Towards Zero

First Published: 1944

Setting: Gull's Point, Saltcreek

Starring: Superintendent Battle, James Leach, Nevile, Audrey, and Kay Strange

Important Other People: Lady Tressilian, Mary Aldin, Thomas Royde, Ted Latimer, Mr. Treves, Andrew MacWhirter

I love this book. I love the whole concept of "zero hour" and how Agatha works backwards from it, giving us the whole picture of the events leading up to the murder. A lot of the time in her other novels, I am disappointed that we don't know more of the backstory before the murder is committed and we are thrown right into the investigation. In Towards Zero, we get to know a little bit of everything about what is going to happen before it happens. I love how Agatha ties every detail, even the small ones, together to show how all of these events converge in the zero hour. One thing about the telling of all of those events at the beginning, is that it means that we, as readers, know that all of them are important for some reason. All of the small things come together when the murder is committed, although that is the end of the story. The beginning is long before the murder happens.

I also like how in this book, characters take the law into their own hands. Similar to Appointment with Death, Murder on the Orient Express, and Curtain, characters know that the actions they take can prevent a horror from happening. They realize that the police are powerless to prevent something from happening, and so they know they must take action on their own.

I love the setting, the flow of the plot, the characters, and the interactions between them. Agatha writes really well on the juxtaposition of Audrey and Kay, the two Mrs. Stranges'. (PS- did women not change their names back after divorce in those days?) The entire atmosphere of the novel revolves around the interaction between these two women, although they rarely talk to each other. All of the other characters are affected by the atmosphere that is created in the house, and I don't think that is something the murderer really took into consideration beforehand. I know the murderer knew they both would be there, but I don't think they really thought about how everyone else's interactions would be changed based on "Rose Red and Snow White."

The movie Crash reminds me of this book because, in it, we are shown the climax of the interactions, and then go back to see all of the events that led up to that moment. I'm sure many other books and movies make use of the idea of going back to show all of the small details that led to a moment; although Agatha doesn't actually start with the murder- we still know it's going to happen. She writes the best, for sure.

Interesting facts: Hercule Poirot is mentioned, although Battle is the star of this book. Instead of the usual numbered chapters we get from Agatha, the book is divided into separate parts.

Favorite? YES. It is one of Agatha's favorites, and definitely one of mine.

Death by: Placard on elevator (which caused too much exertion on the part of the victim, causing his heart to give out, so I may attribute this to "heart"), cosh

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 89

The Count: Poirot-21, Miss. Marple-3, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-3, Superintendent Battle-5, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 3, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: Murder is the end- the story begins long before that. Fathers don't know much about their children. The dog-like devotion of a lifetime does sometimes get its reward. A little malice adds a certain savor to life. Women possess little or no pride where love affairs are concerned. There are worse things than boredom. We've got to go on living our lives in the present. A minute can be a very long time. Love turns very easily to hate. Some things matter more than the truth. Think of the most difficult thing you can, and then set about doing it.

Up Next: Death Comes As the End

Easy to Kill (Murder is Easy)

First Published: 1939

Setting: Wychwood Under Ashe

Starring: Luke Fitzwilliam, Superintendent Battle, Bridget Conway

Important Other People: Lord Easterfield, Mr. Ellsworthy, Lavinia Fullerton, Amy Gibbs, Major Horton, Honoria Waynflete

In Easy to Kill, we are introduced to Luke Fitzwilliam, a police officer just returned from some far corner of the British empire. Luke is similar to characters such as Lucy Eyelsbarrow, Emily Trefusis, and Arthur Calgary in that he's awesome, but we never see him again. He and Bridget Conway are young still, and they talk to each other in much the same way that Tommy and Tuppence did when they were starting out- easily and casually.

Lord Easterfield is a pompous Napoleon-type who is so self-involved that he does not notice what is going on right in front of him. What's happening is...murder. One of the scariest parts of this book is the cover of the copy I have. I actually have two copies of the same version, and they both scare me. I also think this murderer is one of the few of Agatha's culprits who is genuinely insane, and should be regarded as a homicidal maniac, and is also very scary. There are a lot of deaths in this book, and it's scary to think of this happening in a village- so many people are killed, it's a wonder that the village is still thriving.

Marriage is presented in a number of ways: Marriage as safety for women who don't have a lot of options. Marriage as discipline for wayward souls. Marriage as a convenient arrangement. Bridget takes a cynical, modern view of marriage when she recognizes that she doesn't have a lot of potential to live easily for the rest of her life, and so agrees to marry Lord Easterfield so that she can have that safety and financial protection. Luke totally calls her out on it, claiming that marriage should be about love- what an outdated concept!

Interesting facts: First novel with arsenic poisoning! Even though arsenic is the typical poison that people think of, this is the first time that Agatha used it. Also, I think this is the only case in one of Agatha's novels where someone dies because the murderer induces septicemia in them.

Favorite? Kind of. Too scary, but I do like the ending.

Death by: Arsenic, pushed off a cliff and drowned, pushed off a building, poisoning (oxalic acid, aka hat paint), the introduction of septicemia, run over, cosh. (I'm including everyone who was killed by the murderer, even though some of it takes place before the novel begins, because it is all important to the plot)

Body Count: 7; Cumulative: 63

The Count: Poirot-17, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-7, Japp-6, Colonel Race-3, Superintendent Battle-4, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2, Mrs. Oliver-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: It's very easy to kill, so long as no one suspects you. It's a great thing to know what you want. No one human being knows the full truth about another human being- not even one's nearest and dearest. Heroines are never killed. Marriage is a form of discipline. One mustn't quarrel with one's bread and butter. Aunts illustrate the triumph of guesswork over logic. Men are more easily deceived than women. If a woman is not happy, she is capable of terrible things. Liking is more important than loving- it lasts.

Up Next: And Then There Were None

Cards on the Table

First Published: 1936

Setting: London

Starring: Hercule Poirot, Mrs. Oliver, Battle, Colonel Race (the Sleuths)

Important Other People: Mr. Shaitana. Dr. Roberts, Mrs. Lorrimer, Major Despard, Anne Meredith (The "Murderers")

The plot for Cards on the Table was laid out by Poirot in The ABC Murders. It truly is a crime that Poirot has ordered to test himself. The important aspect is that there are only 4 suspects, and there is no way to figure out who did it except by Poirot using his little grey cells. It is the supreme psychological crime.

We are introduced to Mrs Oliver- the epitome of Agatha herself. One of Mrs. Oliver's books, The Body in the Library, is mentioned by one of the characters, a book that was eventually written by Christie herself. I like Mrs. Oliver a lot and I always enjoy reading about her, and it's mainly because Christie is clearly parodying herself. She describes the clothes Mrs. Oliver wears, her crazy hairstyles and hats, and mocks herself on her "women's intuition" that she uses to "solve" the crimes she comes into contact with. She guesses everyone in turn, which we see as Christie mocking herself for doing the same thing.

One thing that is interesting- one of the characters says that people tend to stick to arsenic for murders, yet Agatha had not written of any murders committed with arsenic up to this point in her writing career (in her novels).

Hercule Poirot has a thoroughly bourgeois attitude towards murder. He doesn't deal with the lower classes and their problems and murders. The one case that sticks out to me as having a lower-class feel is Mrs. McGinty's Dead, being that she's a charwoman, but the other characters involved are upper-class. Murder has become more common nowadays, making it difficult to find a parallel from the early to mid 20th century.

One of my biggest problems with the book is the importance Poirot places on the bridge scores kept by the suspects. Mainly because I don't know how to play bridge, I don't know the rules or terms, and I basically don't understand any part of what's going on with bridge. It's difficult to truly appreciate the importance of the scores, or to even understand what Poirot deduces based off of them, if you don't understand bridge. I feel like more people in 1936 played bridge and understood it. I always feel like it's something I need to learn just to understand this book better. We'll see if that happens...

Interesting facts: Japp is mentioned. This is a crime to order for Poirot's little grey cells. We see Rhoda and Despard many books later in The Pale Horse. Poirot reveals the true solution to the Orient Express to another character, which could ruin the book if you had never read it before.

Favorite? Of Poirot, YES. Of Agatha, I think it's up there because she always wanted to write it for Poirot to solve. For me, after I've read it a few times, I've liked it better. I hated it the first time I read it because I thought it was so unexciting and the bridge part made no sense to me.

Death by: Stabbing, Veronal/evipan, drowning

Body Count: 3; Cumulative: 46

The Count: Poirot-13, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-6, Japp-6, Colonel Race-2, Superintendent Battle-3, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2, Mrs. Oliver-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: A murderer can be an artist, but he's still a murderer. Man is an unoriginal animal. What can't be cured must be endured. There's nothing like death for bringing out the meanness of human nature. One ought to live frightfully dangerously- if one gets the chance. Life, on the whole, is terribly tame. Men don't do purely disinterested kindnesses. The moment a man's a bad lot, all the girls stick up for him. Things are just the same whether you talk about them or not. Life is a difficult business- it needs infinite courage and a lot of endurance. Men always do take fancies to unsuitable women. Lying is not always a sign of guilt. No one can always be right (not even Poirot!)

Up Next: Poirot Loses a Client

Day 10- The Seven Dials Mystery

First Published: 1929

Setting: England

Starring: Bundle, Battle

Important Other People: Bill, Melrose, Lord Caterham

Agatha uses The Seven Dials Mystery to mock the luxurious working life of the upper class- they all seem to have "jobs," but they are able to ditch them at a moment's notice to go chasing secret societies and whatnot. Agatha perhaps felt some scorn towards the upper class at their leisure and need to save face. People throughout the book are just tooling around, relying on their titles to get by.

Bundle's former footman from Chimneys, Alfred, must be a distant relative of Tommy and Tuppence's Albert. Although not as cool at all.

It's hard to read the word "alarum" over and over without pronouncing it like that in your head. Apparently, that's the Shakespearean spelling of the word.

I love Lord Caterham. He really makes the book so much better. I'm sad he doesn't appear in any of Agatha's future books.

Interesting facts: Sequel to Chimneys, though not as well liked by critics.

Favorite? Not really. I like Bundle, though, and I am glad she finds happiness in the end!

Death by: chloral, shooting

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 23

The Count: Poirot-5, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-3, Japp-2, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: People must die somewhere. Nobody tells everything. Unfortunate love affairs are highly beneficial to young girls- makes them take their lives seriously. In this life, one never stops learning. Gentlemen who have no sense of humor get to taking themselves too seriously, which leads to mischief. Your children can make life damned unpleasant if you don't give in to them in every way (talking about Rosalind, perhaps?) Never say too much. "What a fatal thing it is to pretend to take an interest in a man's pet subject." Different kinds of danger suit different kinds of people. My personal favorite, from Lord Caterham, "Every child should be brought up to be ambidextrous."

Up Next: The Murder at the Vicarage

The Secret of Chimneys- Day 6

First Published: 1925

Setting: England

Starring: Anthony Cade, Battle, Virginia Revel

Important Other People: Bill Eversleigh, Bundle Brent, Lord Caterham

The most important part of The Secret of Chimneys has got to be the narrative tone it is written in and the implications that it creates. It is written in a much more personal manner than any of her other novels, and it leads us directly to her next novel- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Key point- never trust the narrator! (more to come with the next novel!) Anthony Cade only tells us what he wants to tell us, even though the book is not written in first person. Pay close attention to the language he uses when Boris attaches himself to Cade. I think that Agatha got her idea for Ackroyd at that moment- it's definitely telling.

Another thing mentioned in this book that comes to play in the next novel is the idea of settling down and growing vegetable marrows. Anthony mentions it as a possible 'next step' for him, although we later find that his talents lie in a completely separate direction.

The idea of a fat, yellow face as wealth. I don't know where this came from or what it really means, but it is for sure a huge theme with Agatha. She continually mentions it throughout her books.

The idea that the police are stupid is also made clear in this book, although it is Battle himself who says so. We then read that detective stories are mostly bunkum. It seems as though Agatha is intent on creating a detective who is smarter than the police, can solve murders in a better way, and transcends the British police. Enter Hercule Poirot, who can do all of these things, and certainly with much more style. Touche, Agatha. Touche.

Interesting facts: Prequel to The Seven Dials Mystery. The Marquesses of Caterham might be made up, but there is a Chimneys Guest House in England. (the Chimneys in the book is modeled after Abney Hall in Chesire)

Favorite? No. Too confusing (even though in her autobiography she she says it's lighthearted and there's not a lot of plot planning required...false). Although the idea for the narrative is so important for her next book!

Death by: Gun Shots!

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 6

The Count: Poirot-2, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-2, Japp-1, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: Men are polygamous (foreshadowing to her husband's philanderings??? I think so!) Regrets are vain. "Never display emotion." (thanks, Battle!) Detective stories are mostly bunkum (a bit self-reflective) Marriage is the biggest adventure. "One can always get anything one wants if one will pay the price" (recurring). Give a man plenty of rope to hang himself with. Nine times out of ten the price is compromise (in marriage).

Up Next: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd