Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Big Four by Agatha Christie

16 reviews

balth_the_chaotic_good's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

this is a love story. to me

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

daryn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Sexism

poirot's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Suicide

chrisscorkscrew's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of my favourite comfort-read Christie’s.  It’s not a classic murder mystery meant to be taken seriously, but instead it is one of Christie’s lurid thrillers.  

It has an overblown plot about world domination, a cliffhanger in every chapter and is not meant to be taken seriously.  It is just a fun ride, particularly if you seek out the audio version read by Hugh Fraser who wrings every last drop of indignation and horror out of the narrator, Captain Hastings. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Violence and Murder

This book is of its time. It was written by British author during a period of imperialism and some cultures are displayed stereotypically or inaccurately which modern readers may find offensive.

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

writteninmagic's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

oliii_24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

ameydireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

"It is a duel to the death, mon ami. You and I on the one side, the Big Four on the other."

After being reunited with Hastings, Poirot goes up against the toughest enemies he has faced till now. Every time it seems like he’s one step ahead of them, the Big Four proves him wrong. But Poirot doesn’t give up easily! I liked that this mystery wasn't easy to solve. Poirot really had to give his all and put his little grey cells to work.

The structure of the story was different compared to the other Poirot stories. Whilst the focus mainly lies on the Big Four, Poirot has many side investigations which all in turn seem to be connected to the Big Four. 

I liked that there were references to Poirot’s previous cases. Poirot and Hastings have inside jokes about Inspector Giraud, the human foxhound, who appears in ‘Murder on the Links’, and Hastings’ soft spot for girls with auburn-coloured hair. This became evident when he proposed to Cynthia in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’. 

Also, there were many similarities with Sherlock Holmes! The Big Four reminded me of the criminal mastermind Moriarty.

During his struggle with Moriarty, Watson believed Holmes was dead and that is exactly how it went down with Hastings and Poirot in this story. Poirot additionally mentions that he has a brother who is as smart as Poirot and maybe even smarter if he wasn’t lazy. We eventually find out that Poirot made this up to confuse the Big Four, but still it is very similar to Holmes’ brother, Mycroft.

 

There were some parts that I didn’t like that much. First of all, it bothered me that an Asian character was referred to as ‘Chink’ and secondly, Hastings’ comment about women in science.

“It has always seemed to me extraordinary that a woman should go so far in the scientific world. I should have thought a purely masculine brain was needed for such work.”

But it didn’t bother me too much. The story is nearly 100 years old and it is not entirely fair to judge it by today’s standards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny and Racial slurs

phantomgecko's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Unlike any other Agatha Christie I've read. There's really not much of a mystery by the last bit of it. Like, I didn't feel like there was an ending to "guess." Lots of murder though. More than others. Also distinctly racist. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder