A question for Agatha Christie fans!

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I read a lot of Agatha Christie innmy early teens. The Miss Marple books were my favourite.

My nearly 13 year old DD is an avid reader and I thought she might like to try an Agatha Christie novel.

It’s been a long time since I read any - can anyone suggest a good one to start? Something particularly engaging? (I was going so say gripping but that’s probably the wrong adjective!)

Thirding Cat Among the Pigeons, it's very good and has a great teenage character in it.

A murder is announced or nemesis

Halloween party is a good non marple one suggesting only because its full of youngsters

Nothing wrong with reading older books. My dd (7) loves any and all Enid blyton and Mary Norton (borrowers), when she's VB older I will definitely recommend Agatha Christie, I loved her books at that age.

I loved Christie at that age too, and also preferred Poirot to Marple, but that's obviously just personal taste.

"And Then There Were None" could be a good place to start - she can watch the recent TV version afterwards as well.

(The edition in my school library was so old it still had the original title of "Ten Little N" )

Mrs McGinty’s Dead and A Murder is Announced for starters.

There is something very charming about reading books set in a different time, and there are natural differences between AC books set in the 20s and 60s but both would be authentic in their respective period.

I adored them as a teenager in the 90s and still do. 13 Problems to meet and ‘get’ Miss Marple for me. For plot and character though can I suggest a Ngaio Marsh? Or Dorothy L Sayers (teen crush on Lord Peter, anyone?!).

Sleeping Murder and The Mirror Crack'd... are two of my favourite Miss Marples.
The Joan Hickson TV version of Sleeping Murder is one of the very best - seriously creepy and spooky.
ITV have since done it in one of their buggered-up versions - it's absolute rubbish by comparison.

The Mirror Crack'd is a good starter AC.

As I said upthread my 14 yo DD is really enjoying them. She loves the period details, although I have had to explain some things to her. I don't think you can beat a good mystery, regardless of when they were written. They are still very accessible.

I loved Agatha Christie too....still do! Also preferred Poirot. I would recommend Death on the Nile (Poirot) or, as others have said, A Murder is Announced (Marple).

Good books never date. Especially Agatha Christie books. Go with "And Then There Were None" or "Murder On The Orient Express".

Cat among the pigeons!!

And then there were none is very very dark with some really adult themes.

My younger brother was a hardcore non-reader but he quite enjoyed Why Didn't They Ask Evans and And Then There Were None when he was 13 or 14. I was amazed because he was usually of the view that books were boring and old books even more boring.

I read them in order but I did particularly like Cat Amongst the Pigeons. Also Body in the Library and the Moving Finger.

The best one is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

My favourite is The Moving Finger. I'm biased though as when they filmed in 1984 they used our kitchen and I got to meet the wonderful Joan Hickson....
♥ ♥

When I was that age I liked "pocket full of rye" based around the nursery rhyme sing a song of sixpence, "sleeping murder" & " the mirror cracked" they both had a good twist that I found clever at that age.

The Body in the Library is a good Marple one.

The ABC Murders is a good Poriot one.

I liked the Tommy & Tuppence series; ‘N or M’ being the favourite. I love the Marple books, I think the character is written very differently in ‘Murder at the Vicarage’ to the rest of the series though. The Harley Quin & Parker Pyne, while not crime novels are ones I go back to as well. I’m sure there’s a DVD of the Parker Pyne series available too. Another I like is ‘Murder is Easy’.

I think Murder is Easy is the perfect starter. Your achetypal English village mystery but without either Poirot or Miss Marple.

If you want to start with a Poirot I'd go for ABC Murders or Death on the Nile. For Miss Marple A Murder is Announced.

'...not all books age well and imo Agatha Christie's are an example of that, they are very much of their time and set in a very particular world that would be very difficult for most modern teens to relate to.'

I loved her books as a teenager even I grew up very far from her British upper class world - still love them, and I think it is very much because of the setting. It's like a window into a different world - isn't that why we read in the first place?

To answer the actual question, Thirteen Problems is a great starting point.

I loved The Secret of Chimneys and Seven Dials when I was that age. Sparkling Cyanide is another good one.

Very jealous Elderflower. Joan Hickson is my favourite Marple.

This thread prompted me to download Joan Hickson reading A Murder is Announced. I keep picturing scenes from the TV version she was in as I listen.