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sglance9's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and Murder
figsofpeach's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Minor: War
aserra's review against another edition
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
A very solid, quick Agatha Christie read! Christie's classic "people are not who they seem" premise and reveal.
For anyone hesitant to read because it's the fourth book in a series: you absolutely do not need to read the previous installments to comprehend what's happening. This novel completely stands on its own.
Bonus: this book features a lesbian couple (not outright confirmed in the book, but all but so, given the heavy historical queer-coding).Unfortunately, the "bury your gays" trope does occur. It's murder mystery, though, so...some grace, I suppose?
Did I guess the killer? (I like to keep track of this for Christie novels) No :( Not mad about it, though--I think the setup was quite clever!
For anyone hesitant to read because it's the fourth book in a series: you absolutely do not need to read the previous installments to comprehend what's happening. This novel completely stands on its own.
Bonus: this book features a lesbian couple (not outright confirmed in the book, but all but so, given the heavy historical queer-coding).
Did I guess the killer? (I like to keep track of this for Christie novels) No :( Not mad about it, though--I think the setup was quite clever!
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
The book takes place in the 20th century U.K.--don't expect anything groundbreaking from the characters and overall diversity.bessadams's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Medical content, Alcohol, and War
ishouldreadthat's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Another great mystery from Agatha Christie! This is one of my favourite premises and it works perfectly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Xenophobia
kemrick19's review against another edition
dark
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
cepbreed's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
The first thought on my mind after finishing this book was that Tiglath Pileser is such an insane name for a cat and that I love it so much. The second thought was that I felt catfished. This is a "Miss Marple Mystery" yet she takes on such a passive role in the story, and doesn't appear for quite a long time. My difficulties with this thought come from two directions though. This type of mystery does require a lot of exposition, and the cast of characters is huge so I understand her diminished role in the story. Also, I have only ever read some of Agatha Christie's stand-alones and Poirot novels, so I've come to expect Poirot-level screen time (page time?) and involvement.
Of Christie's books that I've read, this is one of my least favorites. I am surprised by this because I heard such high praise for this book. I have a taste for more dynamic mysteries I guess and this was more feel-good in a way. I also found it extremely difficult to remember the names and roles of the characters. It took two months of off-and-on reading to finish this book which means my own memory is definitely to blame. To make myself feel better I'd like to think that the amount ofsecret identity reveals also had a part in my lapses of memory.
Of Christie's books that I've read, this is one of my least favorites. I am surprised by this because I heard such high praise for this book. I have a taste for more dynamic mysteries I guess and this was more feel-good in a way. I also found it extremely difficult to remember the names and roles of the characters. It took two months of off-and-on reading to finish this book which means my own memory is definitely to blame. To make myself feel better I'd like to think that the amount of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Xenophobia
fyre_flies's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was an assigned reading that I happened to quite enjoy! This was my first Agatha Christie novel, and I can see myself picking up more of her work. What was surprising about this Miss Marple novel is just how little she shows up in this book and how little she does when she's there. I dinged a star for this reason, as well as because I think the novel could've been about 50 pages shorter to keep it from dragging towards the end. The twists, however, were quite good, and it was easy to get invested in the plot and characters. It was definitely a page turner!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
megelizabeth's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
I absolutely loved the plot of this book and the fact that Miss Marple has a much more prominent role than in the previous book in the series. This one is so, so clever and tense and meticulously thought-out, with a brilliant set of characters, and some of the events really hit me in the feels as well. I also really appreciated the overarching post-war social commentary and thought that it provided a super interesting angle which I hadn't really considered before.
The one thing I didn't like about this book was how much casual xenophobia there is. Part of the ending sort of redeems some of this, but not in a way that goes far enough or that truly criticises the xenophobia that is prevalent throughout much of the rest of the book. I of course appreciate the time in which this was written, but it still makes for uncomfortable reading and of course is still worth viewing critically. I did really enjoy the book overall, but it would've just been so much better if these attitudes had been more thoroughly addressed.
The one thing I didn't like about this book was how much casual xenophobia there is. Part of the ending sort of redeems some of this, but not in a way that goes far enough or that truly criticises the xenophobia that is prevalent throughout much of the rest of the book. I of course appreciate the time in which this was written, but it still makes for uncomfortable reading and of course is still worth viewing critically. I did really enjoy the book overall, but it would've just been so much better if these attitudes had been more thoroughly addressed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Blood
Minor: War