Any Agatha Christie fans about?

[wineoclockthanks]

I read them all avidly about 40 years ago and am rediscovering them via Charity shops atm.

One of my favourites was about a group of people living in a shared house, possibly a student house and there were letters written in green ink. I've had a google but can't find the name of the book. Any ideas please?

No spoilers please because I can only remember the murderer in a few and don't want to spoil the rest.

@fedup21
Can I have favourite Poirot and favourite Marple?
Poirot ABC Murders
Marple. A Murder is Announced
Film. Evil Under the Sun Ustinov
Stand Alone. And Then There Were None.

Might be different tomorrow though. 😂

@fedup21

Definitely The ABC Murders for book.

Film? Toss up between Evil Under the Sun with Ustinov and Murder on the Orient Express with Finney. Train, Murder, Snow old Hollywood stars what's not to love?

As for the Marple's the best one is Geraldine McEwan I think

LyingWitch kindly leave the thread!

Squigean You're right, they do come from an orphanage (at least up until the 1950s) and one of her former charges (Gladys I think) was killed in Pocket Full of Rye and was hung out to dry on the washing line.

As for the Marple's the best one is Geraldine McEwan I think

Omg she was appalling!

Miss Marple - Joan Hickson by a country mile.

Poirot - I suppose Suchet is closest to the books but I also liked Peter Ustinov .

I didn't watch any of the Geraldine McEwan ones after the first one, I thought she was dreadful. Joan Hickson was perfect.

I thought Geraldine McEwan was awful!

Joan Hickson was amazing! Love her in Pocketful of Rye, Murder at the Vicarage, Body in the library! Sleeping Murder just has that extra touch though.

Squigean poor Gladys. That is a horrible, awful murder , so manipulative and cruel. The JH version of PoR where she goes to look at Gladys' bedroom is very moving.

That would have to be up there with my favourite adaptations, not least because of Peter Davison (who I love). soother cracking actors in that episode too - Timothy West, Selina Cadell, Tom Wilkinson etc - actually everyone in it is brilliant.

But my favourite TV adaptation is the Joan Hickson version of Sleeping Murder.

My favourite book is probably The Moving Finger. Or Roger Ackroyd. It's too hard to choose just one!

Yes, Geraldine McEwain really didn't get it right. Julia McKenzie was ok, she had a slight comic edge, which I think suited the ITV ones. As I said upthread they are more entertaining in a pantomime sense than the nostalgic BBC ones.

June Hickson was perfect fit. Just as David Suchet was for Poirot.

But then Geraldine McEwan admitted she'd never read any of her books , so it's unsurprising she was the worst. JH for me . Favourite of hers is 4.50 from Paddington . It's my go to Saturday afternoon kitchen tv cooking accompaniment

Geraldine McEwan was awful! Julia McKenzie was a more cuddly Marple but not a patch on the wonderful Joan Hickson.

Kenneth Brannagh is a terrible Poirot too. I actually didn't mind John Malkovich in the ABC Murders last Christmas. Obviously not a Christie Poirot but I thought he was good with the part as it was written. I don't mind Peter Ustinov but, for me, David Suchet is the best Poirot. He is what I saw in my imagination as an 11 year old reading AC for the first time.

Geraldine McEwan had a sort of knowing look about her as Marple, that was wrong. Iyswim.

McEwan was like a little mischievous pixie. Totally miscast, although she was a superb actress (Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Mapp & Lucia).

Cannot pick a favourite book, too many are too close to best.

Popped into my local library today and found out they have all the June Hickson ones so got one DVD out to watch over Christmas with my OH (he won't read the books as he's not much of a reader but he does enjoy the televised versions)

Brilliant Natsku - perfect Christmas viewing!

Thinking of Julia McKenzie as Miss M, I am currently enjoying Murder is Easy with her as Miss M. I know it is all wrong but I am rather enjoying it.

The radio Miss Ms with June Whitfield is a joy.

I loved the Radio 4 drama of And Then There Were None. I first heard it on a long drive with a newly met now dh through the Lakes. It was compelling and meant we didn't need to chat.

Love Agatha Christie, I agree Joan Hickson was the best Mrs M.

No one can hold a candle to Joan Hickson. No one.

I also think as a standalone Endless Night is brilliantly written. I remember gasping as I realised who the murderer was. I read it when around 11/12. I also love the one mentioned up thread set in antiquity.

Death comes as the End.

Also I really liked The Seven Dials Mystery. Though the recent travesty of an adaptation was awful. There is an old adaptation but I loved the book.

The Seven Dials Mystery is a great title as well!

Incidentally, my Dh doesn't really like Agatha Christie (never watches the tv adaptations) because he "doesn't like any of the people in them"! I say well that's the whole point. You're supposed to not like the murder victim, (see especially Murder at the Vicarage) and be suspicious of most of the other characters!

Which reminds me, Paul Eddington was excellent as vicar Leonard Clement in the Joan Hickson version of Murder at the Vicarage. His portrayal really gave you the feeling of being upset by the murder. Often characters get over it too fast.

Meant to add, what I like best about the best books is the lifestyle they create, if that's not too rubbish a word, country houses, quaint villages, big families,etc. What other tropes are there? I've gone blank

Agatha and the truth of murder is on this afternoon on channel 5 at 5pm, it’s based on a book about a real murder and has Agatha involved in solving the crime. Looks interesting

Also () what characters (other than the detectives) do people like? Ariadne Oliver is, perhaps, an obvious one?

It’s on right after the classic Sim version of A Christmas Carol Scrooge