And then there were none

Author : Agatha Christie

    One of the best Agatha Christie novels that does not feature Hercule Poirot.  One does not expect literary master class from Agatha Christie, and that holds true for this novel too.  Suspense and thrill are her forte and the reader is on the edge till the end. Suspense and thrill lasts till the last page. The story is puzzle with an assortment of characters meeting in an Island. A book that can be read under three hours, perfect book for a rainy day. 

Set in 1950's, Ten people from various walks of life are invited by a mysterious millionaire Mr. U. N Owen to his Island. They arrive at the big house in the small island off the coast of England.The big house is empty except for the exceptional furnishings, and poems  framed in every room. A nursery poem on ten little Indian boys. But the Owens' are no where to be seen. No one else other than the ten guests, and the first murder occurs on the first day. A classic closed box situation.

Spoiler Alert :

  While at dinner on the first day, they hear a voice from the hall listing treacherous crimes committed by the guests. The voice turns out to be from a gramophone. Secrets begin to tumble, every one of them has an unaccounted murky past. They all have something to hide. They exchange stories and realize how they were elaborately duped to come to Mr.Owen's island, and they have no way back as the weather has turned ugly. Mr. U N Owen is an extrapolation of UNKNOWN.

 Little did they know that they are to be killed one by a predetermined order and manner.  There is no one  other than the ten guests in the island, and surely, the murderer must be one among them.

An interesting dialogue from the novel.

    "You could be cold in that thin dress."

    "Cold, I should be colder if I were dead"

In the words of  Vera, one of the ten guests, It is like some horrible child playing a game. And then there were none. A true page turner.

The ABC murders

Author: Agatha Christie

A serial killer is murdering people arbitrarily in the order of their names. The first victim is Alice Ascher of Andover, second Betty Barnard of Bexhill-on-Sea, third Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. i.e., the first victim is a person with his initial A from a place starting with A, the second victim is B, and so on.The victims are completely unrelated; of different financial backgrounds, and different age factions.

Before each murder Hercule Poirot receives a letter stating the time and place of the next murder, but by the time Poirot and the police reach the place, the murder would’ve already occurred. At each murder spot, the killer leaves an ABC Railway Guide next to the body of the victim with the open page facing the floor.

Some of the clues lead to a stocking salesman called Alexander Bonaparte Cust (ABC), an old, partially blind, epileptic man. His presence at each murder location is proved beyond doubt, and he surrenders stating that he could’ve done the murders as he is unaware of himself many a times in a day. All the letters were typed from his typewriter, but he denies typing any letter and claims that he had never heard of Poirot before meeting him at the investigation office. Though Cust surrenders, he could not be jailed for lack of evidence and loopholes in the evidences against him.

Who is the serial killer? What is his motive? Can an old,weak, epileptic man kill four people with different weapons and cleverly conceal the murder weapon? These are the questions Poirot asks himself. Read the book to find the culprit.

This is a detective fiction, and the easiest way to spoil your pleasure of reading is to reveal the climax.The ABC murder, written in a double point of view is worth your time any day.

Murder in Mesopotamia

Author : Agatha Christie

Genre : Detective fiction

Apart from painting a vivid picture on the archaeological fields of Mesopotamia, the author manages to bring about a story on human psychology. The narrator,nurse Amy Leatheran, is a part of the excavation at Tell Yarimjah.The murder takes place a week after her arrival, and she describes the events before the murder her investigations with Hercule Poirot in a very simple way.

A murder takes place in a dig of Tel Yarimjah at Hassanieh, and Poirot visits the place to investigate the murder. To reveal the victim would be to give away half the delight of reading this good novel.

Though the modus operandi of the killer intrigues the reader until it is disclosed, the answer is not satisfactory. Poirot's methods of deduction are superlative and well justified, the manner in which he questions the members of the expedition to figure out hidden facts about the victim reveals a lot of the methodical approach of Poirot. The novel appears to be dragged at the end, it could've been a better novel with thirty pages less.

They Came To Baghdad

Author : Agatha Christie

Genre : International conspiracy

Confirmation of the manufacture of a secret weapon has been obtained by a British agent.All the persons concerned were meeting in Baghdad and the code was " A white camel loaded with oats is coming over the pass."

This is not the kind of novel that one would expect from Agatha Christie , a truly memorable Agatha novel without Hercule Poirot. It's all about international conspiracy,and the author cleverly manages to keep the reader guessing on who the real manipulator is. Agatha Christie takes us to the enchanting land of ancient history, to the streets of busy Baghdad, to the ruins of Babylon and to the digs of archaeologists in the middle of the deserts.

PLOT:
Anna Scheele, a young secretary of an American Bank is being chased around in London. She came to London on the pretext of meeting her ailing sister Elsie, and suddenly she vanishes into thin air. Every body is searching her, and the reader is kept in dark about her whereabouts till the later part of the novel.

On the other hand, Victoria Jones, a typist in London falls in love with Edward;It was love at first sight.Edward takes her photo and soon leaves to Baghdad. Victoria being jobless and charmed by the good-looking Edward is keen to join him at Baghdad. Upon a bizarre coincidence, an old and sick Mrs. Clipp on her way to Kirkuk near Baghdad mentions a need for nurse to assist her on her flight journey to Baghdad. The penniless Victoria happily agrees and lands in Hotel Tio at Baghdad. She meets Edward, and joins Olive Branch upon Edwards advice.

Soon,Victoria gets mixed up in a murder and later kidnapped. She knows too much now. The bizarre coincidence is after all a planned one. Why did Baghdad need her? The climax unfolds all the mystery in a truly admirable way.