Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie

6 reviews

hue's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

3.0

Not one of Agatha's greatest works. Perhaps my opinion is coloured by the episode/movie I saw of this before, where Miss Marple had been included for some strange reason. I think I wasn't such a big fan of Luke as the driving force and got quite bored of him trying to get to the bottom of Miss Pinkerton's suspicions while also courting Bridget. I liked the episode more though, shame on me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Violence, Car accident, and Murder

kwashington's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This was not my favorite Agatha Christie novel as there was too much to keep track of.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Classism

erynlasbelin's review

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

ansatejones's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death and Suicide

poirot's review against another edition

mysterious 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

chalkletters's review against another edition

mysterious 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? No

3.5

Murder is Easy has a very strong opening. I love Luke, seeing Miss Pinkerton as an old aunt of his, listening to her describe the string of murders that has happened in her hometown. It’s quite similar to the opening of By the Pricking of My Thumbs in that Luke, Tuppence and Miss Pinkerton are all a bit vague about what exactly is happening and where. I think I prefer that to Poirot’s being called in on cases in a fairly official manner. I particularly love the passage where Luke describes something he sensed from Miss Pinkerton without her putting it into words. I absolutely believe that this kind of thing is possible, and I find it fascinating. My go-to example is that native English speakers inherently know the correct order of adjectives when describing something without ever being taught this as a rule. Our brains can follow rules and infer things without us being able to point to exactly how it’s done, and that’s really cool! 

The opening is not the only thing Murder is Easy has in common with By the Pricking of My Thumbs. The murderers also have things in common, though I won’t say what in the hopes that I don’t spoil the books for anyone. The murderer in Murder is Easy is one of my favourites in the Christie-verse, though I have to say they didn’t strike me quite as delightfully as they usually do this time around. 

Last time I read Murder is Easy, I found the romance between Luke and Bridget utterly charming. This time, it felt as though it came out of nowhere and I didn’t particularly appreciate it. It’s amazing how differently things can strike you at different times. This was also the first time I felt a little uneasy about Luke, on very little actual evidence, breaking into the house of one of the people he suspected. I do still like the end, with its focus on a foundation of liking each other rather than a storm of passion. 

As far as I’m concerned, you can rarely go wrong with an Agatha Christie. This might not be one of my favourites now, but it’s thoroughly enjoyable, and I still enjoy the solution to the mystery very much! I was also impressed with the neat transparency of Agatha Christie’s prose.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Car accident