Anyone else just bloody love Agatha Christie books?

[Puffypuffin]

I've read them all (bar Poirot's last case) over the years and every time I can't think what to read I go back and read one of them again. Love the descriptions of the characters, the settings, the clothes, all of it!

First one I read in my teens was The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd and I still think it's one of the best whodunnits I've read.

Anyone else have a favourite AC book?

Been a devotee since age 10, 50 years ago. Read them all except the one where Poirot dies. Many times over.

Faves include 4:50 from Paddington, Appointment with Death, Halloween Party, the list goes on.

Oh, those are both great!

Love the Miss Marples . Not as bothered about Poirot.

I read And Then There Were None under its original name at school in the 70s (would have been about 14) and was bored stiff - it wasn't the sort of book I'd have chosen then! I might try another stand-alone, it'd be nice to have a whole lot of new novels to read. (Tried the first Mrs Bradley book recently - gad, nothing like what I'd expected after seeing the series with Diana Rigg years ago!) I love Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series and would dearly like to have more from that era to read.

Did you watch Alan Carrs Agatha Christie mini series, that was on last year. He's a serious fan and the series was brilliant.

He had Rob Rinder on one of them, apart from those two together being very funny, it was a good one.

@HonoriaLucastaDelagardie I will definitely do that. It was decades ago and can’t remember why I didn’t get on with it and it will be lovely to immerse myself in a Christie once more.

Has anyone read any of her books written under the Mary Westmacott pseudonym? I ordered Unfinished Portrait by accident, thinking it was a murder mystery I simply hadn’t come across. Very dark and so unlike her other works. I’m sticking with Poirot et al!

Love them! My favourite so far…Nemesis, 4.50 from Paddington and Sleeping Murder. I prefer MM to Poirot but I did like Murder of Roger A - v clever twist. ‘Then there were none’ totally freaked me out and the BBC production was awesome.

I usually take a couple on holiday - this year the Moving Finger and the biography by Lucy W which I’m still reading.

I am of that age where I remember watching the BBC Miss Marples with Joan Hickson (not sure if that’s the right spelling!) My teenage boy is getting into them too.
And I’ve just bought the Agatha Christie jigsaw!

As someone who was obsessed with the Poirot and Marple TV series as a child (and still am - spent my maternity leave rewatching the whole series), I've only started reading the books in the last 3-4yrs!

I think my favourites are The Murder of Richard Ackroyd (Poirot), and Endless Night (stand alone).

Has anyone been following this year's #ReadChristie2023 prompts?

@Shangrilalala I am currently recovering from an operation and so can’t really go out/move far, so I reserved lots of books from the library for my convalescence including three Mary Westmacotts. Never read them before. Just finished Unfinished Portrait, and it made me rather sad. You can tell it’s AC from the way it’s written, and I think it’s a pretty unsparing account of how her first marriage hit the rocks. Poor Agatha.

I'm another who loves Agatha Christie novels and short stories. I've read and reread them for fifty five years. I first read Roger Ackroyd when I was ten and was amazed at the ending. That got me hooked. I love Nemesis and probably prefer Miss Marple to Poirot.

I read Evil Under The Sun when I was 14, and have been hooked ever since, got a bookshelf full of them. The Hollow is a particular favourite. Never took to Tommy and Tuppence I'm afraid.

Love the short stories too, especially Harley Quin. Wish someone would do a tv version!

I just started Roger Ackroyd and see it's in first person. I can't abide first person, so please, can anyone recommend one to start with that's in third person?

Ooh do try and stick with it if you can....... (I know others will agree with me!)

Unfortunately I really, really dislike first person ... also inadvertently read a major spoiler while looking for a download! 😄

I love them too. I listen to the audiobooks to get to sleep at night - the ones read by Hastings from the TV series are really great. My favs are Five Little Pigs and the Pale Horse. I also put off Poirot’s Last Case for ages but actually it’s really good.

I'm 51 and I've never read one! I read a lot, but crime is not my genre at all. However, this thread has tempted me. I quite fancy a warm, light period read with some fun characters. Bonus for a vaguely exotic location. Which one shall I start with?

@Catsmere @AllProperTeaIsTheft Death on the Nile is a good one to start with - classic Christie, interesting location, numerous film adaptations available. It's written in the third person too.

I'm so envious of everyone who has never read any Christie! You have so much to look forward to 😁

Yes, her books are very much of their time, classist, racist (🙈), full of cliché, but they are such a bloody good read and so clever. I've read them all many times. I second the Lucy Worsley biography, so interesting if you are a Christie fan.

Thank you! I'll see if Project Gutenberg has it (and will probably picture Peter Ustinov all through it - never saw the film, just remember posters, lol).

@MsJuniper "AC is my go-to when I'm ill, exhausted or just need some comfort. I am a big Poirot fan but occasionally enjoy a Marple."

Same here. It's the literary equivalent of Heinz tomato soup and white bread when you are poorly 😊

This is my favourite

Love Agatha Christie. So many films and books I read and watch now have her fingerprints on them.
ABC, Murder of Roger Ackroyd Death on the Nile. Not any I don’t like I think.

Same here. It's the literary equivalent of Heinz tomato soup and white bread when you are poorly 😊

Love this description @catwithflowers 😊. So true!

I can't believe I was put off Poirot by that awful man who plays him on TV. On the bright side I now have another 65 books on my TBR list.

Have a look at the Jill Paton Walsh Wimsey-Vane books, carrying on from after Busman’s Honeymoon. I thought that, in general, she did a really good job.