The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie: a review

I’ve not read much of Agatha Christie’s work, barring the story I read right back at the beginning of these reviews. I’ve always meant to read more, and you could almost call it criminal that I haven’t. I’ll let myself out.

            The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie is a Hercule Poirot mystery that begins when he receives an anonymous letter telling him about an upcoming murder signed “A B C”. what follows is a series of killings where the only thing that seemingly ties them is that they are being killed in alphabetical order.

            I was really pleased to find this easy to read in terms of language. No, the 1930s aren’t all that long ago, but there are sometimes still plenty of differences. As much as anything, I’ve often found that there is a sort of stiffness and formality that I’ve often found kind of alienating. This, however, was pretty accessible for me. Outside of the subject matter, I found this quite easy to read.

            I think when I read more of Christie’s work (and yes that’s a definite when not if) I’ll be reading her Poirot stories. Not only do I really enjoy him as a character, but his relationship with Captain Hastings is also really fun, and I really want to see more. They play off each other really well, and their relationship is really sweet and fun.

            I was hooked from the start, and it’s no surprise that Christie is one of, if not the greatest crime writers of all time. I was hooked at every turn, and everything fit together perfectly. I love that she leaves little clues for you to find as you go through. I’m not super smart, so for me it was more a case of enjoying watching someone else put the pieces together, but there were moments where I was like hang on when I remembered a little detail. The final scene was also superb, even if I did keep thinking of that one Doctor Who episode because I was just Donna going “so it is him” over and over again. It was great.

            It goes without saying that I recommend this. If you, like me, have always wondered if you should get your hands on some Christie, then this is a great place to start. I feel like you can absolutely read this more than once because you can pick up more and more little clues. This, and a whole bunch of other Christie novels are available at Burnley Library, and in all likelihood your own local library if you’re not local.