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fairybookaholic's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
drips's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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? It's complicated
3.25
a very easy read! my first agatha cristie, found lying around in a korean café of all places... made me think ah so this is why people read AC, and come to find in the reviews this is apparently one of her worst! i liked the writing but the final reveal was a bit lacklustre in my opinion. should've contained more hannibal pov
orestesfasting's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a fascinating Christie, and quite unlike anything else of hers that I have read. Written right at the end of her career, the distance in time between the sleuths and the murder is almost the same distance as that between the novel and The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her first novel. Viewed in that light, what is perhaps a frustrating whodunit turns into a meditation not just on her career, but on many of the changes of the twentieth century. The world that allowed the whodunit to prosper - a world with limited technology, of propagandised lurid tales of espionage, of rigid social class etc. - no longer exists, and solving a whodunit is nearly impossible in the 1970s; they simply don't exist. A lovely, melancholy meditation at the end of a career.
sofylovesbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jossenoynaert'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? No
1.25
liliom's review against another edition
Love the personality agatha gives their dog! And tuppence riding down a hill on a kids toy in her 70s is the best.
But the conversations were repetitive and very waffley. Like she was trying to fill space, stretching out learning new information with inane misunderstandings.
But the conversations were repetitive and very waffley. Like she was trying to fill space, stretching out learning new information with inane misunderstandings.
lesserjoke's review against another edition
2.0
This 1973 title was the 74th and final novel that author Agatha Christie ever wrote, in addition to the last in her sequence of Tommy and Tuppence adventure stories. (Unlike for her better-known detective series, she did not set aside any additional installments for posthumous publication.) I won't speculate about the writer's declining mental faculties at this stage of her life as I've seen other reviewers do, but I will say that this book is easily the worst of its lot and a bit of a sour note to end on.
Among its stronger qualities: our married protagonists have continued to age, and are now moving into a new home in their 70s. Their banter back and forth is as affectionate as ever, and their instincts as retired spies / investigators remain relatively sharp. I also love their dog, whose perspective in a few key scenes is a fun change of pace for the narrative.
The premise is both absurd and poorly developed, however. In examining the books that the previous owners have left behind in the library, Tuppence discovers a secret message in one of them: underlined letters that spell out, "Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us. I think I know which one." She eventually learns that the woman in question was a spy during World War I, and that the boy who owned the book perished soon afterwards himself.
Two former intelligence agents happening to uncover a relevant plot at their doorstep is as silly as those times when Poirot or Marple stumbles across a fresh murder whilst on holiday, and the actual investigation here mostly consists of asking older folks in the community what they remember from long ago (and receiving contradictory information in reply). The couple's own contacts in the business, meanwhile, are justifiably convinced that the Beresfords know more than they're letting on about the affair and have moved into this particular address specifically to pursue the case further.
Yet it's not entirely clear what that pursuit entails. They're not seeking to identify the killer -- nor do they, in the end -- and the clues that they find are largely other things that have been left sitting in the house for decades, suggesting that no one cares any longer or has ever bothered to cover their tracks. Nevertheless, someone in the present day is apparently trying to stop or even kill the heroes for looking into the matter, though their motivation isn't explained and their traps are so ineffective it's a wonder that they're noticed at all.
Anyway. Nice to check in on Tommy and his missus one last time, but their best days are firmly behind them at this point.
This volume: ★★☆☆☆
Overall series: ★★★☆☆
Volumes ranked: 1 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 5
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Among its stronger qualities: our married protagonists have continued to age, and are now moving into a new home in their 70s. Their banter back and forth is as affectionate as ever, and their instincts as retired spies / investigators remain relatively sharp. I also love their dog, whose perspective in a few key scenes is a fun change of pace for the narrative.
The premise is both absurd and poorly developed, however. In examining the books that the previous owners have left behind in the library, Tuppence discovers a secret message in one of them: underlined letters that spell out, "Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us. I think I know which one." She eventually learns that the woman in question was a spy during World War I, and that the boy who owned the book perished soon afterwards himself.
Two former intelligence agents happening to uncover a relevant plot at their doorstep is as silly as those times when Poirot or Marple stumbles across a fresh murder whilst on holiday, and the actual investigation here mostly consists of asking older folks in the community what they remember from long ago (and receiving contradictory information in reply). The couple's own contacts in the business, meanwhile, are justifiably convinced that the Beresfords know more than they're letting on about the affair and have moved into this particular address specifically to pursue the case further.
Yet it's not entirely clear what that pursuit entails. They're not seeking to identify the killer -- nor do they, in the end -- and the clues that they find are largely other things that have been left sitting in the house for decades, suggesting that no one cares any longer or has ever bothered to cover their tracks. Nevertheless, someone in the present day is apparently trying to stop or even kill the heroes for looking into the matter, though their motivation isn't explained and their traps are so ineffective it's a wonder that they're noticed at all.
Anyway. Nice to check in on Tommy and his missus one last time, but their best days are firmly behind them at this point.
This volume: ★★☆☆☆
Overall series: ★★★☆☆
Volumes ranked: 1 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 5
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
helgamharb's review against another edition
1.0
I regret reading this book. It was long and boring with quite a lot of repetitions.