Collins Death In The Clouds

by Agatha Christie

Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully adapted versions are shorter with the language targeted at upper-intermediate learners (CEF level B2).

Each reader includes:

• A CD with a reading of the adapted story
• Helpful notes on characters
• Cultural and historical notes relevant to the plot
• A glossary of the more difficult words

Hercule Poirot is travelling from France to England by plane. During the journey a passenger is murdered.

Someone on the flight is guilty of the crime – but who could have a motive for killing an elderly lady? And how is it possible that no one saw it happen?

Genres: Agatha Christie, Fiction, Mystery

128 pages, Paperback

Published June 7, 2012

About the author

Agatha 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)

Reviews

[Xristiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very good and intresring. My only broblem was the lack of descripsion on most of the scenes.

[Akshatha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially it felt a little difficult to track all the characters from their seating arrangements. However the plot is really good and intriguing. Agatha Christie never disappoints. Worth reading.

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adaption from the real story for people who is learning English.

[Jen CE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent Christie mystery, even the second time around!

[Qyllie Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading Agatha Christie books to enjoy and study her writing.

Death in the Clouds was published 1935 and was one of two books that year.
The other was Three Act Tragedy. Both had an intriguing and elaborate plot.

In Death in the Clouds you can (esp.if you re-read the book) find the clues but still
you don't find them to help to pick out the killer. In typical Christie style, all of them
could have done it and the least suspected one got caught in the end.

It's easy to read and it's easy to follow along but not so easy to figure it out!

[Adelheid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought It was interesting but not my type of book. I didn't finish it which sucks for me but I still stand by my statement. The writing was interesting. I didn't like it. I knew the book was old so I assumed it would be different, but I am not a reader and I have not read an older book before, so I thought I'd give it a try.

[Susan Bivins · Rating 4 out of 5]

in rereading all the Agatha Christie mysteries, I really enjoyed this one. A woman is murdered on an airplane with ten passengers and 2 stewards. There were enough clues from Poirot that I knew who, just not how. A good beach read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this online, not knowing it was an abridged copy, however I still enjoyed it very much. It's geared towards people learning English, but would also be good for older kids.

[Kathy Sleva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Agatha Christie Poirot Mystery. Abridged, so a quick trip to the solving of the murder.

[Janice Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good whodunit with an unexpected ending, and much more of a twist than I anticipated. Typical Agatha Christie, which I love to revisit occasionally.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm dense, but I didn't see the end coming at all!

[Geraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Christie mystery. Love!

[Koyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not Agatha Christie calling the entirety of book talk decades before it existed. 😭

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handful of passengers on an aeroplane from France to England; one of them dead on arrival. Poirot slept through the flight!

[Shayari · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorites :)

[Taimur L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, lot of suspense and is a page turner if your are an advanced middle school reader you should be able to understand most of the vocabulary in this story. They story starts with a lot of action, with the death of Madame Giselle, and then from there it really picks up pace. The story starts with the perspective and background of Jane Grey. The first initial pages explain the setting and where Jane was. The author also creates great character development. And also shows all the different personalities and characters of everyone on the plane when they are getting detained and interrogated. I especially like the character, Hercule Poirot, because he seems very quiet and doesn't really show or do much in the beginning but as the story goes we see that he is very intuitive and very aware and knowledgeable about his surroundings. He also does a great job reading the other characters personalities and traits, and uses that to solve and find clues about the murder. I like how all the characters can be suspects and how you can really expect someone to be the murderer.

[William Vaudin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Collins version at the insistence of my parents who wanted me to start reading and this was a really good places to start. This is probably the most basic and most simple of Agatha Christies stories with the murder happening in the first chapter and the killer being revealed in the last.
This is really a great example of a true mystery story as it actively encourages to you look at the clues and come to your own conclusion. And the best thing is, Christie creates red herring without you knowing that they're red herrings, so once you start coming to your own conclusions, you fall right into her trap. And the ending is one that you will never see coming, which is always a good sign.
The only problem I have with it is that the killers plan didn't really make a lot of sense as he seem to want to make two versions at once when he only really needed to make one. And the solution is only really obvious if you know about certain things which I wasn’t, and it seem quite a cheat to me.
But other than that, if you want to get into Agatha Christie then this might be the best place to start as it lays out the whole groundwork for not only the series but the Murder Mystery genre as a whole.