Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Diez negritos by Agatha Christie

6 reviews

kwichris's review against another edition

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

4.25

For as much as I enjoy older literature, I can't believe it took me this long to read Agatha Christie! She truly is in a class above the rest in making murder mysteries that truly keep you guessing. It's easy to see how later films, shows, and books have used this novel in particular as a framework (i.e. the movie Clue opens and has very similar scenes in the beginning for instance). While I did find the story captivating and thrilling to read through, there were a few things I took issue with. I've always disliked when authors insert obscure or rarely used words despite the rest of their writing being wholly different in tone and style (i.e. Christie uses "verisimilitude" for instance as something a character says, which even an educated person would probably have used other verbiage in this time/setting). I also dislike when an author continuously uses ONE adjective repeatedly for EVERYTHING. Christie does this with the word "queer" (the older version of the word mind you), and she makes every character say or think practically everything is "queer." There are dozens of other words that she could've used to broaden the diction of her characters and world, but, alas, it's the one she stuck with until the very end. Overall, I did quite enjoy the story and the surprise at the end, demonstrating her aptitude for mystery writing that is hard to match, and I do recommend it to anyone considering it. Now, to check out some other Christie novels and see what other mysteries she has in store!
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karen_lo's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a m a z i n g
Kept me guessing the whole time, I was never right.
Truly the queen of mystery. The book is fast-paced and it goes straight to the point. I loved the clues and how it is narrated 🤩
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katsusho_'s review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

- This story is quite fascinating and I had quite a good time reading it. The pacing is great and it was quite easy to get through -- just how I like it. 

 
 
It also helps that there was a pattern to the murders and that it was one at a time, thus it was easier to digest.

My only qualm about it was how the epilogue implied that the murderer was someone not amongst the guests, though throughout the book it insists that no one else could be found guilty. I found that quite unsatisfactory.   
 
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fallisdying's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ridhima_sh03's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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egurgens's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I honestly had no idea who the killer was until the very end of the epilogue. Ten people are invited to this mysterious island by a U.N. Owens, for different reasons. The doctor was to attend to the owner's wife's health. One was hired for a job. The one thing all of the characters have in common is that they are all guilty of murder, but cannot be convicted by the law. Following the pattern of deaths laid out by a children's poem, one chokes to death, one never wakes up, one went crazy, one was cut by an axe, one was stung, one was in trouble with the law, one fell for a red herring, a bear killed one, another freaked out and was killed, and the last went mad and killed themselves. There were only 10 people on the island, and all of them are dead by the end. However, the last person kicked over a chair to kill themselves, and the detectives found the chair upright, standing orderly by the wall. So who could have killed everyone? There was no place to hide from the inhabitants, and no one was left alive on the unreachable island when the detectives showed up. So who could have killed them? The only person who was truly innocent of the supposed murder they committed and wanted to take justice into their own hands. 
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