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?

THANK YOU! Well I feel vindicated now as I recommended it on a previous thread for someone new to Agatha Christie & was shot down in flames!

Aren't they great? They improve as the series continues, too, imo.

For all you AC fans "A Haunting in Venice" is being released in the cinemas on 15th September. It is based loosely on the AC book "Hallowe'en Party".

I agree. I've never liked any of the tv/film versions though as none of the actors playing Lord Peter match how I picture him to be from the books.

Same, and they lost the wit and humour, too.

Edward Petherbridge gets closest for me. And Harriet Walter is brilliant as Harriet Vane.

The Gaudy Night adaptation isn’t nearly as good as it could have been though.

He certainly looked most like him, and Harriet Walter is brilliant in everything she does! I don't think I saw the Gaudy Night one - I can't really imagine any film or series doing that book justice.

I’m a massive reader and have never read any!

Does anyone here have the ‘complete collection’ which is cheap on kindle? Reviews say there are issues with paragraphs and that it isn’t the complete collection, but I’m wondering if it’s readable for someone who hasn’t read any.

I absolutely love Nemesis, it's my favourite Marple, I think possibly because it is a companion to A Caribbean Mystery and rounds her out a lot more. I'm not sure about a favourite Poirot, I have the entire set plus her Westmacott novels. I always think they show how good she was about human psychology and what makes people tick. Although usually very tragic.
Suchet's biography Poirot and Me is very good, worth listening to as he does the audiobook. Oh and actually the Mr Quinn short stories are a favourite too.

Petherbridge was much too stiff and stuffy IMO. You couldn't imagine him diving gracefully off the central column of a fountain (Murder Must Advertise) or getting neurotically fixated on the trial of a woman he'd never met.

Totally agree about Harriet Walter, though, she was perfect.

Not to derail but I got excited by your post till I looked it up & read that Ariadne Oliver is being portrayed by Tina Fey. Can't stand her.

Angela Lansbury would have made a brilliant Ariadne Oliver. I could see Emma Thompson carrying it off. I know little of Tina Fey, but it sounds like a stretch.

I'm already irritated by the film because Halloween Party has literally nothing to do with feckin' Venice.

And Tina Fey as Ariadne? Dear God.

Emma Thompson would have nailed it. Probably a little bit awkward though, with her ex-husband as the star and director 😁

From the trailer, I would say the new Hercule Poirot film has very little in common with the book. The original story is based on a murder at a children's party. The film seems to be trying for a supernatural angle. There are lots of other Christie novels that genuinely have a supernatural theme or interpretation so seems an odd choice to tinker with this story so much. Endless Night and Sleeping Murder for example, are both really creepy until the conclusion is reached.

@mum2jakie agree 💯. Both are very creepy.

I still find And Then There Were None a difficult read on a dark night alone.

Oh, don't say Branagh's doing another Poirot! Physically he's quite wrong for the part (as all the actors who've played Poirot have been except Suchet.)

And he doesn't even dress for the role correctly. Poirot dyes his moustache and waxes the ends.

Didn't Dame Angela play Miss Marple once?

Is Tina Fey going to play Ariadne as a grey haired, plus sized, middle aged Englishwoman? Anything else is Just Wrong.

I thought he was pretty convincing in the Strong Poison adaptation.

As for Murder Must Advertise, I see your point but Ian Carmichael looked absolutely ridiculous as Harlequin.

Well, this just looks totally shit. And nothing to do with Halloween Party! It's like he's trying to remake Don't Look Now.