From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Sparkling Cyanide

Agatha Christie

Start date: July 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: Next in our Assorted Christies challenge.
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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 17 posts · 20 views

last updated Sep 25, 2025 01:00PM

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
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last updated Sep 16, 2025 12:58PM

What Members Thought

Feb 09, 2019 BrokenTune rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Whilst we were dancing, the ghost of Rosemary hovers near George’s glass and drops in some cleverly materialized cyanide—any spirit can make cyanide out of ectoplasm. George comes back and drinks her health and—oh, Lord!’

The other two stared curiously at him.

And so am I. I did not enjoy Sparkling Cyanide anywhere near as much as other Christie books, and it is one of the very few where I believe that the tv adaptation (either of the two tv adaptations I have seen - one with Pauline Collins and O Whilst we were dancing, the ghost of Rosemary hovers near George’s glass and drops in some cleverly materialized cyanide—any spirit can make cyanide out of ectoplasm. George comes back and drinks her health and—oh, Lord!’

The other two stared curiously at him.

And so am I. I did not enjoy Sparkling Cyanide anywhere near as much as other Christie books, and it is one of the very few where I believe that the tv adaptation (either of the two tv adaptations I have seen - one with Pauline Collins and Oliver Ford Davies, and one with Anthony Andrews) were much more engaging than the book.

Of course, Sparkling Cyanide is nowhere near Christie's worst book(s) - that honour goes to Passenger to Frankfurt, hands down - but there were a number of aspects that annoyed me:

1. I was bored. This is not a great story to read if you already know who's dunnit.

2. While I liked a few of the characters - Lord and Lady Kidderminster and their daughter and son-in-law Sandra and Stephen Farraday - these characters, in the original, were just no patch on their tv versions - Clare Holman and James Wilby were excellent (!) and I could actually really care for their versions of Sandra and Stephen. Christie's book versions paled by contrast and I was a little disappointed how wooden and stilted their relationship was depicted.

3. There just seem to be way too many characters in this one. Now, this is a perception only. There probably aren't any more characters in this than there are in some of my favourite Christies - Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile or Three Act Tragedy anyone? These have lots of characters but they are very distinct from each other - and they are memorable. The characters in Sparkling Cyanide weren't. If it had not been for Hugh Fraser's lovely narration giving each of them a voice (in a manner of speaking), I would have had no feel at all for who was who.

4. The murder. The method (tho with a different element) of murder had been used before, and to my mind, in a much better way. The other story I am thinking of is one of my favourite Christies and reading this re-hash has left me seriously underwhelmed.

Sparkling Cyanide started life as a short story (The Yellow Iris) and is one of several stories that Christie revised for a longer book. In this case, it didn't work. I actually prefer the short story. ...more

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Jun 03, 2018 Anissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-fiction-uk-ireland, cozy-mystery, series, 2018

In my further quest to read all the Christies, I picked up Sparkling Cyanide. As it happens this publication has a great cover so that pulled me in as well. The situation here is that Rosemary Barton is a year dead and her husband George is sure (after a series of letters) that she did not commit suicide as the inquest determined, but was murdered. He gathers together the people who were in attendance at her birthday dinner the night of her death to find the killer. It goes terribly and now it's ...more

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Mar 27, 2022 Lady Wesley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: listened, chirpbooks, mystery-golden-age-or-similar

This is a perfect Christie for me. 1930s setting. A touch of glamor. Interesting characters. Colonel Race is an excellent substitute for Poirot. Ingenious murder.

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 16, 2016 Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, kindle, own, re-read

3.5 stars, maybe 4? The alternating POV chapters provide an insight into all the suspects, but because Christie had to avoid giving away the solution too easily, she avoided delving into the real murderer's thoughts in ways that become a bit obvious if you look for them. And although the book is technically a Colonel Race mystery, he doesn't solve it; one of the suspects does. Review to come.

Challenges: #ReadChristie2023; COYER Upside Down, Chapt. 1; COYER Mystery readathon ...more

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Nov 08, 2014 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A year ago Rosemary dies of cyanide poisoning at a fashionable restaurant. Now George, her widower, wants to stage the party again with the same guests and an empty place for Rosemary. He is advised by an old friend - Colonel Race - not to do it and Race himself refuses to attend the party. George has been prompted to restage it because he has received anonymous letters saying his wife was murdered. Instead of going to the police he wants to frighten the murderer into revealing themselves.

A lot ...more

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Jun 13, 2021 Jill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie

This book starts with the introduction of two sisters. The elder sister being Rosemary, a striking beauty who has inherited a good deal of money from an uncle, she is what we would probably called these days as an "air-head". She flutters about with lots of young men but eventually marries an older man who is a friend of the family. The younger sister, Iris, inherits nothing, but lives with her sister and her husband, with an elderly woman being her chaperone. Rosemary finds that being married t ...more

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Jan 05, 2022 Charlie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, read-2022

“Most successes are unhappy. That's why they are successes-they have to reassure themselves about themselves by achieving something that the world will notice.... The happy people are failures because they are on such good terms with themselves that they don't give a damn.”

For my second read of 2022 I went with Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie. This is the first of her novels I've read which stars Colonel Race, which is a surprise as I've read quite a few Christie novels now.

The novel in ...more

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Apr 17, 2018 Pranit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie

Sparkling Cyanide follows a story of ruthless murders taking place in the house with none the wiser. As usual, I’m always amazed by the creativity & the story-telling skills of Dame Christie!

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