A Pocketful of Rye

First Published: 1953
Setting: Baydon Heath, Surrey

Starring: Miss Marple, Rex, Adele, Elaine, Jennifer, Percival, Pat, and Lance Fortescue, Inspector Neele

Important Other People: Mary Dove, Vivian Dubois, the Crumps, Gladys Martin

The main concern I have is that this family allows a strange old woman into their home to investigate the crimes that have occurred. Now really, do we think that's a good idea? We've already had plenty of examples of crazy old ladies from other stories by Agatha, so we know that they did indeed exist during the 1950s. Good thing it was Miss Marple and not that crazy old lady Tommy and Tuppence know. It's very odd that Inspector Neele would allow Miss Marple to take such a large hand in the investigation. 

I didn't know General Paralysis of the Insane was a real thing, but when I looked it up, Wikipedia informed me that it is caused by syphilis. Nowhere in the book did I find mention that Rex had syphilis, but this was a classy family. 

Similar to Hercule Poirot's Christmas: The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. Poor Rex. Poor Simeon. Maybe that's why you shouldn't let wealth go to your head. People get jealous, and then they kill you.

Interesting facts: Sir Henry is mentioned (my favorite). One of several books modeled after a nursery rhyme. 

Favorite? I do like this one quite a lot. Good characters, good twists. I feel bad for some of them, though. 

Death by: taxine, cyanide, strangulation

Body Count: 3; Cumulative: 124

The Count: Poirot-24, Miss. Marple-6, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-4, Superintendent Battle-5, George-4, Goby-2, No Recurring Character- 6, Mrs. Oliver-2, Albert- 2, Superintendent Spence-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: Things you remember come in useful sometimes. "Life is cruel, I'm afraid."~Miss Marple. The mills of God grind slowly. You can't just stick labels on people. They're all very unpleasant people. If you've had a happy childhood, nobody can take that away from you. You can't change people. Human nature is much the same everywhere. People aren't always what they think themselves to be. Always think the worst. Children have got a lot of sense. You can't always help loving a sinner. One needs a great deal of courage to get through life. The wicked should not go unpunished. 

Up Next: Destination Unknown

Sparkling Cyanide (Remembered Death)

First Published: 1945
Setting: London

Starring: Iris Marle, Rosemary Barton, George Barton

Important Other People: Anthony Browne, Lady Alexandra Farraday, Stephen Farraday, Ruth Lessing, Lucilla Drake, Victor Drake

What I like about this book is that the early chapters focus on a single character in relation to Rosemary, who died a year ago. Through the descriptions of the other characters, we get a complete picture of Rosemary, even though she is never really alive throughout the book, only in reminisces. I like how the plot moves back and forth between the past and the present, and each character becomes intricately woven into the plot as we learn more about them. 


I don't really have much more to say about this one, but I will point out that Lady Alexandra and Stephen Farraday are totally the same as Edward and Evelyn Hillingdon from A Caribbean Mystery. And the two women are awesome.


One last thing: does cyanide sparkle? I have no idea.

Interesting facts: Adapted from an earlier short story, "Yellow Iris," which starred Hercule Poirot and was not as good as the longer book. Second in the series of "cold case" books, although not as good as Five Little Pigs.

Favorite? No, but as with Death Comes As the End, I liked this book a lot better the second time I read it.

Death by: cyanide (duh)

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 99

The Count: Poirot-21, Miss. Marple-3, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-4, Superintendent Battle-5, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 4, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: What damned silly things one says when one is in love. A man doesn't want to be continually reminded what an add he's made of himself. Wit, charm, and provocation of manner hold men. Marriage is a form of safety, a protection against love.

Up Next: The Hollow

The Moving Finger

First Published: 1942

Setting: Lymstock

Starring: Miss Marple, Jerry and Joanna Burton

Important Other People: Megan, Superintendent Nash, Owen Griffith, Aimee Griffith, Emily Barton, Reverend and Mrs. Dane Calthorp, Miss Ginch, Elsie Holland, Mr. Pye, Mr. and Mrs. Symmington, Agnes Woddell

The Moving Finger is all about rumors in a small community spreading like wildfire, leading to a variety of different outcomes. The book belongs in the class of novels that are in first person narration, but the narrator, Jerry Burton, is a character we don't see in any other novels. And, like Jerry, it is easy to become tired of the phrase, "there's no smoke without fire," as it is constantly repeated in the book.

What I don't really like about this book is how slow the plot seems to go, mainly due to the fact that we don't encounter Miss Marple until halfway through the book. There is a lot of talk about what is happening with the letters being sent, and suspicions thrown about (along with some romance), causing the plot to drag at some points. Another aspect of the book that I don't really like is how Jerry is invited to involve himself as much as he wants in the police investigation. I don't think they let regular people just join in while they are investigating scandal and murder.

I have to say that I do enjoy the romantic aspect of the book, mainly because we usually only see romance from Agatha when it is Hercule Poirot setting couples up or married couples being interrupted by murder (except Tommy and Tuppence). It's nice to see some regular people falling in love, and some good coming out of the mess left behind by murder in the ruins of the town called Lymstock.

Interesting facts: One of Agatha Christie's favorites. Also written during the bombing of London. Also, according to Matthew Bunson, "In a way, many parts of the novel are more reminiscent of Christie's romances (penned under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott) than the Marple murder mysteries. The Moving Finger contains several subplots involving the romantic aspirations of Jerry Burton for the young Megan Hunter."

Favorite? I can't really say that it is. Agatha likes it though; "Rather to my surprise on rereading them the other day, I find that another one I am really pleased with is The Moving Finger. It is a great test to reread what one has written some seventeen or eighteen years before. One's view changes. Some do not stand the test of time, others do."

Death by: Cyanide, stabbing

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 87

The Count: Poirot-21, Miss. Marple-3, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-3, Superintendent Battle-4, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 3, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: In everybody's life there are hidden chapters which they hope may never be known. Even a blind man might stab to the heart by pure chance. Everything has to have a beginning. A man's got to stick up for his wife. Don't attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will. God doesn't need to punish us- we're so very busy punishing ourselves. Hate doesn't last; love does. Girls with brains are so liable to turn into morons. Things never come when they are expected. We are not put into this world to avoid danger when an innocent fellow creatures' life is at stake.

Up Next: Towards Zero

And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians)

First Published: 1939

Setting: Indian Island, off the coast of Devon

Starring: Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, William Blore, Dr. Armstrong, Justice Wargrave

Important Other People: General Macarthur, Emily Brent, Anthony Marston, Mr and Mrs Rogers, U. N. Owen

Obviously, this is an incredible novel, minus the racism involved in some of the titles and the naming of the island. Apparently, it was meant to create a sense of "otherness," which I think an abandoned island creates anyway. Aside from that, there are a couple of different themes that run through the novel- some are new to Christie's work, and some we have seen before.

One new concept in this book is the multiple narratives used. We've seen two narratives used in The ABC Murders, but never before have we gotten so much insight into so many different characters. There is no central character, and so we get to hear a little bit about everyone is thinking. As people are murdered, the narrative gets more focused, and so we hear a lot from Vera. I especially like how some of the thoughts do not have an owner ascribed to them, so we actually are reading what the murderer is thinking, although we don't know who it is. This style also allows us to get to know and like many of the characters. As in Cards on the Table, it becomes more difficult to believe that some of them are murderers. This case is also similar to Cards in that the person who arranges the whole setup hears about many of the murders through hearsay. Accordingly, I don't think that all of them have the same amount of guilt. I think the ones who felt the least amount of remorse should have been kept longer- Anthony Marston, for example. If he had been longer on the island and subjected to the same amount of terror as everyone else, he may have repented a bit.

Similarly to Murder on the Orient Express, we have a case of individuals meting out the justice that they thought people deserved. In Orient, I would say it was somewhat warranted. In this book, I think the murderer was just crazy.

Interesting facts: Agatha herself developed this into a play. I didn't realize that- I thought someone else changed the ending so that it made more sense for a play, but apparently, she did it herself. It also convinced her that no one was going to adapt her books except for herself. Agatha also said that this was one of the most difficult and complex books to write, and required a huge amount of planning.

Favorite? Yes. Ingenious, suspenseful, and completely brilliant.

Death by: cyanide, chloral, cosh, chopped up, drowned, crushed, shot, hanged

Body Count: 11; Cumulative: 74

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- 3, Mrs. Oliver-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: Once you get to an island you can't go any further. Real peace is to come to the end and not have to go on.

Up Next: Sad Cypress

Death in the Air (Death in the Clouds)

First Published: 1935

Setting: London, Paris

Starring: Hercule Poirot, Japp, Jane Grey

Important Other People: Fouriner, Norman Gale, Mr. Clancy, the Duponts

The idea of the innocent being affected by a murder as well as the guilty is one which Christie explores in many other novels. Here, we see the characters go back to their lives after the murder, and we see what they experience as people associate them with the crime until the murderer is unmasked. That is especially interesting given that the murderer suffers a lot in their professional life after the murder, so one would wonder why they chose to commit it in such a public manner...but oh well.

Mr. Clancy is introduced as an absent-minded writer, a parody on Agatha herself, as well as a precursor to Mrs. Oliver. I like Mr. Clancy because I feel like Agatha just wrote about herself, and the character did not change throughout subsequent novels in the way that Mrs. Oliver did.

This is one of the first novels that introduces science as one of Agatha's passions. She has two archaeologists, and ends with them going off on an expedition, which is something Agatha herself was passionate about. Also, it leads us to Murder in Mesopotamia, coming up in a few...

Interesting facts: Ariadne Oliver (who has not yet appeared as Agatha's alter ego) in a later novel makes reference to a book she wrote once where she got the length of a blowpipe wrong, and many fans wrote to her to inform her of it. This one small detail, around which so much of the novel revolves, is actually kind of a big deal to get incorrect.

Favorite? I like it in that it happened in an enclosed space, and thus the suspect list is significantly shortened, causing Poirot to really have to use his little grey cells to find the answer (similar to Murder on the Orient Express, Cards on the Table, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Blue Train). I also like that the jury at the inquest finds Poirot guilty of murder...

Death by: Boomslang (rare poison), prussic acid (cyanide)

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 37

The Count: Poirot-10, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-5, Japp-5, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: Murder affects the innocent too. Knowledge is security, knowledge is power. Everyone keeps something back. It's no good to regret what is already done. An answer depends on the question that is asked. Girls have to be able to fend for themselves. Meekness doesn't pay. If there's one fellow after a woman, there's sure to be another as well. To men, that women grow old is the great tragedy of life. Nothing is too sensational. Even a nine-day's wonder doesn't last longer than 9 days. Sensationalism dies quickly, fear is long-lived. In one approaches a problem with order and method, there should be no difficulty in solving it. Everyone likes talking about themselves. When everything else fails, music remains. Science is the greatest romance there is. One needs much courage to live. Always start at the beginning.

Up Next: The ABC Murders

The Secret Adversary- Day 3

First Published: 1922

Setting: Mainly London

Starring: Tommy and Tuppence

Important Other People: Mr. Carter, Albert, Julius, Jane Finn

So the most noticeable aspect of The Secret Adversary that makes it different from Agatha's other novels are the chapter endings. Agatha wrote this book as a serialization for a newspaper. Thus, the chapters seem to be adventure after adventure, leaving the reader hanging so as to induce them to read the next installation. The endings seem a bit abrupt compared to her usual chapter endings, and there are also way more plot twists and turns than we might be used to in most of Hercule and Miss Marple's books. The serialization may also explain how things happen that are then explained afterwards, showing that she could not go back and change what she had already written.

Another thing that is really noticeable in this adventure (as well as some of her next novels) is the way that Agatha draws so much of the plot from events that were occurring at the time it was written. From the labor strikes (which still resonate today in some degree) to the Bolsheviks and the Red Scare in general to the talk of supplying the Irish with arms (hints of Roger Casement), Agatha makes good use of what was going on in the world, way more than usually happens in one of her murder mysteries.

Tommy and Tuppence novels are supposed to be different from Hercule and Miss Marple, but in later books, there are more and more similarities between the three. The Secret Adversary really stands out as truly unique, which makes sense as it is technically a different genre. Another thing I like about Tommy and Tuppence as heroes is that they age accordingly with when the books are written, as well as have lives in the meantime that develops them more as characters.

Interesting facts: Japp is briefly mentioned in this book, although I won't give him credit because he is hardly in it at all.

Favorite? Potentially. It's thrilling, and Tuppence is really a wonderful heroine. I also love the Jazz Age feel throughout the book- it's so lighthearted in the midst of the adventure that is going on.

Death by: Cyanide (Mr. Brown)

Body Count: 1; Cumulative: 2

The Count: Poirot-1, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-1, Japp-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: "Never tell all you know- not even to the person you know best" (direct quote). Trust with a grain of salt. Never underestimate your adversary. Come to develop true love through marriage (same as in Styles).

Up Next: The Murder on the Links