Skip to main content

A Murder is Announced - Agatha Christie


Having been a Perry Mason fan in my teens and having read only a few Agatha Christie books, I picked this up to see if I could develop a deeper interest in Agatha Christie books. While deciding on which book to pick for reading, what clinched it was the intriguing plot where the date and time of murder is announced in the local newspaper. I thought that it will be very interesting to get a closer look at how an ingenious murderer operates.

The Miss Marple detective story builds very well, the characters are introduced as they read the newspaper announcement, the plot continues to thicken and when three murders are committed, it is pretty much established that the murderer means serious business and the first death was not an accident but in fact a deliberately planned murder. As expected of an Agatha Christie mystery, there are a lot of suspects and the murderer revealed in the end is the least suspicious among the lot.  In such whodunit books, I am now tuned to look at the character who is the least suspicious with suspicion. So, it didn’t come as a surprise although I wasn’t able to figure out why until it was revealed in the book. I observed the different pet names used by Bunny as somewhat weird but put it down to the person possibly having two pet names and didn’t realize that this is a key piece of information for solving the mystery. Interesting facts keep getting revealed as the story progresses such as two identical lamps,  table that’s been moved recently, well-oiled door though it wasn’t in use etc. It made me wonder whether these are relevant facts or just pieces of information to divert my focus from figuring it all out - Is it just me or do you usually think this way too when a fact is introduced in such books? I also found it a bit farfetched that although Miss Marple is not continuously involved in the case by interviewing the suspects, studying the scene of the murder etc., she is able to put all the pieces together so effortlessly and solve the mystery. But, all in all, a good and gripping story and definitely worth a read. 


And, in case you have been waiting with bated breath to find out whether I will develop a deeper interest in Agatha Christie, here you are. Will I read more Agatha Christie – Yes, definitely. Is she my favorite among detective fiction writers – Hmm, no, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and of course, Erle Stanley Gardner, as he is associated with my fond teen reading memories, continue to be my favorites.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Believe in Yourself – Joseph Murphy

I have read a sizable number of books in the genre of self-empowerment and positive thinking over the last couple of years and I have come to realize that each author has a perspective on how to achieve the same based on what has worked for him or her. Joseph Murphy specialized in Religious Science and has an interesting take on how conscious thoughts and strong belief influence achievement of one’s life goals. The author’s message is crisp and the biggest plus point of this book is that it is short and concise. His premise is that conscious and continuous thoughts of a goal will trigger the subconscious to come up with ways and means to achieving the goal and humans are wired this way for survival.   The stories, he quotes, of achievers and why and how they were able to achieve their dreams and reach lofty heights help in driving home the author’s point. One story among them was however counter to this premise – a lady consciously and continuously imagines tha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watership Down – Richard Adams

This book came as a recommendation from a colleague. It is a children’s story of a group of rabbits and touches upon cruelty of man towards animals, procreation and looks at the world from animals’ point of view. I read the book summary and reviews online before starting the book and it had rave reviews extolling it as more than a children’s story where a lot of the stories and events in the book are metaphorical. For me, it did not live up to all the hype and it was like any other decently written book and nowhere close to a masterpiece or a classic. An author writes a book to give a certain message and this book is no different. Granted, the idea to present an animal view of the world is different and stands out as a unique and interesting theme but nothing else about it appealed to me. I have this habit of finishing a book once I begin and also, I am aiming at reading 36 books this year. So, I toiled and pursued. After 17.5 hours of sometimes grueling listening,...
Post a Comment
Read more

21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari

The book raises a lot of relevant questions on what next after liberalism with information & bio technology advances happening in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, most questions remain unanswered. Some of the topics that the author talks about have also already been discussed in his previous books giving a sense of deja-vu. The author talks about a myriad topics such as political structures, impact of AI on work/careers, war, terrorism, education, health & medical services, importance of information etc. The book gives a lot of food for thought and gives a sneak peek into how the 21 st Century could look like – what education and skills we should possess to continue to be relevant, how AI systems could start ruling our mind and free thinking would be just a myth, how national level politics and interests conflict in solving global problems like climate change and global economic chain-collapse, how fear and overreaction to terrorism means we are playing ri...
Post a Comment
Read more