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Murderers Abroad: Five Complete Novels
Hardcover.
771 pages, Hardcover
Published October 10, 1989
3 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,814 books75.1k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 16, 2017
I love Agatha Christie. I do. I won't pretend that what she wrote is the highest level of fiction, but I love her mysteries unashamedly and unfailingly. That being said, if anyone who has not read any other Agatha Christie books before this picked up this particular collection, I'm not certain if they'd ever read anything by her ever again. It's a very mixed bag with novels that range from ordinary to excellent, from bizarre to nearly incomprehensible. This collection has Christie's characters traveling out of England and abroad. As with her characters, I advise you to travel through these books with caution.
The Mystery of the Blue Train - 3 out of 5 stars - A murder mystery with some marital discord, jewel theft, and espionage thrown in for good measure, "Mystery on the Blue Train" is a fairly early Christie novel and features an oddly active Poirot, who normally sits about in a chair and hates running about. Not sure if that's because Poirot wasn't as far into his retirement years as other books or if Christie was still working out his character. It was enjoyable but not entirely engaging. The Christie "psychology" of the murderer was sadly absent here.
Murder in Mesopotamia - 4 out of 5 stars - Best book of the set, Christie at her height of popularity and skill. The narrator is the no-nonsense nurse Amy Leatheran who is sent to care for the wife of an archaeologist on a dig. The wife is suffering from a "nervous" condition...which seems like a dreamed-up fancy until she's murdered. What was she afraid of? Who had the motive to kill her (hint: a lot of people) and how was it done? Hercule Poirot, with the help of nurse Amy, is on the case. An excellent whodunit that even fooled a veteran reader like me.
They Came to Baghdad – 2.5 out of 5 stars – Christie kills people. It’s what she does best. Whodunnits and mysteries. So, when she strays to different genres, such as a spy novel, the results aren’t always…good. Set in a McCarthy-shadowed, Cold War-inspired 1950, protagonist Victoria is an indifferent typist with a great capacity for optimism and creative lies. Taking a fancy to a young man, she follows him to Baghdad and gets caught up in a convoluted conspiracy involving a “new world order,” stolen identities, and an archeological dig. But the big problem is with Victoria. The inconceivable plot hinges on a character you neither like nor believe (right, a young woman will not only let a complete stranger into her hotel room in a foreign country but also lie when the police come to her door looking for him?). Brief moments of entertainment cannot sustain the novel.
So Many Steps to Death (or Destination Unknown) – 3 out of 5 stars – Depressed Hilary Craven plans to end her life. With nothing to lose, Hilary is instead recruited to impersonate a dead woman and solve the mystery of the disappearance of brilliant scientists and thinkers worldwide (I was tempted to ask “Where is John Galt?” while I was reading it). While the previous spy novel’s great weakness was the main character, the strength here is Hilary. Her motivations are clear and pretty believable. Most importantly, we like her, leading us to forgive some of the more incredulous plot elements. Hang on for that last plot twist, though!
Passenger to Frankfurt – 2 out of 5 stars – Oh boy. The last book of the series was one of her latest ones—her 80th book in fact, written in 1970. It had such a promising start. Sir Stafford Nye is a public servant whose odd sense of humor and over-the-top fashion sense has seemingly stalled his dull career as a public servant. So, when a mysterious woman tells him that her life is at stake and demands his assistance during a layover in Frankfurt, Sir Stafford is game for an adventure. What follows is a dangerous, globe-hopping mission to find out who the mastermind is behind the organized uprising of youth in countries worldwide. Sound interesting? It is…for the first third of the book. Sir Stafford is a delightful protagonist, even if he is upstaged by his devious great-aunt Matilda. And then they start talking about some super-secret scientific experiment, a traitor in their midst, and a Hitler who faked his death. Confused? So was I. After a strong start, the novel becomes increasingly more incomprehensible, to the point where I don’t even think I can explain what happened at the end of the book. Sir Stafford and great-aunt Matilda deserved a better novel than this.
The Mystery of the Blue Train - 3 out of 5 stars - A murder mystery with some marital discord, jewel theft, and espionage thrown in for good measure, "Mystery on the Blue Train" is a fairly early Christie novel and features an oddly active Poirot, who normally sits about in a chair and hates running about. Not sure if that's because Poirot wasn't as far into his retirement years as other books or if Christie was still working out his character. It was enjoyable but not entirely engaging. The Christie "psychology" of the murderer was sadly absent here.
Murder in Mesopotamia - 4 out of 5 stars - Best book of the set, Christie at her height of popularity and skill. The narrator is the no-nonsense nurse Amy Leatheran who is sent to care for the wife of an archaeologist on a dig. The wife is suffering from a "nervous" condition...which seems like a dreamed-up fancy until she's murdered. What was she afraid of? Who had the motive to kill her (hint: a lot of people) and how was it done? Hercule Poirot, with the help of nurse Amy, is on the case. An excellent whodunit that even fooled a veteran reader like me.
They Came to Baghdad – 2.5 out of 5 stars – Christie kills people. It’s what she does best. Whodunnits and mysteries. So, when she strays to different genres, such as a spy novel, the results aren’t always…good. Set in a McCarthy-shadowed, Cold War-inspired 1950, protagonist Victoria is an indifferent typist with a great capacity for optimism and creative lies. Taking a fancy to a young man, she follows him to Baghdad and gets caught up in a convoluted conspiracy involving a “new world order,” stolen identities, and an archeological dig. But the big problem is with Victoria. The inconceivable plot hinges on a character you neither like nor believe (right, a young woman will not only let a complete stranger into her hotel room in a foreign country but also lie when the police come to her door looking for him?). Brief moments of entertainment cannot sustain the novel.
So Many Steps to Death (or Destination Unknown) – 3 out of 5 stars – Depressed Hilary Craven plans to end her life. With nothing to lose, Hilary is instead recruited to impersonate a dead woman and solve the mystery of the disappearance of brilliant scientists and thinkers worldwide (I was tempted to ask “Where is John Galt?” while I was reading it). While the previous spy novel’s great weakness was the main character, the strength here is Hilary. Her motivations are clear and pretty believable. Most importantly, we like her, leading us to forgive some of the more incredulous plot elements. Hang on for that last plot twist, though!
Passenger to Frankfurt – 2 out of 5 stars – Oh boy. The last book of the series was one of her latest ones—her 80th book in fact, written in 1970. It had such a promising start. Sir Stafford Nye is a public servant whose odd sense of humor and over-the-top fashion sense has seemingly stalled his dull career as a public servant. So, when a mysterious woman tells him that her life is at stake and demands his assistance during a layover in Frankfurt, Sir Stafford is game for an adventure. What follows is a dangerous, globe-hopping mission to find out who the mastermind is behind the organized uprising of youth in countries worldwide. Sound interesting? It is…for the first third of the book. Sir Stafford is a delightful protagonist, even if he is upstaged by his devious great-aunt Matilda. And then they start talking about some super-secret scientific experiment, a traitor in their midst, and a Hitler who faked his death. Confused? So was I. After a strong start, the novel becomes increasingly more incomprehensible, to the point where I don’t even think I can explain what happened at the end of the book. Sir Stafford and great-aunt Matilda deserved a better novel than this.
August 20, 2018
Three of these novels are spy stories rather than mysteries. I thought They Came to Baghdad was effective, So Many Steps to Death a little less so, and Passenger to Frankfurt so illogical, meandering, implausible and incoherent that I couldn't get beyond the first 40 pages. The two Poirot mysteries (Murder in Mesopotamia and especially, The Mystery of the Blue Train were enjoyable).
May 12, 2023
I wrote individual reviews for each of these stories, but I did not finish the final novel in the anthology, Passenger to Frankfurt. The two Poirot stories are excellent as Poirot often is, and provide an inviting gateway into Christie's unusual, stand-alone spy-esque thrillers. Or however you'd like to classify them.
Apparently I rated The Mystery of the Blue Train mostly highly--it was a confounding Poirot, I know why I read Christie--and I'm surprised to see I rated So Many Steps to Death with only two stars, because that's the story I've found myself thinking about and dwelling on most from this publication. Perhaps it's simply because that was story #4, and I took a break before attempting and giving up on Frankfurt. I thought both They Came to Baghdad and Steps were extremely interesting as perspectives on the world that created James Bond, and Christie's fears around communism and the cold war. I have a habit of hypothesizing that I know who she was, especially in her later years, based on the philosophies characters express in her work. I know that's a risky concept. However, while I wouldn't recommend these stories to anyone new to Christie's work, I am glad to have read them as experiments amongst her oeuvre.
Interesting anthology. Glad my library had it.
Apparently I rated The Mystery of the Blue Train mostly highly--it was a confounding Poirot, I know why I read Christie--and I'm surprised to see I rated So Many Steps to Death with only two stars, because that's the story I've found myself thinking about and dwelling on most from this publication. Perhaps it's simply because that was story #4, and I took a break before attempting and giving up on Frankfurt. I thought both They Came to Baghdad and Steps were extremely interesting as perspectives on the world that created James Bond, and Christie's fears around communism and the cold war. I have a habit of hypothesizing that I know who she was, especially in her later years, based on the philosophies characters express in her work. I know that's a risky concept. However, while I wouldn't recommend these stories to anyone new to Christie's work, I am glad to have read them as experiments amongst her oeuvre.
Interesting anthology. Glad my library had it.
January 29, 2024
I read The Mystery of the Blue Train as a stand alone, albeit short, book. Not sure why that isn't available as an option on Goodreads but this will have to do.
Minor, forgettable Poirot book. Fine, a bit more predictable than most by Christie, and one of her books that doesn't introduce Poirot for a while. As always, it becomes easier to guess the ending when you keep in mind that Christie is a good mystery writer but an exceedingly cheesy romance author.
Minor, forgettable Poirot book. Fine, a bit more predictable than most by Christie, and one of her books that doesn't introduce Poirot for a while. As always, it becomes easier to guess the ending when you keep in mind that Christie is a good mystery writer but an exceedingly cheesy romance author.
August 12, 2022
A compendium of, IMO, mediocre Christie novels. Don't bother reading the last one (Passenger to Frankfurt); it's the worst of the lot. I've reviewed each novel individually, so you can consult those reviews if for some strange reason you should want to.
Read
January 10, 2022I love Agatha.
April 29, 2023
All the books were good except Passenger to Frankfurt. I honestly didn’t finish it. I think it’s probably the worst books she wrote which pains me to say ands I love her books and writing style!
March 6, 2013
As an unapologetic fan of Agatha Christie I was actually introduced to her books through the excellent A&E T.V. productions of many of the Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple books. I still think that the T.V. productions are exquisitely produced with an unbelievable attention to production, location, costume, scenery, and most importantly remaining faithful to the intentions of her books.
In this collection I have been introduced to some of her work that is NOT associated with her two main protagonists. Three of these stories:
1. They Came to Baghdad
2. Passenger to Frankfurt
3. So Many Steps to Death
are challenging in their knowledge of place and time. Christie managed to travel the world while simultaneously writing some of the most complex, intricate, and mind-boggling detective stories that have ever been written. My exposure to her "other" novels have only increased my appreciation for her work, knowledge of the world, and the politics of the time in which she wrote. Highly recommend.
In this collection I have been introduced to some of her work that is NOT associated with her two main protagonists. Three of these stories:
1. They Came to Baghdad
2. Passenger to Frankfurt
3. So Many Steps to Death
are challenging in their knowledge of place and time. Christie managed to travel the world while simultaneously writing some of the most complex, intricate, and mind-boggling detective stories that have ever been written. My exposure to her "other" novels have only increased my appreciation for her work, knowledge of the world, and the politics of the time in which she wrote. Highly recommend.
September 13, 2008
Of the five stories in the book, I think I enjoyed the first two best, as they were set in the Middle East, and that was the setting I wished to explore in Christie's works. Also, the first two were more formulaic murder mystery, while in the last three, Christie extended her talents to the spy mystery area. While I liked all of the stories, I think Christie really shines brightest with the murder mystery.
September 5, 2014
What fun! Just as I was getting ready to donate since I never took the time to read because of it's size, I started and was captured by Christie. My favorite is So Many Steps To Death as it could have taken place today.
July 19, 2010
Haven't read any Agatha Christie since my teen years. Thought I'd go back to the master and read some of hers again.
Want to read
February 14, 20149/26/00. Library.
May 4, 2020
Awesome
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews