THE ABC MURDERS - Agatha Christie

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Before reading this book, I had a few apprehensions. I usually read Hercule Poirot's short stories and was a little sceptical that a novel might turn out to be a drag and boring; but thankfully, it's none of that. It is classic Agatha Christie (the Queen of Mystery) with an excellent murder mystery only she could have written.

Poirot is semi-retired, only willing to take cases that interest him. And then he gets his wish! Alice Ascher is killed in Andover, Betty Barnard dies in Bexhill, and Sir Carmichael Clarke is found dead in Churston. Hercule Poirot receives a letter in advance of each murder, telling him where to expect the crime to take place. The great detective must unravel the clues and try to stop the killer before further lives are claimed.

There were a lot of things to like in this story. The little Belgian man, with his funny moustaches and the queer dialogues, was obviously a big delight. The characters, their personalities and their reactions to the murders, were also fascinating. Captain Hastings was also fun, though my favourite sidekick has to be Holmes' Dr. Watson. And the writing was, well.. Agatha Christie's!

I liked the solution too, it was unexpected. There was lesser development of the secondary characters than her other books, but by the end I was caring most for the character I was supposed to, so the reveal had the punch the author intended. The twist was quite clever and probably the murderer featured in this story may be one of the most ruthless and cold-blooded one of Christie novels.

All in all, this was more fun than I’d expected and I’m glad I picked it up. An amazing aspect of Christie’s writing is that although the books have been written long ago, they still manage to connect with the masses today. This book definitely sets a high standard when it comes to mystery writing. Highly recommended, whether you are particularly a fan of this genre or not.

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