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The Boomerang Clue
by
Was it a misstep that sent a handsome stranger plummeting to his death from a cliff? Or something more sinister? Fun-loving adventurers Bobby Jones and Frances Derwent's suspicions are certainly roused--espeically since the man's dying words were so peculiar: Why didn't they ask Evans? Bobby and Frances would love to know. Unfortunately, asking the wrong people has sent th
...more
Paperback, 366 pages
Published
1978
by G.K. Hall
(first published September 1934)
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Start your review of The Boomerang Clue
This was a most welcome re-read for me. It's been many years since I last read it and I'd forgotten most of the plot, so it was like a new book!
We have a young man, Bobby, who, while playing golf, comes across a seriously injured man who has fallen from a cliff. As his golfing partner goes for help the injured man briefly regains consciousness and says "Why didn't they ask Evans?" and then dies. Bobby dismisses the comment as nonsense, but sinister things start to happen when he mentions this to ...more
We have a young man, Bobby, who, while playing golf, comes across a seriously injured man who has fallen from a cliff. As his golfing partner goes for help the injured man briefly regains consciousness and says "Why didn't they ask Evans?" and then dies. Bobby dismisses the comment as nonsense, but sinister things start to happen when he mentions this to ...more
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Agatha Christie
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in September 1934.
Bobby Jones is playing golf with Dr Thomas in the Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt. Seeking the golf ball he hit over the cliff edge, he sees a man lying below.
The doctor says the man is fatally injured and seeks help. Bobby Jones is playing golf with Dr Thomas in the Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt. Seeking the golf ball he hit over the clif ...more
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in September 1934.
Bobby Jones is playing golf with Dr Thomas in the Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt. Seeking the golf ball he hit over the cliff edge, he sees a man lying below.
The doctor says the man is fatally injured and seeks help. Bobby Jones is playing golf with Dr Thomas in the Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt. Seeking the golf ball he hit over the clif ...more
Probably not one of Agatha Christie's best books but I enjoyed it just the same. Frankie and Bobbie are a delightful pair and I loved their ending. The story is fun and I didn't actually guess one of the guilty parties.
I believe this was one of her earlier books and it was not as polished as her work usually is. I also had to suspend belief more often than usual. In the first few chapters when the doctor and Bobbie find a dying man on a cliff - the doctor goes for help leaving the unqualified yo ...more
I believe this was one of her earlier books and it was not as polished as her work usually is. I also had to suspend belief more often than usual. In the first few chapters when the doctor and Bobbie find a dying man on a cliff - the doctor goes for help leaving the unqualified yo ...more
Jan 18, 2021
Adrian
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
detectives-challenge-christie,
zz-owned-books
A fun book and one of my first non Poirot/Marple Agatha Christie’s for many years.
More tomorrow 👍🏼
It seems strange reading an Agatha Christie book, without Miss Marple's little cough from the corner of the room, or Poirot commenting on his little grey cells. Did I miss them, yes, but I also enjoyed this mystery and it was still so Agatha.
Starring the 4th son of a vicar, Bobby Jones and his childhood friend Lady Frances Derwent, this story commences on the links golf course where Bobby is playin ...more
More tomorrow 👍🏼
It seems strange reading an Agatha Christie book, without Miss Marple's little cough from the corner of the room, or Poirot commenting on his little grey cells. Did I miss them, yes, but I also enjoyed this mystery and it was still so Agatha.
Starring the 4th son of a vicar, Bobby Jones and his childhood friend Lady Frances Derwent, this story commences on the links golf course where Bobby is playin ...more
Jun 03, 2020
Baba
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
modernclassic,
mystery-its-a-mystery
A wonderfully quaint, but rollicking modern classic Agatha Christie tale - two old friends, one male and one female, of different social classes are drawn into a conspiracy that starts with an alleged 'accident' on a cliff side. I remember the TV adaption of this being marketed heavily as a great story... and indeed it is :) 7 out of 12.
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Rating: 3.5* of five
Annoying. Just plain annoying. Frankie and Bobby are bumbling amateurs! Lady Frances Derwent, daughter of the Earl of Marchington, knows Bobby, the son of the Vicar of Marchbolt, from little on up. They meet again when Bobby's found a dying man under the cliffs near his home. He and Frankie decide that they'll look into the matter because there are some loose and flapping ends that Bobby knows but had no chance to say at the inquest.
Hijinks quite predictably ensue.
It was 80 y ...more
Annoying. Just plain annoying. Frankie and Bobby are bumbling amateurs! Lady Frances Derwent, daughter of the Earl of Marchington, knows Bobby, the son of the Vicar of Marchbolt, from little on up. They meet again when Bobby's found a dying man under the cliffs near his home. He and Frankie decide that they'll look into the matter because there are some loose and flapping ends that Bobby knows but had no chance to say at the inquest.
Hijinks quite predictably ensue.
It was 80 y ...more
I always find the Christie thrillers to never really connect with me, that probably explains why I’d initially skipped this one when working through her cannon.
My favourite part of the story was probably the introduction to the mystery itself.
Bobby Jones and his friend Dr Thomas are playing golf in a Welsh seaside resort, only for Bobby to slice his ball over a cliff edge.
Down below he spots a dying man who utters the final words ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’
Whilst surviving an attempt of poisoni ...more
My favourite part of the story was probably the introduction to the mystery itself.
Bobby Jones and his friend Dr Thomas are playing golf in a Welsh seaside resort, only for Bobby to slice his ball over a cliff edge.
Down below he spots a dying man who utters the final words ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’
Whilst surviving an attempt of poisoni ...more
I think this was my first Agatha Christie novel ever. I read it when I was in highschool and I loved it back then. I didn't love it as much this time around, which was to be expected, but it was still enjoyable.
The audiobook was good. Frankie's voice was a bit annoying, but I liked the narrator's voices for other characters.
...more
The audiobook was good. Frankie's voice was a bit annoying, but I liked the narrator's voices for other characters.
...more
This is only my second time reading of a standalone murder-mystery by Agatha Christie, and I find it to be quite a different experience. I've completed the Poirot series and I'm kind of used to having a competent detective around to secure justice for the victim of the crime. Here was a complete contrast to what I'm used to reading in an Agatha Christie novel. There is no competent detective, not even the police, but two youngsters playing at the hand of amateur detectives. Although it took some
...more
What a fun look at a standalone Christie. "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" is definitely full of twists and turns. I also didn't realize the guilty party until the end of the book. The characters of Bobby Jones and Frankie Derwent (Lady Frances) are delightful and some parts of this book remind me of "The Seven Dials Mystery" which is not a bad thing.
"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" begins with Bobby Jones and the local doctor playing golf when they realize that a man has fallen off a nearby cliff and i ...more
"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" begins with Bobby Jones and the local doctor playing golf when they realize that a man has fallen off a nearby cliff and i ...more
Very Agatha Christie. Not her best work, but still a damn good mystery.
This must be one of Christie's most delightful novels. Bobby Jones is the likeable, if not very intellectual, young man who discovers a dying man on a golf course and hears his cryptic last words, "why didn't they ask Evans?" Events that follow, what originally seems an accident, lead Bobby and the plucky Frankie (Lady Frances Derwent) to try to unravel the mystery of who the man really was and who murdered him. Before long, Frankie and Bobby are plunged into an adventure, involving a sinister d
...more
Amusing, mostly light (if you ignore the perfectly nice people who get murdered along the way) mystery featuring for once no actual detective. Not even amateur sleuths like Christie's Tommy and Tuppence -- here we have a bored Bright Young Thing and her reluctant pal investigating what everyone else says was an accidental death.
The title seems like a spoiler but (view spoiler)
My cover, excitingly, is even cheesier than the one display ...more
The title seems like a spoiler but (view spoiler)
My cover, excitingly, is even cheesier than the one display ...more
An interesting plot full of twists and turns and some interesting coincidences. The lovable pair of amateur detectives Bobby and Frankie end up solving a gruesome death using their wits and some nice deductions. And of course you have a great end when it is revealed all in a grand fashion. Must read.
Dame Agatha Christie. Creator of Hercule Poirot, best selling author of over 80 million books. And writer of Why Didn't They ask Evans?. 1/5 rating from yours truly. Take that, b-! What a horrible book. Such an irrevocably nonsensical, immature, and puerile book. I didn't suspect that so many of Christie's non Poirot/Marple books were so short on anything that bears a resemblance to quality. Slowly, after attempting to read several books, including that Haley Quin one, a dreary and patchy pictur
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I really enjoyed this mystery thriller classic by Agatha Christie. It's one of her stand alone novels with amateur sleuths Bobby Jones and Frankie Derwent on the case. A man is found dead at the bottom of a cliff and his last words are "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" Bobby is the person who hears the words, and after the inquest, and after an attempt on his life, he and Frankie decide to do a little sleuthing to get to the bottom of it. Fun with the usual red herrings Agatha loves to put in her sto
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May 27, 2011
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Only Agatha Christie Completists
To put it mildly--not one of Christie's best--and I am a fan who has rated books of hers five stars. 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
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3.5
SPOILERS AHEAD
I adore how the villain of this piece is the only one, as far as my knowledge of the Christie corpus goes, who does not get his due in terms of poetic justice. And I do not mean this in a Murder-on-the-Orient-Express way; I mean it in an Arsène-Lupin way. Like he is too cunning and lovable to get caught. I still missed the presence of one of Christie's classic detectives (which doesn't always happens to me when reading her standalones, for want of a better descriptor, novels), b ...more
SPOILERS AHEAD
I adore how the villain of this piece is the only one, as far as my knowledge of the Christie corpus goes, who does not get his due in terms of poetic justice. And I do not mean this in a Murder-on-the-Orient-Express way; I mean it in an Arsène-Lupin way. Like he is too cunning and lovable to get caught. I still missed the presence of one of Christie's classic detectives (which doesn't always happens to me when reading her standalones, for want of a better descriptor, novels), b ...more
Sep 30, 2018
Quirky Omega
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2018-reads,
mystery
There is something extraordinarily comforting about Agatha Christie’s books. They’re like comfort food.
Why didn’t they ask Evans is a decent mystery novel. There are plenty of twists and turns and megalomaniac villains to keep the reader hooked.
Why didn’t they ask Evans is a decent mystery novel. There are plenty of twists and turns and megalomaniac villains to keep the reader hooked.
Ratings: 4 stars!!
Shelved as: /
Status: satisfied ^^'
It was a good read, absolutely enjoyed it! It should be noted that, I loved the characters.. Robert "Bobby" Jones + Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent = these two were such a good match hehe x
Every book I read adds up to me.
#11thbookthisyear #10thbookonmareadingchallenge #AgathaChristie ...more
Shelved as: /
Status: satisfied ^^'
It was a good read, absolutely enjoyed it! It should be noted that, I loved the characters.. Robert "Bobby" Jones + Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent = these two were such a good match hehe x
Every book I read adds up to me.
#11thbookthisyear #10thbookonmareadingchallenge #AgathaChristie ...more
Charming.
This was my last Christie and I'm so glad I saved it for the end. ...more
This was my last Christie and I'm so glad I saved it for the end. ...more
3.5 stars - fun, new-to-me Christie read for January with the Reading the Detectives group. This year, we are doing the non-Poirot and Marple mysteries, which I look forward to because I never read, or don’t remember, many of them.
I enjoyed this, listening to the audiobook mostly, narrated by Emilia Fox. She did a very good job, evoking the 1930s “Bright Young Thing” vibe of Lady Frances (an earl’s daughter, she goes by Frankie), and the stalwart, former naval officer Bobby Jones (the vicar’s fo ...more
I enjoyed this, listening to the audiobook mostly, narrated by Emilia Fox. She did a very good job, evoking the 1930s “Bright Young Thing” vibe of Lady Frances (an earl’s daughter, she goes by Frankie), and the stalwart, former naval officer Bobby Jones (the vicar’s fo ...more
Apr 23, 2015
Laura Verret
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
detective-fiction,
library-sale
It really was jolly rotten luck that a man should decide to topple off the cliff at the golf course the very night Bobby Jones had promised to play organ at his father’s evening service. But as the man’s not quite dead, there’s nothing for it but for Bobby to stand guard while his partner of the course rushes off for help. It is then that the man utters five words before quietly dying. The words “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”
It is that question and subsequent odd occurrences that set Bobby and his ...more
It is that question and subsequent odd occurrences that set Bobby and his ...more
Previously published as "The Boomerang Clue", this stand-alone mystery from 1934 had somehow escaped my notice until recently.
I found this a fun cosy mystery although slightly predictable. I suspect that is because so many authors have copied the gist of Christie's plots over the years! In any case, although I did figure out who the bad guys were fairly early, it was still fun to watch Bobby and Frankie figure it out. ...more
I found this a fun cosy mystery although slightly predictable. I suspect that is because so many authors have copied the gist of Christie's plots over the years! In any case, although I did figure out who the bad guys were fairly early, it was still fun to watch Bobby and Frankie figure it out. ...more
Bobby Jones, the fourth son of a Welsh vicar, is at loose ends after being drummed out of the navy for an eye problem. We meet him on the golf course, playing inexpertly, but the game is interrupted when he discovers a man has fallen over a cliff at the edge of the hole he’s playing. The man is still alive but expires after uttering the question of the title: “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”
Bobby and his childhood pal, Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent, soon become suspicious that the death was not an ...more
Bobby and his childhood pal, Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent, soon become suspicious that the death was not an ...more
Bobby Jones is playing golf when he finds a man in a chasm on the course, near death. Just before he dies he says "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Bobby and his friend, Lady Frances, take it upon themselves to find out what caused him to fall and who Evans was.
I saw this mystery on TV with the inclusion of Miss Marple. What a mess that production was - though with many famous actors in it. I had to read the book to find out what Agatha Christie actually wrote. And I liked it! Her older novels are my ...more
I saw this mystery on TV with the inclusion of Miss Marple. What a mess that production was - though with many famous actors in it. I had to read the book to find out what Agatha Christie actually wrote. And I liked it! Her older novels are my ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Excellent standalone. I listened to this one while working on the 6000 piece puzzle with my MIL and family.
This was a fine offering from a legendary author.
Bobby is playing a round of golf with the village doctor when, while looking for an errant golf ball of Bobby's, they find an unconscious man on the rocks below. While the doctor goes for help (ah those long lost days of no mobile phones), Bobby sits with the man. Suddenly the man opens his eyes and says, very clearly "Why didn't they ask Evans?" it is the last thing he ever says and it plunges Bobby and his childhood friend Lady Francis into an ...more
Bobby is playing a round of golf with the village doctor when, while looking for an errant golf ball of Bobby's, they find an unconscious man on the rocks below. While the doctor goes for help (ah those long lost days of no mobile phones), Bobby sits with the man. Suddenly the man opens his eyes and says, very clearly "Why didn't they ask Evans?" it is the last thing he ever says and it plunges Bobby and his childhood friend Lady Francis into an ...more
Apr 14, 2016
The Year of Agatha
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-year-of-agatha
A real page turner! Full of adventure and fun and keeps you guessing until the very end!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading the Detec...: * January 2021 - Why Didn't They Ask Evans? - SPOILER Thread | 45 | 30 | 12 hours, 9 min ago | |
| Reading the Detec...: * January 2021 - Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1935) | 24 | 33 | Jan 20, 2021 10:00AM | |
| The Agatha Christ...: * September 2020 (Additional)- Why Didn't They Ask Ivans? | 1 | 5 | Sep 01, 2020 10:18AM | |
| YA Buddy Readers'...: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie - Starting April 6th 2019 | 15 | 15 | Apr 18, 2019 11:17PM | |
Agatha Christie L...:
CLOSED May 2012 - Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
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48 | 122 | May 05, 2017 02:45PM | |
| Agatha Christie L...: May 2019 - Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | 1 | 9 | May 05, 2017 02:44PM | |
| The Agatha Christ...: April 2017: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | 3 | 22 | Apr 30, 2017 06:18AM |
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Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t ...more
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t ...more
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