Favourite Agatha Christie book?

[Elizabethbd]

What is your favourite Agatha Christie book, and why?

And Then There Were None
Intricate plotting.

I was actually going to say the same thing.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and/or Evil Under the Sun.

The Poirots are my favourites and these are the two best, IMO!

Murder of Roger Ackroyd is an excellent shout. I also really rate Crooked House - Agatha's favourite!

Roger Ackroyd because it was the first one I read after 40 years of being sniffy about Christie but never actually reading one. Loved it and didn’t see the twist coming. Also loved Five Little Pigs, Evil Under the Sun and The Hollow. DD and I are both huge Poirot fans.

Me too!

Not my favourite Agatha Christie play though. Saw a fabulous performance of Murder on the Orient Express that outshone the book and the film adaptations

Hi all,

Delurking for this 😊

I think 'Nemesis' as a book? Partially because Miss Marple is older, but her mind is still active.

I never liked the Poirot books until all those involved with the David Suchet TV productions made the fussiness make a bit of sense.

I saw a local production recently of 'The Mousetrap', a bit predictable I thought for nowadays, but probably not when it was first produced.

I also like 'The Man in the Brown Suit' and 'They came to Baghdad'.

Five Little Pigs...motivation and execution is flawless.

Sleeping Murder, I read it as a teenager and remember literally gasping at the reveal…

The Moving Finger. I can’t explain why, but it’s the one I’ve re-read the most.

Towards Zero (the book) had me unable to leave the house til I’d finished.

Nemesis.

Intricate plotting. Wonderful characterisation and it helps if you’ve read A Caribbean Mystery first.

a masterpiece of a novel and not just a whodunnit.

The ABC murders - I loved the way it kept you guessing right until the end and Christie’s constant use of misdirection and red herrings. Just brilliant

Slightly surprised at some of the choices here.

I think the later ones are not her best.

My faves are Five Little Pigs (so cleverly plotted and all clues valid) and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (again, she leads you by the nose and then says haha, I did tell you) and And Then There Were None (very clever and scary on first read).

I also have a soft spot for A Murder is Announced, maybe bc two of the key clues depend on spotting what appears to be a typographical error (which is my job haha).

And Then There Were None
because it inspired the film mindhunters with jonny lee miller

that said at uni it was murder on the orient express (use to read it in the dinning area)

Death On The Nile. And Curtain. The latter inspired an essay for my Ba finals 😎

Agree re her later books, I'm reading my way through the Poirots in order, i have a few to go and I've not enjoyed the last two or three I've read as much as the early ones. And Then There Were None is great

Rewatching the bbc adaptation of And Then There Were None now!

I love lots of her books including many of the ones mentioned. I started reading Agatha Christie as a teenager and I have lots of paperbacks.

I'll give And Then There Were None a mention because when I read it first time round, I thought I was going to die of fright it was so good.

I love Miss Marple and Poirot equally.

I don't think I've got a favourite. I enjoy different ones at different times for different reasons - plot, characters, setting. I also like seeing how she uses her own life experiences in her writing.

(I think she's seriously underrated as a writer by critics who think she's not literary enough.)

I love Peril At End House the most. The location, time period and the characters, especially Nick Buckley.
It's also my favourite of the TV adaptations, the casting was excellent.

And then there were none- brilliant plot that has been borrowed many at time

I also love
the mirror crack’d
sleeping Murder
nemisis

Miss Marple is the superior sleuth!

I agree with pp The ABC Murders. What I like is the lifestyle element of the best books, travelling by steam train to various locations etc, the glimpse of the families of all classes of that era.

The plot is usually secondary, a MacGuffin a la Hitchcock. But in The ABC Murders the plot is also good. Takes you all over the country, seemingly to unmask a serial killer. Quite different to the other books.

The Mysterious Mr Quin. I loved the Quin character. Also like Sparkling Cyanide as there's something satisfying about the vacuous sister of the heroine being bumped off!

Ooh spoiler alert! 🚨 😆