems to frame it in the context of a net positive!
There are a couple of points that reduce this book down a star. Dame Christie’s overt anti-semitism was in its last gasps (thankfully) - a “Jewess” is mentioned for no good reason except to mock the woman (gross) for her dress choices. The Symmington boys are completely dropped after their last mention by Elsie Holland before Megan confronts her step-father and crudely blackmails him. Where did they go? Into the void? Others have pointed out how Jerry’s injuries don’t make quite sense. How does driving hurt and yet he is able to yank a fully grown (young) woman onto a train without so much as a strain, since physical therapy wasn’t really a thing back then? I can see how some could see Mr Pye as being an offensive stereotype (his feminine streak, the way other villagers ascribe him negative traits and choose to be put off by his “friends” - when really, he is passionate about furniture and exquisite tchotchkes), but considering what came before and after him he is downright mild!
Death Comes as the End ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫
It goes without saying, and yet here I go anyway, that this is one of the most unique books Agatha Christie has ever written. The story takes place during a different time (well over 4,000 years ago at this point!), in a different country, it ends with an incredibly high body count (including a child), and includes a truly young protagonist (Renisenb is in her young twenties, I believe). This book is credited as being the first modern historical whodunit: a murder mystery set into the past.
This is also a domestic drama combined intertwined with the historical murder mystery - it mainly concerns a family, living out in the Egyptian countryside, who have been brewing in their isolation and abusive dynamics (cheating husband, brow-beating nag of a wife, spoiled youngest son, etc). With the arrival of first Renisenb, then their father and his young concubine, the family is shaken up and their real personalities are revealed. It adds to the tension - someone in the family is picking off their other siblings and in-laws, but who is it? And why? The setting is rather small, considering. There is the main house, the lake, the tomb, and path to the tomb and back to the house… I think Agatha Christie prefers to stretch out her books’ locations a bit more than this.
This story is quite dreamlike. I am repeating myself, but this story takes place a long time ago in a world far more mystical and dangerous than our own. Renisenb, and this will sound condescending, isn’t the quickest on the uptake. She thinks slowly, she speaks slowly… her sister-in-law dunks on her near the end of the book and compares her to a child. I think Agatha Christie wanted to make Renisenb a considerate, thoughtful young woman slowly coming out of her sheltered existence. A large part of this book is Renisenb putting her once idyllic, safe childhood aside and taking down the blinders put on her.
There is also a love triangle (!) and the adults are having sex - Christie kind of hints at sexual congress in some of her books but they are rather chaste and subtle. However, in this book… Christie is still restrained but between the obvious relationship between Nofret and Imhotep, Sobek swaggering to the village to get drunk and fool around, Renisenb having to decide between Hori and Kameni (and going on a pleasure barge with Kameni!)... it’s not quite spicy but there is enough to feed the reader’s imaginations.
The ending is kind of Hitchcockian - there is a long psychological analysis of the murderer and their actions. Speaking of the ending, I personally think it was . Agatha Christie was not happy with this ending but if she ever left any notes behind on what the original ending was, they haven’t been found or are lost to time.
December 23, 2008
The books included in this compendium include The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Secret Adversary, The Boomerang Clue, The Moving Finger, Death Comes as the End. One or two of Christie's various famous sleuths feature in each book. As always, the plots were engrossing, and each one has a satisfactory denouement.
December 27, 2010
good set of well written mysteries: Murder of Roger Ackroyd-EXCELLENT!, Secret Adversary-adventurous, Boomerang Clue-surprise, Moving Finger-O.K., Death Comes at the End-great setting
July 20, 2024
This is the fifteenth book in my Christie Reread Initiative. This one I remembered bits and pieces about as I went along, particularly from The Boomerang Clue. I'll review this using the same format that I use to review Stephen King's novella collections.
The first story is, unless I'm greatly mistaken, the very first Tommy and Tuppence story that she wrote. It starts with the two of them reconnecting by chance after having last seen each other during the war, with Tommy convalescing in a field hospital and Tuppence looking after him in her capacity as a nurse. The two of them are flat broke and trying desperately to find work. They put an ad in the paper advertising their services, and Tuppence gets called to a rather strange job interview. This sets them on a path that sees them trying to aid British intelligence by flushing out a Communist conspiracy. I've mentioned before that Christie consistently shows her disconnect from people that she views as being below her, particularly along class lines, and this may be one of the more egregious examples in her library. Her mindsets in this story remind me entirely too much of modern American rhetoric from the Right wing in attempts to defend the increasingly egregious and heinous crimes of capitalism. That said, I don't think Tommy and Tuppence have ever been more charming in any of their stories. Their easy back and forth is incredibly charming and made me laugh out loud several times, and the evolution of their relationship is well written. Great suspense and action, but I'm less than thrilled with her political and social views in this one.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a Poirot story and kicks off when a troubled woman commits suicide, though not before trying to appeal to the titular character who is known in this sleepy little village for his generosity and for bringing dependable industry to the area. His murder follows soon after and Poirot, who is living in the village in one of a couple unsuccessful attempts at a quiet retirement, agrees to take on the case and works along side the village's kindly doctor to solve this perplexing case. This is one of my favorite Poirot stories because the twist is one of the most brilliant things that Christie ever put to print but doesn't get mentioned as much as it should alongside some of her other great achievements like Murder on the Orient Express. Just an excellent story and my favorite in the collection.
The Boomerang Clue begins when a young man and his older companion, a doctor, stumble over a dying man while playing golf. The doctor goes off to get additional help while the young man stays with the stranger only to see the unfortunate man die, though not before uttering a strange and seemingly nonsensical question. At first the whole thing seems to be a tragic accident but the young man and Frankie - the daughter of a local noble who's dreadfully bored of country life - soon start to realize this man was the victim of an insidious conspiracy and so they take it upon themselves to unravel it. There's a lot of Tommy and Tuppence in these two, but the interesting kink here is that the burgeoning couple is divided along class lines. The young man is the blue collar son of a vicar and thinks himself not good enough for a Lady like his friend Frankie while Frankie is frustrated with him for not seeing what's right in front of his own face. It's a solid mystery with likeable protagonists, but it also features one of her more unbelievable contrivances near the end of the story.
The Moving Finger tells the story of a young man and his sister who have temporarily moved to a sleepy country village for the brother's health as he sustained a nasty injury from a flying accident. Right as they arrive they receive a nasty but completely inaccurate poison pen letter and, after having a laugh over it, forget about it. Not too long after a string of murders occurs in conjunction with a wave of poison pen letters and it's up to the narrator and miss Marple to solve the mystery. I did enjoy this one but it has the same problem as the Poirot story Cat Among the Pigeons in that the star of the show doesn't show up until about two-thirds of the way through the story. I can't help but wonder if Christie didn't intend to feature her famous detectives in those two stories but was strong armed into it by her publisher.
Death Comes as the End is the strangest bit of her fiction that I've encountered so far outside of the Mr. Quin stories. It's set in ancient Egypt and is mostly seen from the perspective of a young woman who has returned to her wealthy widower father after her own husband had suddenly passed away leaving her directionless and having to take care of their child. Shortly afterward her father brings home a new concubine that is even younger than she is and has a taste for causing trouble amongst the family, which includes a wise grandmother, three bickering brothers and the bickering wives of two of those brothers. The concubine is found dead not long after her arrival and this sparks off a series of deaths that threatens to unravel the family both physically and mentally. This one is pretty dark, but what I'm stuck on with this story is wondering how accurate any of her ancient Egyptian setting was, particularly in the names of the characters. I'm going to go hunting for a good breakdown of this story after I finish this review and sate my curiosity. The story started out as overly melodramatic even by Christie's standards but once the actual mystery kicked in it was a pretty strong story. I have to give particular praise to her misdirection work in this story. I don't think any of her mysteries have left me more muddled by the end than this one.
On the whole, despite my complaints with a few of the stories, this is a great collection and a great way to get a look at some of Christie's most famous characters and at her incredible ability as a writer of both drama and mystery. I do have one additional complaint, though I don't usually bring this sort of thing up in my reviews: the editing in this book is awful. There are an incredible number of typos, particularly as you get closer to the end of the book. It became so frequent that it was quite distracting.
The first story is, unless I'm greatly mistaken, the very first Tommy and Tuppence story that she wrote. It starts with the two of them reconnecting by chance after having last seen each other during the war, with Tommy convalescing in a field hospital and Tuppence looking after him in her capacity as a nurse. The two of them are flat broke and trying desperately to find work. They put an ad in the paper advertising their services, and Tuppence gets called to a rather strange job interview. This sets them on a path that sees them trying to aid British intelligence by flushing out a Communist conspiracy. I've mentioned before that Christie consistently shows her disconnect from people that she views as being below her, particularly along class lines, and this may be one of the more egregious examples in her library. Her mindsets in this story remind me entirely too much of modern American rhetoric from the Right wing in attempts to defend the increasingly egregious and heinous crimes of capitalism. That said, I don't think Tommy and Tuppence have ever been more charming in any of their stories. Their easy back and forth is incredibly charming and made me laugh out loud several times, and the evolution of their relationship is well written. Great suspense and action, but I'm less than thrilled with her political and social views in this one.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a Poirot story and kicks off when a troubled woman commits suicide, though not before trying to appeal to the titular character who is known in this sleepy little village for his generosity and for bringing dependable industry to the area. His murder follows soon after and Poirot, who is living in the village in one of a couple unsuccessful attempts at a quiet retirement, agrees to take on the case and works along side the village's kindly doctor to solve this perplexing case. This is one of my favorite Poirot stories because the twist is one of the most brilliant things that Christie ever put to print but doesn't get mentioned as much as it should alongside some of her other great achievements like Murder on the Orient Express. Just an excellent story and my favorite in the collection.
The Boomerang Clue begins when a young man and his older companion, a doctor, stumble over a dying man while playing golf. The doctor goes off to get additional help while the young man stays with the stranger only to see the unfortunate man die, though not before uttering a strange and seemingly nonsensical question. At first the whole thing seems to be a tragic accident but the young man and Frankie - the daughter of a local noble who's dreadfully bored of country life - soon start to realize this man was the victim of an insidious conspiracy and so they take it upon themselves to unravel it. There's a lot of Tommy and Tuppence in these two, but the interesting kink here is that the burgeoning couple is divided along class lines. The young man is the blue collar son of a vicar and thinks himself not good enough for a Lady like his friend Frankie while Frankie is frustrated with him for not seeing what's right in front of his own face. It's a solid mystery with likeable protagonists, but it also features one of her more unbelievable contrivances near the end of the story.
The Moving Finger tells the story of a young man and his sister who have temporarily moved to a sleepy country village for the brother's health as he sustained a nasty injury from a flying accident. Right as they arrive they receive a nasty but completely inaccurate poison pen letter and, after having a laugh over it, forget about it. Not too long after a string of murders occurs in conjunction with a wave of poison pen letters and it's up to the narrator and miss Marple to solve the mystery. I did enjoy this one but it has the same problem as the Poirot story Cat Among the Pigeons in that the star of the show doesn't show up until about two-thirds of the way through the story. I can't help but wonder if Christie didn't intend to feature her famous detectives in those two stories but was strong armed into it by her publisher.
Death Comes as the End is the strangest bit of her fiction that I've encountered so far outside of the Mr. Quin stories. It's set in ancient Egypt and is mostly seen from the perspective of a young woman who has returned to her wealthy widower father after her own husband had suddenly passed away leaving her directionless and having to take care of their child. Shortly afterward her father brings home a new concubine that is even younger than she is and has a taste for causing trouble amongst the family, which includes a wise grandmother, three bickering brothers and the bickering wives of two of those brothers. The concubine is found dead not long after her arrival and this sparks off a series of deaths that threatens to unravel the family both physically and mentally. This one is pretty dark, but what I'm stuck on with this story is wondering how accurate any of her ancient Egyptian setting was, particularly in the names of the characters. I'm going to go hunting for a good breakdown of this story after I finish this review and sate my curiosity. The story started out as overly melodramatic even by Christie's standards but once the actual mystery kicked in it was a pretty strong story. I have to give particular praise to her misdirection work in this story. I don't think any of her mysteries have left me more muddled by the end than this one.
On the whole, despite my complaints with a few of the stories, this is a great collection and a great way to get a look at some of Christie's most famous characters and at her incredible ability as a writer of both drama and mystery. I do have one additional complaint, though I don't usually bring this sort of thing up in my reviews: the editing in this book is awful. There are an incredible number of typos, particularly as you get closer to the end of the book. It became so frequent that it was quite distracting.
March 20, 2021
This was an interesting compilation of five Agatha Christie books: The Secret Adversary, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Boomerang Clue, The Moving Finger and Death Comes as the End.
It began with The Secret Adversary, first published in 1922. The story is rather dated with slang that is obscure for today's reader. Also, the plot of two down on their luck adventurers who stumble into a mystery of international intruge seems farfetched. This is the introduction of the detectives Tommy and Tuppence. To me, this was the weakest of the books in this collection and the one I liked the least.
The compilation also includes Death Comes at the End which is set in Ancient Egypt. I was skeptical of this story and felt that it had a slow start. But once I got to Chapter 3, I found myself drawn into the plot and the characters and it quickly became my favorite book in the collection.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection of Agatha Christie books. I would have changed out The Secret Adversary for a stronger story, but even there it was interesting to see the changes and improvements Agatha Christie made in her character development and storytelling over the years.
It began with The Secret Adversary, first published in 1922. The story is rather dated with slang that is obscure for today's reader. Also, the plot of two down on their luck adventurers who stumble into a mystery of international intruge seems farfetched. This is the introduction of the detectives Tommy and Tuppence. To me, this was the weakest of the books in this collection and the one I liked the least.
The compilation also includes Death Comes at the End which is set in Ancient Egypt. I was skeptical of this story and felt that it had a slow start. But once I got to Chapter 3, I found myself drawn into the plot and the characters and it quickly became my favorite book in the collection.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection of Agatha Christie books. I would have changed out The Secret Adversary for a stronger story, but even there it was interesting to see the changes and improvements Agatha Christie made in her character development and storytelling over the years.
July 5, 2023
This is a great introductory book for anyone new to Agatha Christie. You are introduced to her three main sleuths (Tommy & Tuupence, Hercule Poroit, and Miss Jane Marple). Also included are two stand-alone mysteries. I give it a four because I found two stories less intriguing than the others, however that is strictly personal preference.
What I love about Agatha Christie's writing style is how she includes a lot of modern themes (affairs, embezzlement, homosexuality) in a very "life is similar regardless of race, ethnicity, class". Human nature, although I hope somewhat less murderous than her books.
What I love about Agatha Christie's writing style is how she includes a lot of modern themes (affairs, embezzlement, homosexuality) in a very "life is similar regardless of race, ethnicity, class". Human nature, although I hope somewhat less murderous than her books.
September 5, 2022
When I was younger I enjoyed Agatha Christie murder mysteries and this book was no exception. 4/5 short stories were page turners and when I found the time to read nonstop that’s what I did! Because Agatha is a British author some of her wording and phrasing can be difficult to follow, but if you like good mysteries no one does it better!
July 19, 2025
What a fun Agatha Christie book! I only had "The Boomerange Clue" and enjoyed it very much. The mystery of a man who fell over a cliff--was it an accident, suicide or murder? Bobby and Lady Frankie work together to come up with possible scenarios and solve a mystery. Very good!
Language: very clean
Language: very clean
Currently reading
July 6, 2023Mrs. Ferrars died September 16 Thursday evening. Her husband died over a year ago, and Caroline surmises that he was poisoned by his wife. Ralph Paton is in town, Ferrer’s son from a previous marriage.
January 29, 2024
Straight up Christie, so it's easy to read, easy to follow, and most of the time the solution is both surprising and obvious once explained.
I've read this before, so I mainly picked it up to reread Roger Ackroyd. It's still the best Poirot.
I've read this before, so I mainly picked it up to reread Roger Ackroyd. It's still the best Poirot.
June 19, 2024
I never tire of reading Agatha Christie mysteries. After reading about a dozen or more I thought I'd start to pick out her patterns. But I never seen to know "whodunnit" until it's spelled out at the end.
May 12, 2022
Love reading the older books
March 4, 2017
First two were extremely intense, suspenseful. Boomerang Clue not my favorite. Moving Finger in the middle - not outstanding, but interesting.
May 17, 2014
Cause these stories are so different, I'll break down my reviews:
- The Secret Adversary
First in the book is "The Secret Adversary". I'd rate this a C+. I enjoyed the characters of Tuppence and Tommy, but the political angle of the story left me a bit bored. And I found myself wishing that Tuppence and Tommy spend more of the story together instead of splitting up for more of it. I would like to read more Tuppence and Tommy stories in the future, but this one left me cold.
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Second in the book is "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (which is part of the Hercule Poirot series), however I didn't read this one till last because I read it was the best. And OMG WAS IT EVER! This has got to be one of my favorite Christie stories ever. Right up there with "And Then There Were None" (AKA "Ten Little Indians"). It left me stunned and wanting to reread it immediately. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for a standalone copy of this one, as is it highly rereadable. A+
- The Boomerang Clue
Next is "The Boomerang Clue". I'd rate this B-. This story is a standalone (not part of ant series). I found it enjoyable, if a little laggy at times. Also some of the events were a bit *too* coincidental for my liking.
- The Moving Finger
I feel I can't give "The Moving Finger" an impartial review as a few pages in, I remembered everything about the story from watching the "Miss Marple" TV program. As I result, I ended up skimming most of it. Knowing the ending, combined with just not being blown away by it, made this just not very interesting. Thus, rating withheld.
- Death Comes as the End
This is the most unique Christie story I've ever read, as it takes place in ancient Egypt. Other than that, though, it is a typical Christie murder mystery. That's not a bad thing, however. It kept me guessing and the ending was very surprising. I give it a B+.
- The Secret Adversary
First in the book is "The Secret Adversary". I'd rate this a C+. I enjoyed the characters of Tuppence and Tommy, but the political angle of the story left me a bit bored. And I found myself wishing that Tuppence and Tommy spend more of the story together instead of splitting up for more of it. I would like to read more Tuppence and Tommy stories in the future, but this one left me cold.
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Second in the book is "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (which is part of the Hercule Poirot series), however I didn't read this one till last because I read it was the best. And OMG WAS IT EVER! This has got to be one of my favorite Christie stories ever. Right up there with "And Then There Were None" (AKA "Ten Little Indians"). It left me stunned and wanting to reread it immediately. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for a standalone copy of this one, as is it highly rereadable. A+
- The Boomerang Clue
Next is "The Boomerang Clue". I'd rate this B-. This story is a standalone (not part of ant series). I found it enjoyable, if a little laggy at times. Also some of the events were a bit *too* coincidental for my liking.
- The Moving Finger
I feel I can't give "The Moving Finger" an impartial review as a few pages in, I remembered everything about the story from watching the "Miss Marple" TV program. As I result, I ended up skimming most of it. Knowing the ending, combined with just not being blown away by it, made this just not very interesting. Thus, rating withheld.
- Death Comes as the End
This is the most unique Christie story I've ever read, as it takes place in ancient Egypt. Other than that, though, it is a typical Christie murder mystery. That's not a bad thing, however. It kept me guessing and the ending was very surprising. I give it a B+.
July 22, 2012
I didn't read the first and last story of the compilation, I have attempted both before and have not been able to get into them. The Boomarang Clue was probably my favorite of the two that I did read. It think that classism (is that a word) is so funny, seriously how do you judge someone by their name and not teir deeds, but it was alive and made for some funny moments in The Boomarang Clue. I think it is possible that I have read The Moving finger over twenty years ago, the plot of the poison pen letters seemed really familiar. Now that we live in the age of online message boards you see so much more of this mean spirited behaviour. A few years ago I read in article about a 13year old girl who was driven to suicide by someone who pretended to be an online boyfriend and than dumped her and told her she should kill herself. Turned out it was a woman who drove her to school and her husband. Unfortunately, what they did wasn't illegal, but I can only hope that their lives are a living hell.
Want to read
October 15, 2017Hercule Poirot 04 the Murder of Roger Ackroyd ***
Tommy and Tuppence 01 the Secret Adversary *****
the Boomerang Clue
Miss Marple 04 the Moving Finger *****
Death Comes as the End
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
Tommy and Tuppence 01 the Secret Adversary *****
the Boomerang Clue
Miss Marple 04 the Moving Finger *****
Death Comes as the End
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
April 28, 2009
Five novels in one hardcover: "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"; "The Secret Adversary"; "The Boomerang Clue"; "The Moving Finger"; "Death Comes as the End."
The first is a Hercule Poirot mystery, the second a Tommy & Tuppence, the third a regular murder mystery, the fourth another regular mystery, and the fifth is a murder mystery set in Egypt in the long-ago age from what I can tell from it.
Recommend the book for Agatha Christie fans, but I have to admit I didn't enjoy two of the novels as much as the others.
The first is a Hercule Poirot mystery, the second a Tommy & Tuppence, the third a regular murder mystery, the fourth another regular mystery, and the fifth is a murder mystery set in Egypt in the long-ago age from what I can tell from it.
Recommend the book for Agatha Christie fans, but I have to admit I didn't enjoy two of the novels as much as the others.
June 24, 2011
Fantastic collection by Avenel Books of Agatha Christie stories! This collection of five are the amongst the very best of her work. I rate 5 stars individually to four of the titles, though. The best are "The Secret Adversary", "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", "The Boomerang Clue", "The Moving Finger", and "Death Comes as the End". "Finger" is the only one I would give 3 stars to, the rest a 5. What's so great about this collection is that each story features a unique detective of Agatha's. Oh, BTW--the "Boomerang" story is more widely known as "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" (the UK title).
November 8, 2018
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I thought I had not finished reading this mystery. As I read it I recalled the plot, but couldn't quite remember the ending so I read it again. I remembered not liking which of the characters Agatha had made to be the guilty one.
And so it went with each of the four other books, I'd read them all, but was not able to recall how the plot ended. Still, since I really like Agatha Christie's writing, I enjoyed reading them again.
And so it went with each of the four other books, I'd read them all, but was not able to recall how the plot ended. Still, since I really like Agatha Christie's writing, I enjoyed reading them again.
June 4, 2022
This murder mystery is widely regarded as one of Agatha Christie's best, and I can understand why. The plot moves quickly, taking the characters through a number of side stories, until the final twist reveal by Hercule Poirot - an ending I'm sure none of the readers since publication suspected. Overall a delightful book.
April 23, 2015
The Secret Adversary, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Boomerang Clue, The Moving Finger Death Comes as the End. love her style, and esp the stories set in the early 20th century. what lovely descriptions of the mind set of that era. and i can almost figure how who did it.
Read
April 30, 2013I read Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
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