Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries (1)

Growing up I gave Agatha Christie’s detective novels a miss somehow. But as the English book section at the library I go to is not very extensive it has encouraged me to pick up books I which normally don’t. To be honest I have read only two stories so far but I will definitely try to get my hand at more of them. They are short reads and take little of your time. The plots are intriguing, the deductive process interesting and thought provoking, and the endings a surprise.

Here are a couple of examples for you.

In Murder on the Orient Express Hercule Poirot is on a train journey amidst a sea of all kinds of people. A co-passenger Simon Ratchett approaches him to help protect against an enemy wanting to kill him but the detective refuses the case. Then in the morning Simon Ratchett’s dead body is discovered in his compartment. But the train caught in heavy snowfall has been standing on the tracks since midnight. The open window and the door closed from inside in the victim’s compartment suggests the killer escaped but the absence of footprints in the snow tells otherwise. The murderer is still on the train and Herecule Poirot’s job is to find who it is.

In The A.B.C. Murders, the famous Hercule Poirot is put to a challenge when he receives anonymous letters at regular intervals. The writer, who signs off as ABC, gives hints about each murder that is going to be committed in advance. The victims’ names follow the alphabetical order: Mrs. Ascher from Andover, Miss Betty Barnard from Bexhill, and Sir Carmichael Clarke from Churston. Beside each body is left an ABC train guide. There appears to be no connection between the murders as those killed belong to totally different walk of life. It is left to the detective to find the hidden link between them and figure out who the murderer is.

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 PS: Which are the Agatha Christie novels you have read? Any suggestions for me?